Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America's Garage Band (Paperback)

by Joe Bonomo (Author)
Key Phrases: most unusual blues, twist band, interview with the author, New York, Roman Gods, Red Star (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Everyone has a favorite overlooked band they feel should have sold millions of records, filled arenas and enjoyed household-name status; among those commercially unsuccessful stalwarts, the Fleshtones rank as one of America's most enduring musical forces. Crawling out from under New York City's punk and new wave scenes in the mid-1970s, this gang of misfits dubbed their fuzzy yet danceable mix of guitars, Farfisa organ, old-school R&B, rockabilly and surf music as "Super Rock," then watched contemporaries such as the Ramones, Talking Heads, R.E.M. and Blondie became stars. Topping out on the Billboard album charts at no. 174, the Fleshtones, still active 30 years on, make for an unconventional study in rock 'n' roll survival. Bonomo, better known for his essays and poetry, has conducted new interviews with all the principles to provide an exhaustive account of the band's checkered history, colored by excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs, mismanagement and the 2005 suicide of sax man Gordon Spaeth. Bonomo marches a parade of colorful characters in and out of his narrative, including past and present band members, business associates, friends, family members and fellow musicians, to present an honest and dramatic look at rock semi-obscurity. B/w photos.
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Review
Imagine the myth of Sisyphus recast as a garage band--and a good one--and you have the story of the Fleshtones. One of the latter-day CBGBs bands, championed by REM and critically adored for their explosive concerts, the 'Tones shoulda been contenders. But what happened? First-time author (and fan) Bonomo tells their cursed story with religious fervor and a near-lyrical quality to his prose. Bonomo expands on a history that would otherwise be summed up by a pithy entry in All Music Guide over a sprawling 400 pages, packed with new interviews and anecdotes. In cataloging a decadeslong litany of indignities and misfortunes that did little to deter the Fleshtones' passion, the book raises deeper questions about what making it in music means. Does the distinction of being the only CBGBs-era band to keep going without an inactive year count for anything? Consider this the mad-eyed older brother of James Greer's biography of the indie-rock band Guided by Voices or Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life. This is the secret history that even NYC punk histories like Please Kill Me couldn't handle. Recommended for libraries with large popular music collections. -- Library Journal

In Sweat, Joe Bonomo confronts the realities of life in one of America's great unsung bands of heroes: the Fleshtones. Rocking the house down night after night, holding on to their unique vision forever, whether laughing in the face of failure, caught in the rip tides of American culture, battling on the New York streets, or crowded in the back of a van on its way to the furthest reaches of the solar system. It's a 'Blue Whale' of a story: hilarious, harrowing, and ultimately inspiring. -- Peter Case, singer-songwriter

Joe Bonomo has written a fine book; a book not only about a band or times passed, but also about the rare virtue of endurance. -- Nick Tosches

More than an account of a particular band, sound, or specific era in rock history, Joe Bonomo's compelling, well-researched, and thoroughly riveting account of the Fleshtones is an homage to a way of living your life -- one that revolves around raucous music, what Jack Kerouac once called the "quest for kicks," and most of all a whole lot of sweat and passion. -- Jim DeRogatis, pop music critic, Chicago Sun-Times, and author, Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic

Rock and roll is a pretty egalitarian affair. On any given night any band can be the best band in the world, if only for ten minutes. The amazing thing about the Fleshtones is that every night for the last thirty years they have consistently been the best live band on earth. Year in, year out -- high, low and in between -- the Fleshtones have embodied the very essence of rock and roll. This great book by Joe Bonomo really gets to the heart of who the Fleshtones are, and the price they paid. Now it's up to you to check out the Fleshtones when they hit your town. And in my own defense, that fire that Keith and I started in France was really a very small fire. Not worth mentioning at all. Please. -- Peter Buck

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Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (September 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826428460
• ISBN-13: 978-0826428462
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #488,837 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The True Face and Spirit of Rock'n'Roll, September 17, 2007

