A veteran journalist with expertise in music, food and wine, international sports, health and fitness, Claudia Perry wrote about the Jacksonville music scene for the Florida Times-Union from 1981 through 1985. Since then, she has gone on to become a member of the 2010 nominating committee for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; a four-time Jeopardy! Champion in 1997, semifinalist in 1998 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, and semifinalist in 2002 Million Dollar Masters tournament; and a Grammy nominee in 1999 for her liner notes on the album From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music.

Claudia Perry in Jacksonville, FL circa 1984

Claudia is former president of the Society for American Baseball Research and a former board member of the Bering Community Service Foundation (a nonprofit provider of day care, dental services, and spiritual support to people living with AIDS).

Her extensive international travels include Finland, Malawi, Ethiopia, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Antarctica.

She is currently volunteering with the New Jersey chapter of the American Diabetes Foundation, as well as the New York chapter of the Crohn’s Disease and Colitis Foundation.

Claudia continues to write for numerous publications and blogs, and is involved in marketing for Boordy Vineyards of Maryland.

Here are some of Claudia Perry’s recollections of the Jacksonville music scene:

I have more than few memories from that time that stand out. One was the phone call after I had written something about country music where the caller asked, “How can a (N-word) know anything about country music?” I responded by telling said caller about Rufus “Tee Tot” Payne, the black street musician in Birmingham, Ala. Who basically taught Hank Williams Sr. how to play guitar.

I remember driving up to Atlanta to see Public Image play a show sponsored by 688. One of my best friends in the world told me that 688 never booked Stevie Stiletto, putting them in elite company with Octopus something, the band that later became the Black Crowes.

I did hear from Mike, the bass player from Stevie Stiletto, when I lived in NJ. He was in New York at the time. Hearing from him made me smile. Seeing Ray in the documentary trailer made me a little sad. I miss some of those days but not all of them.

Other moments: Seeing the Seldom Scene at Applejack’s with the late John Duffy and Mike Auldridge. I was working newside when the Victory tour came to town so I managed to work as a music critic for 20 years and never saw Michael Jackson perform live. Ditto Madonna.

I was called out on Rock 105 for dissing a Journey-Loverboy show at the Coliseum. I was right then and I am right now. I called Madonna “a third-rate disco singer” in the Times-Union. Nothing has happened to change my opinion.

I remember that Jacksonville Coliseum sounded a lot better than some of newer arenas I later went to echoes and all. I saw a Hank Williams Jr. show there that could have rivaled any Courtney Love meltdown for egotistical, stoned incoherence. Also saw Prince with the Time and Vanity 6, one of the best shows I ever saw. Also, Van Halen, the Firm (!), various incarnations of 38 Special, the Rossington Collins band, Skyy, Bad Company etc.

I saw U2 at the Civic Auditorium (where the symphony played) and got kissed by Adam Clayton after show.

I was threatened with death on my home phone once but was never sure if it had to do with anything I wrote about bands.

I wrote a lot about various Van Zants even though I arrived in Jax post-plane crash. I heard from Mike Campbell’s mom (he of the Heartbreakers) and Green of Scritti Politti’s Mom (she lived in St. Augustine).

I drove to Daytona to go see the Bad Brains at a gay bar called the Zodiac and don’t regret it.

Mike Butler in the 80s, photo by Claudia Perry

 On a more recent note, I walked one and a half marathons for the NJ chapter of the American Diabetes Association to raise money for research. My diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes came along with my diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. I am involved with the DC metro chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and our Team Challenge group just completed a half marathon in Napa/Sonoma. We are behind on our fundraising so the link below can still take donations if you would be so kind.

Rob Ack in the 80s, photo by Claudia Perry

Steve Gallagher in the 80s, photo by Claudia Perry

Guitarist Steve Gallagher and drummer Rob Ack, with the band Stevie Stiletto at the Blighted Area, Jacksonville Beach, 1980s. Photo by Claudia Perry.

Much thanks to Dan Macdonald for contributing the following article!

