Post by thomasallencummins on Apr 23, 2007 10:27:49 GMT -5
The Maniacs: By Tom Cummins
Tom Neidhardt - Bass, Lead Vocals
Tom Cummins - Guitar
Charlie (forgot last name) - Drums
Back in 1980 I was a sophomore at Chamberlain High School, Tampa, FL.. My interest in music had been limited to what I heard on the radio and a few albums. My sister Darlene had an acoustic guitar I would pluck on from time to time and I had developed an interest in playing drums, inspired by my friend Grant Martin who played and had a drum kit in his bedroom. At some point during school I had struck up a friendship with Tom Neidhardt. We had similar interests in movies and so on. Tom was deeply interested in Punk Rock at the time and exposure to him exposed me to bands including The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers and others. Tom had always talked about forming his own band and at some point he made his wishes a reality by buying a bass guitar. Shortly thereafter I picked up an old guitar (the b and e tuners were missing) and we began trying to play Ramones songs. Then Tom found a drummer (Charlie I believe though I can't remember his last name) and we really started making progress. We practiced whenever and wherever we could. Trying to play Ramones songs helped since they were fast, easy and very short. I struggled using the guitar I had but thankfully Charlie had a halfway decent Fender Jaguar copy that I traded a snare drum for. That guitar was light years ahead of my old guitar and my playing and sound improved instantly. Then in our Junior year we heard about the school talent show and we prepared to enter. The show asked for each group to play one song but our songs were so short we managed to get them to let us play 2 (Homicide by 999 and Boys Will Be Boys by The Undertones). Until that show we hadn't really given ourselves a name. Because the talentshow organizers needed a name we quickly thought up The Maniacs. Oddly enough the MC of the show just announced us as "The Punk Band". How nice. We played the show and performed very well. (considering our experience) It was great fun to play in front of our friends and schoolmates. Not long after the talent show The Maniacs seemed to lose momentum and fizzled out. Tom was interested in playing with a more professional group. I was making slow progress with my guitar playing and Charlie had only been half hearted about his drumming. After graduation, until Mark Frierson called me to join Nerve Center, I mostly sat around writing the music to songs and playing infrequently with other friends.
Tom Neidhardt - Bass, Lead Vocals
Tom Cummins - Guitar
Charlie (forgot last name) - Drums
Back in 1980 I was a sophomore at Chamberlain High School, Tampa, FL.. My interest in music had been limited to what I heard on the radio and a few albums. My sister Darlene had an acoustic guitar I would pluck on from time to time and I had developed an interest in playing drums, inspired by my friend Grant Martin who played and had a drum kit in his bedroom. At some point during school I had struck up a friendship with Tom Neidhardt. We had similar interests in movies and so on. Tom was deeply interested in Punk Rock at the time and exposure to him exposed me to bands including The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers and others. Tom had always talked about forming his own band and at some point he made his wishes a reality by buying a bass guitar. Shortly thereafter I picked up an old guitar (the b and e tuners were missing) and we began trying to play Ramones songs. Then Tom found a drummer (Charlie I believe though I can't remember his last name) and we really started making progress. We practiced whenever and wherever we could. Trying to play Ramones songs helped since they were fast, easy and very short. I struggled using the guitar I had but thankfully Charlie had a halfway decent Fender Jaguar copy that I traded a snare drum for. That guitar was light years ahead of my old guitar and my playing and sound improved instantly. Then in our Junior year we heard about the school talent show and we prepared to enter. The show asked for each group to play one song but our songs were so short we managed to get them to let us play 2 (Homicide by 999 and Boys Will Be Boys by The Undertones). Until that show we hadn't really given ourselves a name. Because the talentshow organizers needed a name we quickly thought up The Maniacs. Oddly enough the MC of the show just announced us as "The Punk Band". How nice. We played the show and performed very well. (considering our experience) It was great fun to play in front of our friends and schoolmates. Not long after the talent show The Maniacs seemed to lose momentum and fizzled out. Tom was interested in playing with a more professional group. I was making slow progress with my guitar playing and Charlie had only been half hearted about his drumming. After graduation, until Mark Frierson called me to join Nerve Center, I mostly sat around writing the music to songs and playing infrequently with other friends.
