Bob McKeag...McKeg...Bubs!

Bubs McKeag
Bob "Bubs" McKeag started out like many Pittsburgh music legends - he and a bud, Little Joe Arena, put together a garage band in high school. They formed the Igniters, and the Penn Hills musicians became local club heroes in the sixties.

The Igniters were the house band at The Varsity House in Oakmont, and their early Brit/R&B rockin' style regularly filled the club. McKeag was the lead singer (although Frank Czuri, an old St. Bart's pal, would eventually fill that role in what would become a recurring theme) and lead guitarist.

Atlantic Records signed The Igniters to a record contract in 1968. They were the second white band signed to the label, following the Rascals; they had the soul sound, even if blue-eyed, that Atco pushed. That made the way Atlantic handled the act a bit of a mystery.

The label changed their name to Jimmy Mack and the Music Factory for reasons unknown. They released the poppish "Baby, I Love You" b/w "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game" in 1968, and it got a little love, but not much outside the region; maybe the label thought the B Side Marvelette's cover would qualify as R&B. It did get a lot of play in the region.

So they changed names again, now performing as the more psychedelic "Friends." They cut another single that went nowhere, effectively ending the Atlantic connection. After a couple of years of touring and playing The Psychedilly club as their local home base, they disbanded in 1970. McKeag joined the Navy.

After seeing the world on Uncle Sam's dime, he played with various bar bands in the area. Then, in 1974, McKeag hooked up with Norm Nardini and Robbie Johns to record Marvin Gaye's "Ain’t That Peculiar" at East Liberty's Red Fox Studio. A Pittsburgh rock legend was born that day: Diamond Reo.

Diamond Reo signed a contract with Big Tree Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic, added Czuri as a vocalist and Warren King on ax, and became the next big thing. Oddly, for all the smoke their only top 40 hit was their first tune, "Aint That Peculiar," with McKeag working the "talkbox" guitar and singing lead.

The band schmoozed with Dick Clark on American Bandstand and opened shows for Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Kiss, Rush, Canned Heat, Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult, and other seventies' rockers as they toured non-stop and lived large on the road.

Life on the bus brought changes to the group. McKeag was the first to leave Reo as the band moved from Top 40 rock to punk/metal. He recorded another top 40 hit, "Gimme Some," for Buddah in 1977 as Bob McKeag and later recorded for Phantom Records under the easier to spell (and pronounce) name of McKeg.

He then hooked up with James Lawson to form the McKeg/Lawson Blues Band, and the group became a popular local blues mainstay. In 1994, Lawson lost a battle with cancer; McKeag kept the MLBB going for five more years before they broke up.

For the past decade or so, he's been mostly gigging solo. His EP "McKeg on Tap" is a Pittsburgh hit (of course, one of the tracks is the Heinz Field tailgate favorite "Go Steelers." Guy knows the market, hey?)

And he's a full-time bluesman now; he even has a trademark porkpie hat, though it's overshadowed by his ax. McKeag is a two-time winner of the Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania’s International Blues Challenge for solo/duo artist, taking the 2009 title with Dr. Blue as a duo and as a solo act in 2008.

McKeag has taken a couple of side trips to Finland, too. He performed during the 30th Annual Helsinki Blues Heritage Festival. In 2007, he went to Finland for an international songwriting competition in the blues category, and placed fourth.

Bubs is a teacher, too. Beside performing in the Pittsburgh Blues Festival, he worked the Blue's Society "Blues In the Tent" project. McKeag presented “Story Telling in the Blues," where kids focus on their life stories of heartbreak, loss, or just the day-to-day grind. Then they write them down, and have the framework for some blues lyrics.

But ya know what? Sometimes the old days are the best days. McKeag just joined with his old Igniter bandmates at the Palisades last week for a holiday reunion gig. People came to town from all over the US to catch the act again, only the third time that the band has gotten back together since they went their separate ways in 1970.

And hey, after four or five decades of making that ax sing, it's sweet to know that Bubs McKeag's first chord was just as popular as the next one will be.


