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

This ain't no party...this ain't no disco...

Hello Flameheads,

This is an update to keep us all on the same figurative "page". We've got a few ideas that have been thrown out & this should bring (particularly those of you not on FaceBook) up to speed.

The new tentative date for FLAMESTOCK 2010 is the weekend of 7 Aug. Originally I (at least) had thought we could get maybe 40 people together. At the moment (unless some of you can think of that extra person to contact), it's seeming like we might be near 20. With this sort of number we aren't going to be able to work much magic in terms of a bargain hotel room or convincing a club to play 80s music for the night. Additionally, of those people who do plan to attend, quite a few are planning to stay with friends or relatives.

In this case, it might be a good idea to turn this into a picnic which could start in the early afternoon and run until we had to leave the park. Then, if some people wanted to continue to party, we could go to a nightclub.

So, what we need at this point is feedback on IF you will require accommodations (no response assumes you've got that figured out...in which case there's no reason to speak with a hotel). Additionally, we need to know if there are any other persons we could contact but you maybe just need assistance trying to reach them. If you respond to this post with a first & last name & last known city of residency, we can likely find them or somebody within the group will know something.

A few notes about the blog: orginally it defaulted to your having to have a Google mail acct. in order to respond. That should be cleared by now and ANYbody should be able to respond. Also, in case it wasn't mentioned elsewhere, this is not a "searchable" blog. You have to know the URL in order to find this. It will also not post your email along with your comment & there is no word verification. (Which means I might have to be more diligent about nuking ads posted by search spiders). Please feel free to pass the link on to others from the Flame Days to see if they have any interest in attending this year. If you have any other concerns, please hit this post back w/the question.

...This ain't no foolin' around,

e


Talking Heads: Life During Wartime

...Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance, well they're no friends of mine

Greetings, Friends of The Flame,

Some of you acquired pseudonyms back in the 80s. You should remember 'Jet Boy' and 'Jet Girl' (Kelly gave them those monikers). Jet Girl has enlisted the help of her...Jet Son to develop a FaceBook page. Though we can't cater to everybody on every format, you can now interact with other persons planning to attend FLAMESTOCK 2010 if you're on FaceBook by going to : Friends/Find Friends/ (typing into search box:) Flamestock 1980, then on the left margin will be a link to Join Groups. Request entrance and once accepted you'll be able to interact on a daily basis with other attendees of this year's reunion. Thanks Jayme and Maxwell!

Thanks to some research by Fitz (yep...Mike is In The House, y'all!), we've found that The Flame is now Jimmy B's Parrot Club. We're awaiting feedback on whether this venue will serve our purposes before approaching them with our proposal. He was also able to ascertain the Mission Coffeehouse and local gay club aren't operational any longer. If anybody has ideas for another club ... we're open for offers. The group that followed the NuMuzik gang occasionally partied in a shelter at a local park, but the shut-down time will likely be relatively early. Whatever the eventual venue, we will bring the music and the party to the locale.

We're continuing the search for more of the old crowd. If you have access to even one other person, be sure you check in with him/her and let them know we'd like to hear from everybody. We do need some sort of a body-count to know what to plan for.

Some people have noted that there are limitations to a blog. If you haven't been on one before, you can post as many WRITTEN posts (replys) as you want. It doesn't allow you to post pictures or links like (e.g.:) My Space does. However, since most people can bookmark this and check in periodically; plans are to retain this format for those who don't have time to play back YouTube links and just want to access the news. If you have other questions, please shoot an email to swingbilly@hotmail.com and I'll try to answer your question. Please put something identifying in the subject line or you'll go to Junk Mail and it will be discarded.

Dancing without a hat,

e 

Safety Dance: Men Without Hats                                                                           

...Boys in bikinis. Girls on surfboards. Everybody rockin'. Everybody fruggin'...

Wow.

New contacts are coming in rapid-fire like riffs from The Edge on guitar. Our theory is that each of us is still in touch with at least one other attendee of the Monday night scene from '81-'82. These reconnections seem to be happening very quickly. This is a good thing. Maybe in spirit we never really were apart.

We're looking for some input. Maybe somebody can offer a historical review of the Flame Days(e.g.: what was the actual start date?). Some who were there earlier (and possibly left for school elsewhere) can help those who were there longer (when Nu Muzik Night ... often called Punk Night channeled into New Wave Night and eventually twisted into something a bit different). How many of you out there took pictures & can get them digitized for posting on this blog & email exchange? Are many of you are on FaceBook b/c we're considering a more interactive counterpart to this blog?--This could be the Plan while the F.B. co-existed for immediate interaction. Let us know what you're thinking & what would make this party more fun.

Obviously, we want to operate on the 'cheap'. This blog costs nothing, as does a FaceBook page dedicated to us hardcores. However, looking forward to 4 July, a lot of us will require hotel rooms. To get these at a discount we'll have to probably promise some hotel we're committing to about 20 reservations...the more the better buying power we'll have to get lower rates. Some of us can share 2 bedroom suites. So, start thinking about the time it takes you to reach Point, the fact that the 4th is on a Sunday this year and consider blocking out those dates now either through your holiday or vacation time. We have people who are in other countries that can possibly plan a layover. Think about those of us who live in "connecting" cities and possibly flying in before they depart for Stevens Point. Many of us can carpool from cities in between our home and Pointski. Let's network people. Half the fun is going to be getting there.

The additional objective is to find a venue who'll take us in without any added expenditure of funds (beyond our own drinks). Having worked in some clubs for part-time jobs, I'm leaning toward (whatever The Flame is called now) the bar is probably going to need business that night. Most people should be out at fireworks, etc. for the holiday...not as likely in a bar. It's an otherwise 'dark' night for most clubs, especially those in a college town when school's out of session. Plans are to go to the present owner & ask if we bring our party to his/her bar that they will cater to us with the music they play--all 80s. We even have the MP3s (or records, if they prefer), so the club expenditure vs. its gains is rather obvious. If this club doesn't want at least four times its standard revenue for one night, then there will be another one that does. For nostalgia purposes, however, The Flame would be our preferred club of choice.

Now that everybody's on the same page, please offer up some feedback. We're looking forward to hearing opinions, options, ideas and just a scream or two of "it's good to be back in contact"!

Living in my own Private Idaho,

e

The B-52s:  Rock Lobster

Never Mind The Bollocks...

Welcome Oy Boys & Girls to that fabled place you thought would never exist...the H.Q. of The Flame's Nu Muzic Night Reunion: FLAMESTOCK 2010. After 30 years of hearing rumours about reunions, some of us have decided there is enough interest to pull us all together for one more night.

We're currently looking for a venue and a hotel to give us a group discount. Keep tuning in for further updates.

We mean it, maaaan!,

e

Anarchy In The U.K.: SeX pIsToLs