Gusto Stories 1978

Discovering two local stars in a little-known corner of the entertainment galaxy.  July 7, 1978 Ventriloquism         Kenny Byrd’s got a frog in his throat. Freddy the Frog. He’s also got a bird and a dog and a witch down there, ready to jabber at a moment’s notice, but none of them are quite as boisterous and irrepressible as Freddy.         “Who is he?” Freddy whispers aside to Kenny Byrd after Byrd brings him from his sack. Byrd explains that this is an interview for the newspaper. Freddy responds with a few wisecracks and the conversation quickly becomes three-way – two humans and a hand puppet.         If that seems a little flaky, then blame it on the frog. Try to leave Freddy out of things and he’ll butt right in. As for talking to him, it would be weirder not to. When Freddy talks, Freddy’s lips are the ones that move, not Kenny Byrd’s.    ...

  Was this one of Buffalo's best-ever live bands? Lots of people thought so. June 16, 1978  The Jumpers: Edging into the big time The Jumpers jam into Steve Ralbovsky's living room on Buffalo's West Side and they're a bit restless. No wonder. Coming up is their baptism in big-time underground rock 'n roll. "At the end of the summer," Ralbovsky promises, "we're going to sit down and reassess everything." There'll be plenty to talk over. The plunge began last Friday in Toronto's punk-rock emporium, the Horseshoe. It'll continue next week when their first single is released, complete with picture sleeve and nationwide distribution courtesy of the Los Angeles-based aficionados at Bomp Records. The next big date is July 1 – a concert in the Armory Tavern on Connecticut Street. What happens after that depends on how Ralbovsky, concert director at Buffalo State College last year, makes out in his efforts to get the band into ...

  Sometimes the Buffalo News archives cough up something that the world has totally forgotten. June 9, 1978 Gusto feature Billy Brite Band Their boogie fans may not recognize them It's a tune the Billy Brite Band will never dare to strike up in their live club dates around the area. Just think of the reaction their boogieing, boozing blues-rock fans might register to a number called "The Ice Cream Cone Song." It would be like showing them singer Billy McEwen's baby pictures. "No, we don't do it at all," McEwen notes during a break in the band's regular Tuesday night stand at the Bona Vista on Hertel Avenue. "It's not part of the gig. That's probably why it was so much fun to record it. It was such a change." True. McEwen usually doesn't do this kind of thing. He has a voice that sounds like one of the Billy Goats Gruff. He used to rasp out a carbon copy of Joe Cocker's sandpaper snarl back in the days when Cocker...

  Another visit with my imaginary nemesis. June 2, 1978, Gusto record review         There was no answer at the doorbell and I was about to leave a note for that legendary media wizard, Jethro T. Megahertz, when I heard his deep, well-modulated, school-of-broadcasting voice waft down from somewhere above the treetops. I looked up to see him adjusting something on a huge steel superstructure.         “Hold on, I’m coming, you benighted typewriter jockey,” he shouted. “It’ll just take a minute to get down to your level.”         “What on earth is that contraption?” I yelled back. “Did somebody sell you the Eiffel Tower?”         “Au contraire,” he chuckled as his hand-tooled leather boots descended the final set of stairs. “This is the world’s most powerful radio antenna. Now I don’t have to wait for the local album-oriented stations to...

  A glimpse of two Buffalo music business legends as they strike out on their own.   May 19, 1978, Gusto feature Music Fanatics             “Could be wild” is the way Bruce Moser and Doug Dombrowski answer the Mickey Mouse phones in their Elmwood Avenue office. That’s the name of their company. Could Be Wild.           They’re one month into an innovation in the record-plugging business and they’re beginning to find that the possibilities are endless for an outfit that combines promotion to the radio stations with marketing in the stores. Could be a bonanza.           For instance, there’s the matter of the record newsletter. Radio programmers read these behind-the-scenes industry tip sheets the way horse players study the racing forms. There are a number of reliable sources for information on singles, but for albums the field has been virtually b...