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The Spunks were:
Hajime Shirakata - Vocals, Guitar
Joji Iwamoto - Bass
Al Batross - Drums (on all recordings featured here)
Hajime Shirakata - Vocals, Guitar
Joji Iwamoto - Bass
Al Batross - Drums (on all recordings featured here)
Note the date. Yikes.
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At some point, I might write something about my multi year experience with The Spunks, but at the time I started cobbling website material together, my history with the band was the freshest wound, and consequently not something I wanted to dwell on. After being signed by Gearhead Records, it seemed like we were likely to finally gain some semi professional support. But, unfortunately, not long after the record release, my band mates decided to move back to Japan. Looking back it was all for the best, but at the time it stung. They had been in the US for over a decade, as they had met while attending college in Albany, New York. I certainly couldn't blame them for wanting to return to Japan, after being away for so long. I think when we toured Japan as a band, late in our run, it probably sealed the deal for them. Not being an ex patriot myself, I can only imagine that being back "home" was something of a relief for them, after living the impossible, starving artist lifestyle in the most inhospitable of places, New York City.
Looking back, I didn't realize how unhappy I had become as a resident of NYC until 2015. That was when I finally decided to leave. By then, it was easier to do, as all of my favorite places to go had vanished. No more CBGB, no more Kim's Video Underground, no more Continental - all long gone, to name a few. Most of the bands and friends I knew were also gone. Now that I've been out for several years, I often wonder why I waited that long. Hajime and Joji were two of them most hard working performers I ever had the pleasure of playing with. Hajime, especially, truly put his heart and soul into what he considered to be his favorite band of all time... his own.
Sincerely,
Ham Sandwich
Looking back, I didn't realize how unhappy I had become as a resident of NYC until 2015. That was when I finally decided to leave. By then, it was easier to do, as all of my favorite places to go had vanished. No more CBGB, no more Kim's Video Underground, no more Continental - all long gone, to name a few. Most of the bands and friends I knew were also gone. Now that I've been out for several years, I often wonder why I waited that long. Hajime and Joji were two of them most hard working performers I ever had the pleasure of playing with. Hajime, especially, truly put his heart and soul into what he considered to be his favorite band of all time... his own.
Sincerely,
Ham Sandwich
Content by Alan Bazin © 2021