Too Many Creeps... Yeah!!

There was a time in the early 80s when punk rock and funk collided and gave us some seminal bands that played it for real.

First there was James Chance and the Contortions, and then Topper Headon from the Clash produced some original studio recordings for a NYC band called the Bush Tetras.

At the time PiL were all the rage in New York City, but one band stood out from the rest of the crowd, and they were untouchable. With Pat Place on guitar and Cynthia Sley on vocals, the band were unstoppable.

It was the post new wave funk/punk early '80s stars of the New York club scene, and the Bush Tetras were one of the most popular and exciting groups of the era.

Who could ever forget the original line-up?

Cynthia Sley - Vocals
Pat Place - Guitar
Dee Pop - Drums
Laura Kennedy - Bass

Their collection of songs recorded from 1980-83, produced by Topper Headon and Joe Blaney, hasn't dated. Flash forward to San Paulo's CSS and hear where they got their riffs from.

Twenty-five years later and the Bush Tetras are still the bomb.

Unforgettable songs like "You Can't Be Funky (If You Haven't Got A Soul", "Cowboys In Africa" and the band's signature track "Too Many Creeps", the sound and the fury is relentless but still independently funky.

Todd Rundgren signs to Cooking Vinyl and gets interstellar appeal

The Wizard, A True star (Todd Rundgren) has licensed his new studio album "Arena" to the British indepdendent record label Cooking Vinyl. The UK edition of the album (rumoured to come with a free pair of edible rasberry flavored paper thongs) will be released in the UK on Monday 29th September.

"We are delighted to be releasing Todd's new guitar rock album in the UK," says Cooking Vinyl MD, Martin Goldschmidt.

Former Utopia bass guitarist, Kasim Sulton, is confirmed to play guitar, keyboards and sing vocals on Rundgren's forthcoming American and European "Arena" tours.

Sulton, who recently was the musical director for Meatloaf's North American and European tours, will join Rachel Haden (bass), Jesse Gress (guitar), former Tubes drummer Prairie Prince and Todd Rundgren (vocals, guitar).

Rundgren is currently getting rave reviews for the new guitar led album, with the rocker "Strike" getting considerable airplay on various radio stations in the UK, most notably, Planet Rock Radio, who recently interviewed Rundgren from New Orleans last week. Planet Rock played the songs "Strike" and "Gun" from the new album.

A spokesperson from Planet Rock Radio said, "We've received tons of calls and emails from listeners who thought we'd just played the new single from AC/DC. They were amazed to discover that it was "Strike"; a new song from Rundgren's new album."

"Arena" will be followed by a UK tour in November, with Rundgren playing dates at Manchester Academy 2 (November 6), Edinburgh Picture House (November 7), Norwich Waterfront (November 22) and London Kentish Town Forum (November 23).