Flesh And Bones, 1983
---------------------

[This issue of Flesh And Bones featured interviews with Mourning Noise
 (featuring Steve Zing on drums) and Rosemary's Babies (featuring 
 Eerie Von on drums).  Both interviews are included below.]
___________________________________________________________________________

MOURNING NOISE ARE:
MIKE MANSFIELD (VOCALS)
TOMMY NEO (GUITAR)
CHRIS DRAPHOBIA (BASS)
STEVE ZING (DRUMS)

F+B:  What's the history of Mourning Noise?

Steve:  Me, Mike, and Chris used to be in a band called Implosion, we broke
up and Tom and me joined Suburbicide and we got back together with Mike and
Chris and it became Mourning Noise.

Mike:  In February of last year.

F+B:  You have a record coming out, right?

Mike:  Yeah it's going to have "Laser Lights," "Demon Eyes,"....

Tom:  All our bad songs.

Mike:  "Dawn of the Dead" "Addiction" and "Fighting Chance"

F+B:  Is it going to be on your own label?

Steve:  Yeah.

Chris:  Flesh + Bones Records

F+B:  What about the Dirt Club album?

Chris:  It's going to take a while for the single to come out and we had the
opportunity to do it...

Mike:  It's for exposure

Chris:  Forced exposure.

Steve:  There's no sense in keeping the songs to ourselves and just
rehearsing them  every week, there's nowhere to play, at least some people
will get to hear us this way.  We're just doing it to get something on vinyl,
if Johnny Dirt makes money off it, fine, who cares?

Mike:  We have nothing to lose.

Chris:  We have nothing to gain.

F+B:  But the Dirt Club won't let any bands play there, only the ones that
are in their clique.

Steve:  Yes they will.

Tom:
Noooo...not...not..hic...Jooohhhnnyy...burp...Diiirrrttt...hic...buuurrrppp...

Steve:  I don't have anything against him, he doesn't want hardcore bands
because last time the crowd wrecked the place.  Slamming is one thing, but
when you start ruining the PA.

Tom:  CBGBs lets bands play.

Steve:  There's nothing to wreck there.

Tom:  Sure there is, it's got a PA

Chris:  The only thing you can do is rent out halls, and put on your own
shows, but unfortunately it costs money.

Mike:  Rent out a mortuary.

F+B:  What are some of your songs about?  What's "Radical" about?

Bruce (AOD):  Knitting.

Mike:  "Radical" is an anti-communist song.  When I was a freshmen in
college, I took a sociology class and the teacher was a really ultra left
wing communist, he was trying to influence the students with his ideas, there
seem to be a lot of teachers like that in college, it's a bad situation.

Steve:  "Dawn of the Dead" is about the movie, we didn't write it as a ripoff
of "Night of the Living Dead" though.  

Mike:  "Demon Eyes" is about a nightmare I had.  I woke up with a really
intense feeling of how evil a person could be..."Addiction" is about a
certain female author who became addicted to pills and alcohol.

Steve:  "Vincent's Theme" is about Vincent Price......"Underground Zero" is
an instrumental...

Chris:  About Vietnam.

Mike:  No it's not.

Steve:  It's just an instrumental.

Mike:  It's actually an instrumental prayer for safety... in a way it's an
anti-nuclear song... "Fighting Chance" is another anti-communist song that I
wrote when the whole thing with the Polish labor movement was going on.  It's
also a song against dictatorial leaders.

Steve:  "Laser Lights" is about the movie "War of the Worlds"...."Death on a
While Cloud".....

F+B:  Do you mind being called a hardcore band?

Chris:  No, but we don't try to categorize ourselves.

Steve:  I'm into early punk stuff like Sham 69 and that.... a lot of people
that are into hardcore are jocks who shaved their heads.

Mike:  Or heavy metal freaks.

Steve:  It's great that they're into it but they're totally unaware of the
punk attitude, it's a whole other thing to them.  They're just looking to
cause trouble and destroy things.

F+B:  What bands do you listen to?

Steve:  Pistols, Misfits, Sham 69, Damned...

Chris:  Ventures.

Mike:  Kiss, Alice Cooper ... Tom is heavily into the Fartheads and AOD.

F+B:  What do you do in your spare time?

Chris:  I'm a hairdresser.

Mike:  I'm a security dispatcher.

Steve:  I'm a telephone confirmationist.

Mike:  In other words, he's a secretary.

Chris:  He calls people and asks them if they want to buy swampland in China.

