20 Questions w/ Glamour Punks singer Mandie

 

Mandie from Glamour Punks

 

Every so often we dig deep into the Sunset Strip archives and unearth a gem of a interview for the die hards. This week we bring you 20 Questions with singer Mandie from the infamous Hollywood band – Glamour Punks.

This band was in some locals eyes, legendary for everything they stood for. No there wasn’t a big record deal. Matter of fact, there wasn’t much success to speak of at all. And they probably wanted it that way. But if you liked the dirty side of rock n’ roll or the seedy side of Hollywood in the late 80s, then Glamour Punks were your band They drank, they fought and they acted like punks. Lived like punks. And in the end, sadly some of them died like punks too.

We’re fortunate enough to get a little time from the bands singer and founder – Mandie. We’ll let him take you for a little trip back in time. Enjoy our 20 Questions with Mandie.

1. What’s up with you and the Glamour Punks?

There is not really a whole lot up with us, we haven’t played together in 20 years! We are doing a reunion show at the Viper Room on June 4th and thats it for now. I would love to re record a bunch of the songs to release another album, we released one last summer on Demon Doll records, but there is still a lot of material that hasn’t been released.

2. Who will play as the line up in Glamour Punks for the big reunion show @ Viper Room on June 4th?

The line up will be myself, Skitz on guitar. Spazz Drastic on drums, and Alley Useless on bass. Of course it won’t be the same without Dizzy , but Alley was such a huge Glamour Punks fan and he is such an amazing bass player, I know he is the only choice to fill Dizzy’s enormous shoes. The absence of P.R.D. will obviously also be irreplaceable. Kinda hard to round up the other guy’s.

3. The band GP had a pretty massive buzz in LA on the heels of GNR success. But it never happened. In your eyes, why? 

Lots of reasons I’m sure, we were very over the top in all we did, both image wise and musically. I can’t help but think the industry was skeptical. On top of that we were very self destructive internally and extremely hard partying but not that hard working!!!

4. Tell us about the first 3 hours of your day, what do you do?

Nothing that even remotely resembles my days as a Glamour Punk. I’m up early, sometime between 6 and 7 and if I’m working it’s shower and straight to work. If I’m not working I will most likely take my son Chancellor to school and then go play golf, how fuckin punk rock is that!!!

5. What does ManDie do for work in the real world? 

I am a freelance audio mixer for television production, I actually learned audio by working at the Whiskey a go go for many years after The Glamour Punks disbanded. I was taught by the legendary Louie Stetzel, who is sadly no longer with us, but was the man behind the board for all of the bands of that era.

6. Rate Punk bands old and new 1-10. A 1 being a suck ass gang of poseurs and a 10 being true punk soldiers!

The Clash = THE ONLY BAND THAT MATTERS!!!

Green Day =

Black Flag =

Generation X =

Rancid =

The Zeroe’s =

Total Chaos =

The Plazmatics =

Sigue Sigue Sputnik =

The Offspring =

HA! I’M JUST PLAYIN!!

I love all these bands I definitely wouldn’t call any of them suck ass poseurs!!

7.  Name 3 bands who SHOULD have gotten signed from the strip? And 3 who should have NEVER got the deal they did?

Besides us? BBJ, The Brats and Swingin Thing should have gotten deals. Pretty Boy Floyd should NEVER have and I can’t even think who else actually did. I know LSD and the Zeros did , but they deserved it.

8.  In a interview w/ Glitzine (October 2005) you talked about PUNK ROCK DAVE, your stage mascot if you will. You said: “Unfortunately he ended up in jail for 9 and a 1/2 years, but he’s out now – we love ya PRD!!!!!!!!!”

Since he’s out, will he be at the big show?

I am extremely sad to say that Punk Rock Dave is no longer causing his magical chaos he died unexpectedly last September. So many of our friends have left us it is rather devastating, thanks for bringing it up.

Editors note: We had no idea, and send a RIP to Punk Rock Dave.

9. Kill, Fuck, Marry! You have 3 choices, kill one, fuck one and marry the other.

(Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Courtney Love)  

Fuck Brittany(from behind) Marry Lady GaGa, then beat Courtney to death with one of GaGa’s shoes!!

10. What do you remember in 5 words or less about the following LA night clubs!

Whisky-A-Go-Go = My all time favorite

Cathouse = First place first night LA

Troubadour = free drinks from Lance

X-Poseur 54 =We all ate on Sunday-

Coconut Teaser = Home away from home

The Roxy =Always fun to play

Anti Club = Only good punk rock joint

Gazzarri’s = threw up on the bar

The Scream = went once got kicked out

Raji’s = In the basement nuff said!!

11. Like many famous and infamous bands, GLAMOUR PUNKS have had a death in the family.Your friend, and bassist Eric ‘Dizzy’ Boyles died in 1995. How did you originally learn of his death and what was your immediate reaction to the news? 

