From a More than Occasional but Less than Regular Marble Bar Performer
(Relive the '80s for more on the Philly music scene.)

1. The Rooters’ Trip to Baltimore, 1980
2. New Wave: It’s All About the Lyrics
3. Dancing: Pogo or Slam

4. Where’s the Sex?
5. Not in the Dressing Room
6. The Ending Begins
7. The Audience, Not the Band

I still have a Rooters calendar listing eight Marble Bar appearances in 1980, several of them two-night, weekend bookings. (After a while, LesLee, as did most club owners, switched to booking bands for one-nighters only.) LesLee worked hard to match the Rooters with local acts that would improve our draw. Her choices usually succeeded: At most shows, we were greeted by fervent crowds storming the dance floor as soon as we played the first notes of our “wild, dirty, and fun” music. [November 1980 review of the Rooters' live at the Marble]

Larry’s lyrics, starting with “The Misogynist,” often centered on a fictional man who’s rude to the women who love him. In October 1980, a new version of the mythological jerk appeared on the Rooters’ first and only record release, “Ultraman in Surf Villa,” backed by the punk-rock anthem “TMI.” I was always a natural on stage, but it was my natural knack for promoting that helped push the single into a college radio hit.

Before we recorded "Ultraman," Bob Jay left the band. We never replaced him; instead we gigged as a four-piece unit.

At every show, I would see at least one guy in the crowd who resembled the punk-cartoon Ultraman drawn on the record sleeve by our friend, Debbie. In Baltimore, a young man who identified himself as Adolf Kowalski fit the bill. He attended all our Marble shows, and at one, his group, Thee Katatonix, also performed. Noted in my journal: in March 1981, Adolf took three singles to distribute to Record & Tape Collector in Dundalk, Md., his home town.

I met Edith Massey at the Marble on Oct. 25, 1980, and wrote in my record-sales journal that I sold “Edith the Egg Lady” a copy of our single wholesale ($1.25) for her store in Baltimore. Chick of Chick’s Legendary Records also bought some that night. At another show, he acquired a few of the more popular, red-vinyl versions.

My 1981 calendar is lost, but from the journal and from mailing list postcards, I see the Rooters played the Marble four times that year. Our May 23 show also featured TruFax & The Insaniacs from D.C.

Realizing that most people either couldn’t hear or didn’t care about our lyrics, Larry wrote “The Wolf (in Pop Song Clothing).” This became a crowd favorite at the Marble, as I encouraged the audience to howl along.

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