Early Bands In Central New York
I was in several bands throughtout the late 70s on up to 1987, when I moved to Florida. The town of Waterville had a lot to do with most of the bands. They had many names in several years, such as Rampage, Thunderbird, Infinity, Insanity (my favorite), XLR8, Willie and the Poor Boys, etc, but always consisted of one or more of the Barnes brothers, myself and occasionally Peter "Skeeter" Macri, one of the most awesome guitar players I have ever known but totally useless in front of an audience. Pete had some chemical imbalance that made him a nice guy but at times a total wacko. He was perfect for rock music. My primary music partner was Jim Barnes, who I taught to play bass guitar, and electric guitar (in the beginning.) Jim soon surpassed me on electric guitar with years of daily practice and studio work in his home studio. The early works on this page were done upstairs in the Barnes farmhouse in a TEAC 2330 4-track, our first recording experience. Later on we visited some other studios around the Utica area, where Sparks Fly came to life. It was my first song to ever be played on the radio, when Rock 107 did a Sunday night "Locals Spotlight" every week. It was our first exposure :)
Song	Description
Laundromat Blues Written by Dick Trismen Performed by "Wazmo Nimrod" Summer of 1981	Right Click to Download I make no apologies for this song. It started as a joke and went from there. Dick Trismen worked with me at a local engineering firm. He was a Syracuse University grad and he used to take his group out to the Orange Laundromat and play while they did their laundry. Surprisingly, they drew larger and larger crowds and even attracted the attention of local TV stations. He came to me to record a demo (using my band), so he could begin The National Laundromat Tour. Wazmo Nimrod came to life. Dick Trismen, or "Triz" as he was known in the area, went on to greater pastures, working as a song writer for Donald Rosier, aka Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult. I lost track of him several years ago. If you see him say hi. Credits: Keyboards and Lead Vocal: Dick "Trizwad" Trismen BG Vocals: John Tenney, Lee "Wash me, Rinse me" Johnson Drums: Ray Barnes Bass: Jim Barnes Guitar: Peter "Skeeter" Macri
Sparks Fly Written by John Tenney Recorded at Jeff Oxford's Home Studio 1984	Right Click to Download Most of my songs are inspired by break ups. This one is attributed to Diana Erb, who was my second engagement, but only my first ring! I still stay in touch with Diana, who is the proud mother of triplets, all boys, pictured to the right. Diana and I were on and off from 1984 all the way through 1987. She even came to visit me in Florida once. I sang the first two cuts but Jim wanted to give it a try. I liked my version better (of course) but Jim's fan club won out. Insanity actually played this song in public once or twice. It never went over live as the drum part is not playable by a human with only two hands. What can I say, it was my first try at programming a drum machine :) Still we tried it "just to have an original." It even got played on two local radio stations during their "Local Features." Too bad we never made a dime on it! Credits: Jim Barnes: Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals John Tenney: Keyboards, Guitars, Drum machine, Alto Sax, BG Vocals
Excited Written by John Tenney Recorded at home on a 4-track 1986	Right Click to Download Ever wake up with a song you heard while dreaming? Sometimes they sound good and sometimes they sound like this. XLR8 performed it live once or twice, but the crowd reacted with a "deafening silence" (or was it deathly?) so we dropped it. It was inspired by Dannette Meola, who was Jim's girl friend at the time. Best line about Dannette is attributed to Greeley Ford, the accomplished bass player, keyboard player and producer from Mr. Edd - "John, She proves that there is a God and He is a man!" Yeah she was that hot. Credits: Jim Barnes: Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar John Tenney: Guitar, Click Track, Vocals
Can't Make It Written by John Tenney Recorded on Jim's Teac 1981	Right Click to Download Another breakup song, this one about my College Flame, Katie. I was obviously inspired by one of my favorite bands, The Who. I apologize for the poor quality but this was back in the days before fancy drum machines, click tracks, etc. Credits: Jim Barnes: Bass Guitar John Tenney: Guitar, Keyboards, Click Track, Vocals

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