Remember what Rick Rubin did for Johnny Cash? Revitalize his career by letting him sing classic young and old accompanied mostly only by a very sparse acoustic-guitar centred instrumentation? Something similar can be witnessed by looking at the latest project by our beloved Eugene S. Robinson who will be releasing a covers record re-imagining classics by for example Sammy Davis Jr. As a very special gift for all our VoS-aficionados we got an exclusive text by Ako-Lite owner and long-time-Robinson intimate John Getze! Enjoy!
What should I say other than - I love the man’s audaciousness to go completely full circle and release a cover of a Broadway musical number (did we mention that Eugene comes from NYC?) which was popularized by none other than Sammy Davis Jr as the title track of his record I’ve Gotta Be Me. So, in a way, this record spans several generations of New Yorkers: Sammy, Eugene and in between Walter Marks who wrote the track for the musical Golden Rainbow. The second level full-circle is the following: Sammy Davis Jr later turned to Judaism, the same religion Eugene was born into. Next level? Sammy was on the cover of King of the Jews, the second full-length record by Oxbow, the band Eugene founded after Whipping Boy (you can also check out our Oxbow interview here) and who released that record? CFY Records! And this was not only a record label but also a record shop where the friendship between Eugene and John Getze, now the owner of Ako-Lite Records was formed; on Ako-Lite Eugene will release his covers record Eugene Sings! next year. And here is what John has to say about becoming friends with Eugene more than 35 years ago:
When I first moved to the Bay Area in the fall of 1989, the days felt strangely quiet. Menlo Park was tidy, tree-lined, and nothing like the wild sprawl of Los Angeles I’d left behind. I spent most afternoons wandering around, waiting for something—anything—to spark.
One evening, my stepfather Chris slid a small, photocopied flyer across the table. “Maybe this is up your alley, big guy,” he said.
The paper was grainy, the ink uneven, but the headline jumped out immediately:
DIG IT!
CFY Records—The only real alternative to mainstream crap
A punk rock record store. Finally, a language I spoke.
The next day, I walked across town, the flyer folded in my jacket pocket. CFY Records sat hidden behind a bunch of warehouses and smelled like mothballs and wood. The store’s door was plastered with stickers—bands I loved, bands I’d never heard of, and odd slogans that felt like inside jokes I wanted in on.
Inside, the air was thick with dust, vinyl, and possibility. Rows of records leaned precariously in boxes directly across from a newsstand of various local zines and several issues of Maximum Rock N Roll and RE/SEARCH.
I heard someone humming along to “Hybrid Moments” by the Misfits — deep and low, like it came from the floorboards.
Then I saw him.
Eugene stood behind the counter: tall, imposing, and entirely in his own orbit. He was flipping through a stack of LPs with the kind of intensity most people reserved for religious texts. He glanced up at me — eyes sharp, curious.
“First time in?” he asked, voice gravelly but welcoming.
“Yeah,” I said. “Just moved here. My stepfather handed me a flyer.”
His mouth quirked into a grin. “Good man.”
And from that day on, I spent nearly every Saturday and Sunday of that year at CFY grilling Eugene about his band Whipping Boy [also check out our interview with Whipping Boy-founders Steve and Eugene about the re-release of Muru Muru], famous punks he knew, and life in general.
In a pre-Internet time, it was my portal to a world of art, music, and alternative literature. There was a recording studio attached to the store called House of Faith, where my best friend Ari and I would record every incarnation of our high school band.
We would plot, plan, and connect with other local acts there, all with Eugene’s unwavering, but brutally honest support. One time, I brought him a binder filled with some poetry I’d written, eager for his approval. He said he’d take it home and give it a read. The following Saturday, I walked in, riding a high, certain that he’d tell me how great it was.
“So what’d you think?” I asked.
“Needs work,” he replied.
And boy was he right! It was awful, really cringey adolescent emo shit.
But that was Eugene’s thing — he’d never say a band sucked. He’d just say, “They need to practice more.” Maybe it was part of the Punk Rock DIY ethos, but he was the first person to ever take me seriously as an artist.
And as a 14-year-old old that meant the world to me.</b>
You can check out more details on “I’ve Gotta Be Me!” and the record details via Bandcamp and when the record comes out next year you might find covers of Misfits tunes or Hank Williams…but who knows with our man Eugene, who knows….
