by Steve Solomon, 1997
The first incarnation of the notorious Hooligan Band came together in 1978 in the frosty North Country of upstate N.Y. The band was then comprised of Carl Mateo (keys & lead vocals), Don LaSala (lead guitar & vocals), Johnny "Cannonball" Stevens (rhythm guitar & vocals), Glenn Brown (bass), Billy Klock (traps & percussion), Marji Cooney (lead & harmony vocals), Brian McKenna (lead vocals, bongos & beer keg), and Howie Zeger (alto sax & chaos factor).
In addition to Mateo, LaSala, and Stevens, contributing lyrics were Carl Holt, Mike Dance a More, and myself. The road crew at various times consisted of Mark "Marmaduke" Bilodeau, the late George "Faithful Indian Scout" Anderson, and Alan "What Planet Are You From" Bernstein. I was at the lights, and Peter Keppler and Roger Cooney shared duties at the sound board.
Meanwhile, back at the Home Office, Mike was booking the band with the able assistance of Office Manager Chris Orellana. JoAnne Mulhull, Dee Dance a More, Roger, Marji, Chris and I contributed the art for flyers, posters and cassette and album covers, some of which will be featured at this site.
Hooligan's style might best have been termed an original amalgam of gut-bucket blues, space-jazz, psychedelic stomps, lithe caribbean rhythms, and countrified funk. Lyrically, they ranged from the bizarre to the romantically sublime.
Since the 70's, a couple of bass players, Bill Manley and Kent Barclay, have come on the scene and moved on, with Don "Dawson" Lawson settling in on bass & vocals in the early 80's. At that time, the Reverend Jeffrey Lee Witcher Barnes III also joined in on percussion, and the band and a couple of dozen chosen family relocated to Northampton, MA. During that era, the band would often be seen on stage double-billed with fellow psychedelic rangers, Martian Highway, and were a mainstay at the late, lamented and legendary Rahar's, as well as The Blue Wall at UMass and The Rusty Nail. It also bears mention mention that Hooligan played at damn near every college campus in the Northeastern U.S.
But among their favorite haunts were Alpha Delta Phi house each Halloween, and the ol' Kappa Alpha lodge on Fitzhugh Ludlow Day, both at Union College, Schenectady, N.Y. The tremendous popularity among the folks at Union resulted in several larger gigs, as well, including an opener for Jerry Jeff Walker before a crowd of a thousand. Hooligan's infamous "Dreadful Greed" shows at the school's Old Chapel eventually led to their being banned from the campus by the powers that be. Utterly unfounded allegations of certain unsanctioned behaviours among the undergrads was the excuse. Unbowed, the group returned nonetheless to great acclaim as Nagilooh, the Eskimo Band.
By the end of their original run in the mid-eighties, the band's style had expanded to include what this observer terms "Punk on Some Kind'a Mushrooms", and an even heavier beat than before. Whatever you'd call it, it embodied the musical sense of adventure and good humor that had always been part and parcel of the "Hooligan Way".
Today, each of the players have moved on to their individual pursuits, musical and otherwise. Still, the band and kindred souls continue to gather for several yearly celebrations, and are now going on to two decades' worth of spirited nonsense and hot, sweet music. At their annual 10th Anniversay Celebration at Bucksteep Manor (heading for its sixth reprise; go figure), they are typically joined by such luminaries at John Coster & Suzannah Keith, guitar virtuoso Matt Smith, master of the Hammond B3, Tony Perrino, and the redoubtable bassist, Chris Peck. A good time has all!
