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Spine of Overkill, by Woody High

In his latest Spine of Overkill column, Chris “Woody High” MacDermott takes a look back at TT Quick and time spent at the Rising Son in Yonkers. As ever, he’s fucking brilliant. Please enjoy:

Hello to the Yo – a personal history of TT Quick and the Rising Sun

It’s going to be hard to top the reaction I got to last month’s column about the Big 4 Before The Big 4 (Anvil, Riot, The Rods and Twisted Sister). People from near and far went out of their way to lemmy know how much they enjoyed it and shared their own stories of growing up with those bands. I was just a hair too young to catch the class of 1982 in their club daze prime but a band I did get to see many, many times in a bar was the pride of Ozzy Osbornville, NJ – TT Quick. And not just any bar, the legendary, super scuzzy Rising Sun in Yonkers, NY. Truly a match made in metal heaven.

According to Yonkers.gov, “The City of Yonkers, located on the majestic Hudson River, is the fourth largest city in the State of New York and is the largest city in beautiful Westchester County.” There’s no mention of the fact that it was home to a large population of dusted out metal maniacs in the 1980s who made their counterparts in White Plains and New Rochelle (my hometown) seem positively tame. Yonkers Raceway has been rebranded as the Empire Casino, but back in my day it was just a landmark off of the New York State Thruway on the way to the Rising Sun. L’Amours in Brooklyn and L’Amours East in Queens were the metal capitols but the Rising Sun hosted some great shows. It was a regular stop for Twisted Sister on their never-ending club tours of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The Raven/Metallica “Kill ‘Em All For One” tour also made a pit stop there. Cover bands thrived there. There was still a large crowd of blue collar dudes that just wanted to relax and jam out to some Zep covers after a long day of smoking weeed at BOCES. It was also a total dump, but easy to get into if you were underage during the last days of the 18 (then later 19) year old drinking age. When the drinking age finally went to 21 in New York places like the Rising Sun disappeared and bands like TT Quick were left homeless.

During my last two years of high school 1984-‘85 TT Quick would play the Rising Sun every other Friday. I have no idea how many times I actually saw them play. It feels like dozens but maybe it’s because they used to play two sets a night. Maybe because I was drunk every single time and really don’t remember. Either way, they always kicked ass and put on a great show. Slowly but surely more and more of my friends started coming to the shows and bringing more people with them. 914 area code metal crowds were really strong back then. I have to give special credit to my friend Dave for driving me to every single one of these shows. I still owe you a tank of gas!

TT Quick was a great live band. Heavy enough for the dudes getting into all the new speed metal bands, but not too heavy to scare away the guys more into Zep/Aerosmith. A few girls even liked them. Every show was basically a big party. TT Quick specialized in doing kick ass covers. Without fail you’d get “Back in the Saddle” by Aerosmith, “Ace of Spades” by Motörhead and “Into the Void” by Black Sabbath. “Into the Void” was always killer because they’d line up at the front of the stage and do some cool synchronized moves on the ending riff. They’d get the Led out with “Ramble On” and/or “Out on the Tiles,” give the drummer some on “The Wizard” and get me really pumped up with “Son of a Bitch” by Accept. When singer Mark Tornillo became the new singer in Accept a few years ago I knew he’d be a great replacement for Udo. Hell, he did such a great job on Dio‘s “Last in Line” and “We Rock” he should work with Tony and Geezer, too. The rest of the band could really play. Guitarist David Dipietro was especially good. When all the other metal guitarists were switching to pointy Jacksons and Charvels, he stuck with a Les Paul and played the hell out of it. He gave guitar lessons back then and one of his students was none other than Zakk Wylde. Bassist Walt Fortune was very solid and looked pretty decent in leopard print pants. Drummer Glenn Evans was a monster behind the kit. He’d blow us all away by making it sound like he had a double bass kit by using a second floor tom like Bonham. He later joined Nuclear Assault but my memory isn’t strong enough to recall if he used two bass drums for them.

