After Dave Schramm quit the band at the end of August, 1986, we did one show as a trio and a wedding with Christmas’s Michael Cudahy on guitar. At a benefit at Maxwell’s in late September, we invited our original bassist Dave Rick to take a night off from his group, Phantom Tollbooth, and play lead guitar. All parties had a good time, so we set up an encore on this date 28 years ago at CBGB, putting together a bill with Dredd Foole & the Din and Mofungo. When CBGB added one or two more acts to the lineup, there was grumbling and even the suggestion of bailing on the date altogether, and in turn CBGB promised that any band that cancelled would never play the club again. So we were in quite the pickle when the phone rang at 6 a.m. on the day of the show and it was our bassist, Stephan, calling us from Europe to tell us that he had missed his flight back to New York. Obviously we had to play, but how? Dave had done many shows with us on bass and could’ve done so once more, I suppose, but he was unavailable before soundcheck, and I doubt I was nimble enough on short notice to handle all the guitar playing. Then the light bulb went off: Not only were we friends with an excellent bassist, but there was a strong possibility that he’d be awake at 7 a.m. And sure enough, Chris Stamey was willing to step in. Of course, he too was not free to rehearse. Locked into the 11 songs we’d practiced earlier in the week with Dave, my lasting image of the night is Chris walking around CBGB with a bass and headphones, studying until the moment we went on. I doubt we were great, but having managed not to be banned, we continued to perform at CBGB most every year through 1993.
Our opening song that night opens another event, 23 years later. Ailene writes: My husband Matt and I danced to “Did I Tell You” as the 1st dance at our wedding 10/17/2009. We live in Hoboken, NJ.
