Down At Max’s Peter Crowley
Subtitled true ‘Tales from the rock’n’roll’ underground,’ Down At Max’s by Wayne County & The Electric Chairs’ manager Peter Crowley is an interesting and curious proposition.
This little book is 106 pages and measures 6″ x 4″. You can basically read it in 2 hours and it traces Peter’s life from the hippy Sixties through punk rock. I love the style, feel and the cover which features a drawing of Peter as a ted with Ms County. The size of the book just slips nicely into the back pocket of your jeans.
In other words, it’s like a small book of poetry but instead, it’s little vignettes of Peters’s life, The bit of most interest to people is the Wayne County/Electric Chairs insights. Peter (pictured right with Jayne) was a loyal manager who wanted the best for the band and was an equal 1/5 partner in the band. Managers and record labels get a bum rap for being crooked or for being just out to rip bands off; but Peter wasn’t. He also looked out for other bands and showed kindness and respect that would build up goodwill and be returned.
Not so good record label-wise. The fact was the band with Wayne was so extreme that basically they had to sign with Safari. Their only other option was IRS and Miles Copeland who didn’t pay royalties.
It all goes pear-shaped after the first album, as these things do, due to record company and band conniving which saw Peter no longer involved in the band but Peter is philosophical about it.
Peter devotes some space to Sting from The Police who seemed to hate each other with a passion mostly from a European tour and enforced driving. He recalls a passage in Sting’s autobiography which I revisited and yes it stands out in its spitefulness. I also revisited Jayne’s Man Enough To Be A Woman book and Peter is barely mentioned let alone credited for anything which may be the lot of the manager. She does erroneously say it was Stewart Copeland and Peter that didn’t get on.
My gripe is it’s called Down at Max’s which I’ve got a fascination for on account of the people and bands who went there and its legend, but there are around just 2 pages on the making of the album. Being Peter’s book it also features his opinions. So there’s an odd bit about Johnny Rotten being upper middle class and not being the real king of punk. That honour, according to Peter, went to Johnny Moped (WTF???!! :)).
We’ll also gloss over his opinion that Mink Deville’s first album was better than the Sex Pistols, Damned & Buzzcocks debuts! However, it did make me listen to the album (not my cup of tea I’m afraid) and surely Gunslinger is the best song Johnny Thunders never wrote!
The book is short and sweet and Peter is to the point. There are no photos but for me, that’s not a problem as I can see all the bands in my mind’s eye. For others it may be.
The takeaway from Down At Max’s by Peter Crowley is how important a good manager of a band is and the value they bring and they don’t have to be arseholes. They’ll just never get their due.
It was a very enjoyable 2 hours. I’m curious about what volume 2 will bring.
TalkPunk
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