In addition to their killer covers, they’d throw in originals from their self titled EP released in 1984 by Avalanche Records. Avalanche was a short-lived subdivision of Megaforce and used the slogan “Heavy Metal at its Peak.” The best song on the record by far is “Child of Sin.” It’s got a killer stop/start chugga-chugga riff perfect for headbanging with built in pauses to yell “HEY!” Two years later an almost identical riff appeared as the instrumental “Intro” to I Against I by Bad Brains. I doubt Dr. Know pinched it, since it’s not the world’s most original riff, but it is a weird coincidence. I remember Vernon Reid of Living Colour reviewed I Against I for the Village Voice and described “Intro” as “Mahavishnu-esque.” I doubt he’d say the same thing about TT Quick. “Go for the Throat,” “Metal Man” and “Victims” are great US metal songs that rocked hard live. Oddly enough for a band that specialized in heavy rock covers live, they included “Fortunate Son” by CCR on the EP. It’s not a bad version but who wants Creedence in their metal? I don’t ever remember them playing this one live. Chances are if they did I would probably use it as a chance to hit the can and get another bottle of Bud. TT Quick should have been sponsored by Budweiser with all the empties they’d have piled on the stage by the end of the night. Mark Tornillo had a cool shirt that said something like “Olympic Beer Drinking Team.”

In the fall of 1985 I went upstate for college and that put an end to spending every other Friday night in Yonkers with a great band. I only went to the Rising Sun a few more times after that on breaks from school. One of the most insane shows I ever witnessed took place there in October 1985 when Overkill (listed as “Overhill” on the club’s flyer) with S.O.D. opening up. That was right at the start of “moshing” at metal shows and there was a lot of fights between the guys that just wanted to headbang and the new breed of metal slam dancers. Billy Milano wore my Suicidal hat on stage when they covered “War Inside My Head” that night. Every now and then photos from that night show up on the internet. My hat is prominent but luckily I am not visible. TT Quick went on to release Metal of Honor on Megaforce in 1986. It’s a shame that they didn’t achieve more success earlier in their career. By ‘86 metal was either thrash or poser crap and TT Quick didn’t fit into either category. The Rising Sun is now a strip club, so at least there’s still some seedy activity going on at that address. It’s probably for the best that it closed down because I’d probably be living above the place strung out on coke and waiting for the next TT Quick show. New Jersey bangers are well aware that Mark will be fronting Accept on tour now. Be sure to heckle him by yelling out for “Child of Sin” all night long.

“Child of Sin” live at L’Amours 1986

“Supernaut” live at L’Amours 1987

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14 Responses to “Spine of Overkill, by Woody High”

  1. eddie b says:

    this might be your best one yet: ” There was still a large crowd of blue collar dudes that just wanted to relax and jam out to some Zep covers after a long day of smoking weed at BOCES”

  2. Woody says:

    You would know, you were probably standing right next to me for most of these shows.

  3. Braino says:

    Jeezus, the days when cops couldn’t be bothered in the least with under aged teens smoking weed and drinking beer and JD in parking lots. The parking lot beer/weed breaks between TT Quick sets at the Rising Sun were epic! That was the real Heavy Metal Parking Lot!

    I can’t believe you didn’t mention TT’s roadie Bob. Real skinny guy with that inspiring beer gut. He looked like a lower-case d with legs. Nice call out to BOCES Metalheads—Bored On Cannabis & Eatin’ Shrooms.

  4. Dean Rispler says:

    I love this article. I unfortunately never got to see TT Quick. I wish I had.
    So was BOCES just a NY thing? I’ve mentioned it before to “outsiders” and they never heard of it.

  5. Woody says:

    I should have mentioned Bob. I can only imagine what his gut looks like now. I also should have mentioned the between set party sessions in Dave’s car. There was a pizza joint down the street, too. Pretty much heaven on earth.

