1996 WAMMIES
Washington (DC) Area Music Awards
The 11th annual Washington Area Music Awards (The Wammies)
will be held Wednesday, November 20, 1996 at the Sheraton
Washington Hotel Ballroom at Connecticut Avenue and Woodley
Road, NW. We are very pleased to announce that The American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) will
be the title sponsor for a second year. Also sponsoring the
awards event are The Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) and Omega Recording Studios.
The Wammies will include performances from Pure Soul, The
Nighthawks, Mary Ann Redmond, Jacques Johnson Sr, Rare Essence,
Citizen Cope, Sorry About Your Daughter, and a tribute to
legendary guitarist Link Wray featuring original members of
the Wraymen, John Van Horn and Rich Mitchell, along with Gary
Duncan of Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Tickets are $15 for WAMA members and $20 for the general
public and will go on sale November 1 at all ProTix by calling
703-218-6500, all Waxie Maxie stores in the Washington and
Baltimore areas, at all Record & Tape Traders stores in the
Baltimore metropolitan area. Nominees are entitled to up to
six tickets at $1 each and up to 10 additional tickets at
$10 each. Gold Corporate tables (reserved table of 10) are
$550 and include a full page ad in the Wammies Program, and
recognition in the program. Silver Tables (reserved table
of 4) are $300 and include a half page ad in the Wammies Program,
and recognition in the program.
WAMA Hall of Fame
The Hard Rock Cafe will host the WAMA Hall of Fame Awards,
Sunday, November 24, 1996. The awards will be added to the
permanent WAMA Hall of Fame display at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Special Achievement Awards, Special Recognition and the Spotlight
Award will also be presented. Previous Hall of Fame inductees
include Marvin Gaye, Patsy Cline, Jelly Roll Morton, and Joan
Jett.
Wammies ticket holders will also receive tickets to the special
WAMA Hall of Fame ceremony.
Eva Cassidy
With a little help from her friends
Friends of Eva Cassidy honored the singer with a musical tribute
September 17 at the Bayou in Georgetown. Cassidy, who is considered
one of the best vocalists in the Washington area, was diagnosed
as having cancer two months ago. The tribute, organized by mentor
Al Dale, was a celebration of Eva's incredible talent and a
party for friends to gather and share the many musical styles
that Cassidy traverses so easily.
Cassidy is perhaps the only vocalist in town who can sing
one night with Chuck Brown at Blues Alley, record the next
with Pieces of a Dream in Philadelphia, then hang at Whitey's
bar and throw away a piece of Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" that
might force Heart's Ann Wilson into a competitive sweat. Cassidy
strides across lines drawn by genre and performance styles
as if they did not exist. She sang "Over the Rainbow" at the
1994 Wammie Award show accompanied only by her strumming an
acoustic guitar.
Colleagues formed all-star groups that played throughout
the evening at the tribute. Performers included Chuck Brown,
Jr. Cline & The Recliners, Mary Ann Redmond, Tommy Lepson
& The Lazy Boys, Ron Holloway, Professor Filmore, John Previti,
Kevin Johnson, members of Pieces of a Dream, Al Williams,
Linwood Taylor, Keter Betts, Will Connolly, Mark Wenner (The
Nighthawks), Tom Principato, Jeff Muller and Meg Murray, and
Diana & the Moondogs.
The audience was treated to a brief two song performance
by Eva Cassidy who was on hand for most of the evening. One
of the night's many touching moments came when the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) presented Eva with
an honorary gold record. For Eva
Cassidy home page, click here.
Mr. Peters' Pets
Group Pioneers New Sound
Tucked away deep in the suburbs of Springfield, within the
walls of JAXX nightclub -- a land that caters to speed metal,
heavy rock and now defunct stadium acts of long ago -- is
an unlikely group of men. Defining not only a new look but
a new genre of music in the area is Mr. Peters' Pets, a group
pioneering a sound that can be called tech/rock and described
as a mix of techno pulses and style but substituting techno's
repetitive programmed beats with good old fashion rock. The
combination spawns a new less mechanical, less predictable,
techno rock hybrid that gets a crowd dancing and bopping.
But it's not just the music that makes Mr. Peters' Pets different.
It's also a multimedia experience that emits from strategically
placed TV towers on the stage screening, fleeting images of
fluorescent colors, snippets of horror movies and '30s vintage
black and white porn films. "If you want to catch someone's
attention, go balls-out. Give people what they are paying
for," lead singer Dale Jackson said.
The short three second clips seem to pulse in sync with the
music. Above the drum kit, a wide movie screen reflects longer
looped segments of the porn films. Equal opportunity offenders,
the band uses porn flicks that degrade both genders from men
forced to twirl their penises to lesbian nuns having fun.
A sound track programmed by Jackson, drummer Jeff Smith and
bassist Scott Edens provides some of the keyboard, bass and
low vocal parts augmenting the live performance. The overall
product is a precision performance art piece.
Though some of the band members have played together in other
groups over the past eight years, the Pets' first gigs have
taken place at Jaxx within the last two months. They have
headlined and opened for national acts such as the dance/techno
group Download which featured former Skinny Puppy member Cevin
Key. But Jaxx can not offer the Pets much more, their future
lies in performing at clubs like the 9:30 and the Capitol
Ballroom.
