Despite his unexpected death at age 36, Paul Decolator was the epitome of the incurable and unquenchable optimistic spirit... the type of spirit that would always rebound from fate's lowest blows and come up smiling. Paul was one of those people you couldnt keep down... an ageless, indefatigable punk rocker... Dennis the Menace with tattoos and a cigarette, always plotting his next caper.
Best known for his role as an instrumental force in New Jersey's seminal 1980s punk-rock scene, Paul was primarily a player: Pleased Youth, New Jersey's Finest (NJF), Blue Train, and Loose. In addition to his own bands, Paul also found time to sit in with the likes of G.G. Allin and The Nils.
Not only was Paul a musician, he was also a promoter and a producer. Throughout the 80s, he worked tirelessly for bands like Youth Brigade, Government Issue, 76% Uncertain, P.E.D., The Blisters, The Bouncing Souls, and any other local band of the time.
As well as a master player, Paul was also a dedicated writer. While making music was Paul's life, he managed to find the time to work as a professional music journalist for a variety of publications, like "Tips and Tours," New York's "The Village Voice," Tim Yohanans Bay Area 'zine "Maximum RnR," and the North Jersey music paper "The Aquarian."
While located on the East Coast, Paul's influence stretched nation-wide. As a road manager, he piloted Post Ejaculation Depression's (P.E.D.) national tour (summer '88), along-side Dischord Records' bands Soul Side (later Girls vs. Boys), Swiz, and Bay Area legends Operation Ivy (later Rancid) and The Mr. T Experience.
In the end however, it seemed that life was never entirely fair to Paul. As good friend Jim Testa so frankly wrote in 2002... "Despite his obvious, monumental accomplishments, there was also "a dark side, of course, the side that drove him to drugs and alcohol, that dragged him through rehab time after time, that damaged his body and, one assumes, finally caused his untimely death. But those demons never conquered his spirit."
Paul's wicked sense of humor can be summed up in an oft-repeated story detailing a Rahway, N.J. Youth Brigade/A.O.D. show he had booked at an illegal venue: After the police raided the building, they eventually climbed up the long stairway that led to the show and knocked at the door to the gig. Paul calmly opened the door... after a minute... and told them... "That'll be six dollars each."
He shall not be forgotten.
"When I think of Paul Decolator, I think of these words: Musician. Writer. Optimist. Friend. And perhaps most of all, Punk Rocker...
and then I remember that smile."
Jim Testa - 2002
Good friend and long-time WFMU DJ John Allen pays tribute to Paul with a three hour set of all things Decolator:
NJF, Pleased Youth, Loose, and lovingly sprinkled gems from the Hardcore Salad Days.
These songs were specifically played because they reminded John of Paul. You can stream them here:
http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/JA
Click Nov. 19, 2002
Paul Decolator Memorial Page | Arkadaşlar (En İyi 36)
Paul Decolator Memorial Page, 169 kişiyle arkadaş.
best hardcore sets EVER ive had the pleasure of listening to and the Antics are something else NO ONE will EVER forget.......where i would Always hear Something I'd never heard before.......
Just About Ready to Scan the 1986 Scene Report in which Paul included us...
i was about 15 or 16 and being in that MRR Pretty much made me feel like HH should continue when we disbanded from our Original Drummer and Singer, in June of 1986.....
Yeah it doesn't seem that long ago that Paul and I were scarfing down some deep fried hot dogs at Hoagie Haven after dropping a buncha cash at the Record Exchange. God Paul loved greezy snacks, the greezier the better-Waffel House, White Rose, etc...lol! the man had an iron stomach. And life is a lot more dull w/ out him thats fer damn sure. Miss ya bro!
SYD SLUDGE AND PAUL WERE TIGHT .I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I MET PAUL ,IT WAS AT RANDOLPH HIGH SCHOOL FOR A BATTLE OF THE BANDS TYPE GIG AND SYD WAS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL AND YEARS AWAY FROM HIS HAPPY DAYS IN MENTAL ABUSE,AND EVEN FURTHER AWAY FROM THE DARK PATH THAT SYD WAS LATER KNOW FOR-HARD DRUGS.HEROIN,CRACK,COCAINE,SYDS FAVORITE ANGEL DUST. THE SAME DRUGS THAT HAVE TAKEN SO MANY TALENTS AWAY FROM US ALL,A FUCKIN SHAME,TO SAY THE LEAST.AND SYD DIDNT EVEN SMOKE CIGARRETTES WHEN I MET HIM.BUT ONCE HE WAS INTRODUCED TO THE HARD DRUGS HE NEVER TURNED BACK,HEADING DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO THE ''DANGER ZONE''.THE SAME DANGER ZONE THAT YEARS EARLIER KILLED MENTAL ABUSE BASS PLAYER MIKE LUCAS. WHEN MENTAL ABUSE PLAYS THE A7 REUNION SHOW ON DEC.6TH I KNOW SYD,MIKE LUCAS AND PAUL AND THE MANY OTHERS WILL BE WATCHING DOWN FROM HEAVEN. WE ARE DEDICATING OUR SET TO SYD SLUDGE. dave jones aka DJX
CHRIST ON A CRUTCH- ANTI-FLAG- SWINGIN' UTTERS- UK SUBS- THE LOUDMOUTHS- HOGANS HEROES- M.D.C.- ULTRAMAN- SAMIAM- REAGAN YOUTH- CORRUPTED IDEALS- NO USE FOR A NAME- KRAUT- SOCIAL UNREST- SNAP-HER- ACCUSTOMED TO NOTHING- THE NUKES- SQUAT- JACK KILLED JILL
Hey Toby! Yeah seems like you got a lot going on! The NB days were fun and pretty crazy. It's hard to believe all we did and survived. Thanks for the comment, it's cool to hear from you.
