Mike Stax:
November, 2004
Greg Shaw: Pioneer,
Architect, Mentor
With the death of Greg Shaw the world lost
not only a pioneer of rock fandom but the chief architect
of an entire musical universe, populated by innumerable bands,
writers, fanzine publishers and independent label owners.
Defining the boundaries of this universe would be an impossible
task. The present day garage rock movement is just one of
its most recent manifestations, but to call it Greg's biggest
achievement, as many writers have done in the obituary columns,
would be to completely miss the much larger picture.
The big picture was something Greg seemed
to understand better than any other writer or scene-maker.
When punk rock exploded in 1976 with all its 'Year Zero' and
'No More Heroes' bluster, Shaw was one of the few observers
who understood that the movement was neither a musical coup
d'etat nor a disposable fad, but the latest chapter in a rock'n'roll
continuum that stretched back to the garage bands of the '60s
and the rock'n'roll rebels of the '50s.
As a rock writer and historian, Shaw's insight
and breadth of knowledge was unparalleled. Bangs, Meltzer
et al, get most of the 'rock writer' plaudits, but when need
to actually learn something about the music I turn to Greg
Shaw's work. Starting with Mojo Navigator in 1966 (probably
the first rock fanzine) and continuing through the 1970s with
Who Put the Bomp!, he set the standard for rock fandom,
championing the best overlooked bands - new and old - and
illuminating the more obscure nooks and crannies of rock's
history: the small labels, regional scenes and no-hit bands
that had been forgotten by all but a small core of collectors.
With Greg Shaw at the helm, Bomp magazine helped galvanize
an entire generation of rock'n'roll fanatics worldwide; fanatics
who, realizing they were not alone in their obsessions, began
to form bands or start fanzines of their own. Without Bomp!
magazine there would have been no Kicks and certainly
no Ugly Things.
With the release of the Flamin' Groovies'
"You Tore Me Down" single in 1974 Bomp became a
record label too. In its first decade it helped nurture a
variety of genres, including punk, power pop and garage rock.
For the latter, Shaw created the Voxx subsidiary, which he
began in 1979 with the Crawdaddys' Crawdaddy Express
LP.
In parallel to releases by new bands, Shaw
launched Pebbles, a series of compilations drawing
from his massive collection of rare '60s garage singles. Pebbles
was inspired by Lenny Kaye's Nuggets set, but Shaw's
archeology investigated a much deeper strata of '60s obscurity.
Pebbles became the model for an avalanche of '60s garage
compilations that continues to this day, and set the stage
for today's reissue market. The inspiration for Norton, Crypt,
Sundazed, Dionysus, Get Hip and dozens more labels can be
traced back directly to Shaw.
Shaw, however, would be the last person to
proclaim his own importance. Unassuming and soft-spoken, he
preferred the role of the quiet catalyst: bringing people
together and providing them with the tools, the materials
and the environment they needed to make it all happen.
Greg Shaw was the ultimate mentor. One word
consistently comes up when I talk to the people who knew him:
encouragement. "He was always so encouraging," they
all say. All of them. Encouragement is a rare commodity, especially
from the right person; somebody you respect. Greg's encouragement
was always generous and sincere, and it was a source of strength
to many.
I speak from personal experience. Greg's
encouragement changed the course of my life in a very real
way. In 1979 I was a 17 year-old kid living in Yorkshire,
England, when I heard a track from the Crawdaddys album on
John Peel's radio show - a raging version of "Oh Baby
Doll." As a passionate fan of '60s British R&B I
was stunned to discover this was not some vintage obscurity
but a new band - from San Diego, California, of all places.
I immediately tracked down and bought the LP and shortly afterwards
wrote an effusive fan letter to the band, c/o Voxx Records
in San Fernando Valley, California.
Greg Shaw received my letter and forwarded
it on to the band. "This guy sounds really sincere,"
he wrote to Ron Silva, "you should write him back."
Ron did write back and several months later I was on my way
to America to become the Crawdaddys' new bass player. It was
the beginning of a difficult but exciting few years for me
as I struggled to get by without money or a green card, but
Greg was a constant source of encouragement. His words of
support helped me find the self-belief I needed to tough it
out through the hard times. Greg's encouragement continued
and even increased after I left the Crawdaddys to form the
Tell-Tale Hearts. Within a few months of our formation, he
offered us an album deal. He released several of our records
over the next few years, booked us regularly at his Cavern
Club (which he established as a venue for the blossoming scene)
and helped us establish a following. He did the same thing
at the time for other up and coming garage bands: the Miracle
Workers, the Gravedigger Five, the Primates et al. We even
got our photo in People magazine posed in the club
behind Greg and other Cavern Club regulars.
During the same period I started a fanzine
Ugly Things, inspired largely by the now-defunct Bomp!
magazine. Once again, Greg was there for me, happy to
look up any obscure fact or figure, provide a rare photo or
clipping, or turn me onto obscure bands or records I was unfamiliar
with. He went way beyond the call of duty. One time, for example,
I was working on a series of articles about English producer
Joe Meek, so I asked Greg to help me fill some of the (quite
considerable) gaps in my Meek collection. A couple of weeks
later, he handed over more than a dozen 90-minute cassettes.
He'd taped his entire collection of Joe Meek singles - hundreds
of them; it must have taken him days of painstaking work cuing
up 45s and typing up the tracklists. That was the kind of
person Greg was. He recognized the passion I had for what
I was doing, and fueling that passion was its own reward.
I didn't see much of Greg in later years,
but he would still send me emails from time to time - always
offering me words of encouragement about my work, both as
a writer and a musician. As I stated earlier, Greg was a HUGE
inspiration for me with Ugly Things, so you can imagine
how I felt when, just a couple of years ago, he told me in
an email that he considered Ugly Things "the best
fanzine ever." For him it was probably just a casual
piece of hyperbole, typed in the heat of the moment, but for
me it was the most meaningful and inspirational compliment
I'd ever received. I'll never forget it.
And, like countless other people out there
who benefited from his inspiration and encouragement, I will
never forget Greg Shaw.
Mike Stax
Ugly Things
October 2004
We at Fufkin would like to thank Mike Stax
for his contribution on the great Greg Shaw.
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