by Nancy L. Foster

The legendary garage band, the Lyres, played at Union Square’s Toast Oct. 1 as part of The Somerville News’ Friday Nights at Toast series, and before the show recalled their performance at Little Steven’s International Garage Rock Festival and the different paths that brought them together.

“It was amazing playing for 17,000 people. We played the 1979 Sounds Interesting single ‘Don’t Give It Up Now’ and ‘How Do You Know,’” said Paul Murphy, the band’s drummer.

“We got a great response. We played around two thirty in the afternoon. We were one of over forty acts!” he said.

Guitarist Danny McCormack said it was exciting to play at the festival, which was held at Randall’s Island, N.Y., in August.

“It was very daunting. It went by so fast literally in a flash. It was a lot of fun,”said Rick Coraccio, the bassist.

“I felt relaxed because the sound was superb. The sound makes it or breaks it for me. If the sound sucks, it seems like we suck. So it’s imperative to have good sound,” he said.

“The groups that knocked me out included Alex Chilton’s Big Star. They were one of the bigger bands so they got to play 20-25 minutes. The New York Dolls were so great. I saw them back in the day. It was totally cool,” he said.

“The Strokes just sucked. They were awful. They were so drunk. They came across as arrogant like they didn’t care. Even Little Steven was trying to get them to move it!” he said.

“They took about 45 minutes to go on. With forty plus bands, you have to run a tight ship. For the most part, everything worked smoothly like a well oiled machined. Most bands got onstage in a matter of minutes!” he said.

“That show was a blast from beginning to end! It was total prestige-a real honor playing with all those great bands. It was so nice to hang out with Phil May from the Pretty Things,” McCormack said.
“He wanted a new Lyres t-shirt. He said his was threadbare. We gotta talk to our record company about re upping our merchandise!”

“I loved the Pretty Things and Creation. It was great being up front during ‘Biff Bang Pow’ and ‘Making Time’. The Electric Prunes and the Dolls were also great. This was an experience of a lifetime!” he said.
Dinos, a deejay from Harvard’s WHRB, spun records until 9:30 p.m., when the Lyres were set to launch their set.

The band surprised the audience when they cranked up the Pete Best number “The Way I Feel About You” and the Dave Davies penned “Love Me Til The Sun Shines.”

But, it was a night of sweet surprises.

Band maestro Jeff Conolly, always indulgent of his fans’ desires, went to the next level with The Left Banke’s “Pretty Ballerina.”

It was requested by a young fan, who said he was shocked that the Lyres that would perform such a twee tune. Ever the wit, Conolly said the usually price was not enough. “Now that deserves a round of drinks!”

The group encored again and again until the encore was as long as the original hour set!

No one wanted it to end! After the show, Conolly’s bandmates talked about the experiences they have had playing with Conolly, who many consider a musical genius.

Murphy said he was thrilled by the mention the band received in September Spin magazine for their 1984 masterpiece “On Fyre.”

“That album is a must have for garage afficianados!” McCormack said.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Coraccio said. “I know where they are coming from. That’s an important album but it’s not my favorite. My favorite is ‘Lyres Lyres.’”

McCormack said, “I played guitar on that! Coraccio is on bass and Johnny Bernardo on drums.”

“That was a 200-300 dollar an hour studio circa 1986. We recorded it in 2 days. It has some of the Lyres most powerful songs like ‘Not Looking Back’ and the slow version of ‘She Pays The Rent.’” said Coraccio.

“We did that version of ‘She Pays The Rent’ in one take! I love the diversity of the songs and the sound. It has the grooves. Bernardo was a finesse drummer. That’s about as technical as we get,” he said.

“I agree that some of the technical stuff is better on ‘Lyres Lyres’. Yet I think the songs are better on ‘On Fyre’. I branched out on songs like ‘I Love Her Still’ and ‘No Reason To Complain,’” McCormack said.
“Both of those albums have pluses and minuses, but I lean more to ‘On Fyre’ overall,” he said.

Coraccio said he recalled that he and Murphy played together in his first serious band, Children’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, “I was in that band with John Felice on vocals and guitar, Rick Carmel on guitar, Paul Murphy on drums, and me on bass.”

“That was my first important band!” Murphy said.

“Previous to Lyres, my best known band was the Mighty Ions. Yet my first serious band was The Transplants in 1979. I recall a big gig with played with Lou Miami and The Cosmetix, Mission of Burma, and J.J. Rasslers post DMZ,pre Odds band, Bad Habits. The Transplants CD was recently issued on Dionysus,” McCormack said.

“I wrote songs for that band– retarded punk songs. Jordan Krantz currently of Big Meat Hammer introduced me to punk rock. He turned me on to the Demi Monde on WTBS. That was 1978,” he said.
“I joined the Mighty Ions in 1981. At first I played primarily keyboards–a Vox Continental!” he said.