The Music Beat

by Dan Macdonald

 Covering the Jacksonville music scene for the Florida Times-Union from the mid ‘80s through the mid ‘90s I found myself and the city’s musicians searching for the next Jacksonville sound.  The legacy and shadow of Southern Rock had defined Jacksonville to the nation.  When I came along, Athens was in vogue, as was the hair band bastardization of metal from LA only to be replaced by the disgruntled dirges of grunge from Seattle.  Jacksonville had its shot, leaving the next generation of homegrown bands to cringe with the ever-presented drunken scream of “Free Bird.”

That said, the music played here was invigorating.  Bands offered a wide array of music styles that avoided the sameness of a single defining genre.  The massive bars like Playground South had closed, yielding to smaller venues.  My penchant for convenience, and the desire to avoid long drives home after closing time, saw me hanging mostly at the beach.  This left other sections of town wanting for more coverage.  I offer my apologies.  The convenience of blues at Pier 7, the never-ending array of newness at Einstein A Go-Go as well at the fun music provided at Ragtime, Sun Dog Diner or Northshore Grill made it too tempting to stay on my side of the ditch.

Wracking my cranium to recall the names of favorite rock acts leaves me wishing I had a better memory.  An all too short list would include the big band sound of Not Tonight I’ve Got the Blues Band.  I appreciated the wit and talent of Ed Cotton’s rock medleys performed with Pretty Boy Freud. The energy of Piewackit and The Fenwicks shook the walls at the Dockside.  Mike Angelo and the Idols showcased one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard in the person of Mike Fitzgerald. “Little Murders” and “Backstabbing Bitch” provide raw emotion that rock music rarely touched then or today.

The pure musicianship of the many guitarists this town has produced leaves me wondering why record labels weren’t clamoring to have the talents of Billy Bowers, Steve Shanholtzer, Kevin Banks, Arvid Smith, Jimmy Sexton, Gary Starling and Greg Baril on their rosters.

It is my good fortune allowed me to meet and befriend Mike Shackelford.  He’s a man whose music never wears thin on me.

I miss Gary Smalley who left us way too soon.

With the arrival of rap and record-scratching deejays who considered themselves artists, I lost interest in popular music.  It showed in my writing as I was complaining like the old man on the block who demanded that hip hoppers, boy bands, and grunge acts get off my lawn.  Having to endure the late-night vulgarity of 2 Live Crew three times in year made me nauseous. The pure banality of sitting through a multi-act rap performance in the Coliseum, where the downtime between acts lasted longer then the performances themselves, left me dreading the work.

Speaking of the Coliseum, we complained about the old barn.  It was an echo chamber, but couldn’t help itself as it was built before the rock concert was invented.  I wish I would have taken my seat — Seat 1, row 9, section RR as a souvenir.  As the seating was configured, it was a lone seat, that allowed me to stretch out my long legs and offered me solitude. I never had to explain to a fan sitting next to me that I was indeed reviewing the show.  I didn’t ask for their opinion nor did I want it inflicted upon me.  However, the thought of the hair band groupies and their slutty outfits walking across the Coliseum floor still brings a smile to my face.

I’m a believer that the music beat belongs to the young and single.  I’m neither these days, so it’s best that my writing serves another audience.  I enjoyed my time on the beat, the experiences it offered, the hundreds of concerts I saw and the opportunity to meet many multitalented and giving individuals.

Allow me to leave you with my definition of a music critic: “A music critic is one who writes about people who are much more talented than himself and complains they are not performing up to his standards.”

Bill: Tell us about the beginning, when EU was called the Southeast Entertainer?

Rick:  The crazy saga of my tenure at the Southeast Entertainer began in the early 1980s. Tony Trotti started the paper in his house. I joined him at his first location on Merrill Road. It came out every week. I wrote a variety of pieces, and also sold advertising. Before long I was writing full time–4 to 6 pieces a week.

 In the late 1980s, Tony changed the name to First Coast Entertainer.  In 2001, Tony died of colon cancer and Will Henley bought the business. Will changed the name to Entertaining U, or EU. I continued writing for him full time until 2008, when he the economic apocalypse hit. Suddenly, he couldn’t afford to pay my salary. Will then made EU a monthly publication and all his writers, including me, went part time.

