Mark Lindsay: The Chesterfield Kings

MARK AND THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS......

UPDATE!

Mark's pal Andy will now be a CKing AND a Famous Author! Andy's new book will soon be invading store bookshelves, and it will really be a definitive guide to the Beatles' gear. It was researched with the cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, and Yoko Ono even provided access for Andy to photograph some of John Lennon's guitars.

"This is the first book to analyze the gear -- specific instruments, amplifiers, and other equipment -- the Beatles used to sculpt an unforgettable range of sounds."

Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio

Click on the book to read more about it. If you're a Beatles fan, you won't want to miss this.

We now return you to your previously-scheduled CKings web page.....

Mark And The Boys In The "Where Do We Go From Here?" Video

But we're getting ahead of ourselves a bit.

It all started a few years back. Mark was hangin' out at Sundazed Guru Bob Irwin's pad, and Bob put a 45 on the turntable. "Hey Lindsay, listen to this! It's the new one by the Chesterfield Kings."

"Man, these guys are the REAL deal, " Mark said, obviously impressed with the thrashy attitude and vintage sounds. "Wait a minute! I met these guys in Rochester in the early 90's when I was doing a gig there...."

One thing led to another, and after CKings Andy and Greg sent some tracks to Mark, the lyrics to "Where Do We Go From Here?" were born. Along with those to "Summer of Love," but that's a future story. Mark sent back a tape with a rough vocal over the track so they could get an idea of the phrasing. The boys liked it so much that they invited Mark to be a guest artist on their "Where The Action is!" CD.

And along the way, a lot of fun things have happened. They did a video for the song, part of which was aired on CNN, and Mark made an appearance in their campy movie, "Where Is The Chesterfield King?1?!", which premiered at the prestigious George Eastman Theatre.

Mark Appears In The CKings Movie, Courtesy of The Magic Door

And of course, there have been some wild gigs......Cave Stomp in 1998 (where the B side of the "Where Do We Go From Here?" single was recorded - "Louie, Go Home.") Then, there was Lyon, Spain. Here's a reprint of an article from Mark's newsletter, which details that little adventure:

Part Dos: A Tale Of Castles And Kings
(A Wild Gig and 5000 Kilometers in La Speck)

"Marcus," said King Andy, "wait 'til you see the sax we got for you to play in Spain...it's from the sixties, you'll love it."

Mark waited on pins and needles, since old saxes can either be very, very good or very, very scary. The mini-van arrived for soundcheck, we all piled in, and soon we were deposited at the University. The golden horn was presented, Mark attached his mouthpiece, and we all held our breath while he tried it out. "Magnificent!" he pronounced, and all was right with the world. WHEW.

Soundcheck went fine, and then it was time to assemble stage props: lots of huge rubber balloons, filled with confetti, glitter, etc., but NOT flour....since the Kings had tried it out at a gig in Rochester the week prior with unforeseen results. The floury balloon had descended to the light can above AndyÕs head and immediately popped, rendering him an instantaneous copy of the Pillsbury Doughboy. OOPS.

We ran back to the hotel and had a little bite to eat, and before we left for the show, the Kings gave me a quick lesson in videography. We would have a handheld on-the-fly video memory of the event, as well as a static one from a tripod up in the balcony. Gee, the pressure!

The gig was scheduled to start at 12:30am -- the Spanish do things LATE -- and we arrived about an hour early. I went out to check out the crowd. It was amazing -- the Mod Festival had mainly attracted people in their 20s and 30s, who obviously weren't there the FIRST time being Mod was cool. And there were probably about 75% guys. Not the typical Mark Lindsay festival demographic.

Finally, it was time. The Kings did their set, which included a lot of songs from their "Where the Action Is" CD (like "Little Girl," "I Walk in Darkness"), and at the very end of the set, brave lead singer Greg jumped down into the audience. It was such a wild mob scene he couldnÕt get back to the front of the crowd by the time the set ended!

Then Andy introduced Mark, and the place erupted further. The boys did "Kicks," "Louie Go Home," "Where Do We Go From Here?," "Hungry," "Steppin' Out," "Just Like Me," and "Stepping Stone." I think my favorite part of the regular set was "Steppin' Out." Mark and the Kings started doing Raider steps, the sound guys on stage were doing them, and the ENTIRE crowd was doing them. Only a very few people spoke any English, so this was a testament to the sheer joy and power of the music.

An encore was called for, of course, and it got even crazier. Mark brought out the sax, and they launched into Little Richard's "Bama Lama Bama Loo," followed by MC5's "Kick Out the Jams," which caused the crowd to go insane. I got a lot of crowd shots in the videos and the guys were all amazed to see how far back the wildness went. There were guys climbing the barriers and trying to climb onstage, but that was all they could see from the stage.

It was getting to be the wee hours of the morning by that point, but we went back to the hotel to drop stuff off and then headed to a club for an all-nighter. I never did anything like that in my twenties, and it was pretty bold to try it as a forty-something, but why not?

We were pushed by the crowd into the club and everyone came up to Mark and the Kings and went on and on about the show. At least that's what we THINK they were saying....they were smiling, laughing, but it was all in Castillian, and when we indicated we didn't exactly understand their language, they just repeated it all louder!

