sadly
overlooked in the modern punk “retro” craze, what’s the story behind Boys
Will Be Boys? The song definitely prefaces sentiments Bowie expressed
in his song, Boys Keep Swinging.
PAUL:
BOYS WILL BE BOYS WAS THE FIRST SONG MIKI WROTE FOR ME TO SING IN 1975.
TO MIKI, IT JUST SEEMED TO SUM UP A STEREOTYPE THAT WE NEVER HAD ANYTHING
TO DO WITH, EXCEPT FOR WEARING PIECES OF SAILOR OUTFITS AS STAGE WEAR,
AND I CAN ADD, WAY BEFORE THE VILLAGE PEOPLE. WE LIKED ALL KINDS
OF UNIFORMS (COWBOYS, INDIANS, MILITARY, YOU NAME IT!) AS FOR BOWIE,
I REMEMBER READING, AND HIM SAYING (BOYS KEEP SWINGING) IS LIKE “LESLIE
GORE, OR OTHER GIRL SINGERS, IN THE 50’S AND 60’S, SINGING SONGS LIKE “SHE’S
A FOOL,” OR “THAT’S THE WAY BOYS ARE.” MIKI AND I DID BOYS KEEP SWINGING
LIVE, MIXED INTO BOYS WILL BE BOYS, IN 1981, WHEN MIKI AND I, A KEYBOARD,
AND A DRUM BOX DID A TOUR OF NEW ENGLAND. I WISH I HAD TAPES FROM
THAT TOUR. WE LIKED IT. IT WAS OUR TRANSFORMATION TO ELECTRONIC
MUSIC.
CHUCK:
Speaking of Bowie, was there any heavy sexual message to The Fast, or did 
you
prefer sexual ambiguity?
PAUL:
NOT REALLY. SINCE WE WERE BORN IN THE GLAM ERA (SMALL FACES, BOWIE,
WHO SELL OUT, MAKEUP, ALICE), WE ALWAYS HAD A BISEXUAL FLAIR AND OPENESS
ABOUT EVERYTHING. N.Y. ALWAYS HAD IT’S BISEXUAL SCENE MIXED WITH
MUSIC (I.E. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND). AT THE START, THIS IS WHAT WOULD
BECOME GLITTER ROCK. THE N.Y. DOLLS, THE FAST, AND OTHER GROUPS,
WOULD DRAW A VERY MIXED CROWD. NY, LIKE LA, WAS ALWAYS MIXED, AND
THAT IS WHY PEOPLE ARE IN NY AND LA. THE NY SCENE WAS NOT AT ALL
LIKE THE PISTOLS PUNK IN ENGLAND, AND YOU CAN HEAR IT IN THE MUSIC.
ALL THE BRITISH 
PUNK
GROUPS AT THE START SOUNDED LIKE BAD DOLLS, AND BAD STOOGES. IN N.Y.,
EVERYBODY HAD HIS OR HER OWN SOUND. YOU CAN LISTEN TO TELEVISION,
BLONDIE, TALKING HEADS, FAST, RAMONES, MUMPS, WAYNE COUNTY, HEARTBREAKERS,
AND EVERYONE SOUNDED AND LOOKED DIFFERENT. THAT’S WHAT WE WERE ABOUT,
BEING DIFFERENT FROM EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY ELSE, SOUND AND LOOK WISE.
CHUCK: Who was Tommie Moonie? Was he the earliest bassist? What’s the story with replacing him with a Hoffman brother? It says on the first issue of your fan club zine Fast Forward, that Peter Hoffman never played drums before. Could’a fooled me!
PAUL: TOMMIE, A HIGH SCHOOL BUDDY OF ARMAND’S, WAS INTO THE MUSIC WE LIKED, SO HE WAS RECRUITED INTO OUR DREAM. HE WANTED TO PLAY MUSIC BUT DIDN’T LIKE THE LIFESTYLE, OF HAVING NO JOB, NO CAR, AND NO PLACE TO LIVE. HE WANTED TO GET A JOB, SO WE CUT HIM. ROBERT HOFFMAN WAS OUR DRUMMER’S YOUNGER BRO, SO HE GOT THE JOB. MIKI TAUGHT HIM A FEW NOTES, AND IN ABOUT 4 MONTHS, HE WAS READY. WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT DRUMMERS? I NEVER LIKED PETER’S DRUMMING MUCH. NOT EVERYONE COULD BE A KEITH MOON, CLEM BURKE, OR A JERRY NOLAN.
