FLAMESTOCK 2016

YO: Oy-Boys and Boss Girls,

The FLAMESTOCK Reunion is still 'on' for Sat, 2 July, 2016 @ the Country Suites & Inn in Pointski. This blog is only a 'buoy' to help bring back the old gang for one more night. If you want more details, please do a search for us on FaceBook (it is a closed group, you'll have to request entrance and then we'll bust ya in) or hmb @ swingbilly@gmail.com. --Make sure you put something identifying in the subject line or you'll go to email hell and there you shall ever remain.

Signed,
The New Wavers vs The Punks

P.S.: I got me a Chrysler it's big as a whale and it's about to set sail....But I'd rather have a Brand New Cadillac.

Don't you forget about me. I'll be alone...dancing...you know it, baby...

In case you HAVE forgotten, it's been a long time since we rock 'n' rolled. --Nearly exactly 5 years. But who's counting? WE ARE. The shout-outs for a return to our roots have been answered.  soooo...LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!....

This blog was invented before smart phones knew how to check emails. It remains a buoy on the Net to help us flag-in our wayward compatriots to the Flame and all she stood for. Since we were part friends and part family, we look forward to sharing with you the intended and highly touted FLAMESTOCK 2016.

We have a genuine presence on Facebook. Knowing not all persons want to be there, we ask you to please contact us somehow or reply to this blog. We have so far planned a reunion for 2 July, 2016. We have reduced rates at a Division St Hotel in Pointski and intend to rent its meeting room for a party. We'll keep this blog page up to date with the latest haps. Meanwhile, you may email Ed @ swingbilly@hotmail.com for further info. Please put an identifying word in the subject line like "Flame" so it's not sent to spam. 

Cheers,

The Nu Muzik Nite Crew

Don't You Forget About Me: Simple Minds

The Flame Still Burns

This is a temporary sign off. Though our initial reunion is past, we have realized this is a group which intends to remain in contact indefinitely. We want you to be able to find this blog and if you remember The Flame, please contact us. You may find The Flame's FaceBook page at: THE FLAME on FaceBook . You must of course open an FB account in order to request to join us.


OR shoot an email to: swingbilly@gmail.com. Please put something identifying in your email's subject line since it will likely go to junk mail the first send.

We have some pics to share with you of the first reunion...and you should be informed there is already talk about the next one happening within possibly another year(?) Stay tuned in, kiddies.

We look forward to finding MORE of our troops out there. ...We're still waiting for the Ants Invasion...

Cheers,
e

Last Call

Only a few more days remain to make your arrangements and get your gear together for the reunion. Since this probably won't happen again, we hope everybody can attend. Being realistic, those of you who won't be there: know that we're shooting a lot of pictures. It will be easy to post them to our FaceBook page. If you do not partake of that, please give us your email addy so we can kite them to you that way.

Since I found it so interesting, I'm hoping you will appreciate An Interview With Fitz regarding the timeline of Punk Night:

I'm still trying to figure out the "1980 timeline." My business partner Jim and I bought the bar of January 22, 1981. Punk night started the winter of 1982 (end of January), about 6 months after MTV started - that was on August 1, 1981. Wave night lasted from January 1982 to September 1984, when the MNDC (Monday Night Dance Club) started "card night" (i.e. gay night).

If you're attending expect to hear some throw-back mixes since Fitz was able to digitize some of the actual tapes from back then. Hopefully, it will be just a great get-together. We are now hearing about all the things we'd like to fit into the program...and realizing we likely could have done this over another day. Unfortunately, that's not practical, so please attend if you can 'cause we'll definitely miss you.

Check in @ the Comfort Suites for those of us staying there is 3P on Sat. We should have the 'dance area' set up by about 7P. We do have to at least tone down the music by 10P and probably will be ousted between 11P and Midnight. We can then decide if some of us want to go to the club nearby...or maybe check out Jimmy B's (the old Flame). We should probably also anticipate a brunch with everybody before departure on Sunday, probably at Perkins (across the street). We hope to see you ALL there. Friends and significant others are of course welcome.

Cheers!

The FlameStock Crew

REMINDER

FLAMESTOCK 2010 will be held at the Comfort Suites Inn; 300 Division Street North; Stevens Point, WI 54481; 715.341.6000; when booking use the phrase 'The Flame' because if we book 10 rooms we get the conference room for free. Check-in @ 3P on the Sat., Aug. 7th & out is noon on the 8th.

e: hotel300@gmail.com

Please assume you need to bring: coolers, ice and if you see a deal on paper plates and cups...grab some. Think of this being on the terms of a party we're throwing for ourselves, we will be in a room left to our own devices for snack foods and drinks. If you're bringing nothing but beer or alcohol, think about throwing in some bottles of pop (you'll be in WISCONSIN and it WILL be called 'POP') or water.--You probably cannot drink beer for 8 hours straight like the last time we all saw each other 30 years ago. ;)

Please reply to this or the Flamestock 1980 FaceBook page if you have questions.









Website for Comfort Inn Suites, Stevens Point

TWENTY-TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO--O-O...I WANNA BE SEDATED...

