Frank Secich Interview

Frank Secich was a founder member of the legendary band Blue Ash at the end of 1960s. Also he played with Stiv Bators and Jimmy Zero in Dead Boys and Club Wow. In 2015 he published his autobiography in which he tells about his rock'n'roll adventures from the past and with his current band Deadbeat Poets. A must-read for any Blue Ash fan and power-pop lovers!

Last May he toured in the UK including the Sylfest in London, a charity gig for Sylvain Sylvain. And new projects will come at the end of the year. We asked him to answer some questions and this is what he said!

Bomp Records publicity photo 1980!
Frank Secich, Jimmy Zero, Stiv Bators, Johnny Blitz and George Cabaniss

Hi Frank! How was coming back to the UK? You've been always a huge fan of the British Invasion. It must be very exciting for you every time you tour here!

I had great fun in the UK in May and this time was very special because I got to bring my wife, Lisa and my son, Jake with me. It was very cool doing three different shows to packed houses at the International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool and playing in London for the first time for the Dirty Water Club at Finsbury Pub and playing at Dublin Castle for the Sylfest. My son, Jake joined me and Patrice Picard there on stage for the first time ever to sing "A Million Miles Away" which was the highlight of the tour for me.

Frank Secich and Patrice Picard at the Cavern in Liverpool May, 2019.
By Jacqui Dove

In 2015 you published your autobiography under the name "Circumstantial Evidence" (High Voltage Publishing) In this book you tell lots of stories about your bands and all the people involved in them. What is your favorite chapter? Is there anything you forgot to write about and you would like to share now?

Book + LP Signing Gig in Pittsburgh, 2016

Here's my favorite chapter in the book in it's entirety!

Chuck Berry Cleveland Public Hall March 26, 1970

On Thursday March 26, 1970  the 1950's Rock and Roll Revival came to Cleveland's Public Hall. It had an all-star line-up: Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Bo Diddley, The Coasters, The Drifters, The Shirelles and all backed by the Bobby Comstock Band who were great. Geoff Jones who was Blue Ash's manager knew the concert promoter well so we begged Geoff to get us great tickets. He got us 4 tickets in the first row right up front. Jim Kendzor, our roadies Newt Iliff, Joe "Lice" Harris and myself went to the show. We all had leather jackets on for some reason. Geoff was backstage with the promoter. It was a bad day to begin with to have a concert there as it was a Thursday (working night) and the Moody Blues who were very hot then were right down the street at the Allen Theater for 2 shows. So, in a hall that holds 10,000 people there were about 1200 in attendance.Most of the Public Hall crowd were 30 something straight types and very laid back.There weren't many "Oldies" shows at that time because they were decidedly out of fashion. Anyway, our heroes were there right in front of us and we were there to have the time of our lives.

All of the acts the Shirelles, Coasters and Drifters sounded stellar and Bobby Comstock had a tight and swinging band. Bill Haley was amazing and Bo Diddley was fabulous but the audience was luke warm which I found very odd. When it came time for the headliner Chuck Berry to play it was 11:30 pm. They made an announcement that concert would end a midnight and go no longer as it had been running long. So with only a half hour to play Chuck took the stage and he was visibly pissed off. He played the first tune and was out of time and tune.Hardly any reaction from the audience except for the leather jackets of front who cheered wildly. Chuck played a second song and the same crowd reaction except for us. He then walked to the edge of the stage right in front of me and called me over to him. At first I thought he was going screw with me in some way.He bent over and asked me "What songs do you guys want to hear?" I said "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" which he broke right into and it was amazing and the crowd started to get going. He bent back down to me "What else?" How about "Roll Over Beethoven" now the crowd is starting to go crazy.This went on building for the next few songs. They finally turned on all the house lights which signaled the end of the show.Finally, Chuck broke into "Johnny B. Goode" and we all went crazy, The four of us stormed the stage first and almost all 1200 followed. It was completely crazy. The whole stage was filled with people rockin'. Newt Iliff and I were hanging on Chuck shoulders singing Johnny B. Goode into the microphone with him.It was the best ending I'd ever seen at any concert. Geoff Jones told me later after the show that Chuck Berry was backstage and said that was one of his best shows ever. He told the promoter I'd like to go out there and thank those guys in the leather jackets. The promoter looked at Geoff and said. "Geoff, go out and thank your friends". Geoff gathered us and brought us backstage where we met all our heroes. What a night!

