Rudi Protrudi
Fuzztones
By Geordie Pleathur
(SugarBuzz Nation)
SugarBuzz Magazine
""IN FUZZ WE TRUST!!!" ....RUDI PROTRUDI AND THE CULT OF FUZZ!!! CELEBRATING THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GURUS OF GARAGE GRUNGE!!! THE LEGENDARY FUZZTONES!!! (---by Geordie Pleathur)
Rudi Protrudi is the primo generalissimo of the whole durn garage revival. Taking his inspiration from all those fifties raw and primitive hillbilly howlers, snarling acid-punk stompers and shock therapy casualties, psychedelic ravers and the Cramps, Rudi's sneery band of mop-topped rockers have been perpetually bangin' away on the retro-garage-soul circuit they helped to create for decades, non-stop, accumulating a vast and loyal following of tattooed beat pariahs and go-go dancing sixties mod Barbarellas. The worldwide Cult Of Fuzz is celebrating the thirtieth year of the Fuzztones raw and untamed rock'n'roll lifestyle, that really has become a religion of sorts, to the tens of thousands of die hard fans from all 
over, in their bone necklaces, and Prince Valiant haircuts, with voices green and purple, discussing vintage gear, and faintly remembered B-Sides, over heavy cocktails, in colorfully lit, tiki-hut atmospheres, that serve as the churches for their depraved rituals, strange prayers, harmonica wailings, and archaic dances. I'm gettin' sick o' readin' articles in the corporate press, callin' dis come-lately, or dat one "the godfather of garage", when there oughta be full color posters and all kindsa KISS type merch., snazzy belt-buckles, metal lunchboxes, and the like, available to the fanatical Fuzztones faithful.
Since I ain't seen anything approaching even remotely adequate coverage of the prophetic Mister Protrudi and his perennial rock'n'roll revivalist creatures that time forgot in any of the big mags, lately, I figured I better set the modernday media blitz in motion, remindin' all you big media paychecks and obedient, cubicle inhabiting, corporate rock writers that you ought to be giving coverage to the genuine articles and underground pioneers, of the hallucination generation, if only for history's sake, esp. if you're gonna keep indulgin' all those talent and charisma-free, d.j.'s, heiresses, and boring gimmick mongers. Please don't babble to me about this week's manufactured girl group, or another swanky Swedish sensation, if you don't currently own a copy of "Lysergic Emanations". THE FUZZTONES are about to release "PREACHING TO THE PERVERTED", and every fan of authentic rock'n'roll with a primitive swagger, and/or, sexy fun trashy punk, should buy a copy, for your longhair party, stat! (-Geordie Pleathur)
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What was your family life
like?
RUDI PROTRUDI: My mom and dad were artists, as is my sister. And, of course so am I when I'm not doing music. My mom was liberal, but dad was strict - although he did take us to all the "mondo" movies when they came out, which was pretty radical considering we were pretty young.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What were your first introductions to rock 'n'roll?
RUDI PROTRUDI: My cousins were teens in the 50's and played their records for me, so I heard Rock 'n' Roll at a very young age, but the first time that I seriously started to dig it was around 1962.
I was really into monsters, and my dad brought home a record by John Zacherle, who was the host of a TV horror show called Shock Theatre. The record was called Monster Mash, and Zach sang all the popular rock 'n' roll songs of the day, in a Boris Karloff type voice, giving the lyricsa twisted spin - for instance, the song "Let's Twist Again"... he changed it to a song about twisting a mummy to "produce some mummy juice"!
At first I just loved the monster aspect, but the music was so catchy that I couldn't separate the two, and soon I was a Rock 'n' Roll fanatic. Of course when the Beatles came over about two years later, they changed my life - and turned me on to Chuck Berry, and that really changed my
life. From there I knew I had to get a guitar, and the rest is history, as they say.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: How did you meet Deb O'Nair?
