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| Motor, 1991, rocking it like the Sunset Strip. |
South Florida’s leather-clad and permed-out frontman Dirk Gilbert—with his Guns N’ Roses-meets-the Cult metallic grinder known as Motor—is a classic case of you had to be there to appreciate the crowd noise in the late ’80s to early ’90s, hanging out at The Button South in Hallandale, Florida, west of Fort Lauderdale.
Those were the days when Gilbert and company packed the clubs alongside the likeminded, rising-to-the-top, hard-rock locals Amazing Grace, Gypsy Queen, and Lady Sabre—with their should-have-been-national-charting-hits “Reptiles” and “Ain’t Nothin’” as part of their L.A-sleazy, Sunset Strip-inspired catalog—and let’s not forget the good times and great sounds from Centurion, Capitol Hill, and In Your Face sharing those club stages with Motor, and its late ’70s-begun, AOR-Southern Rock preamble: the Muggle Brothers.
By the late ’80s the labels were already (finally) poking around South Florida after the likes of Cryer, Saigon Kick, Tuff Luck, and Young Turk justifiably perking ears in the executive suites; trolling around, they discovered the
goes-down-like-gumdrops Raul Malo and his power pop concern, the Basics (transformed into the country-styled the Mavericks), and
the introspective political rock of Nuclear Valdez (the Rolling Stones’ Ron Wood was a fan). Then, when Collapsing Lungs and Marilyn Manson arrived: Yikes, be careful what you wish for: the label
reps became a nuisance and a detriment to the scene (but that’s another story for another time).
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| Muggle Brothers, 1978. Let's book these guys as the opener for that Molly Hatchet/Point Blank tour. |
Yet . . . even with all those pie-in-the-sky-promising reps slithering n’ sliming around, soon-to-be gaga over all things Collapsing Lungs and Marilyn Manson or anything remotely connected to them. Even with the receptive,
packed clubs commanded by the bluesy, Southern Rock beginnings of Motor as the Muggle Brothers: there were no label overtures.
So, as with the taking-the-bull-by-the-horns Bobby Friss Band, the Muggle Brothers didn’t wait around for a record company to get their music to the masses: they self-financed sessions at the world-famous Aristan Recorders of Fort Lauderdale to cut their debut album. Possessed with tenacity to spare, we old time South Floridian rockers have fond memories of seeing their billboards promoting the debut—not that this local rocker needed a billboard for convincing: as with Bobby Friss releasing their debut in 1988: the Muggles Brothers’ 1987 debut was an instant sale.
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| Which crazy Muggle climbed up there? |
The Muggle Brothers were certainly poised for greatness, as they kept good company in the studio with Peter Yianilos. The industry-respected South Floridian founder, engineer, and producer of Aristan Recorders, his star initially rose in the jazz and reggae realms, with the international best-selling festival compilations for The Reggae Sunsplash, as well as albums by Toots & the Maytalls and Yellowman, and Florida jazz artists Randy Bernsen, Daryll Dobson, and Jaco Pastorius. Transitioning into the rock realms, Yianilos worked the boards for releases by Florida’s Blackfoot, the Pat Travers Band, and the Outlaws. In later years: Slayer and Green Day came through his production transom.
Yet . . . even with the
industry-respected name of Peter Yianilos producing a pristine demo suitable
for release to the fans: still no deals with a major label were forthcoming. This from a band so good, so rock solid and professional on stage and on record, were called on by booking agents and promoters as a go-to band for opening the South Florida dates of nationally touring bands, such as the six-string likeminded Pat Travers Band.
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| The Muggle Brothers open for the Pat Travers Band, 1989. Take note of Saigon Kick and Lady Sabre for Button "Thunder Thursday" shows. |
A powerful, versatile band with three lead vocalists in guitarists and primary lead vocalist Gary Wayne, along with Dirk Gilbert and Rik Vincent, the Muggle Brothers splinted after the album’s lack of acceptance: Gary Wayne departed as Gilbert took over as frontman extraordinaire—and things were about to get a bit harder n’ heavier.