Stiv Bators and you were very close friends. You talk about him with great affection. How did you meet him? What do you think Stiv could be doing today? 

Frank Secich and Stiv Bators, 1979.
by Donna Santisi

I met Stiv in 1967 when I was 16 years old in Youngstown, Ohio at a house near the college and we became fast friends.  We used to go to a lot of the teen dances around Youngstown, Warren and Sharon to see bands back then. We had some great local bands in our area like the Human Beinz, James Gang, Holes In The Road and many others. I was the first person who ever brought Stiv on stage. In the late 1960's I got a pick-up band to play an outdoor festival in Canfield, Ohio. I brought up Stiv as a singer and harmonica player. Stiv was doing really good and people were quite enjoying him. During the set he brought out a can of whipped cream and start shaking it and squirting it from his crotch area into the audience. I looked over and thought "this guys is nuts" but he really had the audience. Suddenly, he threw the mic stand in the air and it hit him in the head and cut him badly. He started mixing the whipped cream with the blood and the crowd thought it was all a great show but he was hurt badly. After the gig I took him to the hospital to get stitched up. He went over great that day and his local fame spread. He became the lead singer for the Mother Goose Band and eventually wound up in Cleveland in Frankenstein and then the Dead Boys.

David Quinton, Dee Dee Ramone and Stiv Bators in the upstairs dressing room of the Whisky A Go-Go in LA, May of 1980.
By Theresa Kereakes

I think if Stiv were around right now he'd be in our band the Deadbeat Poets... and would want a songwriter credit for inspiring "The Stiv Bators Ghost Tour" lol

Dee Dee Ramone on stage with The Stiv Bators Band at the Whisky A Go-Go,
May of 1980.
By Theresa Kereakes

Nearly 20 years ago, Coldfront Records launched "Buried Gems", a Dead Boys 7" including a couple of lost tracks never released before. One of the songs it's a killer version of Adam Faith's "It's Alright". If I'm not wrong, you were already playing with Dead Boys at this time. Who had the idea to cover this track?

"It's Alright" was recorded in November of 1978 in Cleveland, Ohio. It was done at Kirk Yano's "After Dark" studio in Parma. It was right after Stiv asked me to write songs with him. On that recording are Johnny Blitz on drums, me on bass, Jimmy Zero on guitar and lead vocals and Stiv and I are singing back-up vocals. I love that recording and Jimmy really shines.  It was Jimmy's idea to do the song. On that session we also did demos of "It's Cold Outside" and "The Last Year" with Stiv on lead vocal. Stiv took the demos with him to LA and played them for Greg Shaw. Greg then offered us a record deal and that was the start of Stiv's solo career on Bomp.

Stiv Bators and Greg Shaw recording "It's Cold Outside" at Bijou Studio in Hollywood, CA April of 1979.
By Theresa Kereakes.

It is said that Pete Townshend coined the term "power-pop" when promoting "Pictures of Lily". Now "No More, No Less" is considered a power pop classic album. When did you realise that the music you were playing with Blue Ash was more than "rock'n'roll"? What do you think about all these tags in music?

I have never minded the tag "power-pop" and I actually consider it an honor to be lumped in with bands like Raspberries, Badfinger, Big Star, Flamin' Groovies, The Records and others.

Blue Ash Official Publicity Photo from Mercury Records, 1973

When Jim Kendzor, David Evans and Bill Yendrek and I started Blue Ash in the summer 1969 , we set out to form a different kind of band. We loved the songs of the British Invasion of the 60's and the West Coast folk rock sounds. By the end of the decade heavy metal, jam bands and singer songwriters were the rage. We really weren't into that so we started writing melodic songs like the ones we loved from the sixties only we played them with a heavier sound through big amps. We knew we were doing something different. Like I said: I have never minded the tag powerpop!

