22. Amazing Grace 1984–1995 (Miami)

Amazing Grace, 1989, left to right: Steve Lambert, Gary Lambert,
Ron Norton, and Jack Stack.

 

In 1978 Huntington Beach, California, three teens: vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, and bassist Mike Roche formed Vicious Circle. Through various rosters, by 1980, they transformed as T.S.O.L, aka True Sounds of Liberty, releasing their highly-collectible, self-titled five-song debut EP featuring the snotty, anti-Reagan punk classics, “Abolish Government” and “Property Is Theft.”

By the time of their full-length debut album, Dance with Me (1981), T.S.O.L transitioned to a British-inspired, gothic rock sound. By 1984, upon vocalist Joe Wood replacing Jack Grisham, T.S.O.L became a polished hard rock/metal concern that aligned with the up and coming Guns N’ Roses, in which the band were friends (the Gunners’ wear T.S.O.L t-shirts in the video for “Sweet Child o’ Mine”).

As the punk era collided with the rise of Sunset Strip-bred “sleaze rock,” many punk bands made the transition to more “commercialized” sounds. D.R.I, aka Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, crossed over from punk to thrash. The Circle Jerks cleaned up their hardcore beginnings into a straight punk band by the time of their 1995 major label debut on Mercury Records.

In Miami, South Florida, we locals had our own version of those Southern California punk bands. It all began when the Lambert brothers Steve and Gary attended a show by the Ramones at the old Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, aka “Cultural Center,” on March 3, 1978: a decade of hard work and persistence led to the Lamberts opening a November 19, 1988, show for their idols at the infamous, Miami Beach punk and metal stronghold: The Cameo Theater. Another of their memorable Cameo gigs was opening for Stiv Bator’s Lords of the New Church (another punk-to-goth/death transition out of the Dead Boys), on April 12, 1986. The punk-version of Amazing Grace shared many Florida stages with their friends, Disorderly Conduct, based in Melbourne, Florida.

Prior to opening for their punk heroes, the Lamberts were just a couple of kids attending shows at the world-infamous Bowery rock club, CBGBs, in New York City in the late ’70s. That’s where Furys, the first punk band of drummer Ron Norton, merged with the Lamberts’ first band, Spinout—both which appeared at CBGBs. Upon their return to Miami, Florida: Amazing Grace was born.

Courtesy of Charlie Pickett's Miami music
history site, Trash Fever.

About the flyer: Opening in 1983 and closing in 1985, Flynn’s Ocean 71 served as South Florida’s version of CBGBs and the go-to tour stop for national-touring punk bands, such as Agent Orange, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, the Minutemen, Saccharine Trust, and T.S.O.L, as well as hosting local bands.

 

By 1985 Amazing Grace made their debut at the beloved, and long since gone, musical home away from home: Flynn’s Ocean 71 on Miami Beach. By 1986, and unlike most punk bands who released 7-inch/45-rpm D.I.Y singles, the Lamberts followed the cues of their loud and snotty inspirational idols, releasing a full-length album, Entities; the effort was produced by Hal Hansford, known for his previous work with the Romantics (he also produced the Big Bang, the late ’80s pop outgrowth of Miamian Billy Livesay’s late ’70s rock act, Slyder).

Unlike most local bands with a demo in pocket who continue to book local-to-state shows, Amazing Grace instead piled in a van with their friends from Raw Power, a punk band from Italy making a go of it in the States. Three-years of perpetual touring in support of the album and its single, “The Day,” took the Lamberts up and down the U.S eastern seaboard, as far north as Boston. (Too bad Amazing Grace, like their then punk-brethren in Youth Brigade and Social Distortion, didn’t take along a film crew to craft a punk flick, à la the 1984 film, Another State of Mind.)

As Hialeah, Florida’s (also home to the Johnny Depp-connected the Kids and the Abusers) Amazing Grace transcended their punk roots they, too, transitioned to a more polished, gothic/death rock demeanor that aligned them with the new-and-improved T.S.O.L (appeared at Flynn’s in April and November 1984) and their British alternative counterparts in the Cult, Killing Joke (Amazing Grace opened for the Joke; on March 22, 1985, they opened for Suicidal Tendencies at Flynn’s), New Model Army, and Sisters of Mercy. There was, however, still a hint of “cock rock” stank on Amazing Grace that aligned them with former Miami-begun rockers Circus of Power (with roots that relocated to New York) and Rock City Angels (roots that relocated to Los Angeles), as well as a touch of L.A. hard rock, à la the bluesy, Morrisonesque vocals of the Doors. Critics have also name-dropped Glenn Danzig to describe the vocals of Steve Lambert.

