Joe Shade

Where to begin?

One thousand years ago I migrated to the Lower East Side of NYC in pursuit of a career in the music business on the artist side of the desk. Given the odds of success for such a peculiar choice of vocation, I am happy to report that I was able to climb up several rungs on the ladder of success before falling off. Herewith is a brief synopsis of my career highlights. Warning, excessive name dropping to follow.

What brought me to the big bad city was a production contract with Instant Records which was headed up by Richard Gottehrer, Marty Thau and Craig Leon. Don’t recognize the names? Well does Blondie ring a bell? They were also signed artists to Instant Records. We recorded a quirky demo and after a $1000 lawyer fee for the contract negotiation found ourselves back on the street. Soon after that splendid experience I became one of the founding members of the storied punk band, the “Sic F-cks” where I filled the role of lead guitarist and songwriter. We eventually signed a deal with Polish Records (John Cale and Genya Ravan) where we recorded a 10 song EP produced by John Cale. Yep, the tunes were loud and fast, but mostly they were short. It was never released, but we got smart and skipped the lawyers this time around. The ultimate triumph was a single produced by John Jansen (“Bat Out Of Hell”), Peter Wood (co-writer of “Year Of The Cat”) and Marshall Chess (does Chess Records ring a bell?) with a group called “The Pin-Ups,” a sort of Americanized version of ABBA with Snooky and Tish from the “Sic F-cks.” This little piece of plastic with hole in the middle was on the now defunct Chiswick record label, distributed by EMI. The critics loved it. The public ignored it.

When my future as a rock star began to fade, I decided to return to college and get my ticket punched figuring that at least I could make my parents happy. For the past several hundred years I’ve had my shoulder pressed firmly against the corporate wheel which has at times been exhilarating but mostly depressing. Recently I decided to test the waters again as a songwriter and performer, but with my expectations adjusted thusly: for success they are to be kept low and for the level of pure fun and enjoyment they must be maximized. As a result, I have written over 40 songs which I am happy to perform as a solo singer/songwriter. I hate that label, but it has its uses. I have been making the rounds of the local open mic scene, gradually building up to hour long performances. It’s decidedly more scary to get up there all lonely on stage without your buds on drums ‘n bass, but let me tell you it does build some serious performance chops. I may be old, but I’m better than ever!

Here’s myspace dedicated to shameless self-promotion: http://www.myspace.com/joeshademusic.