17. Talk of War 1987–1990 (Fort Lauderdale)

Talk of War gigs in the summer of 1988.

 

 

About the Flyers . . . and the Clubs: Penrod’s was a beachfront bar known for its “wet t-shirt” contests notorious during the Spring Break ’80s. Delving into booking rock bands for a short period of time—with their club-within-a-club, The Underground—the club on whole closed for good in the winter of 1988. Confetti turned their “beautiful people” VIP Lounge into their own club-within-a-club, The Reunion Room, about that time—booking nationally-touring, college rock indie bands (Dumptruck, Mary’s Danish, Fetchin’ Bones) and locals until the mid-’90s: today, a bank building stands on the old Confetti site.

Soon, other mainstream clubs followed suit: The Theater Nightclub, an Oakland Park Blvd. disco at Federal Hwy., opened The Prop Room—literally an upstairs storage area or “prop room”—that hosted local bands (Vacant Andys, Dore Soul, Love Canal) and, in competing with The Edge, national touring bands, such as the Deftones and Silverchair. It closed up shop in May 1997.

Desperadoes (once City Limits, a disco), a county-western bar located in Davie, Florida, touted as “Broward County’s Only 4 A.M Nightclub,” converted their VIP Lounge into The Metro Room—competing with the equally-intimate The Reunion Room—hosting local bands and less-established alternative bands (Buck Pets and Mary My Hope). It closed as quickly as it opened, in June 1995.

* * *

Randy Christopher with Talk of War, January 1989,
at the Miami Rocks Too! conference.

 

Now, let’s see if I can remember this, right—as we go from Talk of War to East of Gideon to Planet Boom to Nectar to Mindflower, with pieces of Farrcry and Saigon Kick tossed in—during Broward county’s alt-rock ’90s. Oh, yes. Randy Bates was a musician on a mission to be sure. . . .

So, a guy by the name of Randy Bates, aka Randy Christopher, from Fort Lauderdale’s Stranahan High School, formed a band called Talk of War in a Pompano Beach garage in 1987. By February 1988, ToW received their first, mainstream press and had successful shows at the popular Broward clubs: Penrod’s The Underground (May 1987) and Confetti’s The Reunion Room.

Talk of War promotional, February 1989: Left to right: Dave Feeney (bass),
Wayne Glass (drums), Peter Higney (guitar), Randy Christopher (vocals),
Todd Martin and Michelle Lynn (keyboards).

Talk of War promotional, April 1989: Not in order: Randy Christopher,
Peter Higney, Dave Feeney, Todd Martin, and Paul David (drums).

Those shows—along with local radio airplay from non-commercial, school-based radio stations in the tri-county area (non-com DJ Scott David, the first DJ to air the music of and interview Marilyn Manson, was the first to air ToW’s music)—led to the band booking South Florida opening gigs through Cellar Door Promotions for Concrete Blonde, The Fixx, and (Jefferson) Starship at major tour venues such as The Button South and the Sunrise Musical Theatre (still standing, but home to a “mega-church”). By February 1988, ToW made an industry showcase appearance at Club 1235 (on Collins Avenue in Miami) for the South Florida Winter Music Conference. (Why am I also remembering ToW opening for Living Colour at some point, as well as doing an opening gig at Woody’s on the Beach for another band? Was that the Living Colour show?)

Anyway, a deal seemed on the horizon. Then Talk of War fell apart.

The rare demo by Talk of War, Mk. II, aka East of Gideon, 1990.

East of Gideon, from the J-card of their full-length cassette.

Randy Bates ended up in L.A. with East of Gideon (that got its start in South Florida, as I recall: a tweaked, Mk. II of ToW), which fell apart in the midst of a deal with a BMG subsidiary label. Along the way (circa 1990) EoG did shows with the burgeoning Black Crows, Tool, and Rage Against the Machine, as well as opening shows for Nirvana during the earliest stages of their “Nevermind” tour.

Then there was Planet Boom . .  and eventually Nectar and Mindflower.