“I played guitar on a few songs. We played a lot of gigs with the Lyres. In fact, their guitarist Peter Greenburg sold me the Les Paul he played in DMZ. I also had a brief stint in 1983 with Kenne Highland’s Hopelessly Obscure,” he said.

“In1983, I joined the Lyres. It’s great to be back with the same line up as two decades ago. After all these years, everyone pulls their weight,” McCormack said.

“We complement each others qualities. After 20 years, we just pick up where we left off. Like playing ‘The Way I Feel About You’ tonight. I hope we play more of these songs like ‘I Confess’. They come so naturally!” he said.

Coraccio and Murphy have got to be the best rhythm section in garage rock.

Coraccio said, “That comes from playing together since 1971!”

“Coraccio brought me into the pre Lyres group, DMZ when David Robinson left the band,” Murphy said.
The fans that go back to the Boston rock scene of 1976 will remember Coraccio from the Boize.
Coraccio said, “I left the Boize because DMZ bass player Mike Lewis was going to M.I.T., and wanted to quit the band.”

“J.J. Rassler approached me about joining DMZ. I knew about the band. I had seen them and there was a buzz surrounding them. I thought they were cool,” he said.

“Coraccio and I were in The Shambles together when Conolly went to San Diego in 1988. The singer was Artie Sniederman currently of the Crybabies and the Belmondos, Steve Aquino on guitar, Dave Schponiac on bass, Coraccio on guitar ,and myself on drums,” Murphy said.

“We got a good response. Rick burned a cool CD which shows The Shambles to veer easily from garage to Mersey beat to surf,” he said.

“There was also the Last Ones around 1978. I met Dave Pierce of Star Rhythm records. He was putting out vinyl on the Real Kids and The Dawgs,” Coraccio said.

“Pierce came to our rehearsal and called me a genius. We put out an EP on his label which included ‘Number One Again, ‘Waiting For You’ and a song the Last Ones still do: ‘Bit Of You.’” he said.
“The Last Ones put out two albums, ‘Purgatory Cove’ and ‘Don’t Follow Me’” he said.

“I prefer the latter. I brought back the Last Ones in the summer of 2001. The band was going well for a while. Then, the gigs seemed to dry up. Boston can be a fickle scene. But I really enjoyed playing live on WMFO on the ‘On the Town with Mikey D show,’” he said.

“Then it was a low key project. I was playing an acoustic/electric and people could hear the vocals. Then I started playing an electric guitar and it became a volume fest. I felt it lost the principle and the beauty of my original conception,” he said.

“I was trying to do something new and different. I was just into playing some romantic songs that I had written,” he said.

“I did enjoy playing with M.J. Quirk who plays an excellent low volume bass. He has a very bottomy and thumpy style that I like. I liked having Bruce Hammel in the band. But I think he is better suited for a band like the Real Kids,” Coraccio said.

Within a few months of their debut gig in August 2001, The Last Ones got amazingly tight and increased their repertoire by leaps and bounds, he said. “I got very prolific, plus I pulled select songs out of the vault.”

“The Last Ones started to pick up momentum again recently. It’s a change of pace from the formulaic musicianship of the Lyres. But nothing succeeds like success,” he said.

“Jeff is such a great artist. I would never have seen as much of the world, were it not for playing with him. I admire him immensely and I hope we give him something to be proud of, too,” he said.

“As for the group, Lyres and how it feel to be back with the same ‘On Fyre’ line up, it feels really good to be playing with these guys again. Playing with Danny takes the pressure off me because he never makes a mistake. Danny is truly great!” he said.

Coraccio said he has many ways of keeping busy. “I write an on-line column and at the end of each column, I include a song that people can download. One of my favorites is ‘Ventura Sunset.’”

“It’s a beach song-a sensuous, slow dance number in the summery, surf mode,” he said.

Coraccio said he also works in his own home studio. “It’s all analog, not digital. I have a Cascam half-inch tape machine. I like the old stuff. I don’t like digital. It takes a lot of care and feeding.”

“They are fussy, but they are worth it. Overcoming glitches is part of the beauty of it. And I have no time constraints when I’m working on my own material,” he said.

McCormack said he is heavily into the mod sound. “I’m totally steeped in the mod thing. I have been for awhile now. My Holy Trinity of mod is the Kinks, the Who, and the Small Faces.

“When Conolly told me about the newly issued Kinks ‘Village Green Preservation Society’, I had to rush out and buy it! This is amazing stuff!” he said.

As for the his future with the Lyres, McCormack said, “I’d just like to keep it going with more and better gigs. In his business, you need a product to market to be considered a viable entity.”

“The Sundazed label wants to release something by the Lyres in 2005. That’s the piece to complete the puzzle!” he said.

Toast-ers will get to see the fruits of Coraccio’s labors when The Last Ones give a rare appearance at Toast on Nov. 12.

The Last Ones lineup includes: Lyres bandmates, Coraccio and McCormack, along with M.J. Quirk on bass and Richie Johnson on drums. Conolly will spin records from at the vaults of his immense collection of rare disks.