Teazer - Hard As A Rock

Teazer - Hard As A Rock
Released 1980 on ROKO Records DRRC 133

Hawaii, not a place many people would think to mention when discussing the great Rock and Roll scenes of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or really any era. As I write this I am even hard pressed to come up with any bands out of Hawaii that play any form of Rock and Roll. Obviously they exist, but have any of them made it off of the islands?

Let's just cut to the chase. Let me introduce you to Teazer.

So who was Teazer? According to keyboardist Stanton Hoffman they were based out of Honolulu in the late 70s. They play a fairly straight-up 70s Hard Rock and carried a no frills image.

Vocalist Tookie Dauzat sounds a little like Gary Mielle from Tattooed Love Boys. Yes, nothing better than using an obscure reference for an obscure band. I would have to figure that a lot of people still have no idea what we are getting at here. So how about this, at times Tookie sounds fantastic. Other times, such as the opening number - - - his voice can be a little grating. Falsetto is not his strong suit. But the attitude is there and he is a pretty good vocalist when staying within his zone.

The guitar and drum production is a little soft. I would imagine in the studio the band had a great sound, then after mastering everybody sat around trying to figure out where the bite went. Solos sound good, but everything else is more or less on a level playing field.

As mentioned at the beginning, song-wise we are talking 70s Hard Rock with a blues angle. Discogs carries a "glam" tag on the album. I would have to disagree there. There isn't anything outright Glam about the band. The band would be better suited opening for bands ranging from Boston, Ted Nugent, Foghat, and other big Rock acts of the sort. The fans would also be much more appreciative of them than fans of, say, Bowie, T-Rex, or Sweet.

Songs like "Money, Women and Guns" and "Bad News" almost walk a line that would be at home with a Lynard Skynard or Allman Brothers. Slight Southern bend to the songs. This is also explained by the dedication to Ronnie Van Zant on the sleeve. The album also features a song entitled "Louisiana" which is also a find touch of Southern Rock, complete with a brilliant chorus that would probably get clear plastic cups full of cheap beer raised in the area as an audience sang along.

Yet songs like "Hard as a Rock" and "Electrified" would almost be just as happy being played by early 80s Metal acts. "Electrified" would almost be perfectly done by Wrathchild, with Tookie's voice almost even carrying a touch of Rocky Shades at times. "Electrified" and "Rock Out" might be the two songs that create the Glam tag. I think "Rock Out" even features the chorus of "Rock out with your cock out," so I would probably have to give them the award for stupid Hair band lyrics before the time. The song also features a nice guitar break where the production works nice and the guitar is really crisp sounding.



I do have one skipper song, but it is due to personal preference and not a fault of the band. Final song "Logan Avenue Blues" is what the title implies. A Chicago electric Blues style number. Solid performance all around, but just not what I would hope for on a closing number on an album that rocks fairly steady.

In a message from Stanton Hoffman I was told that the band only made 1,000 copies of the album. Of those he says only around 500 probably made it to the streets. So this is a fairly rare find. The album can be found on Discogs for $50 or so, which then begs the question "Is it worth it?" At this point you have to ask what you are in the game for. It is a solid record with some mediocre songs and a few really good. Nothing jumps out as to being a "you have got to hear this!" song. If it was to be found up to $10 I would say it is worth your money.


I am trying to find out where the rest of the band is. Did they continue on, or what happened with them? I appears that Mr. Hoffman is still involved in music, though no longer based out of Hawaii. It would seem he is now mainland U.S., so one had to wonder if that is a sign of the scene in Hawaii for music, or were there ties to the mainland. Obviously the only way any of that matter is from a historical context as to the Hawaiian Rock and Roll scene. But as my shelves of music are not overflowing with Hawaiian Rock and Roll bands quite in the same way it is with Scandinavian, Sunset Strip, Austin Texas bands, the curiosity starts to win out in my brain.

So yes, Hawaii had some solid Rock and Roll in the late 70s/early 80s. How many bands existed? I have no idea. But I do know of one who was waving the flag and doing what sounds like a pretty solid job. I would have to guess that if there were not a lot of bands doing it down there, then these guys were either kings or they could never get booked, but either way it was due to them being pretty dang good at what they were doing.

edit: Almost to prove my point some website just ran an article on the most popular band from every state. For Hawaii they listed some band named "Pepper" I have never heard of. I guess they are from 2000 and are still going. The picture shows them on stage at a 2007 Warped Tour show. I guess they are a Reggae style thing. I am standing by my assumption that Hawaii has not turned out a lot of Rock and Roll.
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/08/30/most-famous-band-from-every-state/4/