Steve:  I give people directions to the Poconos.

Mike:  Tommy lifts boxes and also stars in porno films.

Chris:  I got a Gene Simmons guitar pick from somebody the other day.

F+B:  What about other NJ bands?

Mike:  Because you don't live in a big city doesn't mean you can't be in a
punk band and have something to say.  There are a lot of good bands in NJ.

Chris:  Twisted Sister.

Mike:  People in NJ are into having fun, instead of the hate-kill attitude
that some bands seem to be into.

Steve:  Punk is a kind of rebellion, but to go to a club and destroy it...

Mike:  Or beat on other people in the scene.  You're supposed to be rebelling
against society, it's stupid to fight each other.

___________________________________________________________________________

INTENSE, UNDILUTED, BONECRUSHING, FLESHBROILING POWER.  THE MOST LETHAL THING
TO COME OUT OF NEW JERSEY SINCE DIOXIN.  ROSEMARY'S BABIES ARE:

POST MORTEM--BASS   C.A. RITCHIE--GUITAR   EERIE VON--DRUMS   J.R.--VOCALS

(READ AT YOUR OWN RISK)

F+B:  When did the band form?

J.R.  I never knew I was in a band.

Eerie:  We got together last March at a Misfits show at Irving Plaza.  And we
started getting serious about 3 months later.  Then we got J.R. to sing, so
it's been about 6 months altogether.

J.R.:  Six months of actual work.

Eerie:  Leaps and Bounds.  We are amazing.

F+B:  What inspired you?

Eerie:  We're all hams.  I know I am....  Our guitarist just has talent.
 J.R. just said--"I'm sick and tired of everyone else doing it, I just want
to do it!"

J.R.:  Post Mortem wants money

Eerie:  Craig wants girls.

J.R.:  That's why he has hair.

Mortem:  We can talk about him being that he's not here.

Eerie:  He said "I'm not going to shave my head.  I want girls!"  But he
doesn't get any girls anyway.

J.R.:  I always got thorwn out of school for making noise, so now I'm getting
money for it.

Eerie:  We don't make any money!

J.R.:  Someday we might.

F+B:  What do you do to make money?

Eerie:  I work in a chemical factory.  12 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I eat
my lunch at 5:00 a.m. and watch the sun come up.

F+B:  Are you exposed to any dangerous chemicals?

Eerie:  I work with all natural organic chemicals... the stuff that goes into
makeup and winds up on the Misfits... all the corrosives the burn your hands,
the put them in shampoo... but I'm quitting soon.

J.R.:  I quit U.P.S. because I was getting dust up my nose.

Mortem:  I work in pathmark, and I didn't quit.

Eerie:  Craig works at McDonalds.

F+B:  What kind of music do you play?

J.R.:  It's fast... I really don't think there's anything wrong with labeling
music.  You can call our music hardcore... I listen to Bach and I call it
classical, not hardcore.  People try to be altruistic and say "You can't
label our music"--but you have to, there's obvious differences.

Mortem:  You have to make distinctions.

F+B:  What are your songs about?

J.R.:  You see, we're a band that hates people, a lot of people.   We write
songs about the people we don't like and the things they do.

Eerie:  And how we'd like the world to get rid of them.

J.R.:  Let me say that aggression is the most important thing a person can
have.  It allows them to do what they want, it's the life energy.

Eerie:  Thank you doctor, live long and prosper.

F+B:  If something bothers you....

Eerie:  Everything bothers us.

J.R.:  The band is an outlet for a lot of our aggression, it's a way of
venting it in an expressive way.  Instead of getting drunk every night or
taking drugs, we use our natural energy and channel it through the
bad... sometimes fists and boots, but...

Eerie:  Nobody wants to thrash at shows anymore, they run away.

J.R.:  They'd rather drink until they fall on their face and say "what a
great show!" and they don't even know what they saw.

F+B:  Do you really hate most people?

Eerie:  Well our songs are mostly about things we hate, and we take our
emotions to an extreme, so....

F+B:  Do you hate individuals or groups?

J.R.:  I don't make sweeping generalizations all of the time but sometimes I
do... like I hate all long haired heavy metal morons.

Mortem:  And people who listen to Barry Manilow.

J.R.:  I hate them too!  AAARRRRGGG!!... I make generalizations but I'm
willing to give the person a chance as an individual.

Eerie:  You can't just say "He's got long hair, he's an asshole" you have to
get to know the person.

