HOW THIS ALL BEGAN
I grew up in Pawtucket, RI and attended around 250 shows between 1972 -1980 of which 100 I recorded for my private collection. I left RI that year to attend college in New York City where I majored in technology and worked on Wall Street, Sony Music, and eventually built a recording studio in midtown Manhattan. I’ve lived in different cities and travels to many places but the memories of growing up in Rhode Island were always there to remind me of those great times.
I loved not only the concerts but the experience of the whole music scene that took place there. Every other week my friend Jim and I would go to Beacon Record Shop, Goldy, or Mother Records to buy the latest LP. We also pick up the local rock newspaper like the Point and Lou Papineau would tells about the cool new bands coming up like Aerosmith. The trip was not complete unless we got a copy of Ty Davies’ NewPaper to see what concerts were coming to town. I practically lived in the Palace (now the Performing Arts Center) and the Providence Civic Center. I was even lucky to catch the last show at the RI Auditorium and worked as a stagehand at The Leroy Theater in Pawtucket. When the concerts were over we could always count on Stuart Fine, Tony Lioce, Max Alexander, Bill Flanagan,….etc to review the show and give us their opinion.
One of the reasons for this website was because I came to the conclusion that rock n roll memorabilia is useless unless you display it somewhere for other people to enjoy. Stored in Pawtucket was my old scrap books of concert ads, tape stubs, photos, backstage passes, tour programs…etc. Also, I wanted a website for other people to post their memories of shows they saw and to contribute with their photos, ads, tapes, ticket stubs…etc. This site is just beginning and will be updated constantly in order to let the world know that Rhode Island Rocks!
- Paul Fernandes
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CONTRIBUTORS THAT MADE THIS WEBSITE POSSIBLE:
Bill Flanagan,…………is an American author and television executive. He was born in Rhode Island in 1955 and graduated from Brown University in 1977. His books include WRITTEN IN MY SOUL (1986), LAST OF THE MOE HAIRCUTS (1986), U2 AT THE END OF THE WORLD (1995), and the novels A&R (2000), NEW BEDLAM (2007) and EVENING¹S EMPIRE (2010). As EVP/Editorial Director of MTV Networks, Flanagan oversees the series VH1 STORYTELLERS and CMT CROSSROADS. He has also worked on LEGENDS, VH1 ARCHIVES, HOTEL MTV, and many other series and specials. He was one of the producers of THE CONCERT FOR NEW YORK CITY after the September 11 attacks and has produced, co-produced or executive produced two televised concerts from the White House, THE BEATLES REVOLUTION for ABC, ELVIS LIVES for NBC, and VH1 specials with Garth Brooks, Paul McCartney, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Springsteen, and Oprah Winfrey. Flanagan acts as Ombudsman of the Sundance Channel series SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH... He also appears on air as an essayist on CBS NEWS SUNDAY MORNING. Mr. Flanagan contributed some early reviews when he lived in RI in the 70’s.
Carl Morstadt,,……provided his list of concert dates from 1978 -2009
Dacia Votolato,……grew up in Cranston, RI and was very active in the RI music scene from 1975-. I originally met Dacia while working at Strawberries when it was located in downtown Providence. Many great memories and laughs were had including a great trip we took to Morris Levy’s house in Ghent, NY (Levy owned Strawberries, Roulette Records, sued John Lennon and other shady ventures :) but aside from his business life he enjoyed having summer employee parties on his estate. Dacia contributed a wealth of dates and pictures capturing the classic Living Room years of the 80’s & 90’s
Dan Lampinski,……grew up in Pawtucket, RI and recorded over 100 concerts in the Providence/Boston area, mostly between 1974 and 1978. His earliest recordings were made with an internal microphone deck, and though they are somewhat lo-fi compared to his later work, some very great moments in rock history were captured for posterity. In late 1974 he bought a Sony TC-152SD tape recorder, a Sony ECM-99 stereo microphone, and began using Maxell cassettes. He was also fortunate enough to have a friend who provided excellent taping seats for many shows, resulting in high quality recordings. In 1977, he switched over to a Nakamichi 550 tape recorder, two Nakamichi CM-300 microphones, and continued using Maxell cassettes. Some of the 70's bands he recorded includes: Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult, Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, ELP, Kiss, Black Sabbath, The Who, Al Stewart, Alice Cooper, Jeff Beck, Bruce Springsteen, Supertramp, Jean-Luc Ponty, Moody Blues, Neil Young, The Faces, Rush, Rick Wakeman, Kansas, as well as several "under the radar" acts. Dan still lives in Pawtucket, RI and contributed his concert list from 1971-2009, ticket stubs and ads for this website.
