I bought this record here in the Bay Area when it came out in 1983, but didn't know much about the band. Fast Floyd had been playing extensively around the area for years; in any given week the band was likely to be playing a gig somewhere in San Francisco or the East Bay.Here's what I gleaned from the Internet:
Robert Henry Mckenzie (a.k.a. "Fast Floyd") and Billy Borsey moved from the East Coast out to San Francisco about 1973 or so, and played in a series of local bands. Eventually, Borsey moved back to New York and formed Mink Deville. I've seen one version of the story where McKenzie moved back with him but then split when the band started to get popular, and another where he didn't move back...but both versions attribute his split with the fledgling Mink Deville band to outstanding warrants and fear of being arrested if he remained in New York. McKenzie is sometimes credited with coming up with the name Mink Deville.
Circa 1978-1979, he formed Fast Floyd with his girl friend Silke Berlinn on vocals. This version of the band released a local single, "Bizarre," and placed two songs on "City Lights," a local compilation LP that also featured tracks by Rocky Sullivan and future stars Tommy Tutone. His next band was the Spiders, who put out self-released 45 in 1981 that got local radio airplay on college station KUSF. The Spiders played the local club circuit: the Mabuhay Gardens (aka The Fab Mab), On Broadway, Deaf Club, and at one point had former Avengers drummer Danny Furious as a member. Vocals were handled by Billy Bastiani (formerly of Ultrasheen).
The next incarnation was as Fast Floyd & His Famous Firebirds, who put out the album "Devil's Daughter" in 1983. Both records are influenced by 1950s rock 'n' roll and R&B without being as overtly revivalist as the Stray Cats or Robert Gordon. Fast Floyd is less rockabilly with a dash more of New Orleans; probably due to the presence of some funky sax work on several tracks.
What I've got here is the Spiders 45 and the Devil's Daughter LP, digitized from clean copies, declicked, with scans of the record sleeves. Flac files of wavs.


No comments:
Post a Comment