Confidential, Tuesday, July 28, 1998

Went to Don Hill's Squeezebox, on July 17th, to see the band Mad Daddys. On the way, my friend Colleen and I stopped off to see Mr. Kim Yarbourgh. At the ripe young age of…(he's not tellin'), Kim's life is already steeped in history, having worked backstage at Woodstock – the real deal in 1969, not the poorly concocted imitations of late – as well as having been a bouncer and administrative assistant at the legendary Fillmore East.

Among his catalogue of fond memories, Kim recalls the concert for the record release of the Who's Tommy at the Fillmore East circa 1971 and infamous late-night parties afterward with Keith Moon and John Entwhistle. Their favorite drink was Prince 75 (a champagne and cognac combo), Kim told me, which they began consuming at the now defunct French restaurant, Les Lanéts, on 43rd Street. Following that, they continued to imbibe at the yet-to-be-popular Max's Kansas City. Suffice it to say, the princes turned into devils and trashed Max's to the max. Oddly enough, today, Kim is a certified protection professional. Go figure...

Arrived at Don Hill's in time for the Mad Daddys' opening number, a real rocker titled "Daddy Needs a Momma." The Daddys are 15-year-old veterans of the business with four albums out to date. Their first release was produced by Lux and Ivy of The Cramps. The Daddys' most recent effort, Get Yer Ta Ta's Out is a live recording produced by Flipside Records.

Mad Daddys

Based in New Jersey, the band has toured internationally and soon will be performing at this summer's Sleazefest held at Local 506, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (call Mad Daddys' management at 732-251-4773 for more info).

Lead vocalist and co-founder of the band, Stinky Sonobuoni describes the band's sound as good old fashioned rock'n'roll and stresses that "it's all fun" although one tune, "Blonde on a Bad Trip" sounded like he'd had one too many unkind relationships with blonde women. (He's happy to report that he's married to a brunette.) During a cover of "Spoonful" by Willy Dixon, Stinky announced that "We're nice and trashy. Try me at 3:30 and I'll start to get classy." Meanwhile he described the song "Stoned for the Rest of My Life" as his ideal pension plan.

For the final song "Porno King," Stinky ensured audience satisfaction by living up to the title – off came the shoes, the pants, you get the idea. With the help of band members (bassist Pete Moss, guitarist Eddie Cochring, and drummer Mr. Good Lube) and the well-timed delivery of several one-liners (Stinky's either eaten lots of fortune cookies or chewed lots of Bazooka gum), the band managed to pull off one hell of a show.

Nina Hagen, 1981

After their set, I met up with the ever-popular Michael Schmidt, founder of Squeezebox and Life Café which opened just a few months ago on Bleeker Street. Let me put it this way, where there's Michael, there's a crowd. Mike mentioned that the "mother of punk" Nina Hagen would be appearing at Life on July 22 with a world premiere of her new songs plus several of the old favorites.

I caught the show, which was a benefit for Hagen's charitable hospital in India. The place was packed with people bopping to Nina's latest variety of music – a techno house beat with a Ghandi twist (I guess Madonna's not the only one turning spiritual these days). It's not for me, but I seemed to be the only one of this opinion at the show. Everyone else was jammin' mosh-pit style to Hagen's set.

Some other note-worthy happenings around town include Monday nights at Coney Island High, currently coined "Freak-out a Go-go" nights, hosted by my friend Sage and D Generation bassist Howie Pyro. As a sample, last week's party featured naked people, wicked fire crackers and flying beer bottles. In other words, a little bit of something for everybody.

Toward the end of the night at Squeezebox, I glanced around and noticed Abby Denson walking through the door. She had just come from Joey Ramone's Cyber Bash at Tramp's where the surprise guest of the evening was none other than Blondie. Abby said Debbie Harry drove the crowd wild, spitting out rose petals in addition to lyrics from a roster of her hit songs.