CHUCK:
Speaking of Fast Forward, what’s the story behind Didi Rockmaker (What
a name!) and Fern Weiss? These people wrote your fanzine, and seem
like the kind of fans dreams are made of!
PAUL: I CALLED FERN LAST WEEK TO ASK IF SHE COULD ADD ANYTHING TO THIS SITE, LIKE LIVE TAPES OR PHOTOS. HAD TO MAKE A LOT OF CALLS TO GET HER NUMBER.
CHUCK: In the first issue of Fast Forward, it says that Armand had a “fascination with World War II Germany.” This reminded me of Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Stiv and the Dead Boys. Any relation there?
PAUL:
NO, BUT ARMAND DID DIG THE NAZI MENTALITY. DON’T GET ME WRONG.
HE WASN’T A NEO-NAZI. HE DIDN’T HATE JEWS, BLACKS, GAYS, AND SO ON.
HE WAS A 
HISTORIAN.
STEVE (STIV) WAS A FRIEND AT THE BEGINNING, WHEN THEY FIRST CAME TO N.Y.
AS FRANKENSTEIN, TO DO A SHOW AT CBGB’S. IT WAS VERY STOOGES, AND
WHEN THEY RETURNED, THEY ALL HAD CROPPED HAIR AND RIPPED CLOTHES.
LET ME ADD, THAT THIS WAS A STYLE DEVELOPED BY RICHARD HELL, WHO DIDN’T
HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY NICE CLOTHES. HE WOULD USE SAFETY PINS ON
HIS SHIRTS BECAUSE OF THE RIPS. THE HAIRCUT WAS KIND OF A MESSY TAKEOFF
ON THE BOWIE CUT. WHEN MALCOLM WAS IN NY, MANAGING THE DOLLS BEFORE
THEY BROKE UP, TELEVISION WERE THE DOLL’S OPENING ACT FOR A WEEK STRAIGHT.
WHEN MALCOLM LEFT THE DOLLS, AND WENT BACK TO ENGLAND, HE BROUGHT BACK
THE RICHARD HELL LOOK, AND INVENTED THE BRITISH PUNK LOOK.
CHUCK: You guys used to cover “Shapes of Things to Come” off of the Wild in the Streets soundtrack. That is a great movie! What’s the story behind that?
PAUL: GREAT SONG, GREAT MOVIE! NO STORY!
CHUCK: How were sales on your Fast iron-ons at Manic Panic?
PAUL: WE GAVE THEM A HUNDRED. WHO KNOWS HOW MANY THEY SOLD.
CHUCK: What was your relationship with Ira Robbins, the Trouser Press guru?
PAUL: WE MET IRA UPSTAIRS AT MAX’S, PROBABLY AT THE STOOGES, SPARKS, PATTI SMITH, OR DOLL’S SHOWS, SOMETIME IN THE EARLY ‘70’S. WE BECAME FRIENDS. WE ALL LIKED THE WHO A LOT THEN, AND ALL THE MOST OUT-THERE MUSIC WE COULD FIND.
CHUCK: What was your relationship with Leee Black Childers, Heartbreakers manager and Iggy confidant?
PAUL: AGAIN, WE KNEW LEE FROM THE GLAM DOLLS DAYS, WHEN HE AND TONY ZANETTA WORKED WITH BOWIE. LEE STAYED FRIENDS WITH ME FOR YEARS, BUT WE HAVE NOT BEEN IN TOUCH FOR 10 YEARS. WE LIVED IN LONDON AT THE SAME TIME THAT I HAD A HIT WITH MAN 2 MAN (THE TRACK “MALE STRIPPER”). LEE DID A LOT OF THE PHOTOS FOR US, AND DID THE STYLING ON THREE OF OUR VIDEOS, “AT THE GYM,” “I NEED A MAN,” AND “EUROBEAT.”
CHUCK: Describe your earliest encounters with Wayne/Jayne County? I notice you opened for her in the day.
PAUL: WE WOULD GO SEE THE DOLLS AT LOFT PARTIES, BECAUSE THERE WERE NO CLUBS TO PLAY, AND WAYNE HAD HIS BAND QUEEN ELIZABETH, WHO WERE THE OPENING ACT A LOT OF THE TIME. WE WOULD SCOPE OUT ANY NEW BANDS WITH A GLAM STANCE. SUICIDE WAS AROUND THEN AND WE WERE THE ONLY ONES AT THEIR SHOWS. NO ONE LIKED THEM, EXCEPT US.