  6. The Chris says:

    interesting article. For the 28 years I lived in Queens, and the 4 years I worked at L’Amour East, I never went to – let alone heard of – the Rising Sun. Weird. I went to every club in the area – Long Island – Jersey – Brooklyn – Manhattan – but never ventured ‘uptown’.. My other little beef…. There’s NO big four without VENOM… When I think of Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica, and Megadeth, I think of opening bands for Venom. Those 16 or so guys should be ASHAMED of themselves for not taking Venom out on every one of their tours…..

  7. Lorraine Mollineaux says:

    Hello there…I am TT Quick’s one & only, “Queen of the Scene”. I have created the TT Quick group & musician/fan page on Facebook for everyone’s enjoyment. Just had to let you know how much I enjoyed your article. I felt like I was reading the Aquarian, circa 1984. Just want to let you know, I was at every single show you mentioned, it was like a walk down memory lane. I remember the Rising “slum” fondly. I used to drive there from Jersey, by myself, with a Camaro in 3 feet of snow!!! Ahh, those were the days!! A member of my group posted your work on our group page, I just read & approved it!! Thanks for the memories!!!!

  8. Kenny Florio says:

    Great article. I was lucky enough to have a good friend who was Dave’s guitar tech and got me into the TT Quick road crew for weekend shows in the mid to late 80’s. I remember The Rising Sun very well, the owner Moe and his brother Petey were pretty funny. Funny you didn’t mention Erik(Erock) Ferro the drummer who took over after Glenn Evans left. He was a great John Bonham type drummer and a hell of a nice guy. On a sad note, Bob (Dad) Bogart, who did sound for TT, passed away back in 1987 I believe. T.T. Quick were a great band, I had a lot of fun with those guys. I’m glad I still keep in touch with them.
    Thanx!

  9. Woody says:

    Lorraine & Kenny, thanks for reading! Sounds like we were all at the same shows. Cheers!

  10. Dave the hammer says:

    Man I remember those days…..I lived in the Bronx and me and my boys used to go every weekend to the Rising Slum…as we called it back then…lol I saw the Metallica and Raven show. I was like man…they are going to be famous one day. Twisted Sister…played there also….I didn’t see the. As I was too young.Damn I miss the 80s.

  11. Tom P says:

    Played there several times with my band Iron Curtain…Good times!

  12. Bob Lazarou says:

    My band Valhalla played there. Originals and covers. Lots of Journey covers. Anybody out there see us live in 1983 and 84?

    • Danny says:

      I was T.T. Quick’s Backline Tech and Stager Manager for most of the eighties into the early 90’s, and have returned every time they have a reunion. I do remember Valhalla, and if I remember correctly, your band opened for T.T. Quick more than once. With the number of dates we played a week spread across NJ, NY, and PA, I might be wrong on the opening part, but I do remember your band. Moe and Petey were quite a pair and to those who say the club was a “slum,” those guys made money just about every night, good or bad crowd aside. Yes, the ashtrays were old tuna/cat food cans, the carpet on the stage was threadbare, and the electrical system was dubious at best, but did anyone really care? It was all about the music and The Rising Sun delivered in spades.
      Funniest moment: Remember the signs above the front of the stage? You know, Zebra on such-and- such a date, etc. (I think there were 3 across). While breaking down Quick’s gear at the end of the show after the crowd was gone, Moe had one of his guys drag out a ladder to change out the signs. Down came the “#1 Heavy Metal T.T. Quick” sign and up went “#1 Heavy Metal Zebra” sign. Our drum tech, Artie, said “Hey Moe! How can both be #1?” Moe, without missing a beat, turned to him and said “This week, you’re # 1. Next week, Zebra is #1.” And that’s how it went.
      By the way, shout out to Louie at Raceway Pizza down the block. The crew would walk in for dinner and Louie would say “Ah, the boys are here! A little evening music for the boys,” and he play Sinatra.

  13. Chris Milnes says:

    Warms my heart. A well told, and very accurate account of the RS. I was there as well, sneaking past the owner Moe as an underager from NJ. TT Quick and Talas were my favs there. Cheers to you.

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