Finally, we made it over to the bar to get a drink. "Wine, please?" "NO WINE, VODKA!!" "Beer?" "NO BEER, VODKA!" "Okay.....I guess it'll be vodka...." And with that we got a couple of iced-tea glasses filled to the rim with vodka, poured for some reason from as high as the bartender could reach. Quite a show. Quite a lot of vodka. "Do you have some tonic, maybe?" He begrudgingly handed over a tiny bottle of tonic, which we added as soon as we could fit it in the glasses.

I think the most amazing part of the whole night was the fact that despite the amount of vodka that was flowing, the crowd stayed NICE. Man, at some of the shows we have done where beer is flowing freely it has been pretty scary.

Anyway, the party went on and on with non-stop dance music, mostly all of the latest European hits, but then they segued into the Raiders' "Happening '68." It sounded INCREDIBLE on that sound system, and for a moment, watching the crowd gyrating to its beat, it seemed like it WAS 1968.

The show's adrenaline was finally wearing off, so we called a taxi to take us back to the hotel. It was still pitch-black outside, and it felt like it was around 4am or so, but when I glaced at my pocket-watch I was SHOCKED -- it was 7:30am. I'd NEVER come in that late in my life. Mark is reserving comment on his own historical un-curfews!

The rest of Saturday is pretty much a blur, except for being woken up by the bells on the necks of a herd of sheep being driven right under our hotel room window. Looking out at the gnarled old shepherd with his crook, it could have been the year 1668 or 968 at that point. What a sight...

Next day, Sunday, we took a leisurely drive around Lyon to see the cathedral and walled part of the city, and then we hooked up with the Kings as they made their getaway back stateside. It was an absolute thrill and pleasure working with these guys, and we were sad to see them go. A very heartfelt thanks to Andy, Greg, Mike, Ted, and Jeff for the fun and friendship.

And then...we were OFF! We headed across northern Spain, thrilled at the Peaks of Europe (which looked as much like the Alps as we could remember from any pictures), wandered down by the coast and into ancient caves, then ventured quickly into and out of tiny and crammed Andorra, a principality on the French border which seems to exist solely as a duty-free shopping mecca. We wandered off towards Barcelona, were amazed by the sudden spires of the peaks of Monserrat, and then finally circled back around Madrid to land in Oropesa for our final two nights.

All along the way, we ate at tiny local eateries, or more often than not, stopped at little stores and purchased locally made wine, cheese, and bread, plus veggies, fruit and meats that were locally supplied. We had the most INCREDIBLE bleu cheese we'd ever tasted, but were disappointed that we couldnÕt figure out how to easily use any of the just-picked mushrooms we were offered by an old man and woman walking along a country road carrying big wicker baskets full of their day's work.

As we wound through some beautiful twisting canyons, we had two fun events. The first was a traffic jam in a very unlikely place. It turned out to be caused by farmers driving cows/horses/sheep/pigs/whatever down the center of road to a tiny town center for an auction. It looked like the Event of the Year in this isolated little hamlet.

The other wonderful thing was when we passed a huge boulder sitting squarely in the middle or a rapid-filled river, which looked very much like the Clearwater near our old environs of Elk City. Idaho. Lying proudly on the boulder was an old mountain billygoat, who had a beard as long as that of Rip Van Winkle. He was gorgeous and obviously the king of his domain.

Spain was culturally interesting, architecturally beautiful, gastronomically satisfying, geologically spectacular, and above all friendlier than we ever could have dreamed. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back...

...except that last week we were on United Airlines, sitting next to a pilot on his way to SFO to fly to Tokyo, and he was telling Mark how much fun it is to run with the bulls in Pamploma in July. UH-OHHHH..........

- DEB LINDSAY

Reprinted from the November 1999 issue of Mark Lindsay's Steppin' Out!
Part One of this story, which describes the trip over to Spain and the first couple of days there, is in the October 1999 issue.

The picture sleeve for the single features Mark's hearse on the cover, and a scene from Cave Stomp on the back

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE

(A. Babiuk, M. Lindsay, G. Prevost)

Slo-mo day-glo here in a white dream

Dark birds with shark words

Cut a laser ruby blood stream

I hear the moans of hungry bones

In some nightmare desert death scene

But baby where do we go from here?

Camelot dreams rise up like steam

From a cauldron on the table

Why do we choose these hemlock brews

We break like Cain and Abel

Stab a liquid sword for a quick reward

And stagger till we're stable

But baby where do we go from here?

Angels wings on the devil's wind

Why won't heaven let us in?

Baby where do we go from here?

Angels wings on the devil's wind

Why won't heaven let us in ?

Baby where do we go from here?

High noon red moon

Roulette wheel still turning

Coins tossed stars crossed

Several bridges burning

Life's not about who's won or lost

It's mostly 'bout the learning

And baby where do we go from here?

Angels wings on the devil's wind

Why won't heaven let us in ?

Baby where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here, where do we go, where do we go

Where do we go from here, from here, from here, from here?

Autographed copies of WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE / LOUIE GO HOME and WHERE THE ACTION IS!
available at Mark Lindsay's GROOVY STUFF....

Check out The Chesterfield Kings Official Website

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