I lived with Paul D and some members of Pleased Youth in New Brunswick in 1985-1986. My name is Holly. Has anyone heard from Greg Licht? Futile Effort? Hi to anyone who remembers me. Drop me a note if you're out there.
I was 17 when I first met Paul. He had a great guitar sound, a good sized basement, his own radio show, dubious tattoos, the power to book gigs, some published articles, and a 12-string guitar that looked like it had been severely beaten numerous times. He was a manager at the Environmental Federation, AND he was attending Rutgers. Needless to say, I was impressed. The happiest I ever saw him was either when he stole the Dickies' dick puppet Stewie (our manager got an angry message from the Dickies' manager a few days later "Do the right thing, give the Dickies their dick back!") OR when he knocked Kevin Seconds off the stage at City Gardens. Thanks for all the great memories, Paul.
wanted to trade a pleased youth vinyl for a hogans vinyl and we exchanged addresses . i didnt have any copies and was getting one .
after a few months i had a vinyl and lost his address and he wasnt at the aquarian anymore.and i didnt hear from him again .
i was thinking "wow" "what happened ?" "wheres my vinyl ?"
plus he said if i ever wanted an article in the aquarian let him know. at that time i was in nucleus (not hogans) (w/lead guitar biohazard kill or be killed carmine m.) and was excited that when we needed something from aquarian he somebody who was there.
but last year i found this page and its great to be hearing these tracks for sure .
this looks like the north jersey hall hogans was supposed to play but our drummer and singer bailed before the show.TRUE STORY. it was A.O.D., Bodies in Panic ,Bedlam, Pleased Youth, and Hogans Heroes, our third or fourth show ever. i went anyway and gave Paul our demo .
we ended up playing together in jan. of 86 in howell nj w/ pleased youth, and mental abuse. ive seen the flyer recently and copied it.
Paul wrote about us in the June '86 maximumrocknroll (The Draft is to Die for...)scene report saying we were "south jerseys the new trash kids on the block , watch out they could be big" .... thank you Paul for the kind words and for giving me a misfits listening addiction at an early age.because of Paul D. i have bought about almost the whole misfits catalog on 7' and 12'. All by age 20.
i have themaximumrocknroll issue and will scan and post it.
PEACE PAUL, YOUR WPRB LATE NIGHT SHOWS WERE HILARIOUS and You Taught me soooo much at 1:00 or 2:am on prb. There was a reggae show before Pauls show and i would always call and request bad brains on the radio show and the prior dj would always get mad and offended and say "bad brains arent reggae" "wait fot the hardcore show" hahahahaaha GOOD TIMES ILL REMEMBER FOR LIFE.
i last spoke to Paul at the Aquarian weekly right before he passed and i told him how the radio show was a great source of knowledge and how we would record it and get the best tracks and when we were going to sleep (school was 7:oo am!) we would flip the 90 or 120 min. cassette and hit record .the next day come home and sift through and see what we got.
He asked me if i had any recordings still. i had finally trashed my last tape and told him i would talk to my old 1 or 2 friends who i knew recorded the shows as well. i asked him if he w
Here is an email I recieved from Paul shortly before he passed on to that higher ground.
Clearly, he was still down to rock the party.
Indeed, it is me, Paul D. How the hell are you ? Or more relevant, where the hell are you ? How did the Nineties treat you ? How fuckin' old are you now ? Me ? I'm a slightly portly 36-years-old, though still active in music. I am, however, pretty disengaged with New Brunswick. I live in Montclair, N.J. with my soon-to-be-wife Diana. I mainly check out shows in NYC or Hoboken. I'm a struggling freelance writer. I was the Associate Editor at The Aquarian for a coupla years & I still write for them. I've written for a national mens magazine that went outta business, called ICON & I also write for a monthly paper called The Suburban Essex, a paper as bland as the name would imply. I'll hopefully be writing for the NY Press this year & eventually for the Village Voice if all goes well.
As for playin music ? Well, you may remember LOOSE from the early nineties. I auditioned for The Nils ( Montreal's most famous punk/pop band) when I lived in Montreal & last October Pleased Youth re-formed for one show only with Adrenalin OD at The Court Tavern. In january I severely injured my left hand & I'm only just now able to play at my normal level. I'll probably try & get a band together before summer's end.
Overall life has had plenty of ups & downs these last 10-15 years, but I'm alive, in love & not homeless. I suppose I have a lot to be grateful for.
So give me the lowdown on what has been up with you.
My first memory of paul is him pulling up in front of J.T.'s house and parking his monster-heap car the wrong way. None of our crew was old enough to drive yet, and i have no idea where the hell we went that day, but the memory of him jumping out of that P.O.S. with enough energy to power the eastern seaboard for a month has oddly stuck with me as one of the best "fuck you" entrances of all times. Paul was a friend forever, and one of the few people who I could point out as someone whose opinions and sense of right and wrong both mattered to me and influenced me. Even in later days when our paths crossed less frequently, there was no awkward pause, no shuffling feet.. just a meeting of friends parted but not separated.
It's been a while now. You're still missed, and I still catch myself forgetting and expecting you to pop up somewhere. Wherever you are, I hope you're smiling and the music is on...
4 years.
wow. it seems like not that long ago when we are shaun's bbq talking.
and now another of our dear friends from new jersey has passed on as well.
today is thanksgiving and i am thankful for my great memories of my friends who are now gone but never ever forgotten.
love,
william knapp
hey Paul,
still miss ya, buddy. 4 years ago today. shit.
I played a Loose song on my podcast for you this week. I bet you and Joey RAmone were listening to me up behind some cloud somewhere sneaking a smoke.
Online!
