When I showed up at TAMU back in 1984 and moved into the dorms, the first person I met was this husky guy out front tossing horseshoes with some friends (the pit was right near the Law Hall tree in the photo linked above). Later that day when hauling in my belongings I met him again on his board - this in the days when street skating was coming back into prominence, but skating at TAMU was, well, not.

This stranger turned into my friend Kirk. One of the things I have to thank Kirk for was the introductions he provided into the Texas punk scene of the early 80s, notably the Big Boys. The news this week that Randy "Biscuit" Turner died brought back those days in a quick rush. I never got to see the Big Boys, but later I got to several shows by Bad Mutha Goose, a follow-on band with Big Boys member Tim Kerr. They were loud, funky and - since this was Texas in the summer - sweaty affairs.

When I try to imagine seeing Biscuit's art, and in so many of the pictures of him, I keep coming back to hot. The hot satisfaction of loud music in close spaces, musicians, artists and fans packed together in a shared experience (this closeness is why club shows trump arena shows most of the time).

While the web doesn't lend itself to that, but Jon Lebkosky's thoughts and Ed Ward's recollections of Biscuit bring things a bit closer.

Technorati Tags: punkRock, bigboys

Posted by esinclai at August 22, 2005 06:53 AM |