Live in New York

Blue Moon Boys (Beat Time)

By Tim Roberts

Anyone who has seen Ft. Wayne, Indiana's Blue Moon Boys on one of their many visits to Louisville knows they put on a fast-paced, sweat-filled, fun rockabilly show that, if it doesn't get you tossin' your date around on the dance floor, at the least coerces you to tap your feet. They have captured part of that on their second release (but first CD), Live in New York. Too bad that it doesn't have an accompanying video, or burned a video portion into the CD so you could play it on a computer. Watching them is part of the fun.

Still, Live grabs you by the ear and doesn't let go until the last jitterbug. It was recorded onto DAT machine during their performance at Don Hill's club in New York City in March of 1997, one stop on the Boys' "Hoosiers on a Lark Tour." The selections consist mostly of the band's original and some covers of classic hits from decades ago, including the "Shake Rattle Medley" ("Shake, Rattle & Roll," "Tear It Up," "Flip, Flop & Fly," and "Ragg Mopp"), even their version of the pop standard L-O-V-E, originally performed by Nat King Cole. The original songs include their signature "Howl at the Moon," Shut Yer Mouth Baby," "Get Rockin'," and the ribald, crowd favorite "Spank Me," about, as lead singer Nic Roulette says, "confessin' yer sins to a leather-clad woman."

The Boys' lineup for this recording consists of Nic on vocals (who keeps up a friendly patter with the audience in between several cuts, politely addressing them as "la'ies and gennelmen"), Kenny Taylor on guitar and harmony vocals, Jamie Simon as drum banger, and "Jumpin'" Jerry Sparkman slapping the upright bass.