J.R.:  Yeah, but most of the time I say "Longhairs are assholes, hicks are
idiots, rednecks make me sick!"

Eerie:  Did you ever walk through a mall and people are all over going
"Duuh!" and you want to kill them all!

Mortem:  The things that we hate are...

J.R.:  I made a 4 page list of what I hate, it's too long to go into.  Oh I
hate people who drive jacked up vertical vehicles, and spend their whole day
getting drunk.

Eerie:  And their whole life is their car.  They go "Yeah I'm going to put
60s and 70s on my car and roll down the street"  The radio sounds good 3
blocks away and the car it's BBRRRCHH!!

J.R.:  The truth is most people are afraid to be different.  Like you get
people who are into hardcore, and they say "hey we're not out listening to the
same boring music"  they cut their hair and wear different clothes but their
sensibilities are no different.  They're the same as heavy metal jerks
drinking and taking drugs every night.

F+B:  So you believe in straightedge?

J.R.:  Well it's not something that suddenly came about.  I always believed
in using my mind.  When I heard Minor Threat, I thought "this guy has the
right idea, this is actually how I feel."  It was great that he was telling
people you don't need a crutch that you don't have to depend upon chemical
happiness.

Eerie:  A lot people say "Yeah we're straight edge" and then they go back to
drinking beer and they don't have the energy to do anything.  So they just
stand there at shows and the bands get discouraged.  J.R., remember that
party we went to, you said there would be a lot of girls, and you're there
with a beer pouring it on the floor "gee that was good."

J.R.:  All right, I'm not the total definition of straightedge, sex is where
I deviate.  I like it, okay?!

Mortem:  J.R. and I are sex maniacs.  We'll do anything to get it.

F+B:  So you formed Rosemary's Babies to get girls?

J.R.:  No! No!  Eerie says he isn't interested in sex.  He says "Oh I can
draw a picture instead."

Eerie:  I work 12 hours and sleep 8 hours.  I don't have time!

J.R.:  Okay sex is where we're set apart.  Some of us are maniacs, some of us
can take it or leave it.  But I could never understand leaving it.  Take it!
 But we're together on the music, violence, speeding in vehicles.

Eerie:  Playing Road Warrior and Mad Max.

F+B:  Do you like to live dangerously?

J.R.:  Live fast without drugs.

Eerie:  We go totally bananas.

J.R.:  I admit that we're sick.  Everyday we do something whether it's
ripping down phones or putting things in the middle of Route 46.

Eerie:  We go to New York, and he screams at the bums "You're a drunk!  Get a
job!"

J.R.:  When we go to NY, first we go up to 39th street and laugh at all the
whores and threaten them.  Once I punched one in the mouth and almost got
arrested... then we go to see the bums on the Bowery. "Gimmie Nickel!"

F+B:  What about in N.J.?

Mortem:  There's no bums or whores.

J.R.:  Well we annoy all our neighbors.  We bother the priests.  There's this
little shrine at St. Francis church, and it has this little door.  I run up
to the shrine, and pound on the door and yell "Mrs. Christ, can Jesus come
out and play?"

Eerie:  He pounds on the door like he's crazy, "Mrs Christ!  Mrs. Christ!"

F+B:  What do you think of politics in music?

Mortem:  Politics suck!

Eerie:  Reagan sucks!

J.R.:  Everything sucks!  This interview sucks.  You suck!... No, well,
politics and social philosophy are the major topics in punk.  But I don't
like to date myself by singing songs about Reagan or whatever, in a few years
when he's not president those songs will be meaningless.  So we don't mention
Reagan.

Eerie:  Except in "Attack of the 50 Foot Cowboy"

J.R.:  Well that song is a joke, Reagan is a joke.

Mortem:  I'd rather see Bonzo in office.

J.R.:  The song is about Reagan's mindlessness, his outlook is so
unrealistic.

Eerie:  He showed up on the Bob Hope show, everybody got up and did their
thing.  George C. Scott got up and said "80 years, gee Bob, you really don't
look it."  So Reagan stands up and gets a standing ovation.  All smiles, his
lines rehearsed.  He's an actor, that's all there is.  When he has press
conferences, it's just like Hollywood, he has it all memorized.  He knows who
asks the tough questions, and who asks the easy questions.  He has built-in
hearing aids so he doesn't look old.

J.R.:  Reagan thinks it's 1850 again, and if we get in a war, it's going to
be like one of his movies.

Mortem:  He doesn't read about history, he remembers it.