Bubs McKeg with The Sweaty Betty Band - "No Baggage"

Long Live The King

Frankie Czuri, Warren King, Norm Nardini & Rob Franks
from Emmett Frisbee
Warren King, the king of Pittsburgh rock axeman, died yesterday from cancer at the age of 57. He was a member of bands Diamond Reo ("Ain't That Peculiar"), The Silencers, and the Mystic Knights of the Sea, and played on five national album releases.

A native of Monroeville, he joined Diamond Reo, along with local legends Norm Nardini, Robbie Johns, Bubs McKeag and Frankie Czuri, forming perhaps Pittsburgh's first and ultimate super group.

He played on the power-pop band's 1975 debut "Diamond Reo" for Big Tree/Atlantic Records, along with "Dirty Diamonds" on the Kama Sutra label, and "Ruff Cuts" on the Piccadilly label, while the group opened for acts like Aerosmith, Canned Heat, Ted Nugent, and Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention.

Nardini split and started the Tigers, so in 1979 King and Czuri formed the New Wave band The Silencers, with Ronnie "Byrd" Foster on drums, Denny Tacos on keys, and Mike Pela on bass.

The Silencers were signed to Precision/CBS for two albums before they even had played a date. Their most frequented stage was at Fat City in Swissvale, where they played often enough to be considered the club's unofficial house band. The Silencers were also regular performers at Oakland's Decade.

Their debut album, "Rock 'n' Roll Enforcers," was released in 1980, and four of its tracks became local radio hits: "The Peter Gunn Theme," "Modern Love," "Head On Collision" and "Shiver and Shake." They followed with the underappreciated LP "Romanic."

The band's vid for the medley "Peter Gunn/Remote Control/Illegal" aired on MTV the day the network debuted on August 1st, 1981. King eventually left the band (New Wave was never really his thing) in 1984, and the Silencers were silenced.

King gigged with the Red Hot & Blue band, and became a founding member of the bluesy Mystic Knights of the Sea with former Iron City Houserocker Gil Snyder, playing the local rock club circuit. The band was put together after an impromptu jam at the Decade.

King eventually left the Mystic Knights and followed the sun to Orlando, Florida, where he worked as an engineer and session man for Kingsnake, a Sanford label known for its blues releases.

For years he went back and forth between the two towns. Three years ago, he returned to Pittsburgh, forming his own band and playing with Wil E. Tri & the Bluescasters even with the diagnosis of liver cancer hanging over his head.

King's last local gig was at Moondog's in Blawnox on January 16th, where he would occasionally play after the move home. He went into the hospital the next day.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 6th, at the H.P. Brandt Funeral Home, located at 1032 Perry Highway in West View.



"Peter Gunn/Remote Control/Illegal" video by the Silencers

Norm Nardini

Norman Nardini
Homewood native Norman Nardini sang "I've Been Doin It For Years Before Ya' All Was Here” in 1979. And he's still doing it, three decades later.

Nardini started playing covers with long-time collaborator Robbie Johns in 1966, when Johns was the guitarist and Nardini tickled the keyboards for a band called the Yardleys. (Johns eventually switched to drums and Nardini became an ax man).

In 1971, living in Boston and attending the Berklee School of Music, Nardini spent a week playing guitar for Big Mama Thornton and George "Harmonica' Smith at The Jazz Workshop. Then, in 1974, Nardini, Johns, and Bob "Bubs" McKeag recorded the Marvin Gaye hit "Ain’t That Peculiar" at East Liberty's Red Fox Studios, and a Pittsburgh rock legend was born: Diamond Reo.

"Ain't It Peculiar" became a top 40 hit and the band soon had a national deal with an Atlantic Record's subsidiary, Big Tree Records. They added Frank Czuri of the Igniters & Jaggerz on lead vocals, Warren King on guitar, and cut "Diamond Reo" (BT8950).

Diamond Reo schmoozed with Dick Clark on American Bandstand and opened shows for Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Kiss, Rush, Canned Heat, Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult, and other seventies' rockers as they relentlessly toured and lived the high life.

