Bums were always putting on little improvised flea markets on Avenue A on Sundays. You’d never find much there—it was mostly homeless guys and junkies selling stuff they’d found in the trash.
One of them had a display of records on an old sheet on the ground.
As I passed by, something caught my eye: he had The Senders at Max’s record, The Seven Song Super Single in all its splendor, with its magnificent black-and-white cover.
Surprised, I leaned over to look at it, and noticed that the guy had put a little orange tag on it that read: $1.
“One dollar!” he announced to me. “Great record—do you know this one? One dollar!”
“Yeah, I know this one!” I answered, laughing. “I was actually in this band. That’s me, right there on the cover!”
He looked at me then at the picture and said, “Wow! You’re right, it is you! Cool, man! I love that record, you know … it’s just that I’m real broke right now …”
I smiled, winked at him, and went on my way.
“Hey, man, wait a minute, can you sign it?” he called after me, handing me the album and a marker.
I quickly wrote Senders Forever, Phil Marcade across the cover and gave it back to him.
I passed by his stand again a couple of hours later on my way home and I noticed that the record was still there on the sidewalk but now with my signature and a new little tag on which he had written: $1.50.
Hahaha!!
EPILOGUE
BRUCE STOPPED TAKING DRUGS AND HAS been living with AIDS for more than twenty years. He is now a high school history teacher.
Steve worked for years as a drug awareness counselor at a center for deaf juvenile delinquents. Then, in 2010, a true miracle happened: thanks to recent progress in medical science, he had, a tiny state-of-the-art electronic device implanted in his one of his ears, and after more than twenty years living in complete silence, Steve can hear again. Probably better then most of us!
Risé remarried and has a daughter.
As for me, I recorded an album and did several tours with the Backbones, playing in California a couple of times. Then, in 1989, I decided to stop the music for a while to concentrate on painting. This hiatus lasted only a week, because I got a phone call from Midnight Records—an independent record company here in New York—asking if I would be interested in putting The Senders back together to record a Christmas song for a compilation.
“I don’t know, I could call them. …” I said. “It’s been awhile.”
In the blink of an eye, I found myself in a recording studio with Bill, who was back to himself 100 percent. He was in top shape and playing guitar better than ever; he’d just gotten back from spending the last couple of years touring with the British band Savoy Brown.
Marc was there too, totally sober and off drugs.
Steve was replaced by Ritchie Lure, Walter’s little brother.
It was so cool to be together again, after six years, that we decided to do a show—just one—at CBGB … and off we went for another thirteen years!!! During this time, we were going to be more successful than ever, with constant shows all over New York. We launched the club Continental Divide and put out four new records: Do The Sender Thing (Live at CBGB), Back To Sender (Revisited), Goodbye Cruel World, and Outrageous & Contagious.
Sadly, Cookie died of AIDS in 1989.
Then, Johnny and Jerry died one after the other in 1991 and 1992.
We also lost Marc along the way, when he stupidly got back into drugs in ’93 and left the band. He was replaced by Ned Brewster of the Action Swingers, with whom we played as far away as Paris in 1995.
Marc died of a heroin overdose in 1997, then Ritchie died of a stroke a few months later.
Those two were like my brothers, and I miss them bitterly.
In 2000, The Senders were hailed as the “Best Bar Band in New York” by the New York Press in their “Best of Manhattan” issue. The article called us a “New York legend going back to the days of Max’s” and ended with the words: “Definitely the Best Bar Band in New York but maybe also in the entire world!”
See! I told you!
THE OTHER CHARACTERS
David Armstrong: Photographer
Marc Bourset: Musician, drummer of The Senders
Lee Brilleaux: Musician, singer of Dr. Feelgood
Glen Buxton: Musician, guitarist of Alice Cooper
Clem Burke: Musician, drummer of Blondie
James Chance: Musician, saxophonist, singer of the Contortions
Leee Black Childers: Photographer, manager of the Heartbreakers, Levi & the Rockats
Wayne County: Musician, singer of the Electric Chairs
Peter Crowley: Manager of Max’s Kansas City
Jimmy Destri: Musician, keyboard player of Blondie
Willy DeVille: Musician, singer of Mink DeVille
Levi Dexter: Musician, singer of Levi & the Rockats
Divine: Actor, drag icon
John Felice: Musician, singer of the Real Kids
Michael Gene: Musician, guitarist of Buzz & the Flyers
Nan Goldin: Photographer
Robert Gordon: Musician, singer of the Tuff Darts
Debbie Harry: Musician, singer of Blondie
Richard Hell: Musician, bass player, singer of the Heartbreakers and the Voidoids.