Now, I’m happily semi-retired. I’ll be 70 in January. I still write movie reviews and other articles, which appear on the Will’s EU Jacksonville website and my webzine www.rickraw.com.

 Bill: What is your background?

 Rick: Before my long tenure with EU, I was Jacksonville Bureau Chief for a magazine called Entertainment Revue–a glossy Florida film business publication based in Orlando. I would go out on film shoots and write documentary pieces on behind the scenes of North Florida’s movie shoots. After a few years, the rag folded.

After high school, I attended Florida Southern for two years majoring in English. Then I dropped out and joined the Air Force. After that, I was working for United Technologies near Hartford Connecticut and attending the University of Hartford, majoring in engineering with a minor in creative writing. The company was paying half my tuition. I dropped out at the end of my junior year. Throughout my college years, I wrote for various underground and college rags. So, writing has been a part of my adult life for the past 40 years. 

Bill: Do you have any particular memories of Applejacks?

Rick: Man, Applejacks was the epicenter of major blues and folk acts during the 1980s. I covered many fine artists there such as John Sebastian of The Loving Spoonful, John Lee Hooker, who I interviewed, John Hammond, Richie Havens, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, Leon Russell, Taj Mahal, JJ Cale, Livingston Taylor, and many more I just can’t think of right now.

In 1987, I wrote some satirical material for my sets with The Crawfish of Love. I performed as The Pope as Elvis. The band had TV monitors playing tape loops and other wild visual oddities. It was insane. I was just a guest artist for a handful of shows. But The Crawfish of Love was a wildly creative band headed by David Roberts. The place was packed for the major shows, and they had great pizza. One of the original owners built The Loop restaurant into a success.

Bill: Do you have any particular special memories of the Jax music scene in general? 

Rick: During my many years writing about Jacksonville’s music scene, it was vibrant, with new creative ideas flying around. When I covered the first incarnation of Stevie Stiletto, at a bar called Manapaters, they opened the show bashing in the screens of a bunch of TV sets and then threw beer at the audience. The owner then threw them out. I knew then that Ray was an innovator to watch. He was punk before the word “punk” entered the lexicon. David Gall and Arvid Smith had some crazy bands, like the Great Invisibles. Arvid had hand wired all available foot pedals onto a pedestal and sang into a Radio Shack mic hanging from the ceiling. Over the years, Stevie Ray Stiletto continued to press the limits of performance art. A few of his shows were so out there, it caused a sensation among the underground scene. There are many other stories, too numerous to mention.

Original version of Chain of Fools, 1990. L-R: Ken Nasta, Michael Fitzgerald, Kelly Sisson, Mike Pearson, Ed Richardson. This band kicked ass! Larry Cohen said it was one of the hottest bands he had ever seen, and he is hard to impress.

It’s going to take more than one blog entry to discuss the many phases of Michael Fitzgerald’s brilliant, and still ongoing, musical career. For now I would like to post a couple of pictures from Mike’s Facebook page. You can see more at   http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41&id=100001373970435#!/profile.php?id=100001373970435

Leon Wilkeson from Lynyrd Skynyrd sitting in with Mike Angelo and the Idols aboard the Annabelle Lee. Billy Bowers is on lead guitar on Leon's right, out of frame. Kelly Sisson is taking a break, seated on right, behind Mike Fitzgerald.

From the enduring novelty that is a Florida basement, Jacksonville’s Milk Bar music club served up a steady diet of punk rock throughout the ’90s. It also served hip-hop. And new wave. And reggae, techno and industrial. Oh, and don’t forget goth, emo, progressive house, ska, glam rock, art rock, alt-rock, grunge rock and rockabilly.

Read entire article

The remarkable Michael Fitzgerald: Musician, Educator, Writer, Performer, and more.

Michael Fitzgerald’s extensive North Florida Music Hall of Fame, via Larry Cohen Productions.