The Stimulators (NYC band)
| The Stimulators | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | Punk rock, proto-New York hardcore. |
| Years active | 1978–1983 |
| Labels | ROIR |
| Associated acts | Cro Mags |
| Website | www |
| Past members | Denise Mercedes – Guitar, Patrick Mack – Singer, Anne Gustavsson- bass, Nick Marden – Bass, Harley Flanagan – Drums |
The Stimulators were a punk rock band from New York City, US. Although they have a limited discography, they are notable for being consistently cited as an important transitional band between the late-1970s New York City punk rock scene and New York hardcore, and for being the musical entry point for future Cro-Mag founder Harley Flanagan.
Denise Mercedes grew up in Manhattan and Queens, NY, raised by a longshoreman father who played flute and piano. Teaching herself to play guitar, she became infatuated with punk rock after having seen the Damned play their first NYC show at CBGB. Denise attended the gig with a friend who worked for Stiff Records and has recalled of the event "literally the second they started to play, my life changed." She elaborated that punk rock made creativity and attitude more important than "being able to play like Jimi Hendrix."
Determining that her local punk rock scene was beginning to age and soften ("there was a pause" in the vitality of NYC's punk landscape, Mercedes remembers), and after a tryout as a guitarist for a side-project of the Damned's Rat Scabies didn't pan out, Mercedes set out to form her own band called the Stimulators, named after a piece of equipment used in acupuncture.
Denise booked live dates for her band before she had a singer. She resolved this discrepancy by visiting Max's Kansas City and asking an attractive patron at the bar, Patrick Mack, whether he had experience singing, and whether he would like to be in a band, to which his answers were "no" and "yes" respectively. Mack, inspired by Iggy Pop, would go on to be noted as a wild, flamboyant, front man. Mack would also become the band's lyricist. Adding bassist Anne Gustavsson (later replaced by Nick Marden), the last step was procuring a drummer.
Drum tryouts with 1970s punk notables Johnny Blitz and Jerry Nolan failed to fill the vacant position, so Denise turned to her 11 year old nephew. Harley Flanagan had been raised in a Bohemian, rock 'n' roll environment. He had a book of poetry entitled Stories & Illustrations by Harley (Charlatan Press), with a forward written by family friend Allen Ginsberg, published when he was nine. His mother was acquainted with members of the Velvet Underground/New York Dolls-era New York Rock scene, and Harley had frequently accompanied his aunt Denise to CBGB and Max's Kansas City. He proved to be an energetic and capable drummer.
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