Planet Boom—a bona fide “supergroup” that made the national press in Billboard—consisted of Randy Bates, alongside fellow South Floridian Phil Varone, he the ex-drummer of Saigon Kick (which morphed into Super Transatlantic), Bill McKelvy of Fort Lauderdale’s Young Turk (which had two major label deals: one with Virgin and one with MCA), and Tony Cortese of L.A.’s Bonedozer. Tom DeFile from Saigon Kick was Planet Boom’s original bassist, prior to forming his own “supergroup,” Left for Dead.

Planet Boom made their debut to an over-capacity house at The Reunion Room ($5 bucks in the spring of 1994!)—featuring songs from their demo tape (personally given to me by Randy Bates one night at Squeeze, as I recall; complete with a press kit) that included “Mind Slide” and “The Voyeur,” which received local non-commercial alternative airplay. Courtesy of Varone’s Atlantic connections, Planet Boom quickly scored a development deal . . . that failed to bore a commercial available album.

So, with Planet Boom going “boom” . . . along came the Broward-based Nectar with their full-length CD, Heavy Liquid Grooves. Then, there was the L.A.-based Mindflower (that began in South Florida, as I recall; I am sure they did a show at The Crash Club in Fort Lauderdale) with the full-length CD, Cydonia. As with Planet Boom: Mindflower was another “supergroup” born of the ashes of Fort Lauderdale’s Farrcry, courtesy of that band’s Craig Martin, Ira Saltzman, and Randy LaPierre teaming with Bates, and Martin Davis from Plastic Nude Martini.

Nectar makes the national pages of Billboard, February 1996.

"Neo-glam" rockers Mindflower receive a mention in the national pages
of Billboard as part of their "Sound of the Cities" spotlight series,
this time on Miami, as part of a "Local Noise: Four Acts to Watch Out For"
essay by scene reporter Sandra Schulman, February 1997.

South Florida non-commercial radio turned the respective songs by Nectar and Mindflower, “Celebration” and “Mindflower,” into local radio “hits”—or as much as an unsigned band could have a “hit” in those broadcast environs, as the two commercial rock stations canned their Sunday night, local music block programs by that point (and wouldn’t have played them anyway, no more than they gave the equally airplay-deserving Colour Junkies and Amazing Grace the brush off).

Nectar featured an ex-member of Velvet Revolution (Sean Synder)—which had their own local hit with “It’s Love” (yet another lost CD with no copy of the song on tape; but I have “Goodbye Pain”). I seem to recall both bands—Nectar and Mindflower—existed at the same time, in the same South Florida warehouse-verse: two-bands with different rosters and a frontman in common, but different styles: Nectar was the more grunge-cum-Alice In Chains joint, while Mindflower leaned towards Soundgarden (think “Black Hole Sun”) psych-trippy.

Which brings to mind: Remember when Rene Alvarez from Forget the Name got together with members of Natural Causes (Joel Schantz; I think) and formed the bands Milkcan and Sixo: Milkcan was punky-scruffy band with the Natural Causes-guy singing, while Rene wrote and sang the poppy Sixo stuff. So, while I remember Milkcan would open shows for Sixo and vice versa—I am recalling Nectar and Mindflower did the same thing . . . maybe not doing shows together . . . but surely co-existing on the scene (no, they did a show at the short-lived The Crash Club . . . had too, as it is one of my most “vivid” local scene memories).

Anyway, as my mind wanders about the tri-county . . . Nectar died . . . Mindflower blossomed . . . and ended up back in Los Angeles . . . again, for Randy, who was there before, with what was left of Talk of War that became East of Gideon.

Sadly, those once cherished Talk of War and Planet Boom tapes are, regrettably, long-lost on my end and no one, not even members themselves, have ripped them for You Tube consumption . . . although someone made the effort with the Left for Dead demo tape.

* * *

The 1988 tape that had a buzz in South Florida,
featuring the songs, "The Rosary Life" and "Talk of War."

Talk of War

This article regarding the band Talk of War by writer Pat Curry, as a “Special to the News” essay, ran in a September 26, 1988, edition of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. At one time—back in January 2022 when the article was first discovered and the link included with our You Tube upload on the band—it was available online, free without a paywall subscription. Then, checking back in April 2025, we discovered it was deleted from the publication; the link rotted.

Luckily, we were able to retrieve a copy from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. At first: the dead link wouldn’t return at all. It took six tries before the IAWM captured the dead link. Hey, anything for the local scene, even in 2025!

