Richard Barone is an example to all of us who get trapped in our daily grind. He seems to be the perpetual glass-half-full kind of guy. He admits he feels pretty much the same way he did 30 years ago when Barone on lead vocals and guitar along with bassist Rob Norris and drummer Frank Giannini gave birth to the Bongos, a wonderful, jangly power-pop combo that could light up any room with its overflowing energy. It’s difficult to believe that their new album, Phantom Train (Jem), is not really new at all. With guitarist James Mastro added to the band, it was cut in 1985 and 1986 and has languished on the shelf ever since. Barone has also kindly agreed to serve as guest editor for magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Barone: The closing night of Hoboken, N.J.’s beloved Maxwell’s unleashed a torrent of emotions for anyone who had ever been a part of its closely knit community. The bands and bartenders, the DJs, the house sound mixers, the waitstaff, the regulars and even the youngblood newcomers stepping into this three-decades-old indie-pop mecca for the very first—and last—time could each sense something important was being lost. Something cool that we would all miss. It all began quite innocently at the cusp of the ’80s, just some guys in a band looking for a place in the neighborhood where we could play. It was mutual love at first sight. We performed there, we practiced there, we stored our gear there, we ate, drank and had basically grew up there. Over time, musical styles and personal lives evolved and changed, as did Maxwell’s, and yet the venue remained a constant. Through good and bad days as Hoboken lost its original innocence and “small town” vibe—its streets overcrowded and overrun by weekend revelers—Maxwell’s persevered somehow, remaining a meeting place for music lovers and perhaps the most well-known and least-known bands of our time: New Order, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers all played there along with regional indie bands of all stripes and levels of fame. Bounding that famous stage on July 31, 2013, first for a set by the specially reformed “a” (the original first band to ever play at Maxwell’s, including all three original Bongos) and a final closing set by the Bongos as ourselves, felt poetic somehow. The entire day and night was a celebration of old friends and new faces. Every bit of the original magic was there in that overcrowded little room. The fact that we were able to announce that a new, lost Bongos single was being released the next day (a magical coincidence) somehow brought the past and present in too-sharp focus. Looking out into the crowd, the energy and sense of celebration was at a sustained peak throughout the night. Especially for the final encore of Big Star’s “Thank You Friends,” when we were joined onstage by members of Yo La Tengo, the Feelies and club owner Todd Abramson. In some sadly joyful way, it was Maxwell’s finest hour.