Life on the road brought pressures and changes to the group. First, McKeag left to form the McKeag/Lawson Blues Band. Their format progressed, too. Diamond Reo became less top 40 and moved towards the metal/punk music emerging from the era.

Nardini thought they were introducing their fans to the future of rock, but many of their followers couldn't figure out what band they were listening to from album to album.

Their second album, 1976's "Dirty Diamonds" (Kama Sutra #B0016PC7EA), was heavy rockin' and featured King wailing on his ax. As they moved towards the 80’s, they became a punk/new wave band, capped by the 1978 "Ruff Cuts" for Piccadilly (PIC3311).

But living large was taking its toll on the group, and dabbling with drugs wasn't helping the cause. In 1979, Nardini left the band to start Norman Nardini & The East Side Tigers. He thought the time was ripe to step out and become a frontman and writer for his own group. (Czuri and King went on to form the Silencers.)

The 1981 release "Eat'n Alive" (Sutra #SUS 1012) was recorded live at Cleveland’s Agora Club and earned a 4 Star Review from Rolling Stone. In 1983, the band released "Norman Nardini and The Tigers" (CBS #BFZ35497), which featured Jon Bon Jovi on background vocals. In 1987, CBS released "Love Dog" (#BFZ40435), which had Rick Derringer, Dr. John and Paul Schaeffer scattered among its grooves. Warren King even added a few chops to the tracks.

But Nardini and the Tigers were given no radio love at home, in spite of the CBS record deal, Rolling Stone's rave, and playing to packed houses. Hey, Pittsburgh doesn't eat its young; it just ignores them. The Tigers did their last tour in 1986.

But Nardini soldiered on and released 3 CDs on the New York City's indie Circumstantial label. 1991’s "This Ole Train" (#28121-1001-2), with an appearance by his old buds Bon Jovi, led to a German tour with the Blues Brothers. Circumstantial also issued the 1994 "Breakdown In Paradise" (#28121-1004-2) and 1996’s "It's Alive" (#28121-1008-2).

In 1998, Moondog Records released "There Was A Time," followed by "Redemption" in 2004. Subtitled "Best of 1977 – 1988" Nardini went back to the studio and recut the tunes from his heyday when he ruled the town from Swissvale's Fat City stage.

There was a time when Norm Nardini and and the Tigers, along with Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers, were the heart and soul of rock in Pittsburgh. Grushecky and Nardini had a reunion gig at Altar in the Strip in early 2009; it was a real trip for Old Mon to see the bands together once again just like back in the day.

But Nardini is hardly retired. He's still a hard-working regular on the club circuit, performing from his home base of Moondogs in Blawnox and gigging in the Southside, Uniontown, Mon Valley, Wexford, Corapolis, eastern Ohio, and anywhere and everywhere in between. He never held a day job; his music is his life.

And he still puts on a great show. Nardini became a prolific writer, and his stage personna has evolved from an acrobatic wired guitarist thrashing his tiger-striped ax to a comfortable frontman that connects with his fans. The music still pulsates, too - no musings from a guy that's seen it all, but straight ahead rock.

To demonstrate the point, he just opened for Jon Bon Jovi when the band stopped at the Consol Center in early 2011 in front of 17,000 fans. They're long time friends, dating back to an Asbury Park meeting in 1980. In 1987, Nardini played on stage with Bon Jovi doing CCR's "Travelin' Band" at the Civic Arena. That same night, they hooked up again at the Decade, where Bon Jovi joined Norm Nardini and the Tigers for an impromptu set.

He also came out with a new LP, "Bone A Fide," in 2011, his first album of original material since 1998 (he has dozens of unrecorded songs he's written in the past decade).

Hey, the days of Fat City and the Decade are behind us. But at least Norm Nardini is still around to remind us of the home-grown rock glory that was once Pittsburgh's.

the voice of pittsburgh

Frankie Czuri, Warren King, Norm Nardini & Rob Franks
from Emmett Frisbee

The Igniters were a mid-60s group from Penn Hills, and they used to pack 'em in where ever they played. Formed in 1963-64, their repertoire ranged from British Invasion to R&B - whatever they could cover. It was the classic "Animal House" garage band.

