The Fuzztones

THE FUZZTONES
 
 
The Fuzztones  are a garage rock revival band formed in 1980.  Founded by singer-guitarist Rudi Protrudi in New York City, the band has gone through several member changes but is currently active in Europe.  Dismissed by some critics and listeners as a “bar band” or unoriginal, they maintained a strong fan base in New York, in Europe (with their music being played on Hungarian State Radio), and in Los Angeles.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

Rudi Protrudi – who was born Glen Dalpis, but Rudi Action Protrudi is the name on his passport – is the frontman and lead singer of the one of the most popular and talented punk/psychedelic revival bands of the 1980’s, the Fuzztones.  He formed Link Protrudi and the Jaymen in the spring of 1986 as an offshoot of the Fuzztones with their original bass guitar player Michael Jay and “Mad” Mike Czekaj, the man who would become the drummer when the Fuzztones moved from New York City to Los Angeles in 1987. 

 

The mention in the Wikipedia article on the Fuzztones about Link Protrudi and the Jaymen makes it appear that the band was a one-off project in the 1986-1987 period; besides Missing Links, they also had a 1987 album, Drive it Home!.  Actually, Link Protrudi and the Jaymen also had a 2006 release, Slow Grind, and another album called Drive it Live (1992). 

 

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The first Fuzztones album that I got was the above retrospective CD, Flashbacks, which gives an excellent overview of their career.  There is even an (attempted) interview of the Fuzztones by Larry King included on another retrospective CD of theirs that I have, Creatures that Time Forgot.  Their greatest moment was probably their Hallowe’en album, Monster-A-Go-Go, but any of their albums are well worth tracking down. 

 

(February 2013)
 
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The Voxx Records retrospective CD, Be a Caveman: The Best of the Voxx Garage Revival (2000) presents one incredible song after another that has led me to buy several full albums by the bands on the CD; besides the Crawdaddys, the CD includes songs by the Vertebrats, DMZ, the Chesterfield Kings, the Pandoras, Gravedigger V, the Miracle Workers, the Fuzztones, Hypstrz, the Surf Trio, the Steppes, Dwarves, and many more. 

 

(January 2015/2)

 

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As a side project for the Rudi Protrudi band the Fuzztones that has been one of the leading lights of the Sixties Revival that is well into its fourth decade, Link Protrudi and the Jaymen were formed as a tribute to Link Wray and His Ray Men, one of the finest instrumental outfits in history.  I just wish I had more of their music; I have three, maybe four Fuzztones CD’s, but only the one Jaymen album. 
 
(February 2015)
 
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Yet another SS-20 song, “Still I’m Sad” (the Yardbirds song) is on a split 45 that was given away by an Italian magazine called Lost Trails, with the other side being a live performance of the Patti Smith Group song “Dancing Barefoot” by the Australian punk rock band Celibate Rifles.  Discogs has several more of these free 45’s listed that feature other bands from the Bomp! Records roster, such as past UARB the Tell-Tale Hearts, Gravedigger V, the Fuzztones, the Steppes, and the Miracle Workers. 
 
(December 2017)