I
Remember
First
saw them at Back Alley Cafe in D.C where I worked as a bartender/doorman.
What a wonderful group, I seem to recall them being Madhouse
back then. Just before they changed there name to Strange Boutique
or Strange Buttcheeks as I use to say. Never failed when they
played at 9:30, I had to work at the Alley! I still have the
Madhouse record that Danny or Fred gave me (memory failing argggg).
I love the song 'Quicksand Minds' to this day from The
Loved One CD. To Fred, ok I now believe you. Your last
name is Smith! - Aaron
Thanks
for the Memories
Strange
Boutique will live in my heart forever. I had the wonderful
pleasure of knowing each member personally. My boyfriend at
the time was an old friend of Steve Willet's. My first encounter
with them was at the 9:30 Club, of course. Let me just say it
was a spiritual movement for me. ;Monica's ;voice was like an
angel singing just for me. I've never been so captivated by
a band. I think about all the fun we had hanging out chilling
after each gig, always munching on PIZZA & BREW;You guys
are a part of my life and history I'll never forget. I've met
so many great people thru you guys. learned a lot, defiantly
experienced somethings I never would have coming out of the
BURBS... I will love you guys forever!! Thanks for the memories.
- C. McCarthy
My
Strange Boutique
Let
me say a little something about every member of the band, please.
Monica was one of the very first female singers to front a DC
punk band, she was theatrical, mysterious, brash, an alluring
powerhouse on stage. Freddy: the guitarist's guitarist, a punk
rock virtuoso, I never saw another guitarist scream and sing
into his guitar for such a cool effect. His main sound was a
wall of harmonic noise, but he could pick an acoustic guitar
like a harp. Steve: one of the ultimate bass players. He showed
a pure sense of bass structure, he went from a low psychadelic
drone into a complicated line that could have been played on
guitar. Rand was a human drum machine, a total monster. - Jim
Goldman
For
the CD
I
found Strange Boutique in a dusty music store in college. Monica
Richards's gorgeous, fluid voice, and the sharp, intelligent
music, left such an impression upon me that I was sorry not
to have found them sooner. Fred Smith's polished guitar and
Steve Willet's rhythmic bass were unlike anything I'd ever heard
before. My favorite album, “The Kindest Worlds”,
came at a moment in my life where I felt a certain growth within
me. The music helped me deal with the changes in my life, and
today it remains a memory bank of happier, easier days. I used
to walk the streets in DC with Strange Boutique playing in my
CD player. To me, the city had a soundtrack. A sound. Strange
Boutique is definitely the best band DC ever saw. - A.C. Riedel
Fred...
Fred
Smith was a complete original. He’s the Godfather of the
Punk/Funk/Metal sound. When he was in Beefeater, he used no
effects at all and his sound was raw, incredible. Completely
unique. After a bunch of gigs with Bad Brains, we could tell
the influence he had on them when they put their next album
out. In Strange Boutiqe, he began to use effects and it was
like watching a blind man see - there was no stopping him. -
Ray T.
Memory
Lane
I
think the first time I ever saw Strange Boutique was @ The Metro
in Richmond, VA back in the early 90's when I was going to VCU.
I remember seeing one of their LPs in a record store in Georgetown
in D.C. earlier when I was in high school and being very intrigued,
but I didn't buy it. So when I saw that they were playing in
Richmond I knew I had to go. Needless to say, they utterly seduced
me, and I have been a Strange Boutique disciple ever since.
I was always praising them to my friends, and I still am. That
night they played their last show @ the Black Cat was a difficult
one. I didn't want it to end. I'm happy that I got to know them,
to be so touched by them. And to now have the chance to see
them play together once again. - Steph
Thanks
for this Page
I
remember Monica from Hate From Ignorance. They opened for Circle
Jerks back in '81. Here it was ten years later and there was
all this buzz about this band Strange Boutique. The place was
packed and there, lo and behold was Freddy from Beefeater. They
really blew my mind. I didn't find out until later that the
Femme Fatale on stage was Monica, she transformed from a spikey-haired
punk rock girl into, well, a siren. And now I read the drummer
I saw was none other than Danny from Untouchables and Youth
Brigade. Talk about a punk rock pedigree. - Tom (no last name)
SB
Memories
I
remember the first time that my guitarist and I saw Strange
Boutique at The Bayou before Steve or Rand had joined the band.
It was amazing! I just remember that we didn't speak for at
least a half hour afterward. When we did speak, the first thing
I said was "F@#&! We suck!" Our musical direction was never
the same. I don't think I missed another show they played in
the area. It only got better when Steve and Rand came into the
picture. It was amazing to watch this band grow and develop.
It made me realize that there is much more to music than what
the major labels were giving us. And the best thing about this
band is that they were approachable. They made you feel like
you were a part of the show. Definitely not a common thing in
the DC area at that time. It was hard to watch that last show
at The Black Cat. It felt too much like growing up. It was also
something I'll never forget. Thanks for making some great music!
