May 25, 1979 Gusto concert review: Tom Robinson Band at Stage One

 

Another night of surprises at Harvey and Corky’s Stage One.

May 25, 1979 

British rocker Tom Robinson overwhelms Stage One crowd

“This is the first time we played in Upstate New York,” Tom Robinson said as his band came back for an encore, “so we really didn’t know what to expect.”

         Neither did the crowd of 200 at Harvey and Corky’s Stage One in Clarence. After all, Robinson is an unfamiliar sort of British import – a gay, rock and rolling human rights activist who’s gotten minimum airplay locally. But before Thursday night was over, everyone’s expectations had been fulfilled to overflowing.

         The Tom Robinson Band established its credentials by laying down a thick chunk of sound. This would not be a rinky-dink folksong session or a jagged piece of New Wave. It was nothing more than a lead guitar reinforced by keyboards, backed by rock-steady bass and drums.

         But it became more than that. The first inklings came in the second song. The fans who have Robinson’s debut album, “Power in the Darkness,” recognized it as the bleak and oppressed “Winter of ’79.” Robinson half-sang, half-shouted the words, but the arrangement was too full for them and the message was lost in the music.

         “Blue Murder” was a different story. Robinson introduced it as “a song about the evils of drinking beer.” Seems the beer-drinker in question was kicked to death by the police who arrested him. What followed was an angry song, a rallying song that had guitarist Danny Kustow and keyboardman Ian Parker trading siren-like wails.

         Robinson didn’t wait for it to bring the house down. He slipped immediately into “Grey Cortina,” a zippy number about the ultimate good old car, and followed that by asking: “How many people here enjoy going out Saturday night and getting drunk and getting into a fight? Well, this is for the rest of us.”

         The song was “We Don’t Need No Aggravation” and it kicked off a sequence of human rights numbers that included “Glad to Be Gay” and the clenched-fist “Power in the Darkness.”

         At this point, Robinson ducked to the rear of the stage and reappeared in a jacket and a wrinkled old-man mask. “Good evening,” he said, “my name is Margaret Thatcher.” The Thatcher character proceeded to denounce everything as a Communist front: “Remember, the first six letters of ‘demonstration’ spell ‘demons.’”

         From there, the set ended in a fury with Robinson’s biggest hit, “2-4-6-8 Motorway,” and an even faster “Up Against the Wall.” The band came back for two enthusiastic encores – “Don’t Take No for an Answer” and the Rolling Stones’ “Jumping Jack Flash,” with guitarist Kustow doing the singing.

         Compared to someone like Mick Jagger, Robinson was Mr. Normal, the very picture of restraint and reason. In his white shirt and narrow tie, he came across as a no-nonsense nice guy who could register both rocking intensity and a sweet grin.

         Opening were the Romantics, a highly-promising young quartet from Detroit dressed all in red and black. They played with a vengeance and worked the crowd continuously. The word backstage was that they’d just signed with Nemperor Records and would have an album out by September. Watch for them.

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IN THE PHOTO: The Tom Robinson Band in a 1979 press photo.

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FOOTNOTE: Whatever became of Tom Robinson? America lost track of him, but the Brits still know him well.  After the Tom Robinson Band broke up two months after this date, he went on to co-write several songs with Elton John, then formed another band, Sector 27, which disappeared after his management company went bankrupt. Robinson had a nervous breakdown and escaped to Berlin to recover, then rebuilt a career as a solo artist and BBC radio show host. Wikipedia reports he now identifies as bisexual. One of his 20-plus albums is entitled "Having It Both Ways."

Meanwhile, this wasn't the first time The Romantics visited Stage One. They opened for The Police in March 1979.

Setlist.fm mentions only one song – "Power in the Darkness" – from the Stage One show. Here's what Tom Robinson did a week later at My Father's Place in Roslyn, L.I.:

All Right All Night

The Winter of '79

Too Good to be True

Black Angel

Martin

Blue Murder

Grey Cortina

Bully for You

Glad to be Gay

Power in the Darkness

Right On Sister

2-4-6-8 Motorway

Up Against the Wall

Don't Take No for an Answer