So, as to preserve this piece of unique, South Florida rock history—because even the Wayback Machine isn’t Internet-forever—we’ve opted to repost this unique piece of South Florida rock history.

STRONG LOCAL BAND NEARS DREAM OF RECORDING DEAL

Years from now, when music historians record the story of Talk of War, they will open with the band’s start in a Pompano Beach garage in 1987 when six musicians made a list of long-term goals, wanting—above all else—to write, play and record good songs.

The young South Florida residents—all are in their early 20s—had gravitated from other bands and wanted to concentrate on original music.

“We looked at other bands and saw what we liked and didn’t like,” bass player Dave Feeney said.

“We wanted to write a bunch of songs, record and get a record deal,” drummer Wayne Glass said. “We didn’t want to be Florida’s best bar band.”

“Initially, our goal was not to play live at all,” lead singer Randy Christopher says. “Our dream is to make a fine album.”

But they have played their version of Celtic rock live, just months after they had begun. Talk of War opened for Concrete Blonde, The Fixx and Starship in South Florida, when the band barely had enough songs written to fill a night’s set.

The story would continue with a friend of the band handing a demo tape to Scott David, a local disc jockey at a high-school station, who became a fan and played their music on his alternative-music show.

“I think they’re so talented,” David says. “They really just have their act together. They work so hard to produce a sound that’s quite superior. They’re not singing about the usual trash. They have something to say.”

Christopher writes the lyrics—the name Talk of War came from a line in one of his songs—while music writing is handled by guitarist Peter Higney and keyboard players Todd Martin and Michelle Linn. Each band member writes his or her own part.

“Our songs are basically . . . the music is intense, it has feeling,” Christopher says. “The lyrics definitely have meaning. They cover a broad range of emotions. I write love songs and I write songs about corruption—that’s my thing; I get so mad. I make my point, but I leave a lot of things up to the listener. There’s not a lot of songs where the message is forced down your throat. It’s not like we’re trying to write tasteful dance songs about nuclear destruction.”

The band intentionally has no strong solos in its music, which is full of haunting minor chords and confident, steady rhythms.

April 1989

About the Flyer: Even the home of the “Wet T-Shirt Contest” got into the alternative and local scene, squeezing out the little guys, such as The Reunion Room and The Zipperhead in Fort Lauderdale, and The Ambassador in Deerfield Beach. The next thing you know: a Voivod, the Big F, and Soundgarden triple-bill, even the reconstituted the Buzzcocks, replaced the “water sports” shenanigans at Summers—and we’re off to (another) short-lived run in the “alternative scene” races.

About the Bands: Talk of War opened for a not-yet-signed-to-Atlantic Records Saigon Kick. The Basics was Raul Malo’s new wave pop concern (that also played The Reunion Room with Beat the Press) that garnered interest from Epic Records—until he formed the country-inflected the Mavericks and signed with MCA Records in 1992. Some People’s Children was led by keyboardist George Zhen—who flirted with major label interest from Sony Records as a member of Love Canal.
—Over the Edge Radio

Christopher’s baritone has an adopted British accent, which he said was the result of his limited vocal training in high school. Higney has some shining moments on guitar, which is a tribute to his talent and willingness to work, considering that he never had played the instrument until he met Christopher about two years ago. But on the whole, the individuals retreat to allow the band to step forward.

“Everybody tries to have big ears and little heads,” Higney says.

“When we started out, we wanted to have a band instead of six great people in a band,” Christopher adds.

Thanks to David’s support, Talk of War had a bona fide following before its first performance, the opening of Penrod’s Underground last May. When Christopher opened that first show, people were singing along with him.

Doug MacDuff, national entertainment director at Penrod’s on Fort Lauderdale Beach, gave the band its first job.

“We opened a room based on our decision that they could open a room,” MacDuff said. “We had a serious problem finding someone to follow Talk of War. They’ve mastered a unique sound that people want to hear more than once. They write relevant stuff and they write fast. They’d come in here every time they played with one or two new songs.”

Cindy Levann, promotions manager for Six Flags Atlantis, hired Talk of War to open for Concrete Blonde after hearing them play one set at Penrod’s. Their simple, clean sound “gets under your skin,” she says. “They really want to do good, and they’re very talented.”

