Dancing kings

There's no love loss with the Cranktones

by Joe Longone

As a young generation strives to find its own voice and own identity, cultural artifacts tend to get thrown onto the junk heap. Even the most fiery forms of expression eventually get tossed aside only to wait for some academic retrieval or nostalgic re-run. Guitarist Frankie Blandino is on a one-man mission to keep music from the '50s and '60s alive and well.

Blandino, who grew up in Dorchester, fell in love with early-'60s rock and roll, as did many kids his age. The Beatles sang songs that influenced a world, and Blandino was caught up in the movement. For most of his 46 years, he has played a wild, exuberant form of early rock. Learning how to play guitar from his blind father, then honing his craft in different outfits during the past 30 years, he now leads three groups who refuse to let people forget the wondrous sounds of the past.

One of his bands, the Cranktones, will appear with the Fearless Leaders at Dinny's this Saturday, September 27. The Cranktones were inspired by members of one of Blandino's past groupings, Little Frankie and the Premieres. It was 1995, and the Premiers were a popular blues outfit that played all over New England.

"I realized that we weren't that different from a dozen other blues bands that were playing around in the area. I love the blues, but playing it became too predictable," he says. His jump to rockabilly, along with fellow bandmates Stan Kozloski (drums) and John Sciascia (bass), revitalized their interest in past music.

"There is something special about the stripped-down sound of rockabilly. It is raw, and when played right, filled with energy. You put the right guys behind a standup bass, a simple drum kit, and guitar, and you get sound undeniably honest and filled with life."

The Cranktones came along at the right time. Rockabilly has been making a comeback in Boston, Providence, and New York City for the past three years. Along with bands like the Racketeers and the Raging Teens, the Cranktones have put together shows that hark back to the golden age of Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. Boston-area nightspots like the Linwood Grille and Midway Cafe have been turned into crazed packed joints.

"We always get a good crowd when we play in Boston. Half the people showing up are dressed like they have come straight out of the 1950s. What I think is even cooler is that the other half of the crowd isn't into the fashionable look -- they've come to get into our energy."

Rockabilly is a music based on youth and an overabundance of wanderlust; these three don't bother to fake it -- they're the real deal. Pushed forward by Blandino's stinging guitar, performing lost numbers and much of their own material, they beat out a song with the best of them.

"It really doesn't matter how many covers we may perform within a set, because most of the crowd wouldn't know what was ours and what was someone else's. John [Sciascia] has a large record collection, and he brings in these rare recordings for us to try out. If Stan and I like it, we'll try it out at a show. If people get up and dance to the song, we'll keep it in our set."

Blandino, Sciascia, and Kozlowski are also members of the instrumental group the Fathoms. That band also include Greg Burgess and Dave Sholl. The Fathoms have become Blandino's most successful grouping to date. That quintet's debut CD, Fathomless, has received much attention, including recently being voted one of the top instrumental albums of all time by Goldmine. If that weren't enough, Blandino is also a steel guitar player in a Western swing band called the Spurs.

"In a world that has forgotten about a lot of great music, I'm lucky that I've found enough of an audience to continue playing the music I love," he says.

The Cranktones have just finished recording a bunch of songs for their first CD release. Originals like their killer number "Snakebite" will be mixed in with their usual bunch of tasty obscurities. Don't look for a release date until early '98 for this disc tentatively titled Vibrating. In the meantime, the three will continue their mission of bringing an inspiring form of musical Americana to audiences throughout the Northeast.