By 1991, as the well-polished metal of the L.A scene (does anyone remember the second and third stringer, denim n’ leather-clad minions Circus of Power, L.A. Guns, Law & Order, the Nymphs, Smashed Gladys, and Spread Eagle) gave way to the Northwestern punky-sloppy sounds of Seattle, the Muggle Brothers retooled for the new era of sounds created by Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.
So, with new members
James Graff on guitars and Lou Manero on bass, the Muggle-core of Dick Gilbert,
Rik Vincent, and Michael Sean White transformed into the still L.A-dirty, but Seattle-crunchier,
Muggle Brothers Mk. III, aka Motor—a
band not ashamed to still rock that ’70s/’80s-era “band logo” that so many bands
gave up . . . back in the days when the vinyl record gave way to the compact disc and AOR
(album-oriented rock) radio gave way to grunge-inspired “rock alternative”
formats—replete with stumble-bumbling spinning doctors and crash test dummies; anything stomping around in a pair of Doc Martins, really.
Thankfully, Motor was a band with an attitude, to put it bluntly: just didn’t give a fuck. No stage was too big or too small for Motor.
You could see Dick Gilbert and the boys at South
Florida’s less-hectic, intimate suds n’ sounds holes-in-the-wall like the House
of Rock, Solid Rock, and the Cell Block, then see them take the stage of the medium-sized Rock Candy, then the larger venues of The Button South and The Plus Five,
traveling to points north in Gainesville at Dub’s, or points south, entertaining Navy men stationed in Key West at Rick’s Key West and
Durty Harry’s.
No matter the club gig: Motor was always inside an arena: touring a hit album and MTV video single alongside Guns N’ Roses. Even when they were contracted—as local bands with original wares were back in the day—to do three cover sets to their one original set: Motor upended the catalogs of AC/DC, Badlands, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Skid Row, and Van Halen, making them their own.
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| Sweet Home Florida with the Muggle Brothers, 1987. |
By the time of Motor’s 1993 debut release, featuring a great logo and title in Screaming Bloody Motor: “alternative music” was all the rage. The area’s two local AOR radio outlets, overnight, became “rock alternative” stations: one spinning the harder side of the once college-radio formatted Alice In Chains, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam to ad nauseam rotation; the other decided the not-alternative Tori Amos, the Crash Test Dummies, the Spin Doctors, and the lover’s lament drivel of Toad the Wet Sprocket was the way to go. Then, a third station jumped into the fray with the impression that perpetually spinning Blink 182, Hawthorne Heights, and Weezer once every hour, as hawked by annoying, thin-voice, squeaky kiddie jocks, was the path to ratings success.
Then, with “alternative rock” all the rage—as the shock-rocking Collapsing Lungs and Marilyn Manson walked away with the early ’90s record deals—suddenly, “Locals Only” programming—for an hour or two during the Sunday late-night graveyard—became all the rage, natch.
Not that the
local programming mattered much to Motor (or the amazing Amazing Grace or Crunch Symphony or the long-suffering Steve Pettrigrossi’s alt-scoffed Hocus Pocus and A New Level or Rich Pierce’s Mind Mural with the long-suffering pipes of Kurt Whiteside from Lifeforce) because
they weren’t “alternative enough” to be played by the now alt-snobby programmers or play the now popular, snobby-trendy alt-clubs (replete with clueless, dinky-dorky emo-bands fronted by frozen-stiff croaking crooners with accordions and backed by lap steels . . . over bands with an actual stage presence that knows their scales and more than three chords).
Not that it mattered to Motor, because the local scene’s political bickering over the programming (replete with multiple, ad nauseam fake friends-n’-family requests; as if being the “number one” requested local band on a specialty block program would get you into weekly rotation) resulted in those local programming blocks being soon being cancelled. Besides, no bands benefited from a “deal” due to the airplay, anyway. Sure, one station put out a “Goes Local” compilation disc . . . but the corporation pulled the plug on that cash-draining foolishness of no promotional or ratings value and “flipped the format” soon after (there was no Vol. II) . . . because the trendy “alternative nation” died when that scufffy kid from Seattle who destroyed (hair metal) careers, killed himself . . . and flyin’ the flannel while chuggin’ the coffee wasn’t alt-trendy anymore.
