The Jungsters, Unearthed!

It’s been awhile since I posted. I’m fairly sure no one gives a hoot that I have a web site and a blog and whatnot, but I enjoy it. So here it is. Been a crazy summer here in Tahoe. Family reunions back east, trips to LA, Shasta, Sonoma, and the Bay Area several times. Trying to learn a new dance. Anyway, big news is that the Jungsters have posted videos from their vault on You Tube. In case you did not know, The Jungsters were a seminal 80’s rock band from Washington, DC. This was their first and only video outing for public television in June 1987.

Yes, it’s rare footage of the darlings of the late 80’s/early 90’s set on Capitol Hill, the Jungsters! (pronounced “Youngsters”.)
Bob Breeden, Brad Jones, Joe Pistorio, Bruce Smith, and Simon Watkins. Recorded before the advent of digital recording. Yes, people, I’m talking Lo-Fi, with on the fly editing from the crack team at the world famous Media General Head End Facility in Fairfax, VA. These clips are cool. They have video transitions that will make you flashback, colors that will boil your eyeballs, and a wardrobe that would be difficult to replicate in this day and age. Don’t be surprised to see several of the techniques in the next Michel Gondry video for the White Stripes. Several of the Jungsters, in their many iterations (we went through as many bassists as Spinal Tap did drummers. Doug E Bass, Simon, Eric, and Tom

See the gymnastic maraca shaking! Hear the nearly on-key ensembles! Marvel at the mathematical consistency of the timekeeping! It’s all here. Also, see roto toms in action! Short pants! Headbands! Blue tiger pattern muscle tee’s! Straw hats!
(In our defense, it was about 100 degrees in there, with mucho humidito, but we should have insisted on long pants.

Simon Watkins, Bruce Smith and Joe Pistorio are still active on the music scene in Los Angeles, Austin and Lake Tahoe, respectively See a fresh faced Bruce Smith, leader of the eponymous Bruce Smith Band (Bruce Smith Band) has a new release, Another Day In Texas http://www.theconnextion.com/index.cfm?%20ArtistID=79&NoFrame=Yes). Simon plays with several jazz artists in the Los Angeles area and tours with Craicmore, a celtic based world music band. (www.craicmore.com). He maintains a website, (www.simonwatkins.com) and is a hard core philatlelist. That’s stamp collector to you. Joe Pistorio works in production as a producer (www.joepistorio.com) and plays with Nothing But Trouble, an electric blues band in Incline Village, NV. Brad Jones plays in Harrisburg, PA area bands with one of our successor bassists, Tom Phillips. Bob Breeden lives in the Southland area of California and is very active in his church. LuAnne Chapman, was also in the band later as keyboardist, flautist and singer.
A little dickhead named Eric was the bass player after Simon. He was such a little pussy boy and threatened to quit every time he did not get his way. I made my desire to beat his ass known on many occasions and had to be content that he lived in fear of me. Not really, but I liked to think so.

Many thanks to Simon for getting the tape he had (an old ¾” I gave him back when) transferred to a digital medium, which we uploaded together when I visited him at the compound in Malibu, meaning I edited and uploaded and Simon practiced jazz from the Great American Songbook on his upright bass as I wrestled with the compression. The results will live on in infamy.

The songs:

“Don’t Come Running”(To Me)

“Cicada Bluez”
“Cicada Bluez II”
“7:09’er” I
“7:09’er” Take 2

, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFyF7bUftH0],[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_rmZJFCu5k],[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlZkqtI5yRI],[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keQ9FNXUx30]