Then along came a television series, Miami Vice, produced in South Florida and set amid the Art Deco-pastel paints and neon lights of South Beach. Amazing Grace were cast for an episode shot at the now defunct China Club—as two songs from Entities, the compilation-compiled singles “Morbid Opera” and “Raw Power,” were re-recorded for an episode: “The Rising Sun of Death” (S4: E9, December 4, 1987). Unfortunately, while the hits by Billy Idol, Morrissey, and Yello appeared in the episode, the songs by Amazing Grace were cut by producers. To say South Floridian scenesters were excited to see one of their own on a national television series: well, we vowed to never watch the series again (which lasted one more year before cancellation).

Undaunted by that mainstream national exposure taken away: the new-and-improved, less punk-more rock Amazing Grace reentered the studio with Hal Hansford to record their second album, On and On (1988). Artistic differences between band and producer, along with no label interest, left the recordings unreleased beyond the demo stage. The demo, however, received college radio airplay, spotlighted by a cover of the Monkees’ “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” a song favored by many a bands in punk’s past. (Amazing Grace’s early punk-brethren, Washington D.C’s Minor Threat, offered one of the most memorable versions of the song.)

Continuing to plug away on the Florida club circuit, hoping for one of those major label deals afforded to their South Florida brethren Cryer (which appeared on compilation albums alongside Amazing Grace), Saigon Kick, and Tuff Luck (Cryer and Tuff Luck both appeared at Flynn’s), the Lamberts’ next step was recording a second demo album with two-time Grammy-winning producer Karl Richardson, known for his work with the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton, at Miami’s Criteria Studios. Represented by Jamie Shoop, known for his work in helping Warrant conquer the charts, Amazing Grace came to the attention of RCA Records (home to the Miami-bred Circus of Power; 1987 to 1991). No deal was forthcoming. Amazing Grace continued to tour the State, as the band slowly fell apart, an expansion from a quartet to quintet with a second guitarist, Jorge Hernandez, failing to breathe new life into the stalwart rockers. Then, they were back to a four-piece upon the departure of guitarist Jack Stack.

A third return to the studio with Hal Hansford in 1991 resulted in a third demo tape featuring the college radio-aired “Sister Silence” and “Year of the Child,” by way of their inclusion on a South Florida locals compilation series of albums. After a short stint with Chaz Pazienza replacing founding drummer Ron Norton: the original band was a hollow, broken shell: Amazing Grace was no more.

Entities, 1986.

Memberships

Spinout

Steve Lambert — vocals
Stack Jones, aka Jack Stack — guitars
Jorge Respedo — bass
Joey Maya — drums
Ron Norton — drums (ex-Furys)

Amazing Grace

Mk. I — 1984
Steve Lambert — vocals
Billy La Volpe — guitars
Gary Lambert — bass
Ron Norton — drums

Mk. II
Steve Lambert — vocals
Jack Stack — guitars
Gary Lambert — bass
Ron Norton — drums

Mk. III
Steve Lambert — vocals
Jack Stack— guitars
Jorge Hernandez — guitars
Gary Lambert — bass
Ron Norton — drums

Mk. IV
Steve Lambert — vocals
Jorge Hernandez — guitars
Gary Lambert — bass
Ron Norton — drums

Mk. V — 1995
Steve Lambert — vocals
Jorge Hernandez — guitars
Gary Lambert — bass
Chez Pazienza — drums

Discography

Entities
9-track album self-released (1986)

On and On
8-track demo unreleased (1988)

Untitled Demo
10-tracks unreleased (1991)
“Sister Silence” and “Year of the Child”

• On compilation albums issued by the rock club, Washington Square

Risen from the Dead
18-track digital-only, self-released compilation (2009)

Compilations

Rick Lennick’s Florida Explosion
Independent D.I.Y release (1985)
“White Dollar” and “Morbid Opera”

• Both appeared on Entities
• Appeared with Cryer, Rock City Angles, and that band’s early beginnings, the Abusers

There’s a Method to our Madness
Independent D.I.Y release (1986)
“Morbid Opera”

• Alongside noted punk bands Vatican Commandos, Sloppy Seconds, and P.T.L Club

Live at the Square Vol. I
Independent D.I.Y release by the rock club, Washington Square (1991)
“Year of the Child”

Live at the Square Vol. II
Independent D.I.Y release by the rock club, Washington Square (1993)
“Sister Silence”

* * *

A playlist of the complete discography by Amazing Grace—comprising their 1986 album, Entities, compilation appearances, and their unsigned 1988 demo tape—can be enjoyed on Over the Edge Radio You Tube.