The group's front man was Pittsburgh rock legend Frankie Czuri, who joined the Igniters in 1965. By that time, Czuri and bandmate Bob McKeag had been singing together for years, ever since fifth grade at St. Bart's where they were choirboys.

The Igniters were the house band at the Oakmont teen club Varsity House, and sold the place out, often leaving a couple of hundred frustrated party animals milling outside. They recorded “High Flying Wine," a huge regional hit in the day when DJs weren't shackled to a playlist and could push the local bands.

Atlantic Records signed the Igniters to a contract in 1968. They were only the second white band on the label, along with Felix Cavaliere and the Rascals, another blue-eyed soul group.

The label made them change their name from the Igniters to Jimmy Mack and the Music Factory. It was that or Mack's Factory. Not a very imaginative bunch there at Atlantic.

The label would release one 45 by the band -- "Baby I Love You/The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game," a Marvelettes hit. The record cracked the top 50 before sputtering out.

Deciding that Jimmy Mack wasn't doing it for the them, the band became known as Friends (what the heck was wrong with the Igniters, anyway?) They cut another single for Atlantic Records under that name and then disbanded.

The end of the Igniters was just the beginning for Czuri. In 1975, he joined the Jaggerz. After that - it was long after their "Rapper" days, though he did play on the "Come Again" album - he joined Diamond Reo, along with another trio of well traveled and respected 'Burgh rockers, Norm Nardini, Warren King, and Robbie Johns.

They had a top 40 hit in 1975 with a version of the Marvin Gaye song, "Ain't That Peculiar." Diamond Reo went on to record three albums: 1975's "Diamond Reo," on the Big Tree label, 1976's "Dirty Diamonds," on Kama Sutra, and 1978's "Ruff Cuts," on Piccadilly.

Diamond Reo appeared on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" and toured with Kiss, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Frank Zappa, Kansas, Ian Hunter, Blue Oyster Cult, and Canned Heat.

Nardini left to form the Tigers, and Czuri and King struck out on their own. They signed drummer Ron "Byrd" Foster from Roy Buchanan's band, bass guitarist Mike Pela, and Dennis Tacos on the keyboards to form the Silencers.

It took them a while to get going, but eventually CBS Records signed them, before they ever played their first show in public at Fat City (the old Oriental) in Swissvale, where they would become the house band.

In 1980, the Silencers recorded the album "Rock N Roll Enforcers," which produced four local hits: "The Peter Gunn Theme," "Modern Love," "Shiver and Shake," and "Head On Collision." In 1981 the album "Romanic" produced another popular single, "Sidewalk Romeo."

The Silencers had a great producer, Bob Clearmountain, who would later work with the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Pretenders and Bruce Springsteen. Songs "Sidewalk Romeo" and "Shiver and Shake" got respectable radio airplay. Their music videos were in heavy rotation on MTV back in the day when it was a televised vid jukebox, playing four times daily.

The Silencers toured extensively too, opening for Hall and Oates, ACDC, Heart, Foreigner and others. Their live show featured original songs as well as R&B covers.

"Not a lot of bands had videos then," Czuri says about his days on early MTV. But it wasn't just a case of supply and demand - the vids were good. The Silencer's videos were featured on MTV's tenth anniversary show, easily passing the test of time for first wave video productions.

King, one of Pittsburgh's great blues guitarists, left the band in 1984. Czuri joined the vocal group Pure Gold in 1985, and continues doo-wopping and covering the old R&B standards with them to this day.

It's quite a journey from garage/punk rockers like the Igniters, Diamond Reo and the Silencers to the harmonies of Pure Gold. Frankie Czuri has the pipes to front any band.

But it looks like he may be returning to his roots. Czuri left Pure Gold in 2010 and focused on putting back together his sixties band, The Igniters. May the circle be unbroken.


Frank Czuri and Pure Gold at the Benedum Center "Roots of Rock 'N' Roll" show - "Can't Help Lovin' That Girl of Mine." Quite a change from the Silencer days, hey?