Frank Secich and Jim Kendzor with David Johansen in New York,
October 1973

You are originally from Sharon, Pennsylvania. It would be cool if you can briefly tell about rock'n'roll in that area. Like old garage and doo wop bands from the past until now. 

Sharon, PA was a great place to grow in in the 1950's and '60's! Sharon was a working-class provincial town right on the border of Ohio known for its steel mills and factories. One of the biggest influences on us at the time was the local scene. There were tons of great groups you could usually see anywhere for between 75 cents and a $1.25 locally in Sharon, Warren, Ohio and Youngstown all the time. The Human Beinz (who had the smash worldwide hit "Nobody But Me" in 1967-69); Phil Keaggy's Squires, Volume IV, New Hudson Exit and then Glass Harp 1966-69; the famed "Poppy" with Roger Lewis, Mark Dehr, Danny Pecchio and Dick Strojny 1967-68; The Holes In The Road from Warren Ohio who were the best Ohio band of all-time in my opinion 1966-69 with Shel Downs, Joe Saker, Gary Sloas, Dave Pack, Gary McCoy and Doug Thomas. Later in 2003 Doug Thomas and Gary McCoy along with Gary's brother Tommy McCoy would team up with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson and do the fabulous Howlin' Hill Project. The James Gang with Joe Walsh, The Cyrus Erie with Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson and the McBride Brothers 1967-69; The Choir ("It's Cold Outside"), The Executioners, Left End,The Next Of Kin, The Prophets, The King's V, The Pied Pipers, Great Hibiscus, Menagerie (Terry Demaria, Bobby Paoletta), Salt, The Schillings, 215 City Blues, Freeman Sound, The Fabulous Fantastics, The Bell Boys, The Chylds (with Joe Vitale), The Insights, Peck's Bad Boys, Clockwork Blues, The Shades of Rhythm (with future Blue Ashers Bill "Cupid" Bartolin and Bill "Goog" Yendrek), The Blues Option, The Fabulous Fantastics, The Collection, Mother Goose Band, Jan Mac and the Fruits Of Love.... and many more I could list.

I attended my first proper concert in Cleveland on November 12, 1965. It was Bob Dylan at Music Hall backed by the Hawks who would become the Band! It was the first Bob Dylan infamous electric worldwide tour of 1965-66. It's still the best concert I have ever seen or heard.

There were a wide variety of teens clubs and over drinking age club (18 was the legal drinking again Ohio for beer) to play as well. For the teens in Ohio it would be the Carousel Teen Clubs in McKinley Heights, Hubbard, Youngstown on Midlothian,and more. Packard Music Hall in Warren ran regular dances as did Champion Rollarena, Lake Villas, Christ Episcopal Church, Howland Community Church right down the road. Most teen dances had WHOT Good Guys like Boots Bell and Johnny Kay as MC's and comperes too. In Sharon and Brookfield we had Yankee Lake Ballroom and St. Joe's, Our Lady Of Fatima, The Bug Out, The American Legion, The Girl's Buhl Club and The Buhl Farm Casino in Buhl Park and many, many others including all the area high schools who always had dances and record hops with "live" bands. Those were good gigs for up and coming bands to learn their craft and play to wild , enthusiastic and packed houses.

From the local scene out of the 60's into the 70's quite a few local bands were signed to major labels and had national exposure: Human Beinz on Capitol Records, Raspberries signed to Capitol Records, Blue Ash signed to Mercury Records and then to Playboy Records, Glass Harp signed to Decca Records, Left End to Polydor Records, Law with Steve Acker signed to MCA Records, the legendary Poobah with Jim Gustafson, Dead Boys on Sire Records, Rubber City Rebels on Capitol Records, Menagerie on Mercury Records. Chrissie Hynde, Maureen McGovern (The Morning After from the Poseidon Adventure), Myron Grombacher (drummer with Pat Benatar), Bob DiPiero (major country hit songwriter), Joe Walsh (James Gang and the Eagles), Greg Reeves (CSN&Y), Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails... They were just some of the famous musicians you could see at the local clubs and teen halls back then.

Have you been in Japan? There are lots of power pop lovers over there. In my opinion rock'n'roll fans over there have a really good taste in music!

