Joey Vain and Scissors rock Boulder's Boar's Head Club New Year's Eve 1977

The group formed in the summer of 1977 as a project begun by University of Colorado Fine Arts professor Jerry Kunkel. Kunkel — so the story goes — had visited New York City earlier that year and gone to the famed punk club CBGBs and seen bands like the Ramones and Television. He came back to Colorado inspired and with his new bride Marsha on bass and guitarist Jerry Budwig began the seeds of a new band. Early versions of the rehearsing band included a keyboard player and several female backup vocalists.

One September night Fine Arts student Phil Gammage was wandering down the school halls when he overheard loud racaus music coming from one of the painting studios. He followed the sound and stumbled upon an early version of the new band rehearsing some Ramones tunes. He picked up an extra guitar, plugged in, and (fortunately he knew how to play the first Ramones LP barre chord for barre chord) played the songs. That night he was asked to join the band.

Drummer Peter Roos had drifted to Colorado from New England. He too had caught the band Television in NYC at CBGBs and was asked to join the group. Thus the personnel was set.

After a name change from "Sidewalk Strut" to Joey Vain and Scissors the group performed their first show at the Fine Arts Department Hallowween Ball held at the Moose Lodge outside of Boulder. Around this time a song was recorded in one of the University painting studios. It was submitted to a local station and received some airplay during a weekend show spotlighting local talent.

The band's early set included covers like the Ramones "Beat on the Brat" and Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso". As new songs were written they were included in the set. Featured originals were "New Tatoo", "Tie Me Up, Turn Me Own", and "That's What I Like". The sound of the band began to mature into a more Velvet Underground kind of thing — some of the songs live could go longer than ten minutes or so with some improvisation along the way. If this was new wave or punk it definitely had an art drone edge while maintaining a traditional rock sound.

Singer Jerry Kunkel cut a dark and menacing stance on stage. Wearing his silk Tokyo jacket and sporting an earring (one of the few men to do so at that time in Boulder) he soon grew adept at working the crowd. With the band playing their churning and sometime droning rock behind him he sang or spoke his lyrics with a satirical tone that was sometimes humorous, sometimes disturbing. Needless to say, this was not your typical music coming out of Boulder, Colorado in 1977.

The band peformed two more live shows at the Boars Head on Pearl Street on New Year's Eve '77 and in late January. Both shows were packed as a large following begin to develop within the local artists' community. The group also began to get written up in local press — particularly The Daily Camera. Momentum was building. Around this time the band recorded a 6-song demo including songs "New Tatoo", "Shoot It", "Why Do I Have to Wear This Collar", and "That's What I Like".

The group's next show was as the opening act for Elvis Costello at the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the University of Colorado campus. It was both their highest and lowest point. Highest because:

• it was their largest crowd to perform to in the largest room they would perform in
• the band played their best show ever.

• the audience reaction contrasted between a positive enthusiasm to outright hositility. Many of the state's punk/new wave fans were there that night hoping to see a band more like the Ramones or Sex Pistols. Instead they got a group of Boulder visual artists whose music chugged, churned, and droned.

Audio links: