 Unnatural Axe/ Musician/ Music
Unnatural Axe bio from www.breakmyface.com, written by Monsieur Michel Bastarache.
“It is 1977. A scruffy neighborhood of Boston sprouts a band of naive working-class kids who think they can shake up the world with their personal take on the punk rock experience. Not content, or possibly even competent enough, to be another Jam clone or a Clash clone, Unnatural Axe bash out their own brand of two-chord and three-chord rock, and crank it up extra high.
Throughout 1978 and 1979 the Axe were playing regularly in New York, and at Cantone's, the Rat, and the Space in Boston as the opening act for the "big" UK and US new wave acts of the time. Their strangest billing must have been opening for The Police at the Rat in Kenmore Square. It is truly unfortunate that Sting squandered this "turning point" opportunity to learn the essentials of punk rock from Boston's finest. Sting's only question of the Axe vocalist: "Did you poop?"
But such is the fate for the greatest moments of brilliance of our times: few people recognize it. The big club owners didn't see it and the major record labels didn't hear it. After two short years, the Axe packed it in.
As a result, the Unnatural Axe discography is small, but what recordings do exist provide the documented proof that the Axe were, and shall always remain, the most important punk band Boston will ever call its own.”
Tom White of Unnatural Axe/ You’ll Pay For This/ Feature
Sypnosis of Unnatural Axe: www.bostongroupienews.com/YoullPayForThis.html
 Director Tommy White presents a number of Unnatural Axe songs at different venues, like Cantone's, The Club, The Rat, The Paradise and through the various stages of the band, spanning the three decades Unnatural Axe has been performing. Many of the songs are intermixed with other footage to create individual videos and between songs are more recent interviews with band members Richie Parsons, Tommy White and Frank Dehler. There's also backstage shots in various shit-hole dressing rooms, one with Real Kids founder John Felice, and interview with Jan Crocker just to name a few additional tid-bits.
The film opens with shots of Richie and Tommy as mere babes and a text explanation of how they were too young to play clubs so they played in Richie's basement. Pan to the audience and they really are in a basement with an audience of teenage friends! And the first song up is Three Chord Rock. Once the band starts playing out in clubs you get to see their penchant for dress up!! Oh yes Tommy and Frank, in particular, show up from time to time in some fabulous dresses and wigs, safari gear, caveman chic, yacht club finery.
There's also Tommy dressed up as the nerdy Vernon Potts character up on stage, the basis for the movie The Creeper and the second song in this film You'll Pay For This. It's presented here with Creeper footage interspersed with the band performing the song live and it's just a taste of the vintage footage to come! You also get to see the hi-tech, special effects Creeper transformation scene, and then an onslaught of a veritable who's-who of the Boston punk scene 1978!! Whew, Peter Gates and Decibel Dennis doing the POGO, (ya, the Pogo, that's the original punk dance before thrashing and mosh pits etc) in a science lab, there's Tom Lane, Johnny Angel, Joanne Greene, Betsy Sherman, and yes, that's Oedipus, in drag, as the evil Miss Oedwina and you see her get her head cut off in a paper cutter by the transformed Vernon played by Richie Paaaaahsons.
Next song up is "Today We Do The Bombin' Tomorrow You Do The Buryin'" with vintage war footage as well. Then into absolutely prize footage of Richie at work at the famed Filenes' Basement Men's Department!
Again another step back in time, things were different then my friends...it was the end of an era. Fading fast were the days of personal service, we, of a certain age and time, can remember this stuff…you'd get your windows washed by a service attendant at a gas station while he pumped your gas for free! You could even go to a discount store like Filenes' Basement and get full service. Richie was there, waiting with his tape measure to make sure you found the perfect pants just for you! And oh, the stories he can tell about measuring those in-seams…whew!! This scene segues into "Shopping for A Friend". And since this is "You'll Pay For This" there's more incredible time-machine footage from The Creeper movie! WOW!! OK, this part is really intense!!! You get transported right back to Cantone's 1978!!!! And this is AUTHENTIC stuff!! Vernon goes on a date to Cantone's with punkette super hottie Barb Kitson…I'm telling ya, if you were ever there you feel like you're back…and if you weren't you'll practically feel like you were!
Richard Griffin None of That (Feature)
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