I saw Dizzy a few days before he died, It came as no surprise to any of his close friends that he died, he had been sick for a long time. My immediate reaction was obviously deep sadness he was my brother and I loved him.

12. Speaking of death & tragedy in Hollywood. The scene suffered more deaths in recent years. With a few well known guys who ran with a similar family and punk crowd. Rusty Casanova & Traci Michaelz (RIP to our brothers). The Traci Michaelz funeral was said to have drawn more people than almost every other Hollywood celebrity in years. There was also a request for bands to bring band stickers for his coffin. Add to that, he was laid to rest in full make up & stage clothes. How well did you know Traci & Rusty and what are your thoughts on these brothers looking back? 

I knew them both pretty well, Traci was a huge Glamour Punks fan and was always a pleasure to be around. He was a genuinely good guy. I actually spent more time with Traci post GP era, he was always excited to talk about those days. Unfortunately I was working out of town during his funeral, but I certainly heard about the turnout. Traci will always be loved and missed, especially by the veterans of the Hollywood scene. Rusty was someone I hung out with a lot during The GP era, his speaking  voice is what I remember most fondly, Alley and I talk about it to this day.He had such a gruff comical voice,kinda like Oscar the grouch, he was hilarious. It is such a shame we have so many fallen comrades, but it does make me realize how fortunate I am. A lot of death questions huh?

13. Are you superstitious and if so, about what?

Absolutely not.

14.  In that same Giltzine interview you said “I was really disillusioned with the music scene and especially punk rock music.” What did you mean by this. Do you think that the “punk” lifestyle/music was just a reflection of being young and rebellious? And what are your thoughts today when you see a teen kid with a colored mohawk snarling and covered in tattered clothes?

Really I was just bitter, we ended up being ahead of the curve so to speak because just a few years later so many punk bands became relevant and mainstream. That is kinda how it has continued to this day. I guess old school guys will always say the new school kids aren’t the real deal.but I don’t feel that way. Punk Rock is just a rebellious attitude,and lets face it young kids are far better at that than old farts.

15. Name 3 famous dead people you would love to break bread with?

Great question I really had to think, here goes. 1. My mum 2. George Carlin ,perhaps the wittiest person of all time.  3. Ben Hogan, my golfing idol, fought the hook just like me!!

16. Memory Lane with Mandie! What do you remember most about the following year?

1977 =My last year in my homeland England                         

1980 = My mum took me to see KISS.

1984 = First year of High School.

1988 = Stepped foot in Cali on August 17

1991 = very little, height of The Glamour Punks, oh yeah my mum died (I usually try to forget that)

1995 = My son Gryffan was born, also began working at the Whisky a Go Go

1999 = Started my criminal empire, working for LP.

2002 = Married my amazing wife Sandy, life has gotten better everyday since.

2006 = Ended my criminal empire,thankfully unscathed.

2009 = The New York Yankees win their 27th World Series. Go Bombers!!!

17. How much time do you spend on the internet daily? Compared to 5 years ago? 

5 years ago none, today only slightly more.

18. How punk rock was it for Mickey Lord to play guitar in the Vince Neil video “You’re Invited But You’re Friend Can’t Come” which also featured a cameo by Pauly Shore?

Mickey Lord played guitar in a Vince Neil video? News to me. Anyway not a huge surprise Mickey had no idea what punk rock was before I met him, and he was a Crue fanatic.

Editors note: Yes, Mickey Lord is in the video playing lead guitar – you can watch it right HERE so is Phil Soussan/Bass, Robbie Crane/Guitar & Vikki Foxx/Drums!

19. How much money do you have in your pockets RIGHT now (including change)?

Zero point zero, got a bunch of plastic in there though, and the bank account is FAT SUNN!!

20. The last of Mandie from the Glamour Punks.

Last time you played as the Glamour Punks = May of 92 or so I’m told.

Last song you heard on the radio = Do they play songs on the radio?

Last concert you watched from the crowd = Slightly Stoopid 4/20/2011

Last type of cereal you ate = Haven’t eaten cereal in a long time it was probably Wheetabix though.

Last time you bought a CD = January of 2011

Last time you barfed from partying to hard = my birthday 2004

Last time you had colored hair (what color) = Bleach blond in 2006

Last famous person you shook hands with = Gordon Ramsey

Last time you were in hand cuffs = september of 2008

Last time you cried for real = January this year

We wanna thank Mandie for a great interview.

Make sure to check out GLAMOUR PUNKS with BLACKBOARD JUNGLE on Sat. June 4th 2011 @ Viper Room in Hollywood California. For tix info on this show go HERE.

Also, GLAMOUR PUNKS on FACEBOOK – MYSPACE – DEMON DOLL RECORDS

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