The Rockabilly Funhouse

I’ve got a big old story to go along with today’s track, but I’ve got to go help my kid with his homework. I’ve written so much lately, and frankly, it’s hard to tell if anyone is out there...but anyway, I promise, a big juicy story about T. Scot Bottom & the Rockabilly Funhouse soon. Suffice to say, the band was an amalgam of all that was happening in Iowa City in 1982. The line up was as follow: Mark Houseal on keyboards, Tom Drew on drums, Todd (help me here) on bass and Scot Halpin—guitar and vocals. This recording is from the THIRD set of a gig at Gabe’s, one of the main clubs for live music in Iowa City, at the time. Might still be there. Last time I was there, The Deadwood was still there, and they I think they had the same carpet.

There are so many great stories about The Rockabilly Funhouse, and how it happened, I’ll just leave you with this. I had actually booked the first gig for this band before it even existed. I went into the Rosebud, a large industrial space in the bottoms of Iowa City that had been converted to a nightclub sometime in the late seventies, judging by the disco lighting set-up they had. I went in with one of Scot’s solo demo’s—lied—something I rarely do, and told the guy it was a recording of Scot and I, in Europe. He bought it, and so we then had the problem of coming up with a real band.

I remember Scot went down into the basement of our little house on G Street. We had a toy drum set Scot had bought for me at the Salvation Army down there. I remember thinking; he’s going to go down there to drum up a band: which he did. He drummed his heart out on that little toy kit. Starting the next day, he went out, and one, two, three, turned up his players.

The artwork for tonight, a cheap shot. Honey don’t. Honey do.