James J. Gillis,……grew up in Pawtucket, RI and graduated from University of RI in 1981. He started his career at The Newport Daily News in November, 1980 and has won more than 40 writing awards over the last 30 years. Some of the articles he wrote covered the Newport Jazz Festival’s since 1982 and the Newport Folk Festival since 1985. As an avid music fan James J. Gillis felt it was always important to write about not only the major acts but covered the local scene as well like the early days of the Newport bands including Throwing Muses and Belly. His contribution to this site includes articles and a historical perspective of local bands, dates and events.
Eric Theissen……..is a graphic designer who creates beautiful CD art work for many of the shows recorded.
Lou Papineau
Mad Peck……..is an American underground cartoonist who manipulated clip art from old ads. The Mad Peck also created a regular comic which ran monthly in Creem Magazine. From 1966-1971 he created silkscreen posters for Rhode Island concerts. His work included Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Band, and Cream. His most famous poster is a comic book style Providence, Rhode Island poster that starts with the line, "Providence Rhode Island, where it rains two days out of three except during the rainy season when it snows like a bitch." The poster has been reprinted many times and is available at the Brown University bookstore. The Mad Peck has also been known to DJ under the name "Dr. Oldie." You can visit the Mad Peck at http://www.madpeck.com/
Michelle Contrada……..is a photographer who shot rock bands in the Boston/ RI area. We saw many great shows together and a lot of memories to go with them. Michelle presently lives in southern RI and works in the medical health field.
Paul Fernandes……..contributed his concert database, scrap books of concert ads, tape stubs, photos and concert memorabilia to this website. He presently resides in South Pasadena, CA.
Randall Armor……..is a Boston-based photographer and educator who hailed from southern New Jersey and lived in Newport, RI while attending night classes at RISD. He took pictures of rock bands in the Boston/ RI area. He presently is the Associate Director of the Photography program at Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts.
Randy Hein…….was the owner of the Living Room nightclub in Providence and its main focus was more on the burgeoning local scene. Randy was a wonderful personality that took pride in making everyone feel comfortable who played his club. Randy was unique because he was motivated by his heart and the love of music and will forever be missed.
Rich Lupo……..started Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in 1975 and through out its history and three different locations, Lupo's Heartbreaker Hotel is the premier venue for most concerts that visit RI.
Ron Pownall……..is a photographer who shot major rock bands from 1968-2007. His credits are long and impressive and his work has been published in Rolling Stone, Spin, Guitar Player, Guitar World, Keyboard, Performer, Newsweek , Time, People, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Phoenix, AP, Creem, Circus, Hit Parader, Billboard, Record World, and Berklee Today just to name a few. Please visit his website to see a complete list of media Ron has contributed to. http://www.rockrollphoto.com/credits.html
Rudy Cheeks……..is a life long Rhode Island resident. While attending the University of Rhode Island, Rudy and his friends created the band the "Fabulous Motels" and later the "Young Adults." Throughout his career he has been involved at many levels in different types of live performance, films, television shows, documentaries, radio shows and countless other ventures. Today he is known for his Dr. Love Monkey column or as Jorge in Phillipe and Jorge in the Providence Phoenix. His widespread involvement in Rhode Island has made him a popular figure in many artistic arenas. Rudy contributed some early articles published in the NewPaper including an interview with David Byrne of the Talking Heads.
Steve Latham……..is a photographer who shot rock bands in the Boston/ RI area. He currently has over 1000 pictures for you to see at his website http://www.stevelathamdesign.com/steve_photo/index.htm. Steve contributed his concert list from 1989-2009 as well as some great photos in this website. He presently lives in North Attleboro, Mass.
Stuart Fine……..wrote for the Providence Journal and informed us of what was coming up and going on in the Rhode Island rock scene. In the 70’s Stuart attended most major concert and his review the day after was always informative.
Ty Davis……..is a writer/publisher who informed us of what was going on in the Rhode Island rock scene. In the 70’s we couldn’t wait for the latest issue of his NewPaper to come out and read all about the cool things that were happening and the reviews of some of the great concerts. His newspaper eventually merged with the Boston Phoenix in 1988 and became the Providence Phoenix under his guise. You can read some of Ty’s classic clippings under the writers & newspaper section of this site.
This site is dedicated to Hera Votolato
Keep on Rockin’