Ron Day

The Bla, Bla, Bla, Blases

It was the two little geeklets Rob and Bill who began at age 11 or 9 or 15 to realize their mutual love for music or maybe it was a mutual love for the sound the cat made when they pulled its tail or the sound their sister(s) made when they beat the girls with drumsticks on the backs of their heads. It could have been a mutual love for the Batman theme or Led Zeppelin or maybe they had nothing in common and they were neighbors or Cub Scouts in the same pack with a mutual love for the Buddy System.

I was in West Long Branch though and they were somewhere in North Jersey so I really don’t know how these artists came together but they did and the Blases, a great band that after 15 or 17 or 12 years may be ready to turn the corner onto Success St., began their career in the field of entertainment. They played high school dances, bar-b-ques, fire engine wetdowns, Tupperware parties, getting real popular, almost famous, getting paid for a few shows, and now it is 1990.

Like most other great New Jersey bands, some of the members are from the Jersey Shore. And I don’t think it’s any coincidence that soon after Rob and Bill (Wagner and Donohue, guitars and keyboards) recruited the quixotic Joe DeLorenzo (4 pound bass, sort of from the Shore, Debbie Gibson fan) and the thoughtful Robbie Angello (drums, eats Quisp, loves himself, from W.L.B.) that the drunk people in the bars they were playing began to lift up their heads and notice the band. And a couple with some bucks lifted up his and her heads from their drinks and paid attention and signed the band onto their production company and now of course the Blases own a Lear Jet and a football team and all attend the Betty Ford Clinic. No, no, not quite. The Blases have a record out on Permanent Rave Records that did quite well in Monmouth County and Belgium. It is a very fun rather rocking groovy little pop package. They have a video that gets played on MTV’s 120 Minutes and Post Modern  shows in addition to occasional airtime between the heavyweights. It is a really cute video with clips from old Super 8 home movies showing Rob and Billy when they were obnoxious kids being bratty and acting very silly. So little has changed. Also, because the Blases are, well, good, the local partnership for the promotion of good music and trendy haircuts, WHTG-FM and the Green Parrot Rock Club, have done loads of good for the band by helping them get exposure. And, God save the Queen and white America’s cultural hearth, the Blases may soon tour Europe.

Don’t be lame, get away from the blue tube, put on your high-top sneakers and go to the Fast Lane in Asbury Park on Thursday, June 28, and dance to a swell band. Or listen to Rob’s lyrics on how Catholic school and suburbia twisted his mind or listen to Billy’s incredible tambourine skills. Bring a date, geek out, tip the bartender.