RUDI PROTRUDI: She was the girlfriend of a friend of mine. She wanted to make him jealous so she went out with me. Deb likes attention.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Were you in any groups before Tina Peel, what were some of the highlights of that incarnation?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Loads!! I started playing professionally (as in getting paid for it) in 1966. My first band was called King Arthur's Quart. My second band was called Rigor Mortis and lasted from 1967 to 1970. We even got on TV. Although neither band ever recorded, I found some live tapes and Misty Lane Records released a King Arthur's Quart 45 and put a Rigor Mortis song on their LP comp, "Basementsville." I started writing songs in my first band - I rewrote a few of them and later recorded them with the Fuzztones: "It Came In The Mail,"Brand New Man," and "Highway 69." If you go to my webpage, rudiprotrudi.com, you can see lots of photos of my early bands.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Has anyone endeavored to publish a comprehensive coffee 
table bio/picture book of the FUZZTONES history?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Several people have shown interest over the years but for one reason or the other it never came about. *
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Weren't you briefly a Deadboy?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Yep, very briefly. One night in fact, but it was a helluva night! I auditioned and they gave me a gig that same night - we played at CBGB's at a benefit for Punk magazine. We played on the same bill as Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Blondie, Suicide, and the Paley Brothers. David Johansen was the MC.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What do you recall about those guys, as people?
RUDI PROTRUSI: They were cool guys - more focused than you'd think. They drank alot of beer but didn't want any druggies in the band. Cheetah was allowed to smoke pot, but not without alot of
ribbing from the others.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Why did the original lineup disintegrate, and why the move to L.A.?
RUDI PROTRUDI: I gather you mean the Fuzztones...?
I was fucking the guitarist's girlfriend and he didn't seem to appreciate that - he shoulda been glad I took her off his hands, as she was a real pain in the ass. Anyhow it was a stupid thing to do and because of that, I ended up losing one hell of a band. He took the drummer with him, and then Deb quit and joined a polka band. Michael Jay stayed on with me and we got a new drummer, "Mad" Mike Czekaj. The three of us tried out every guitarist in NYC but no one was good enough.
Eventually we just became Link Protrudi & The Jaymen and played the occasional gig here and there. After about a year I saw that Garage music was really catching on all around the world and The Fuzztones were missing out. That's when I decided to move out to L.A. and try to reform the band there. Ironically, the guys I ended up with were all ex-New Yorkers.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: When was the last time you had to have a 
dayjob?
RUDI PROTRUDI: 35 years ago.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What was Bryan Gregory like? What was your relationship to the Cramps?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Great guy. Very funny and surprisingly gentle. We used to hang out with The Cramps in the 70's - Tina Peel moved to New York right after they did. I even have one of Bryan's guitars - an old Domino Phantom that he tried to make into a bass!
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Did you share a sense of camaraderie with any of the following: Lyres, Fleshtones, Real Kids, Plastic Land, Hoodoo Gurus, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers...?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Well, in some respects all NY bands had a sort of camaraderie, but I was never 
too tight with any of the guys you mentioned - More with Plasticland and the Fleshtones than anyone else. Plasticland did a track on the first Fuzztones tribute album. We used to hang out with the Fleshtones when we first moved to NY. Peter and Marek took me and my drummer to the Crisco Disco. I don't know what they were thinking!
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What bands did you recognize as peers?
RUDI PROTRUDI: The Cramps, The Ramones, The Damned
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Could you relate to any of the West Coast "Paisley Underground" scensters?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Not really - a bit too mellow for my taste.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What did you think about the Chesterfield Kings "Psychedelic Sunrise", produced by Little
Steven?
RUDI PROTRUDI: I've only heard a few tracks that Steven played on his show. I liked what I heard.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What do you remember about Wendy Wild And The Mad Violets?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Wendy was a good friend of mine. Deb and I used to go to the nudist beach with her and Dino. She was a hoot - always up for anything.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Your solo album?
RUDI PROTRUDI: I recorded a solo album in, I believe, 1996 - I didn't want to do Garage - what would be the purpose? So I dug way back in my past and got in touch with my inner hillbilly, and did a Country album. See, when I was a teenager, living in Pennsyltucky, I useta watch this cool Rock 'n' Roll TV show called Where The Action Is. All the coolest bands would be on it - Paul Revere & The Raiders were the houseband and were on everyday! Right after the show was over, the Porter Wagoner show would come on. It was pure country and at first I watched because it was corny and fun to laugh at - but soon I found myself digging the music. So deep underneath this Rock 'n' Roll exterior pumps the heart of a redneck I guess.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Recall anything about the Prime Movers or
Antoinettes?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Can't say I do...