Lux Interior: Musician, singer of the Cramps
Poison Ivy: Musician, guitarist of the Cramps
Wilko Johnson: Musician, guitarist of Dr. Feelgood
Joseph: Monkey
Arthur Kane: Musician, bass player of the New York Dolls
Wayne Kramer: Musician, guitarist of MC5 and Gang War
Hilly Kristal: Owner of CBGB and manager of the Dead Boys
Lalo: Roadie for The Senders
Neon Leon: Musician, singer of the Rainbow Express
Walter Lure: Musician, guitarist of the Heartbreakers
Tony Machine: Musician, drummer of the New York Dolls, The Senders, and Buster Poindexter
Madonna: Next-door neighbor at Music Building
Legs McNeil: Creator of Punk magazine
Bob Marley: Musician, singer of the Wailers
Bill Moser: Bouncer at Kenny’s Castaways, roadie for The Senders
Cookie Mueller: Actress, author
Jorge Navarro: Musician, guitarist of The Senders
Basile Nodow: Musician, guitarist of The Senders
Jerry Nolan: Musician, drummer of the New York Dolls and the Heartbreakers
Octavio: Musician, guitarist, next-door neighbor
Jeffrey Lee Pierce: Musician, singer of the Gun Club
Dee Dee Ramone: Musician, bass player of the Ramones
Joey Ramone: Musician, singer of the Ramones
Johnny Ramone: Musician, guitarist of the Ramones
Tommy Ramone: Musician, drummer of the Ramones
Billy Rath: Musician, bass player of the Heartbreakers
Danny Ray: Musician, saxophonist of The Senders and the Backbones
Laurie “Reedy” Reid: Musician, guitarist of The Senders
Billy Roger: Musician, drummer of The Senders
Johnny Rotten: Musician, singer of the Sex Pistols
Steve Shevlin: Musician, bass player of The Senders
Paul Simonon: Musician, bass player of the Clash
Nancy Spungen: Girlfriend of Sid Vicious
Sable Starr: Girlfriend of Johnny Thunders
Chris Stein: Musician, guitarist of Blondie
Ty Stix: Musician, drummer of The Senders
Joe Strummer: Musician, singer/guitarist of the Clash
Wild Bill Thompson: Musician, guitarist of The Senders
Johnny Thunders: Musician, singer/guitarist of the New York Dolls, the Heartbreakers, Gang War
Toots: Gir
lfriend of Willy DeVille
Gary Valentine: Musician, bass player of Blondie
Arturo Vega: Artist, friend of the Ramones
Sid Vicious: Musician, bass player of the Sex Pistols
Andy Warhol: Artist
John Waters: Movie director, author
Marc Zermati: Producer (Skydog Records)
Mikey Zone: Musician, guitarist of the Fast
Paul Zone: Musician, singer of the Fast
Phil, Walter Lure, Mary, Max, Sharon, Cookie, Bruce, Risé, Pam, Kevin, and Cathy outside Rebop, 1978
Note to the author from Sable Starr (1957–2009)
When she wrote me this note in 2008, I told her, “Ah, so your name is spelled Sabel, not Sable, as you are generally referred to. I’ve been wondering for years. You have finally solved this mystery.” She answered me “I don’t know either!!! I change it all the time, I can’t decide!!” Haha!! I miss her. —P.M.