I surveyed the Lodge area (adjoining The Hilltop which adjoins the La Quinta Inn) @ Hwy. 10 and I-39/51.--Other side of the street, btw, has a hotel that's about a 1 1/2 to 2 star and price is JUST as high as La Quinta...no amenties). I got there about 8P to shoot some pics & be reminded of dimensions. I was immediately attacked by WI's bumper-crop...of mosquitoes. It's been really wet up here and they're just freakin' everywhere. Even though we might be out of there about 8, it is really unlikely we won't get attacked by these vampires.


The fact-finding mission is complete. After discussion w/ some other peeps in here...we've got a conclusion on the hotel and venue for the actual event: Sat., August 7th @
Comfort Suites; 300 Divison St., Stevens Point; 715.341.6000, code phrase for our rate is "The Flame". All rooms (double or single queen) are going at $82.95. I got this rate from 3 hotels, give or take 2 dollars. (Not including the Ramada which would invariably be more).--I did some research on why they seemed to be locking in at around the same prices. It turns out the Suzuki music education group has a convention in Point that weekend & things are GOING to get booked, so they don't really care much about me saying 'we'd like to block out 10 rooms'. ...I think we should consider ourselves a bit lucky. The manager is holding 10 rooms for us (knows they will not all be singles or doubles...a mixture) until August 1. After that, you can call & she'll offer you the rate IF they haven't booked the rooms by then.

On the 'plus' side...they have a meeting room that's about 28' x 32' which normal rents for $75 which she will throw into the package if we knock out 10 rooms.--We're taking it, either way. ;) We will now have a roof over our heads, temperature control (read: 'A/C'), lights, power (yes we can play music up until about 10-11P and we can start @ 3P), and NO bugs.

Within 2 blocks of this hotel are: Perkins, "Four Star Restaurant" (used to be a sushi place), McDonalds, Subway, China Buffet, Rocky Rococco's, KMart, KwikTrip (gas & beer...possibly more of the former if too much of the latter, he-he). This hotel also has a pool w/ conjoined hot tub, the usuals (TV, micro, reefer) and also a breakfast.

One block from this hotel is another restaurant/pub located in the Ramada. The Tilted Klt is supposed to be a Scottish-themed bar that serves pub food. The one here in IL isn't real convincing, but the bartenders do wear kilts, and the waitresses/ waiters wear something akin to a kilt. (Read: 'really short plaid skirts'). Prices are not too bad, food is good and they have a decent line up of beers. So, SHOULD we want to go elsewhere for drinks when it gets later, we are within STUMBLING distance from the hotel. Also, we can obviously go back & forth from ou rooms to the party if we want. There is a bathroom immediately outside the door from the room, and the manager says she 'likes' 80s music... ;)


I Wanna Be Sedated: The Ramones

...we're gonna Rock This Town, rock it inside out...

Fellow Fans of the Flame,

It is almost time to get the show on the road, literally. Plans changed regarding the facilities we'll be using. We have secured the Girl Scout Lodge in Iverson Park (just off Hwy. 10, S. side of the street and immediately West of the Hilltop Tavern) for Aug. 7th. We have use of the building from 10A to 11P. This lodge is advertised as accommodating 20 persons. However, as I noted on the Flamestock''s FaceBook page, the Monday Night Dance Club group used this in years past and it seemed to serve a larger crowd than that quite well. A beach on the Plover River is within a short walk S. of the building and it is visible from the highway. To check out the facility itself, you can follow this link: http://www.stevenspoint.com/parks/index.html , type 'girl scout lodge' into the search field and it will lead you into a pictoral review from there.

Please note that all the "shelters" (roof & tables only) are on a first come-first serve basis, hence we'd have no guarantee of securing one for that date without posting a guard when the park opened. That coupled w/the fact we could face wind or rain (and not have the amenities of the lodge) is a convincing factor for spending money to be accommodated. *This will work out to approximately a $9/e split...possibly less if more people sign up, which will likely happen.

I'd also like us all to have realistic expectations on the music part of this shindig. Parks & Recs says "amplified music" is verbotten. I was very forward with the music being a large part of the reason we're gathering. I was then told that if we played music within a common sense level of volume we'd have no problems. 'Course...I also said at one point if we get a ticket for disturbing the peace (YEAaaah....we're not 21 anymore are we?), that I would deal with that then. So, as long as we're not "broadcasting", we'll be fine IMO.

We are still searching for some more members. If you know somebody you think we should contact, please post a comment to this, or shoot Ed an email: swingbilly@hotmail.com . Please put 'flamestock' or some other red flag in the subject line so I won't discard it as spam. IF you have a facebook page please let us know that also so we can send you a link to join up w/ our Flamestock FB page.

We're thinking we can do a potluck sort of dinner with each other in the 1P area and sort of take it from there.  If anybody wants to dive in & organize that part of it (who-brings-what sort of thing), please let us know. If anybody can think of any specific activities in addition to dancing, please speak up.We'll update you as those plans formulate.

Rockin' 'till we drop,

e





Brian Setzer and The Stray Cats: Rock This Town