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Ever frequent a NYC after hours bar called Neither/Nor? Save The Robots? The Dive?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Never heard of the first two but yeah, I useta go to the Dive all the time. We may have been the first Garage band to play there, though I couldn't swear to it. We definitely started the whole Dive "scene," though. The Dive was a small club, nothing special really, but it was our club - the place where all the 60's freaks would hang. Everyone was into dressing the part - bowl haircuts, 60's clothes, the whole bit. Lots of people tripped, and lots more drank like fish. Everyone was fucking everyone else. All the bands hung out there - The Mosquitos, Mad Violets, Outta Place, Tryfles, Vipers... We'd all try to be the first to get ahold of the latest 60's comp and be the first to cover the coolest songs on that comp. It was an incredible time and I doubt that anything like that will happen again.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Please 
discuss meeting Ian Astbury for the first time...
RUDI PROTRUDI: When The Fuzztones opened for the Damned on their Phantasmagoria tour of England in '85, someone told me that Ian from Southern Death Cult wanted to meet me. We were introduced and shook hands, maybe exchanged some small talk. I had never heard of him but remember him as looking like a hippy - he had the long brown hair and was dressed in brown suede bell bottoms. I think he may have been wearing mocassins. After The 'Tones moved to Hollywood he started showing up at our shows. Our bassist got to know him and introduced him to the band. For awhile he would come to every show, and get up and do a few numbers with the band. He played with us three times before I ever heard a Cult record! Ian is a good guy and really believed in the band.He was instrumental in helping us get a major label deal.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What do you remember about Andrea K.'s other band, the Freaks?
RUDI PROTRUDI: I never saw them play, but Andrea and I were friends from way back. Her husband, Howie Pyro, was also a pal 
of mine for years. And of course John, from the Tryfles, was a Dive buddy.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What was Screamin' Jay Hawkins like?
RUDI PROTRUDI: This is getting to be like a slambook! Ha! Well, Jay was just like what you'd think he'd be like. Crazy as a loon, but one hell of a cool guy - and a true friend. Playing with Jay was quite possibly the highlight of my career.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Ever see Lords Of Altamont when Mike Davis was in the band?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Nope. But I saw the MC5 reunion, and thought they woulda been better off had the original guys come out as the MC3.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: What albums are you proudest of?
RUDI PROTRUDI: For the Fuzztones, Salt For Zombies, Lysergic Emanations and Braindrops. I'm quite proud of my solo album as well as "Seduction" by the Jaymen.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Are the Jaymen and Midnight Plowboy side projects 
ongoing operations?
RUDI PROTRUDI: I put a version of the Plowboys together about two years ago to promote the rerelease of my album, "Ladykiller." We toured Italy, and then, called it a day.
When Go Down released The Best Of Link Protrudi & The Jaymen last year, I put a band together and toured behind that as well. I don't have any immediate plans to do it again, but you never know!
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Do you know a musician from Ohio named Dale Linke?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Nope.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Aside from the stint on RCA, you've maintained a huge worldwide fanbase for years and years without the publicity machine of a media conglomerate? What's your secret?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Talent, stubbornness, and a true love for my fans.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Are you familiar with
Rich Coffee from the Tommyknockers?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Sure - we go way back! Several of his bands opened for The Fuzztones at different times, and at one point we even had a band together - we were called The Headhunters.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Wasn't Roy McDonald from Redd Kross in the band, at some point?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Ain't this a real Who's Who! Yeah, Roy played with The Fuzztones for two weeks - Mike had quit but after he heard Roy was playing for us, he wanted back in, so we let Roy go. Roy's a great drummer and it was fun playing with him.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Favorite groups of the last twenty years?
RUDI PROTRUDI: I'm assuming you aren't counting bands who've reunited... I like the Detroit Cobras, Magnificent Brotherhood, the Staggers, Sextress, The Preachers. There are alot of good bands out there right now, carrying the Garage flag... I support 'em 
all!
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Where can your fans locate a copy of a vampire B-movie you apparently starred-in, alongside Jacquie Lynne, from Miniskirt Mob/X-Offender/Dragbeat?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Hopefully nowhere! It was terrible!
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: You've lived in interesting times. How has America changed since you first got into rock'n'roll?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Well, I first got into Rock 'n' Roll just a little bit after the Kennedy assassination, so America changed quite a bit - even back then. Kennedy was, in my opinion, the last American President with any real power. He stood up against the shadow government and was killed for it. Since then it seems that every president was just there to maintain the illusion that we have the freedom to choose our officials, which is about the biggest joke I can think of. I mean, who exactly chooses the candidates we allegedly "vote" for? I never did - did you?
