GRINGOLENE
The departure of Simon from the Love Dictators was followed by a rather desperate search for a singer. A stream of unlikely hopefuls came and went (with Andy and JP surreptitiously pulling tortured faces and leaving me to do the "Don't call us, we'll call you" bit - thanks, guys).
At last, hope was rekindled in Marc Rowlston, with whom JP had worked on a movie set. James Donaldson re-entered the fray, playing lead guitar in earnest and we set to rehearsing frantically, spurred by the recent decision of Andy and JP to go to New York within two months.
With the sword of Damocles hovering, we played a gig at Tandoor in Rockey Street, supporting The Kerels (Andy, as his alter-ego, Commander Drumslut, was to become a more or less permanent fixture on drums, at their all too infrequent gigs and on their Chrome, Sweet Chrome CD).
Elvis Gringo
The name Gringolene came partly from a Fear & Loathing-inspired craze for bad Spanish/Albanian accents and partly from the greasy prego rolls from the cafe over the road from the practise room, which were the band's staple diet (we had a song called Xtra Chilli - go figure!) The character McGringo also made his first public appearance, along with Elvis Gringo (Marc), Ringo Lene (Andy), Jimi Lene (James) and Igor E. Lenin (JP).
This was followed by a gig - again supporting the magnanimous Kerels - at a newly opened club in Braamfontein called Stone Rose.
We also found the time to record a very rushed demo, titled Rude, at the basement home studio of blues-guitarist extraordinaire Willem Moller. Eight songs were recorded and mixed in three days! Unfortunately, the lack of practice and of production budget is painfully apparent, although songs like Crucified and the instrumental Jammez give a fair indication of what Gringolene was about.
Igor E.Lenin (above)
Ringo Lene (below)
After a highly enjoyable open-air appearance at a party on Gunnar Schillings' Aquamine farm in Muldersdrift (north of Jo'burg), we played our final gig back at the Tandoor, this time supporting the Cape Town based Zap Dragons.
Jimi Lene
The venue was packed and we had an excellent response from the crowd, most of whom had no idea who we were. Sadly, this fittingly high note faded fast - a week later, Andy and JP were winging their way towards the Big Apple. Soon thereafter, Marc was snapped up by funk-rock outfit B-World, leaving James and McGringo adrift.
Dr McGringo
Cassette inner for Rude demo cassette
