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Pacifica
Tribune
Jan.
3, 1996
My 3-year-old
daughter now yells "I want rock 'n roll" whenever
we go out in the car. That's because I listened to
Dave Crimmen's new song, "If You Said Yes," while
doing some errands with her. It's a snappy tune
with Crimmen sounding a lot like Elvis Presley and
my daughter loves it. (She hasn't heard a lot
of Elvis, so it was a new sound to her.) Dave
Crimmen will be a special guest on Channel 8's The
Bruce Latimer Show tonight. He'll be performing "If
You Said Yes," along with some other "rockabilly"
style songs. "Rockabilly is so old, it's new
again," says Crimmen, a Belmont resident who has
performed extensively in the Bay Area with the
group X-Tender (which has evolved into his own
back-up band). "I think people are tired of being
depressed by music. We've come around to the
time when people just want to dance and have a good
time."
A Broadmoor native, Crimmen drives a delivery truck
during the day and works on his music the rest of
his life. "The guys in the band refer to me as the
encyclopedia of rock and roll," he says. Crimmen's
a guy who can rattle off classic rock statistics
the way a baseball fan can spout historic pennant
races. "I've seen Elvis twice," says Crimmen. "Both
times at the Cow Palace. In 1972 and '76. He
put on an excellent show both times. He looked
great in 1976." A true-blue Elvis fan,
Crimmen thinks the "King" deteriorated quickly and
the bloated, overweight image of the singer only
really existed just before his death in 1977. "I
think Priscilla and Lisa Marie should be
applauded," says Crimmen. "They've helped
re-instate the Elvis of the 1950's." That's an
image issue, of course, and it's something Crimmen
is keenly aware of in the music business. His
own image consists of a wiry guitarist with
turquoise jewelry. He's got a ring on every
finger. "Image is something I've been beaten over
the head with," he says. "I got the idea of the
turquoise jewelry from a Fats Domino video. It does
get a reaction."
Part Cherokee Indian, Crimmen says he is also
making no bones about playing up the Elvis "thing."
His music is a direct descendant of the Presley
music tradition and although he is not an Elvis
impersonator, it's hard not to describe his sound
as "Presley-esque." "I'm a real roots rock and
roller," he says. "So it's a gift from God that
this rockabilly revival is happening now." Crimmen
points to Chris Isaac's great success in the music
business as one example of the public's new
enthusiasm for "rockabilly." And of course, he
hopes to one day become equally successful. A
Westmoor High School graduate who went on to
Skyline College, Crimmen feels on the verge of
breaking into a new level of musical success. He's
paid his dues with X-Tender and other bar bands and
is ready for people to recognize Dave Crimmen as a
music force. "I consider myself a full-time
musician," he said. "My day job allows me to buy
guitars and pay for records. I am a rock and roll
star, the world just doesn't know it yet."
Appearing with Crimmen tonight on the Latimer show
will be Harry Mello, Sal D'Amato, Bill Shaffer and
Leif Carlson. If you want to find out more about
Dave Crimmen, and an upcoming album release party
for the new single, call the Crimmen hotline at 650
589-5852.
-Chris
Hunter
Aug.
29, 1990
Rock and roll
is never as easy as it looks. Just ask the guys who
make up the band called Xtender. "This incarnation
has been together since December of last year,"
said Harry Mello, keyboard player and vocalist for
the band. "But we've all been playing in this area
for 15 years." With his shaved and shining head
sitting behind opaque sunglasses, Mello is a vision
of rock and roll caricature. He likes it that way,
proudly listing the various pop looks he has
cultivated over the years, from the gold chains of
the 70's to the long hair of the 60's. Now, he's
hoping that Xtender will make his look a familiar
sight to rock fans. "I was in The Visitors in the
80's," Mello said. That band brought out an LP
loaded with his original material and came close to
snagging a record deal.
Tony Ramos,
bass player, guitarist and vocalist for the band,
has also paid his dues on the circuit. With the
group Dr. T-Bone, the Pacifica resident played up
and down the Peninsula, developing a solid
reputation and appearing at such local spots as the
late Mark Savage's Vallemar Station. Xtender
recently recorded an album-length collection of
original songs on the Vergone label. Mello and
Ramos hope the production will help them move from
the bar-band level to the higher reaches of rock
stardom. "We have five entities in the band
representing five decades of rock and roll," said
Mello. "We cover a wide spectrum of rock and roll
styles with strong roots in 50's, 60's, 70's and
80's."
Leif Carlson
and Dave Crimmen both play guitar and sing for
Xtender. They have a broad range of experience
performing in the Bay area. Crimmen is a prolific
songwriter whose work is being considered by the
likes of Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Sal
D'Amato rounds out the band with his drums,
bringing an equal amount of musical experience to
Xtender. All of the members are locally based along
the Peninsula. "We're a PG band," said Ramos, "and
most of our songs are love songs with a few
political ones, but we really put on a show. We
jump around a lot." "We're all just regular
people," said Ramos. "Three of us are technicians
and Harry works at Candlestick Park."
-Chris
Hunter
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