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: How did NYC change after 9/11? What do you think about the war, the Patriot Act/FISA, the Constitution, 
warrantless wiretaps, drones, torture, Etc.
RUDI PROTRUDI: I no longer lived in NYC when 9/11 happened, but I went back once in 2003 to play the Little Steven Festival and people had gotten much friendlier. It seemed to have brought the city together somehow. But what I think is much more important is what happened to the world after 9/11. Even if you don't think that 9/11 was an inside job (watch the documentary "Loose Change" and then talk to me), just look at all the changes that have taken place since - all in the name of the "War on Terror." American citizens are losing their civil liberties and don't even seem aware of it. This is partially due to the fact that virtually all the major media is owned and run by the super powerful and wealthy elite who have an agenda which is basically to eliminate the middle class completely, and turn the survivors into slaves. This is a process that's been going on, slowly, for many, many years, but Bush & Cheney really gave it a boost - Bush, by signing the Patriot Act, which eliminates several of our civil rights under the guise of fighting terror, and Cheney for his involvement with Haliburton.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: How do you think the government has handled the oil disaster in the
Gulf?
RUDI PROTRUDI: By covering up the truth as usual. I'm sure we've yet to find out just how devastating the consequences will be. There were also two more major oil spills after that - but they've been hushed up. You'd think that after such a catastrophe, the government would do all it could to insure that it could never happen again, but it's just the opposite - the ocean will continue to be drilled to fulfill the greed of the oil companies who, of course, hold immense political power.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Is there any real difference between the political parties aside from campaign year pillow talk about culture war issues like gays in the military, and gay marriage, etc.?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Absolutely none. It's all a well-orchestrated facade that Americans have been falling for for years.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Has Obama actually done anything differently from Bush, in your opinion?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Besides signing the Patriot Act, Bush abolished 
Habeus Corpus. If your readers don't know what that is, or think I'm some kind of "conspiracy kook," which is exactly what their spin doctors want you to think, they need to do some serious research - there's loads of information all over the net. Of course you have to spend some time comparing different accounts to figure out what exactly is the truth, but people should start making the effort instead of letting their TV's spoon-feed them the so-called "news."
Bush and Cheney also established an estimated 800 FEMA concentration camps in America, all of which have trains that go directly there - and are just waiting. People who believe that Obama was a real alternative must realize that he hasn't fulfilled any of his promises except the health care thing, which has yet to be tested. He hasn't reinstated Habeus Corpus. He hasn't restored any of the rights the Patriot Act took away.
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Any other thoughts on freedom, liberty, human/civil rights?
RUDI PROTRUDI: I believe the time has come for people to take back their country - and it won't happen by bitching to each other or signing petitions on the net. People have to start organizing, take to the street and marching, protesting, getting in the government's face at every opportunity. Discrediting the liars. Boycotting the elite-controlled media. Boycotting the oil companies (if you have to drive, carpool!), boycott Big Pharma.
But most of 
all, get these creeps out of office! Stop falling for the ruse that you can only elect a candidate from one of the two major parties and that voting for a third party is wasting a vote - if ALL discontented voters would vote for third parties, the whole system would be seriously challenged. Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? If all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them...
SUGARBUZZ MAGAZINE: Current events, 30th Anniversary celebrations, "Preaching To The Perverted"?
RUDI PROTRUDI: Preaching To The Perverted is the name of our upcoming album, which we are hoping to have out in time for our upcoming 2 and a half month Euro tour this Fall. For the first time since 1990's "In Heat," this album will contain all originals - and in my opinion, these may be the very best songs I've ever written. Lana, our organist, co-wrote 4 or 5 of them with me, and Lenny, our guitarist, co-wrote one. It's definitely the most diverse album we've ever made, and I'm really proud of it!
As you know, 2010 is our 30 year anniversary as a band. We'll be celebrating that fact, along with the release of the album, when we begin touring in
October.
www.fuzztones.net
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNn65R7cZCU
www.myspace.com/thefuzztones
www.rudiprotrudi.com/
www.aclu.org
www.bpmakesmesick.com