The Demons - S/T

edit: If you are just reading this for the first time, please take the time to visit the comments section. Guitarist Martin John Butler has been chiming in with some wonderful details about the history of the band. His input is priceless!

The Demons - S/T
Released 1977 on Mercury SRM-1-1164
Promo copy without inserts

For a few years now I have really wondered how many times bands that are credited with a certain sound are truly the creators of the sounds, and how many times they are just a product of the environment. We all know that AC/DC spawned thousands of imitators. We can figure this because after the enormous success of Back In Black we were suddenly faced with bands from the US and the UK that sounded very similar. In that case those bands were taking what made them a hit and using it to their own advantage.

But was the sound something they created? We can go back to Australia around the same time and find bands such as Rose Tattoo and The Angels. Both of these bands had similar sounds to AC/DC. So was it AC/DC or just the environment and trends in Australia during this time period that created more than a few bands with the same sound? AC/DC obviously being the most successful, due to management, song quality, or maybe pure determination (or all of the above), but bands like the aforementioned Rose Tattoo and Angels not being copy-cats, but actual peers running down the same roads.

One can even go back into the mid 60s, just as The Beatles were blowing up. The sound and style was not exclusive to them. They were a part of a scene. But when people look back now they tend to give The Beatles credit for what happened in music.

This brings us to The Demons. A band that is so set in their scene that without any form of knowledge of the band I knew exactly where they hailed from by the time the first chorus hit. For many people it might be thought that they are a copycat band, but a little research shows that they are very much a product of a time period in a location and a part of their scene.

Before we get too much further, and before people started getting ready to type in the comments that I am an idiot. Yes, The New York Dolls are without a doubt a cornerstone of that scene. It is hard to argue that they were not the catalyst for the underground scene in New York, and that spawned the Ramones. But there was shortly after a definite Rock and Roll sound that came about, with a lot of bands popping up doing almost the same thing. Whereas the Ramones had that 50s things going, they were relying on power chords. Bands like The Heartbreakers, however, were using full chords. A pretty big difference in the sound and impact.

So here we meet The Demons. The Demons were very much a part of the scene. Founding member of the aforementioned Heartbreakers Walter Lure was an early member (according to lead guitarist Martin John Butler's website). Vocalist Eliot Kidd was close friends with Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan (in his own words as can be read in the Legs McNeil book Please Kill Me). Kidd recounts many stories between himself and Thunders in the pages of Please Kill Me. This only helps add to it that this was not a copy of style, but rather contemporaries experiencing the same world.

The Demons were a five piece early Punk act out of New York in 1977. By my typing that sentence, if you know your music scenes you know exactly what The Demons sound like. The sound is text book on how to be a New York Punk/RnR band from the formative years of the mid to late 70s. Light on distortion, heavy on attitude, with a touch of the 50s and early 60s AM Rock and Roll founders added into the mix. The type of band that will sing a heartbreaking song about missing somebody ("What a Shame"), but then deliver a song about how much hate they have for somebody, with some pretty brutal lyrics. In fact, in Please Kill Me Kidd speaks about how the big difference between the 50s songs they loved and punk is in the lyrics (p. 260). He mentions that their material takes the songs to areas that were never approached before. In Eliot Kidd's own words ". . . basically punk rock was just rock and roll. We weren't taking music anywhere new . . . we were all at the age where we had grown up with pop radio: Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard and Chuck Berry." (McNeil, p. 263)

So remember, we are talking about 1977 here. Don't think Punk of the hardcore variety that is now associated with the word "Punk." This is Rock and Roll with extra danger and attitude added. There is nothing here that couldn't be played on that radio. It is all just Rock and Roll. It doesn't even have the bite that would show up that same year from The Dead Boys or the Sex Pistols. The guitars are light on distortion, but just as dangerous.

The debut album, and only album, from The Demons, is a wonderful addition to the New York Punk / Glam scene. An album that should be in the collection of almost anybody who has an interest in 70s Glam or 70s Punk. Songs like "It'll Be Alright" and "She's So Tuf" are brilliant tracks that should be considered classics. "She's So Tuf" is textbook New York Rock and Roll. The dang thing should be one of those songs that everybody has covered.

The album features two cover tunes, one being a version of Gene Pitney's "She's a Rebel." The other being the band beating The Clash to the punch by delivering a blistering cover of "I Fought The Law" of its own. A notch down from the intensity of The Clash version, but still a wonderful version of the song.

The cover of the album is what caught my eye. It was actually Martin John Butler and Robbie Twyford that sold me on the album. Then the song titles. But in all honesty, I still am a little surprised by the sound every time I look at Robbie Twyford. He looks more like he should have fallen out of a British band circa 1967. The styles are a little mixed on the cover, but the dang guys still look incredibly cool.

The Demons were through and through Rock and Roll, and they were through and through New York. Musically they featured solid guitar work with those trademark flourishes from the area. Solid drumming and vocals that could have fit right in with The Dictators (Shernoff and Teeter).
A band that seriously needs to be preserved, and luckily one that at this moment in time can still be had from the used stores for a good price. But if the world begins to catch on, this thing is going to skyrocket in price. I think I paid around $5.00 for it, which is a steal.

So what became of The Demons? It seems that they met with some rather terrible fate. According to the website for Martin John Butler (lead guitar), the band was enjoying the success for this album, selling 250,000 copies even! But then tragedy struck and drummer Mike Rappoport was killed in a car accident. I don't know the details, and even that knowledge comes from a post on his guest book. He mentions the loss of Rappoport, but a friend chimes in mentioning the car accident aspect.

Eliot Kidd, the brains and voice behind the band, had also met with tragedy. This is according to the website Dead Punk Stars. According to them Eliot had done time due to dealing and eventually passed away in 1998.

Thankfully Martin John Butler has created a Facebook page for The Demons. It appears that Bob Jones, the other guitarist, is doing well and is still involved with music. Obviously his name would be a little bit harder to search on the internet, so as of this writing this is as far as I went in my research.

Mr. Butler's personal site seems to be a little out of date, but he appears to still be active. As I mention though he is running the Demons Facebook page, which can be found by searching Demons/NYC or by clicking https://www.facebook.com/The-DemonsNYC-101777063232690/. His personal site, with some newer music, can be found here: http://www.martinbutlermusic.com/home.html

As for Robbie Twyford, I have not been able to find anything. A search for Robbie turned up nothing. Scanning the Demons Facebook site also didn't show me anything. But who know, maybe one of the Demons will see this and give a little information.

sources:
McNeil, Legs. McCain, Gillian. Please Kill Me. Penguin, 1997.
Dead Punk Stars website - http://www.deadpunkstars.com/browse/153/eliot_kidd.html