By	Lexington Green (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

The best rock'n'roll show I ever saw was the Fleshtones, at the Cubby Bear probably Fall 1982. The show spilled out into the street after the power was shut off, something that had to be experienced to be believed. I saw these guys I think eight times and they always gave 110%. The Fleshtones were one of the greatest live bands ever, and possibly THE greatest. That power did not translate in all its glory to vinyl, alas. They have lived the Rock Life to the fullest, tasting the bitter dregs, and hitting the Olympian heights of crowd-pleasing frenzy -- but never making any serious money, never having a hit record ... . There is no rest for the righteous, no justice for the pure of heart, no big pile of cash for the true heroes of rock-for-its-own-sweet-sake. But there is the satisfaction of being GREAT and knowing it, whatever the world at large may do in response.

This is a great American story of guys who brought fun and excitement and happiness into the lives of thousands of people.

If they come to your town, go see them.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Final Destination: R&R Station, December 7, 2007

By	Soulboogiealex (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

R&R is not defined by its stars. Although undoubtedly R&R in their hey days Elvis, the Stones or Springsteen do not define the genre. The may make up for its aspirations, but they are not at the core of what R&R is. At its heart R&R is literally thousands of bands busting their chops in the garages and sordid basements all over the world, dreaming to make it in the big league one day. The Fleshtones have been at this game for about 30 years now, never escaping the basement. In a sense they are the text book example of R&R. Joe Bonomo's book "Sweat" captures their ongoing search for ever elusive fame perfectly. Anybody familiar with the band couldn't have thought of a better tittle to this autobiography. The Fleshtones have been guaranteed to give the best R&R show around for as long as they've been together. Yet the subtitle to sweat, "30 Years, 2.000 Shows, 1.000 Blue Whales, No Hits, No Sleep" gives the perfect summary of what to expect when reading "Sweat".

The Fleshtones story starts in a basement in Queens. Much to the dismay of the neighbors, some of the key members of what later would become the Fleshtones, throw legendary Blue Whale parties while churning out raggedy R&R, barely being able to master their instruments. A Blue Whale apparently is quite the toxic mix of various kinds of alcohol, preferably served in big barrels. That loud and lethal mix of three chord R&R would be a constant in the band's bumpy career. It would get them kicked out of their apartments, make them lose record companies, would find them in bloody brawls, turn them in the gutter but would also make living legends out of them. Although there are way to little people to recognize them. For the lucky few who fell under their spell, they are R&R best hidden deities. For the lucky few who stumbled onto their albums the Fleshtones have come to symbolize sweat drenched good times at their shows, roaring saxophones, screeching farfisa organs, rambling guitar riffs, raggedy soul crooning and pure and simple R&R.

The Fleshtones came smashed between the burgeoning Punk scene of NY city in the late seventies and back to basic superstars such as Bruce Springsteen. Like the latter the Fleshtones went back to the core of R&R. They found their inspiration in a time when 45 was king. The core of the Fleshtones, Peter Zaremba and Keith Streng found themselves in their love for the format. Swapping obscure 7" records filled with R&R, ranging from Hank Ballard and the Midnighters to the Strangeloves. At the time when Punk and Springsteen were about to burst wide open, R&R had strayed from its true path. The scene was marred by various horrific super groups, making guitar based intellectual drivel that had very little to do with R&R. Both Punk and Springsteen were a counter reaction to that drivel. The Ramones brought R&R back to its (barely) three minute essence in a loud cartoon like mess. Blondie did much the same, giving R&R a new sense of ice cold cool. Building on the foundations Punk's god fathers, the MC5 and the Stooges, had built, NY busted R&R wide open again.