“They really did a bang-up, killer job” as an opening act, she says. As a result, she asked them back to open for The Fixx. “They’re one of the largest drawing local bands we’ve had play here. We’ll definitely use them again.”

So will Dan Barnett with Cellar Door, a major concert promoter in South Florida.

“I really like this band,” Barnett says. “Their music is very progressive, very forward-sounding. I thought they were a step ahead. Other bands were copying sounds, but they were really expressing something from within themselves. I thought they could write good music and keep producing it. That’s something I look for. Their music is very, very intellectually written.”

The band also has been a popular draw at Confetti in Fort Lauderdale (where the management built a stage for them), drummer Glass says, and at Club 1235 in Miami Beach.

The historians might view tonight as a turning point when Talk of War showcases its original music for record executives at Club 1235 as part of the music industry’s Winter Music Conference.

Twenty packages went out to label representatives who recruit new artists, Glass said.

“Everybody liked the material,” says Melanie Kerr, assistant to entertainment attorney Allen Jacobi of North Miami Beach, who works with the band. “Now they want to see the band. This is very important. Usually the people who come down here are the ones who have the power to sign the band.”

* * *

Planet Boom makes the pages of Billboard, July 1994.

Planet Boom

This next article regarding the band Planet Boom by writer Christina Henriques, ran in a May 18, 1994, edition of the Miami New Times. First discovered in January 2022, this 31-year-old article continues to be freely available online as of April 2025—but we’re not taking any chances in losing this unique piece of South Florida rock history: I’ve been burned one too many times by article-links to more recent materials that, when I go into my bookmarks, they’re dead and gone . . . and not even the IAWM could save them.

BOOM TIMES

From local to national to local again, members of the newly formed alliance Planet Boom have individually tasted morsels of success and swallowed epic helpings of disappointment. From being overshadowed by former bandmates to being orphaned by record labels, the foursome has built up enough animosity and adrenaline to lend their music a strength it lacked, animating the dark side of their songcraft.

Ex-Saigon Kick stickman and local producer Phil Varone, ex-Young Turk bassist Bill McKelvy, ex-East of Gideon singer Bates, and ex-Bonedozer guitarist Tony Cortese make up this tour de force. “We were all frustrated writers in our old bands because we couldn’t express ourselves,” says Varone. “Now the creativity is out of control. We literally start practicing one song and end up writing another.”

In November 1993 Varone crawled out from beneath guitarist Jason Bieler’s ego and left Saigon Kick. Varone wanted a group where each member had an equal voice and the music possessed a heavier sound. Although Saigon started out that way they went through many changes and were considered a power-ballad band after the release of the song “Love Is on the Way.”

Varone’s first phone call was to Cortese in Buffalo, New York. Cortese was in Bonedozer at the time, but as soon as he heard Varone had kicked the Kick, he was packed and on his way back to Florida. “It was just a matter of logistics,” Cortese says. “I lost some friends over this because I left my band. I had wanted to play with Phil again, but at that time he was doing well in Saigon Kick. I knew the chemistry was right, I just didn't think it was possible.”

During middle and high school, Cortese and Varone were in a South Florida garage band called Leeway. They parted ways when Varone joined Saigon and Cortese moved to Buffalo to get into the restaurant business.

I have this ‘vivid,’ 1986-ish memory of Leeway playing a Coral Springs skating rink—with Bobby Z’s Panic (the incredible Jon Somerlade, later of Amboog-a-lard, on drums) and Joe’s Diner . . . even then: there was no denying Varone’s unique technique . . . solidified when standing at the rear bar behind the stage at The Reunion Room during an early Saigon Kick show.
—Over the Edge Radio

After Varone recruited Cortese for Boom, his next call was to Bates in Los Angeles. Bates's own outfit, East of Gideon, broke up four days prior to Varone’s call. The singer says he was itching to get involved in something new. After a decade with Gideon, a failed record deal with JRS Records (a subsidiary of BMG) and a music scene that got him nowhere, Bates was in a position to relocate to Florida.

Varone had known Bates from South Florida’s local talent pool back in the Eighties. Back then Bates played down here with Gideon, then known as Talk of War. “Saigon Kick had just started to play out, so we were in the club scene together,” says Bates. “We even practiced next door to one another, so sometimes I would come over and Matt [Kramer] and I would share verses.”