I have never been to Japan but have many good friends there and Blue Ash and Deadbeat Poets have many followers there. I would love to be able to go there some day either as a solo artist and do acoustic shows and book signings or a full out concert tour with Blue Ash and Deadbeat Poets. I've always heard it's a blast playing there.

A tricky question: can you name your 3 favorite songs ever?

My three favorite ever songs are "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles, Eight Miles High " by the Byrds and Ballad in Plain D" by Bob Dylan.

1. "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles.

There's a great essay called "Acres Of Diamonds" by Russel H. Conwell who founded Temple University. It goes something like this:

"There was a man, Al Hafed, who lived on the banks of the River Indus who had a nice farm with orchards and gardens, excess cash, a beautiful wife and children. He was 'wealthy because he was contented'. Then an old priest visited him and one night related how the world was made, including the formation of all the rocks, the earth, the precious metals and stones. He told the farmer that if he had a few diamonds he could have not just one farm, but many. The farmer listened. Suddenly, he wasn't that happy with what he had thus far acquired in life.

He sold up and went travelling in search of diamonds, across Persia, Palestine and into Europe. A couple of years later, what money he had was gone, and he was wandering around in rags. When a large wave came in from the sea, he was happily swept under by it.

The man who had bought the farmer's land was another story. One day, watering his animals in the stream that ran through the property, he noticed a glint in the watery sands. It was a diamond. In fact, it was one of the richest diamond finds in history; the mines of Golconda would yield not just one or two but acres of diamonds."

At the end of the summer of 1966 a world-weary John Lennon goes to Almería, Spain after the Beatles quit touring. He arrives in the autumn to film the movie "How I Won The War?". While there he stayed at a villa called Santa Isabel. The first day he moves into the villa he notices how it's iron gates and gardens remind him of Strawberry Field which was a Salvation Army children's home in the neighborhood where he grew up in Woolton, Liverpool and he writes the song "Strawberry Fields Forever". John Lennon used to play there as a boy with his childhood friends. I personally think "Strawberry Fields Forever" is the best recording ever made and it's my favorite song of all time. I think John Lennon's great genius was that in his mind he looked for and found diamonds right in his own backyard.

2. "Ballad In Plain D" by Bob Dylan.

I think it's the most honest and heartbreakingly romantic song ever written. Bob Dylan was asked one time in an interview if there were any songs he wished he hadn't written. He said "Ballad In Plain D"... and went on to say "of all the songs I've written maybe I could have left that one alone". My personal opinion is that when he wrote "Ballad In Plain D" he became Bob Dylan.

3. "Eight Miles High" by the Byrds.

According to Gene Clark "Eight Miles High" was written the night of November 24,1965 in Pittsburgh, PA (which by the way is in my backyard so to speak) with Brian Jones. The song writer credits are (Clark-Crosby-McGuinn) and according to Gene Clark, Brian didn't want any credit. The Byrds recording of "Eight Miles High" always takes me away. I think it's the combination of McGuinn's Coltrane inspired insane 12-string playing and Gene Clark's haunting melody and poetic lyrics. Every time I listen to it, time stands still for me.

And last one: are you working in any new project that involve Blue Ash or Deadbeat Poets?

Yes, the Deadbeat Poets LP is done and will be out by the end of 2019! It contains the songs "Amber Moon", "She's With Me", "The Concrete Cows of Milton Keynes", "Joe The Mynah Bird", "If Patsy Cline was A Vampire", "Don't Walk Away Marie", "Easy or You", "Michael", "Box Full Of Tears", "Sanitary George", "It's Summertime" and I'll Be Standing By"and others and will be out in the Autumn of 2019. The New Blue Ash LP will out out in early 2020. Both will be available worldwide. 

Also the second pressing of my book "Circumstantial Evidence" is also now available worldwide through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. A great holiday or anytime gift idea! "Circumstantial Evidence" is back in stock as well at Get Hip! Plus still available in original edition from High Voltage Publishing from Australia with companion CD! Bomp too! Rough Trade as well! 

Thanks Frank! We hope to see you soon.

Frank Secich at the Whisky A Go-Go May of 1980.
By Theresa Kereakes