Special thanks to Pierre Marcadé, Phyllis Stein, Janet Rosen, Carly Sommerstein, Amber Sexton, Legs McNeil, Debbie Harry, and Sable Starr.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PHIL MARCADE LEFT PARIS IN HIS late teens to begin “a few months” of travel that would lead to a forty-year-stay in the US, mostly in New York City. He was at the center of the origins of the punk rock explosion, as a musician (founder and lead singer of The Senders) and insider, forming intimate friendships with artists and muscians including Johnny Thunders, Nan Goldin, Cookie Mueller, Wayne Kramer, Debbie Harry, Nancy Spungen, and Willie DeVille. In addition to writing, he works as a painter and graphic artist. He lives in Italy.
Recent and Forthcoming Books from Three Rooms Press
FICTION
Meagan Brothers
Weird Girl and What’s His Name
Ron Dakron
Hello Devilfish!
Michael T. Fournier
Hidden Wheel
Swing State
Janet Hamill
Tales from the Eternal Café
(Introduction by Patti Smith)
William Least Heat-Moon
Celestial Mechanics
Eamon Loingsigh
Light of the Diddicoy
Exile on Bridge Street
John Marshall
The Greenfather
Aram Saroyan
Still Night in L.A.
Richard Vetere
The Writers Afterlife Champagne and Cocaine
MEMOIR & BIOGRAPHY
Nassrine Azimi and Michel Wasserman
Last Boat to Yokohama: The Life and Legacy of Beate Sirota Gordon
James Carr
BAD: The Autobiography of James Carr
Richard Katrovas
Raising Girls in Bohemia: Meditations of an American Father; A Memoir in Essays
Judith Malina
Full Moon Stages: Personal Notes from 50 Years of The Living Theatre
Phil Marcade
Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982
Stephen Spotte
My Watery Self: Memoirs of a Marine Scientist
PHOTOGRAPHY-MEMOIR
Mike Watt
On & Off Bass
SHORT STORY ANTHOLOGIES
Dark City Lights: New York Stories edited by Lawrence Block
Have a NYC I, II & III: New York Short Stories; edited by Peter Carlaftes & Kat Georges
Crime + Music: The Sounds of Noir edited by Jim Fusilli
Songs of My Selfie: An Anthology of Millennial Stories edited by Constance Renfrow
This Way to the End Times: Classic and New Stories of the Apocalypse edited by Robert Silverberg
MIXED MEDIA
John S. Paul
Sign Language: A Painter’s Notebook (photography, poetry and prose)
TRANSLATIONS
Thomas Bernhard
On Earth and in Hell (poems of Thomas Bernhard with English translations by Peter Waugh)
Patrizia Gattaceca
Isula d’Anima / Soul Island (poems by the author in Corsican with English translations)
César Vallejo | Gerard Malanga
Malanga Chasing Vallejo (selected poems of César Vallejo with English translations and additional notes by Gerard Malanga)
George Wallace
EOS: Abductor of Men (selected poems of George Wallace with Greek translations)
HUMOR
Peter Carlaftes
A Year on Facebook
DADA
Maintenant: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing & Art (Annual, since 2008)
FILM & PLAYS
Israel Horovitz
My Old Lady: Complete Stage Play and Screenplay with an Essay on Adaptation
Peter Carlaftes
Triumph For Rent (3 Plays)
Teatrophy (3 More Plays)
Kat Georges
Three Somebodies: Plays about Notorious Dissidents
POETRY COLLECTIONS
Hala Alyan
Atrium
Peter Carlaftes
DrunkYard Dog I Fold with the Hand I Was Dealt
Thomas Fucaloro
It Starts from the Belly and Blooms
Inheriting Craziness is Like a Soft Halo of Light
Kat Georges
Our Lady of the Hunger
Robert Gibbons
Close to the Tree
Israel Horovitz
Heaven and Other Poems
David Lawton
Sharp Blue Stream
Jane LeCroy
Signature Play
Philip Meersman
This is Belgian Chocolate
Jane Ormerod
Recreational Vehicles on Fire
Welcome to the Museum of Cattle
Lisa Panepinto
On This Borrowed Bike
George Wallace
Poppin’ Johnny
Three Rooms Press | New York, NY | Current Catalog: www.threeroomspress.com
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