- Flip/etherpool
THANKS
I
just wanted to thank/congratulate whoever put together the Strange
Boutique section of the Mercyground. As a high school kid in
DC in the early nineties I cherish my memories of the fabulous
shows at the old 9:30 club, and remember with sadness the final
show at the Black Cat. Spending some time with the pictures
and text on the site was a welcome bittersweet experience. -
Brendan Gray
My
Memories
I will
never forget the feeling of watching Strange Boutique perform.
They never got their due, plain and simple. These guys were
larger than life when they hit the stage, and the thing was,
they were the strangest looking bunch, a real eccentric mix
of styles visually, but somehow they clicked together the moment
the first note hit the air, like a four-piece that could call
up an entire orchestra of sound and emotion, head-banging, the
music swirling about them, almost like summoning something unreal.
- Jeff Mahoney
RAPE
BENEFIT SHOW - SOME CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
I
was in Baltimore for some reason and drove about 80 miles to
see SB play a benefit for a rape crisis center at a Catholic
high school someplace in Montgomery County. The directions were
really shitty and it was dark so I wandered all over some strange
area looking for the concert. I finally found what I thought
might be the location and also found another SB fan in the parking
lot. We started looking around this large and mostly dark campus
for a concert. After a little while we found a building and
started looking in the windows until we got yelled at for being
peeping Toms. Seems it was some kind of lodging for the Nuns.
We finally found the right building in the far diagonal corner
of the campus from the parking lot. When I walked in to buy
my ticket some PTA mom started yelling at me for being late
and said I should know school policy is that you are either
on time or can't get in! I was pretty amazed by this - keep
in mind at the time I was in my late 20s. After I explained
that I had driven about 80 miles to get there and this was a
publicly advertised event she very reluctantly let me in. The
concert itself was pretty good with the absolutely classic "Fast
Times at Ridgemont High" moment of a pizza being delivered mid-concert.
- Joe Della Barba
MEMORIES
Strange Booty (as we affectionately called them) going into
"Ears to the Ground", the fans at the old 930 Club blowing,
the crowd rolling like some infernal ocean in a gale. A sight
never to be forgotten. Fred Smith (guitars) bouncing all over
the stage like the marvelous madman he is, off the stage (!),
through the crowd, hanging around at the back bar, still playing
away (love those wireless amp pickups)... turning his guitar
over, you can see THE FRED LIVE stuck on the back... Steve Willett,
always aloof with long shirt and long hair, ceaselessly carrying
the rhythmic grinding twisting sliding depth of bass... Danny,
then Rand, shining sleek with sweat from drumming 2-3 encores...
I always wondered how they kept all those different rhythms
going at once... And Monica of course, learning out over the
crowd, singing, dancing, having a good time, inviting us in,
drawing us into the music. Remember DC Space, remember old 930,
remember... Adam Shaw
STRANGE
BOUTIQUE LIVE SHOWS
Every
time they played, I couldn't wait. They were local, but it always
seemed like they were some big out of town band. 930 Club was
always packed to the gills and they smoked out the place before
they came on. Fred was always running and jumping off stage,
and Monica, who can ever forget her???? I really miss those
days. - Peter Summer
AIDS
BENEFIT - PERRY'S IN ADAMS MORGAN, WASHINGTON D.C. - 1989?
Two
things I remember from this show are someone who came as a roadie
with SB getting out and dancing around in the middle of the
fashion show. This guy made Fred look petite and definitely
got more applause than the rest of the show. Then later on some
idiotic person called Perry's and said we were making too much
noise or something. Hello - you are in Adams Morgan next to
a bar - did you think it was a quiet neighborhood??? - Joe Della
Barba
930
CLUB SHOW - 1989
The
audience had crammed themselves up to the front and side of
the stage, and Monica had to come to the stage on the shoulders
of this gigantic roadie, because she couldn't find any other
way up there. I think she kissed him after he put her down.
- Mike Wallis
MONICA
I
remember meeting her and I was so nervous I wanted to throw
up. She shook my hand and was so nice to me. I never forgot
that. - Kate (no last name)
DC
SPACE SHOW, WASHINGTON D.C. 1990
DC
Space was a totally cool place to see a concert. It had a bathroom
that made the 930 Club bathroom look like a luxury suite. There
were missing cinder blocks in the wall so people could see in
that were constantly getting stuffed with trash and old paper
from inside the bathroom. The Blue Sky Puppet Theatre opened
the show and they were hilarious. They were little pig puppets
who did a routine about a homeless vegetarian wolf. [Strange
Boutique went on and] this was one of their better concerts.
I think they played "So Sweet", one of my favorite SB songs.
During one of the encores either Steve or Fred took off down
the street to get something and had to be retrieved. - Joe Della
Barba
THE
LIMELIGHT, NYC -1991
I'm
from D.C. born and bred, and missed seeing SB when they played
at 930 and DC Space after I left for college in NYC. Strange
Boutique came up to play, and I couldn't believe it. This was
one of the best shows I had ever seen them do, and I really
felt happy for them. That English VJ from MTV was MCing the
show, and I KNEW he had never heard of them, but Strange Boutique
got called back for three encores!!! - Robert Gold
SOME
GREAT COVERS:
They
did a great "Dancing Barefoot" and a rocking version of Zepplin's
"In the Evening". - Joe Della Barba