J.R.:  I think it's important to have some political content in your music,
but when it gets to the point where you're preaching to people....

Mortem:  Reagan is into God and his country.

Eerie:  And you're into neither.

F+B:  What would you do if you saw somebody get run over by a car?

J.R.:  We'd laugh.

Mortem:  Applaud!

Eerie:  We'd back up and get them again!

J.R.:  I did see somebody get run over and I laughed!  This little girl was
laying there looking for her teeth.... I don't care, the world sucks, nobody
lets you be yourself.  I hate people, so I laugh at them.

Eerie:  Tell your philosophy on old people.

J.R.:  I hate old people!  Old people should be herded like cattle into
concentration camps and forced into hard labor.  If they don't produce, they
don't get their daily allowance of oatmeal.  And if they die, use them as
food for other old people.

F+B:  How old do you want to be when you die?

J.R.:  Never drive behind an old man wearing a hat... No if I live to be old
I'm going to have a letter that I'll open.  "You're old, kill yourself."

Eerie:  But we'll never live to be old.  Not with the way Bruce and Don
drive--95 mph in the tunnel passing on both sides.

J.R.:  I wish I had a bus--I'd paint on it "Senior Citizen's Special" and it
would have a big bumper and air horn.  And whenever I saw an old man, I'd
blow the horn--BRRRAAATTT!

F+B:  What are the influences of "A Clockwork Orange" on you?

Eerie:  Violence

J.R.:  Yeah, we'd like to do just what they did.

Eerie:  And get away with it.

J.R.:  To rule the night.... we like movies like "A Clockwork Orange" and
"Caligula"

Eerie:  "A Clockwork Orange" is the violence.  "Caligula" is the sex.

J.R.:  We like the "NADSAT" language they use.  Like to hit somebody is to
"tolchok" them.

Eerie:  In the litzo.

J.R.:  Or the "rot" in the mouth.  We like the violence in "A Clockwork
Orange," because it's violence perpetrated against society.  And you can't
always get away with that.  Like the age we're at right now, we won't always
be able to do the things we do now.  If we're 30 years old...

Eerie:  Can you still be onstage singing about rebellion?

J.R.:  Right.  The guy from the UK Subs who's 38 yrs old gets up on stage and
tries to appeal to all the kids.  It's bogus.

Eerie:  How can somebody who's in their 30s understand what somebody who's 18
years old is feeling?

J.R.:  There's the pressure of school, parents, starting out work.

Eerie:  Deciding whether to go to college or work.

J.R.:  You're pressured from as soon as you're in high school, start thinking
about a career, right?

Eerie:  Once you start living on your own and paying taxes then you might get
more involved in politics, but right now it doesn't effect us that much.

J.R.:  Politics in music is okay but it's not as important to me as the
social aspect... what we hate about society.  Some people might think we're
into mindless violence.  But the violence is a manifestation of our
frustration towards society.

Mortem:  We don't like to constantly be told what to do.

J.R.:  I hate peer pressure.

Eerie:  Yeah, but some kids have the right idea, but they give into peer
pressure.  Others, well I know kids who were freshmen in high school and now
they're in their 20s and they still do the same thing every night, haning out
on a corner with 15 year olds  and getting drunk and high, it's pathetic.

J.R.:  It's people like the we're reacting against.

Eerie:  But we're not completely hateful.  We laugh and have fun.

J.R:  We like to go to hump films.  They're sooo funny!  I laugh so hard!

F+B:  What music do you listen to?

Eerie:  We're into a lot of classical music.... we used to play "Stacata in D
Minor" by Bach before our shows.

J.R.:  There's a definite violent aspect in classical music.  Just like in "A
Clockwork Orange"... I listened to Bach when I was young and it filled me with
feelings of violence.  

Eerie:  J.R. took classical voice lessons but you'd never know it.

F+B:  What bands do you listen to?

Eerie:  Gang Green, Necros, Misfits

J.R.:  Minor Threat

Eerie:  We like a lot of electronic stuff.

J.R.:  I hate heavy metal.

Eerie:  Yeah it has totally opposite values from hardcore.

F+B:  Do you admire lunatics?

J.R.:  Yes!  If only I could lose my marbles!

Eerie:  I'm not sure you haven't.

J.R.:  You can get away with anything if you're crazy.  You get put in a
hospital for a while, so what?  I'd like to lose my mind and commit a mass
murder, like in the movie "Silent Rage" this guy loses his mind and kills
everybody in the house with an axe.  It's so exhilirating!