When I was a wee impressionable lad, and the holy trinity of Kiss, Ted Nugent, and Aerosmith ruled the earth (1977), even then, I had guilty pleasures. Some too damaging to my cred, that had to remain secret (I have always loved ABBA).
But one, my love for Angel, well…I let my freak flag fly! We even played Wild and Hot in my first band that actually played to an audience.
The Largest Hole in my concert-going life was a double bill in 1979 at the Akron Civic Theater (one of those atmospheric 1930s movie palaces that were meant to mimic an Italian garden, with stars and projected clouds in the ceiling) which was comprised of Angel and opening act the Godz.
But the show fell on Good Friday that year, and my guitarist pal (whose dad was attending the seminary to become a permanent deacon) and I were denied this experience, because our parents were too Catholic to let us attend such a blasphemous show on the anniversary of the crucifixion.
But this Saturday, my drummer and I will fix this! The current version of Angel is playing a local concert club (it’s a shitty bar that has bands). The lineup is all hired guns, but does feature lead singer Frank DiMino, and lead guitar player Punky Meadows, he of the beautiful shiny hairdo, and presumably still in possession of the pooched out succulence of his insolent,
pouting rictus!I will assume none of you know either of these bands, but Angel had 6 albums on Casablanca after Gene Simmons discovered them in DC, and threatened to take Kiss to another label if Neil Bogart didn’t sign Angel immediately. Their stage show also featured the infamous plexiglass pods spoofed in This is Spinal Tap.
BTW, I ended up seeing the Godz a few times over the years, and was sort of friends with their guitar player, Mark Chatfield when we both worked at Akron Music Center, though it was only over the phone, as he worked at our Columbus store. Until he took the gig playing for Bob Seger….
ETA: welp, I am at my desk listening to Angel’s Sinful album, and just remembered my band didn’t play Wild and Hot, we played L.A. Lady. Hey it was freshman year (probably spring of 1981-jeebus, 42 years).
ETA II: Angel was very good last night. Shockingly so, in fact. The mix was a bit over compressed, but the young guns in the band were quite good , and went with the cheese factor admirably.
I shouldn’t be surprised that Frank and Punky were so good. My band is coming up on 70, and still kill it every night, but they didn’t take 30 years off between gigs!
My guys wear Beatle wigs, so I can’t be annoyed that Frank and Punky do as well, but I wish they put as much into it as 64 does to make them seem real. They both look like post season Spirit Halloween clearance items.
But as we were leaving the show, my buddy and I decided that the music of Angel, for all it’s cheese, really needs the *majesty* of ROCK to sell it. Watching a couple balding, gray 70 year olds just wouldn’t fly.
Three local bands opened. None were very good. On the other hand, they were playing out, so fair point to them. But I was actually in physical pain after standing in one place on a cement floor for 3 hours before the headline act came on. My inner Murtaugh was screaming, “I’m getting too old for this shit!”
For what it’s worth, I am happy to be able to say I’ve seen Angel now. If there are actual seats available, I will go see them again.
And the Tap angle? My buddy saw them at Public Hall in Cleveland in 1978. And the pods malfunctioned!
