April 16, 1977: Lip Service
An
early rumbling of a
April 16, 1977
Jamie’s
Punk-Rock Band
Offers
Plenty of Lip Service
IT’S
ONE OF THOSE BIG OLD HOUSES on
Jamie, who abandoned college in favor
of pursuing the anarchy of the New York Dolls, grabs some refreshment from the
refrigerator and leads the way to a living room with tall windows, high
ceilings and a grand piano.
“I cried for Jimi Hendrix when he
died,” Jamie relates. “I have a real Hendrix fixation.”
* *
*
JAMIE’S
MUSICAL passions have fired half of his 22 years. Back in seventh grade, he and
singer Mark Siezega spent nights trying to recreate the thundering attack of
the MC5’s “
Three years ago their band specialized
in the cutting edge of teenage alienation – Roxy Music,
“Wherever they were into dancing, they
loved us,” Jamie says.
At that time, they were known as
Aslan. One of the reasons they took a new name last September was to
acknowledge the addition of drummer Doug Sawatzky. Another reason was because
nobody got the old name right.
“We’d call places we were playing to
check up on our publicity,” Mark says, “and they’d be calling us Ashcan or
The only group that places 10 songs in
their current repertoire is the Rolling Stones, though the Cult, the Ramones,
the Dictators and Bruce Springsteen all have a spot in their sets.
“Those old Stones tunes like
‘Satisfaction,’ they’ll affect any kid,” Mark observes.
Catching them at their home base, the
Point After on Erie Avenue in North Tonawanda (where they’ll be April 30), is
like tapping into punk-rock’s greatest hits, going all the way back to
Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild.”
* *
*
THE
POWER and the uniqueness of the band, however, is in the cumulative effect of
the tunes. After three or four numbers, the huge sound system stops sounding
loud and starts moving the spirit.
Same with Mark’s dashing and thrashing
about the stage. He emerges as the visual center of the band, the focus of all
that power.
That’s no cheap imitation of Mick
Jagger. He’s without question one of the most exciting performers in the area.
“I used to go to all the J. Geils Band
concerts,” Mark says. “I like people who move around a lot. Jagger, Peter Wolf,
Springsteen, Rod Stewart.
“If I make a mistake up there and I’m
standing still,” he continues, “I should be shot. But if I’m moving around and
it gets people going a lot more, it’s all right.
“People think it’s so out of the
ordinary. That’s really because it’s a small town,
Mark, who’s 22 now, was a star high
school athlete – all
“That’s what I always wanted, too,”
Mark says, “so I quit football.”
* *
*
THE
BAND says that for one outdoor concert in
Next door is friendly territory,
anyway. It’s the home of Joe Pane, a clean-cut kid who’s the group’s number one
fan and public relations booster.
Joe rarely misses a Lip Service
appearance and shares the band’s passions for the Muppets, Nazi history and
unusual brands of beer.
Bookings are a problem, however. One
agent wanted to send them out of town, but that was out of the question. Mark’s
a student at UB and Doug and Randy, both 19, have jobs.
Another agent offers them occasional
local dates, but doesn’t regard the group well enough to give them regular
work.
“All they do is tell us to see their
bands and learn some Beatles tunes,” Mark scoffs. “We just want to get them to
come out and hear us.”
“We do our best at junior high schools
and high schools,” Jamie says. “You’d be surprised at how many kids are into
the Ramones.
“Last night they were all mouthing the
words to ‘Blitzkrieg Bop.’ They really were.”
* *
* * *
IN
THE PHOTO: From left, bassist Randy Preksta, drummer Doug Sawatzky, guitarist Jamie
Carlson and singer Mark Siezega. “Everybody who knew me in school thinks I’m
real quiet,” says Mark. “Nobody knows me on stage.”
* *
* * *
FOOTNOTE:
In a story 20 years ago about Buffalo music in the late '70s and early '80s, the current holder of the rock critic’s chair at The
Buffalo News, Jeff Miers, interviewed Bernie Kugel, guitarist in a band
called The Good and a Buff State radio deejay who was so deep into punk rock
that he would go to CBGB’s in Manhattan, tape performances by bands like Talking
Heads, Television and the Ramones, and play them on his show.
“If the Jumpers, the Enemies, Lip Service, so many
of these bands – if they’d been in New York at the time, they would’ve been signed,”
Bernie proposed. “The scene here was absolutely equal to the scenes in other,
bigger cities. Sadly, we couldn’t get much attention … So it all just kind of
withered away. But there was something special about those few years.”
The Jumpers and the Enemies are still fondly
remembered, but Lip Service pretty much vanished without a trace, except for an
appearance on “This Is It, Vol. 3 – Greater Buffalo’s Greatest.” Released on
Buffalo Music Vault label in 2021. Two songs. “Siameze Twins” and “Blame It on
the Quasar.” Another compilation, “Bloodstains Across Buffalo,” includes one of
those songs with its full title, “The TV Made Me Do It (Blame It on the
Quasar).” And that’s it.
Same for the guys in the band. For Jamie Carlson,
there’s just a death notice from 2017 without any details about his life. There's nothing much about drummer
Doug Sawatzky either, but he seems to be alive and well and living in
Bassist Randy Preksta turns up in Canada, a resident of
And singer Mark Siezega migrated to
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