"Sweat" unravels the mystery why the Fleshtones, despite a killer live reputation and rave reviews, never managed to reap the benefits of that movement. In a sense R&R was the Fleshtones final destination. Though you couldn't accuse the Fleshtones of being a retro act, the strand of R&R they tapped into just didn't gel with the all too self conscious Punk movement, especially in NY where Punk was as much high fashion as it was a new form of musical rebellion. The Fleshtones simply didn't thunder down the same tracks the Punk movement lays down. In Bonomo's excellent write up of that scene it soon becomes clear that the Fleshtones' brand of good times and party hard R&R "danced" to a different beat than the Punk movement where shaking it up was branded out of style. Punk rebelled against the drivel of the day, but wasn't about to put the fun back in R&R. The very fuel that kept the Fleshtones running.

At the same time the Fleshtones never made R&R any grander than it was. Unlike Springsteen who infused his brand of R&R with big dreams and a lingering sense of melancholy. Where R&R was the door to ultra coolness for the Punks, to Springsteen it was the door to something bigger, an escape for his small town background. R&R as a means, R&R as a promise, not an end. To the Fleshtones R&R was the final stop. They live to recreate the exitement on the records of Larry Williams, The Kingsmen, Lee Dorsey and Link Wray. The Fleshtones never aspired to anything bigger, be it a fleeting sense of cool or the realization of bigger dreams. The Fleshtones simply wanted to be R&R and indulge themselves in the accompanying lifestyle of sweaty parties deep into the night, raving live shows, sex & drugs.

It's not that the Fleshtones never dreamed of making it bigger. Bonomo's book is drenched with frustration. The Fleshtones were chasing that same all to elusive dream of R&R stardom. Save for in Paris, where they were treated like R&R royalty throughout the years, they would find that dream always more than an arm's length out of reach. Although their career seemed to be off on a promising start when they got signed at Punk legend's Marty Thau's Red Star label in 1978, the band soon hit that brick wall they would ram in to on various occasions throughout their career. Red Star folded after the recording sessions, the Fleshtones' "American Beat" single fell of radar and their debut album never properly saw light of day.

The Fleshtones would be forever stuck in the basement their story is defined by bad business decisions, botched album preparations, odd production decisions and sometimes disastrous tours drenched in and caused by a haze of alcohol and drugs. Although "Sweat" is superbly written, Joe's subject is what makes the book hard to stomach at times. I don't think that there are a lot of R&R biographies out there that are as honest and confrontational as "Sweat". Even though Joe is clearly a fan, he doesn't spare the band. Peter's and Keith's erratic moods are thrown right in their faces, they come off as troopers of R&R yet seldom as heroes. Through out the book you keep waiting for that release of success and career highs that are trade mark to most R&R biographies. That release never comes. Instead there's this uneasy sense of "what if.......". You can't help but escape the notion that with a little more luck and discipline the Fleshtones would have been inducted in the R&R Hall of fame by now, doing high priced reunion tours. In stead the Flsehtones stumble their way through their career, seemingly forever one step behind or beyond the zeit geist. Never really fitting into the Punk movement, too raggedy to go up against the super stars of the eighties, too upbeat for the chronically depressed Grunge movement and finally too old for the recent Garage revival.

Yet despite all the hard knocks and set backs the Fleshtones have managed to keep that train rolling down the track. They are still living it up on the road, albeit with moderate amounts of drugs and alcohol these days, garanteed to give you one of the best R&R shows you'll ever witness. They seem to have found a stable record deal at Yep-Records, issuing some of the best albums in their career. A new Fleshtones album is slated for early next year. I don't think it will make any dents in the charts. Meaning that quite a few people will deny themselves some of the finest R&R there is to find.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The American beat that can't be..., September 13, 2007

By	Lindsay Hutton (Scotland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A great read that reminds me exactly why I keep bashing my brains out against a seemingly impregnable brick wall. If you listen to the band while reading, you'll hear that the lack of commercial hits these guys have been chasing for more than a quarter century certainly isn't down to them. They have powers way in excess of whatever the alleged hipsters are offering you and if you haven't seen them live then I envy you. Joe's documentation of the band's struggle is a fantastic portrait of a combo who will go to death defying ends to deliver what is precious to all of us. A music book about a band with a story worth telling, you don't get many of those to the pound these days.