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| Dirk Gilbert and Motor rocks the cock, complete with Harley—and a gong! |
So . . . as with my beloved Lady Sabre: one day, Motor didn’t
grace The Button South any longer. The heart of a rocker, while mighty, is still a delicate
organ: it can only take so much record company and local radio
heartbreaks. Thus, a “day job” is the less stressful and friendlier
alternative . . . to the alternative.
Yeah, in my alternate radio universe: Motor, as well as Amazing Grace, had major label albums and toured the world, opening for Guns N’ Roses and the Cult.
Yes, they were that good: even better. Even thinking about Motor ripping through their classics “Reptiles” and “Petal to the Metal” gives me a stiff hard one. Nobody worked the stage and belted it L.A-style better than Dirk Gilbert with his Robert Plant-meets-Jim Morrison howl running through a sludgy Whisky A Go Go filter . . . from their bluesy, Southern Rock beginnings, into streamlined AOR, and into alt-leaning cock rock: the Muggles Brothers/Motor collective was one hell of a band.
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| 20 .oz of beer for a buck? That was a long, long time ago! |
By the early 2000s and into the present: Gary Wayne fronts the Florida-touring Eagles tribute band, The Long Run, while Dick Gilbert fronts the Doors tribute band, Doors Alive.
The Muggle Brothers get together from time to time with sets of classic covers interjected with original tunes from the Muggle Brothers and Motor catalog. The Muggles Brothers sometimes open shows by Doors Alive—since it is pretty much the same brothers in rock since 1978 in both bands.
Discography and Memberships
Muggle Brothers
Formed in 1978 in Fort Lauderdale as Muggles, then became the Muggles Brothers Blues Band. As Muggle Brothers, they issued one commercially available, private press album
Muggle Brothers
10-track, two-sided LP, no cassette or compact disc (1987)
- “Reptiles” and “Ain’t Nothing” re-recorded with Motor
Roster
Muggle Brothers Mk. I
- On album—1985 to 1988
Gary Wayne —
lead vocals/guitar/keyboards
Dirk Gilbert — guitar/backing vocals/lead vocals
Larry Kayne — lead guitar
Rik Vincent — guitar/keyboards/lead vocals
Frank Hill —
bass
Michael Sean White — drums
Muggle Brothers Mk. II
- Live only—1988 to 1990
Larry Kayne — lead guitar
Frank Hill — bass
Michael Sean White — drums
- 1978 to early ’80s, pre-recording
Larry Schlossberg
Songs
- You Will, You Want
- Back to the Surface
- Reptiles
- Bonnie
- After Suzanne
- Ain’t Nothing
- Let Loose
- Banana Now
- This Dance
- Driftin’ with the Tide
Revamped Muggles Brothers roster in 1990 that issued two commercially available albums on compact disc
Screaming Bloody Motor
Six-song EP on compact disc (1993)
- New versions of “Reptiles” and “Ain’t Nothing” from Muggle Brothers
Roster
1990
to 1994
Dirk Gilbert —
lead vocals/harmonica
Larry Kayne — guitar /vocals
James Graff — guitar/keyboards
Lou Manero —
bass
Michael Sean White — drums
Songs
- Reptiles
- Pedal to the Metal
- Ain’t Nothing
- Hey Man
- Destruction
- Stranger Inside You
Vicious Cycle
11-song compact disc (1995)
Roster
1994 to 1996
Dirk Gilbert —
lead vocals/harmonica
Larry Kayne — guitar /vocals
Lou Manero —
bass
Michael Sean White — drums
Songs
- Into the Unknown
- Vagabond Pack
- Moon in the Sky
- Killer Buzz
- High on a Mountain
- Power Machine
- Wicked Rain
- Liar’s Lament
- Lyin’
- Land of the Free
- Caught in the Rat Race
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