NEXT GENERATION began in the summer of 1983 when four young highschool kids from Fort Lee NJ decided to start a band...at that time, the CLASH was the center of the universe and nothing else mattered except for OUR band of course!
Chuck, Tommy, Bojo and Paris started writing songs and playing out in the NYC area at venues such as CBGB's (7 times from '83 to '85), The Dirt Club, The Dive, 240 West, Aldo's Hideaway and The Showplace in Dover NJ. They'd go up to Boston and play at The Channel, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Chet's Last Call, The Mohawk Club and The Rathskellar. They were also travelling to Clemson SC doing shows because Bojo had gotten a wrestling scholarship so he'd set them up with good paying gigs as long as Chuck wouldn't steal every single microphone in the venues! lol...
Durring this time they we're playing with bands like The Pervaricators from Virginia, Ed Gein's Car, PMS (Pre Metal Syndrome), The Helen Wheels Band, The Chemical Brothers and other local bands...Johnny Stiff would book them at CBGB's for some of those shows...shout out to Johnny!
Tom left the band in late 1984 so Billy took his place...
Paris quit in the fall of 1985 after Bojo smashed him on the head with his bass at rehearsal so they got Todd from SC to come up here and join in on drums...that didnt last too long the way they partied so when Bojo's semester at Clemson SC was starting in January of 1986, Chuck packed his bags and left for the bible belt with him.
They hooked up immediately with Daniel High School drummer Jeff Rice, met Ed Campbell from Pickens County SC and started playing gigs at the college bars and all ages shows to hundreds of kids and students being the big fish in the little pond...
Check out Senor walking on the table, "...God damn parrot talkin' about my mama...And oh' Lord, here comes Alan Jones...somebody take that motherfucker HOME!..." -The Creeper Song.
Jeff went off to college in the fall of 1986 and they gave Todd another shot...once again that didnt last too long the way they partied so they finally stole Randy from one of the local bands they were friends with to play drums ...thus the principal lineup for NEXT GENERATION was finally conceived!
It was durring this time that Ed started up his country western band The Drovers which Chuck played slide guitar in and Mark Spaulding who would later fill in on bass for NEXT GENERATION, played acoustic guitar and banjo for The Drovers...
You just cant find pants and shirts like these anymore!!! lol...
HERE'S A NICE SLIDE SHOW FOR YA'LL...
Things really took off then and over the next 3 1/2 years they played with reckless abandon. One most memorable show was with the Circle Jerks in Hilton Head SC...Greg Hetson still to this day says Chuck fucked up his guitar but it was allready all out of whack when he handed it to him! You see, they played with all THEIR band gear and instraments at this little packed club called Phoebe's along with The Necro's immediately after their set...good times!
Other great shows followed like a pair with Corrosion of Conformity in Clemson and Columbia SC...opening for the Descendents at the Brewery in Raleigh NC, opening for 7 Seconds at Rockafella's in Columbia SC, The Rhythm Pigs at the Fallout Shelter in Raleigh NC, the Bad Checks in Chappel Hill NC, New Model Army in Athens GA at the Uptown Lounge, A.O.D. in Atlanta at the Metroplex, The Adolecents at the Metroplex...
They also did shows with cool local bands like Mercyland at the Uptown Lounge, Porn Orchard at the 40 Watt Club in Athens Ga, The Primates at Rockfish Palace in Athens Ga, Dead Elvis at the White Dot in Atlanta Ga , The Cocktail Gurls at Margaritaville and the Wreck Room in Atlanta amongst others...
Porn Orchard made this flyer because they said NEXT GENERATION drank more beer than any other band they knew!!!
In 1989 they opened for a band named Mr. Crow's Garden at the White Dot in Atlanta, who later the next year changed their name to The Black Crowes...fuckers! They sounded like Faces!
Mark Spaulding took over Bojo's bass position after they all got sick of him not wanting to rehearse in spring of 1989 and did a bunch of shows going on the road all over NC, SC, GA and Tennessee...
Then in 1990, Chuck was so fuckin' pussy whipped that he broke up the band and moved back to NJ with his girlfriend...makes you ill dont it? Excuse me while I barf...
In July of 2006, NEXT GENERATION did a 20 year re-union show down in Clemson SC with good friend Jerry Bryan on bass since Bojo was not able to make it presently living in Croatia...
Here they are 20 fuckin' years later...aye yai yai!!!
NEXT GENERATION never got to record all their material. They had over 30 original tunes. Two of their master tapes were stupidly erased by the idiotic powers that be. Those would have been their first EP and LP...all that remains are the demos from one of those sessions on a 1/2 inch 8 track, a live 2 track living room cassette recording called "Stop the Tape, Broke Another God Damn String..." that they actually sold thru Maximum Rock n Roll Magazine and a few LIVE recordings...if anyone reading this is interested, just write to Chuck here and he can get a 27 song cd of this out to you for real cheap...like the Minutemen said, "we jam econo..."
All in all, NEXT GENERATION was a great and influential band to all who saw and knew them...So fuckin' what they were "aint never beens" that never got a break...many lives were touched and many do remember. Thats what really counts and this myspace page is a testament to that and a tombstone of sorts.
Recently the movie American Hardcore came out and Chuck's inside joke to that was, "If that movie was a single, NEXT GENERATION would have been on the B-side..."
Chuck's current bands are ROOTS ROCK REBEL and MAGGES. Please check them out in the friends list below...thanx everyone, for caring.
Howdy everybody! Please read the new edition of the Prater's Creek Gazette! We have an article on The Clash with mention of Next Generation! Just copey and paste this n your browser and it'll take you there! http://thedroversotms. com/Gazette/2008/Spring/page5. htm
It's so great to talk to you! It's been way too long. We miss you. I will definately tell mom you said hello, she will get a big kick out of knowing you asked about her. Aren't you missing her "southern cooking"? Love you lots!! Tammy
Great site! I had a blast rolling down memory lane. Those songs hold up, and I was telling Ed not too long ago that you guys should be proud. Great fucking rock n' roll that has stood the test of time.
see you have a bit of an article from a "battle of the bands" contest in clemson.
i was there. remember it well. why?
because i got arrested for taking the wig off of the lame guitar player in the lame metal cover band fair warning hailing from liberty, sc.
clemson police charged me with petty larceny.
and you were robbed by the judges. how could you not win that "contest?" i mean just the sight of you lunatics storming through a punk set in tillman shoulda been enough to take top prize.
by the way, do ed's pants ever stay up?