Around the same time Bates was asked to join Boom, McKelvy left Young Turk. Signed to Virgin Records, Turk cut one record but they were dumped by the label and joined the ranks of all the other foundering local bands.

McKelvy, with an abundance of spare time, played on Matt Kramer’s new demo tape. After hearing the tape, Varone decided he wanted McKelvy onboard. At the same time, as Varone was trying to bring McKelvy into the fold, McKelvy happened to hear that Varone had an opening. He got the gig and in December the band got down to business.

In March, after writing and rehearsing new material, they took some time at Gled Studios [Gary Styder’s studio] recording an eponymous four-song demo that isn’t exactly a stroll through Candy Land. Commercialism, sugar-coated lyrics, and hooky little numbers are absent on this tribute to pent-up emotions and energy.

The vocals are vital to Planet Boom’s identity, and although it sounds like Bates has been digging up Alice’s Mud Garden, he’s found the element Miami’s “heavy” rock scene is missing.

In his bottomless vocal range, Bates spews out lyrics like “Don’t get in my way/ Spit in my face/ I’m gonna blow you all away,” clearly reflecting the Boom attitude. The songs “Don’t” and “Mind Slide” wallops the listener with an earful of tribal drums and a rhythm section that stands on even ground with the potent lead guitar. Planet Boom is fueled with odd chord and rhythmic changes and orbits around powerful intros, outros, and harmonies.

“We're in our ‘mad’ stage right now,” says Varone. “Although we’ve written some radio-friendly songs that are hooked into the band’s sound, there won’t be a ballad—or any song with love in it anywhere near this band.”

Planet Boom performs at 11:30 p.m. tomorrow (Friday) at the Reunion Room, 2660 E Commercial Blvd, Ft Lauderdale, 776-4081. Admission costs $5.

Farrcry, 1992: clockwise, left to right:
Mark Christian, Craig Martin (center),
Ira Saltzman (standing), Randy LaPierre,
and Eli Facuseh (glasses).

Velvet Revolution, 1993: clockwise, left to right:
Chris Jonz, drums; Joseph Andrews, bass,
Chaz Ritchardz, vocals, and Sean Synder, guitars.

Nectar, 1995: Left to right: Chris Johns,
Dave Poole (bass),
Sean Synder, and Randy Bates.
Johns and Synder, ex-Velvet Revolution.

Mindflower, 1997, left to right: Ira Saltzman,
Randy Bates, Craig Martin,
and Martin Davis.
Saltzman and Martin, ex-Farrcry.

Listen to the Music

In 2022, Planet Boom returned—in a reconstituted form—with Randy Bates, Phil Varone, Chris McLernon (formerly of a latter day Saigon Kick), and Tony Cortese, along with a new member, Sean Martin (ex-Voltage Head)—as Panic Boom. Their 2022 debut album, Twenty Eight. Twenty Eight features the singles “Keep It To Myself ” and “Revolution” (on You Tube and Bandcamp, respectively). As of 2025, Randy Bates continues to make music with Echoes of Sunset, an alternative pop-rock concern.

While the music (cassette tapes) of Talk of War and Planet Boom are lost . . . you can enjoy the 1990 debut by East of Gideon, and their 2022 return, The Long Way Home, on Over the Edge Radio You Tube.

Both efforts by Mindflower: the 1997 debut, Cydonia, and their1999 self-titled sophomore effort are available on Over the Edge Radio You Tube.

Heavy Liquid Grooves from Nectar is available on Over the Edge Radio You Tube, and you can hear “Celebration” on our South Florida Local Rock: Vol. 1 and “The Lasher” on South Florida Local Rock: Vol. 4 compilations.

Cuts from Left for Dead and Velvet Revolution appear on our South Florida Local Rock: Vol. 11, compilation, while the complete demo by Left for Dead appears in our In the Cabinet: Lost South Florida Local Tapes section.

The albums Mr. Red, White and Blue and Can’t Bargain with God by Farrcry can be enjoyed on Over the Edge Radio You Tube, as well as at their Facebook page.

Plastic Nude Martini continues to thrive on You Tube.