CHUCK: You guys managed to record with Richard Gottherer (Blondie, Richard Hell) before you even had a record contract! How’d you manage?
PAUL: WELL, WE HAD LOTS OF INTEREST FROM THE RECORD COMPANIES AT THAT TIME. LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT OUR MANAGER TOMMY DEAN, THE OWNER OF MAX’S, WAS OUT TO GET A RECORD DEAL FOR HIS MAX’S LABEL, SO ANYONE WHO WAS INTERESTED IN US HAD TO SIGN THE MAX’S LABEL ALSO. THIS FUCKED US OVER. IT WAS HARD ENOUGH TO GET A DEAL BACK THEN, BUT WITH THIS BAGGAGE…GOTTHERER WAS ON THE SCENE BACK THEN, AND ALWAYS LIKED US, SO HE ASKED US TO DO 2 SONGS FOR HIM, AND HE WOULD TRY TO SELL ‘EM, ALONG WITH TOMMY DEAN. AGAIN, TOMMY WAS LOOKING FOR A MAX’S DEAL ALSO. WHEN HE COULDN’T GET A BIG DEAL, HE SAID HE’D START HIS OWN LABEL, RAM RECORDS. THAT’S HOW THE FIRST FAST ’45 CAME OUT. THIS WAS A YEAR AFTER THE MAX’S LP.
CHUCK: Were day jobs still an issue?
PAUL: I WAS THE DJ AT MAX’S EVERY OTHER NIGHT, WITH WAYNE COUNTY, SO I WAS MAKING MONEY. OUR MANAGER ALSO HAD MONEY, AND WOULD GIVE US A FEW HUNDRED A WEEK EACH. WE WOULD ALSO DO SHOWS AT LEAST TWICE A MONTH AROUND TOWN, AND IN OTHER STATES. WE EVEN DROVE CROSS-COUNTRY TO PLAY THE WHISKY AU GO GO IN HOLLYWOOD, AND STAYED IN LA AND SAN FRANCISCO FOR SIX WEEKS.
CHUCK:
Armand left the band at a pivotal point, to form a band called Ozone.
What is 
the
story there?
PAUL: ARMAND STARTED TO REHEARSE WITH HIS NEW BAND, BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SING, AND TO EXPAND HIS WRITING. MIKI AND I RELEASED HIM, SIMPLE AS THAT. WE WERE GETTING PISSED THAT WE DIDN’T HAVE A REAL DEAL AND SO ON. WE THOUGHT WE NEEDED A CHANGE. HE HAD RELEASED A FEW 45’S IN LOCAL USED SHOPS.
CHUCK: Was there sibling rivalry going on?
PAUL: WE ALL LOVED EACH OTHER, BUT ARMAND WANTED TO LEAD HIS OWN ARMY. MIKI AND I WERE ALWAYS ON A DIFFERENT PAGE THAN ARMAND IN MANY WAYS. IT WAS FUN TO DO SHOWS WITH OZONE, AND ARMAND WAS HAPPY TO BE THE STAR. HE DIDN’T MIND THE MAX’S CONNECTION. MIKI AND I WANTED TO MOVE ON.
CHUCK: I notice that on some of Armand’s solo singles from the eighties, Max’s was the label. I guess Armand didn’t mind Max’s management.
PAUL:
EVEN THOUGH MAX’S WEREN’T GOOD FOR MANAGEMENT, THEY WERE STILL A CLUB,
AND WANTED TO RELEASE RECORDS. THE MAIN GUY BEHIND MAX’S BOOKINGS,
AND THE LABEL IN THE MID TO LATE 70’S WAS PETER CROWLEY (A GOOD GUY, AND
VERY IN TUNE TO WHAT WAS AND WILL BE). IF IT WEREN’T FOR PETER, DEVO
MIGHT NEVER HAD MADE IT. HE WAS THE GUY WHO BROUGHT THEM TO NY TO
PLAY MAX’S. HE DID THE SAME WITH THE B-52’S. THE FIRST SHOW
THEY EVER PLAYED WAS AT MAX’S WITH THE FAST.