After almost doing it big – twice – the Jersey band’s musical fraternity continues to rock
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Even seasoned songwriters like Steve and Brian Butler – the South Jersey siblings behind rock bands Quincy and Smash Palace – would struggle to tell their story in one piece. Or even an album.
Their groups were much more successful than most, but never achieved success. A beloved member of Quincy was stabbed to death in 1976; Quincy lost the use of his name after lawyers for producer Quincy Jones threatened costume; and the end Tom Small once publicly trashed a song the butlers wrote for the Byrds legend Roger mcguinn.
But the joy of the Butler brothers to create a solid, melodic and sincere rock continues. They and their bands share a hard-earned reputation for the energy and musicality of their shows at legendary New York venues like CBGB and in countless clubs, cafes and bars in South Jersey, Philly and beyond.
âAs Quincy, we toured the Midwest in the summer of 76 on Brian’s Volkswagen bus,â Steve said during an interview with Inquirer with him and his brother last month in Haddon Heights, where they have grown. âOne night we stayed in our tour manager’s mom’s basement in Minneapolis.â
Smash Palace is due to give a concert at the McLaughlin-Norcross Memorial Dell in Haddon Heights Park June 16. Smash Palace’s latest album, 21, is the group’s 13th album and will be released this summer; there is a link to the new song, “Strange things are happening” on the group’s website. Brian co-wrote the songs and sang on the album but no longer does live shows with the band.
Raised in a family that deeply appreciated American popular music – their mother, Florence T. Butler, wrote songs that big bands performed live on a Camden radio station – the brothers aspired to rock like the Beatles. , Zombies and other British Mid-1960s Invasion Bands.
âBrian’s very first band practiced in our living room,â said Steve, 65, singer and guitarist. He is also a retiree Haddon Township High School history teacher with an adult daughter and two grandchildren.
âOur mother was very supportive and loved music. Our house at 10th and Garden was where everyone gathered. It was the place to be, âhe added.
âI was in a band with a friend who loved the Rolling Stones, and Steve was really looking forward to participating,â said Brian, 72, a graphic designer who lives in Merchantville.
âI suggested that we write songs together. We wrote our first song, ‘Think I’ll Go and Find Her’, when Steve was 12 and I was 17. “
The brothers formed Give and Take, their first group, in 1968 after Brian graduated from Haddon Heights High School. Steve was still in college.
âI rode a bike to practice and the other guys in the band were like, ‘Oh my gosh our lead singer is riding a bike,’â Steve said. âOur first concert was at Paul VI high school. These dances were huge, and Hy lit, the DJ from Philly, introduced the group. I was petrified.
Even then, the butlers knew there was something special going on between them musically. âWhen you sing harmonies with your brother,â said Brian, âit sounds better than [with] someone else.”
Brothers Alex and Gerald Takach had recently moved to Haddon Heights and were auditioning for a high school talent show when Steve first heard them perform. “They stopped me in my tracks,” he said.
From Los Angeles, where he is CEO of a video production company, Gerald Takach, who uses the last name Emerick professionally, recalls that the four brothers have become a cohesive creative force as a group.
“We didn’t have a real job, and we were penniless and lived in a house in Collingswood where no respectable family would ever have lived, with some furniture that we found in the trash,” he said. declared.
âBut we were in seventh heaven. There was an old upright piano in the dining room and a drumset in the living room. It was like a songwriting co-op, âadded Emerick, who has contributed or co-wrote many Quincy tracks. One of them was “Quincy Girl”, a tribute to a street dancer from Philly whose name has become that of the group itself.
âWe really got our sea legs playing on that Midwestern tour in ’76,â he said, then paused.
“Maybe our first comeback gig was JC Dobbs’ on August 13, when my brother Alex was killed.”
During a break from what Emerick remembers from a “spectacular” show at the legendary South Street bar, Alex, who lived a few blocks away, returned home to look for a jacket.
According to the police report, Alex was returning to the bar “when he was approached” by a man “who struck up a brief conversation before. [producing] a knife and [stabbing] Alex once on the left side of his chest.
The suspect âfled south on Orianna Street. Alex walked over to the bar, where he collapsed outside on the sidewalk. Police … transported Alex to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced at 12:05 am. The reason is unknown.
No arrests have been made and the case remains unresolved. Alex was 24.
âI didn’t think I would get so emotional now,â Emerick said, stopping again. âAlex and I had this incredible affinity for music. It was as if a twin was dying.
The Butler brothers were also devastated. âAlex was my best friend throughout high school,â Steve said. âWe hung out every day. “
Brian said, “I I just couldn’t believe it had happened. It was impossible. I remember being so distraught, and Ger was almost heartwarming me. In the weeks that followed, we practically left it to him to decide. [whether to continue the band]. But it was what Alex would have wanted, and it encouraged us to go.
Quincy also received a boost in 1977 when keyboardist Wally Smith, aka “Metro”, joined the group. A player at ease in both jazz and rock, Smith brought Quincy his enthusiasm for Elvis Costello and other post-punk and new wave rockers from the UK and New York.
âI was playing in other bands, and I met these guys from Quincy a lot and they said, ‘We want to steal you. Do you have room for another group?
âIt was in the ’70s. The mindset was that everyone wanted good things for each other, and I said,’ Sure ‘,â added Smith, who teaches at the Rock School Main Line at Berwyn; he also plays with Smash Palace.
By 1978, Quincy had become what Steve called “a refined machine” and responded to a Village Voice ad for the CBGB live auditions. âWe played at 4 am in front of an audience of five and had no response for weeks,â he said.
It turned out that the legendary owner of the club, the late Hilly Kristal, loved Quincy so much that he wanted to deal with them. In those bygone days when a recording contract with a major record company was the main route to a major radio play, Quincy found himself courted by the majors.
They signed with Columbia in 1979. âA golden moment,â said Brian.
But getting out of their management contract with Kristal, along with other issues, delayed Quincy’s debut album by a year. They made a video (a feathery-haired young woman from the 80s falls in love with their album cover at the mall) and were on tour to promote the release of the record when they received the cease and desist letter. lawyers for Quincy Jones.
In 1982, after attempts to make a second album failed – an EP under the band’s new name Lulu temple was eventually released – Quincy was gone. But in 1984, the Butlers’ new group, Smash Palace, had a sleeker look, songs with lots of hooks, and a second recording deal with a major record company. âIt was like winning the lottery twice,â said Brian.
Jane Evans, who helped her late husband Chris Evans run Smash Palace, remains a fan.
âThey were such great guys, and not all bands were,â said Evans of Los Angeles, where she had a long film production career. âI loved their music and really believed in them. They were talented and everyone who got involved with them thought they were really going to make it.
But “the week our record comes out, our A&R guy is leaving Epic and going to Polygram,” Steve said. After asking to be released from their contract for a better deal, which failed, Smash Palace took a hiatus that lasted until 1999. The band signed with an independent label called Zip and released 11 more albums.
The next 21 is released by In the Pocket, an independent label led by David Uosikkinen, founding member of the Hooters and drummer of Smash Palace. Six of the 10 songs on the new album were recorded at Gradwell House studio in Haddon Heights.
Making music âis in the blood. This is what we do, âsaid Brian. âIn the past, when I walked away, I always had the feeling that something was missing. We played in venues where the crowd went wild. We have experienced this.
Steve added, âIf we had made millions, I would still do what I’m doing now, because I love to do it. We had a lot more fun since we had complete artistic control over our music. We just do what we love to do.
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