There were no two ways about it. The protracted aesthetic slump in which mainstream music found itself throughout the early to mid 1970s set the stage out of necessity for a rescue mission of epic proportions.
To that effect, with the advent of the so-called punk / new wave movement in the mid to late 1970s, there was once again hope for the future of music. As a result, regional scenes sprang up across the country in short order.
The greater Detroit, Michigan area was no exception. Independent releases were the order of the day, supported by a flourishing retail market. Blitz Magazine was there in the thick of it all, covering these and other bands of similar intent with each succeeding issue.
Before long, front runners began to emerge. Among them were the Romantics, the Ivories, Cinecyde, the Reruns, Flirt, the Rushlow King Combo and the Mutants.
Of those bands, the Mutants in particular drew attention for their unique brand of humor. Comprised of lead vocalist Art Lyzak, lead guitarist Tom Morwatts, guitarist / keyboard man Patrick "Pasadena" Supina, bassist John Kordosh and drummer Steve Sortor, the Mutants brought their trademark cavalier approach to such acclaimed singles as So American and I Say Yeah, both for their FTM label. In 1980, So American was included in Blitz Magazine's once per decade Blitz Awards as one of the Best Singles of the 1970s. After years of toiling within the club circuit (most notably at Lili's in suburban Hamtramck), the Mutants went on hiatus in 1985.
After a promising reunion in 1996, the Mutants again went their separate ways. Lead vocalist Lyzak subsequently relocated to Southern California, while Pasadena remained in the Detroit area to chart his future musical course. Sadly, Morwatts, Kordosh and Sortor are all deceased.
"After the Mutants reunion, my son Jeff and I ended up playing in 1999 and 2000 with a reformed Elvis Hitler", said Pasadena.
"I played bass and Jeff played drums. He was eighteen at the time. It was just a three piece, with Jim Leedy on guitar and vocals.
"It kind of happened by accident. We ended up working for the same company and just ran into each other. Neither of us were doing anything at the time. So with both of us having the itch to play, that new lineup of Elvis Hitler came together".
However, by definition, such a venture was destined to be short lived.
"After that broke up in late 2000, I really had no definite plans", said Pasadena.
"But I knew that I still wanted to play".
Thankfully, good things come to those who wait. Especially in a musical community where collaborations are an ongoing and frequent attribute.
"Several years later, my current drummer, Jim Bialk and I ended up rehearsing on and off with Rich Cole and Wally Palmar from the Romantics", said Pasadena.
"While we weren't doing any original songs, we were picking pretty obscure tunes that you don't hear anyone else playing. Album cuts by bands like the Small Faces, the Pretty Things, the Move and the Blues Magoos; stuff that we all liked.
"It looked like we might play an occasional local gig when the Romantics had time off. But nothing ever came of it. After that, Jim and I tried to decide what we were going to do".
Once again, the collaboration factor came into play.
One of the many promising bands that sprang up in the latter stages of the area's forward momentum in the late 1970s was an ambitious quintet called the Plugs. The band, which was also covered at length in Blitz Magazine at the time, released an acclaimed single, I Like My Dad.
The Plugs were led by Jeff Shoemaker, who concurrently worked at a record store in suburban Royal Oak. That vantage point gave Shoemaker an inside track to both the burgeoning collectors market, as well as direct access to the many area musicians who frequented the store.
"Jeff Shoemaker was still on Facebook at the time", said Pasadena.
"So out of the blue I asked him if he wanted to get a band together. He said he was interested. So he started coming over. We were just going over Mutants and Plugs songs, with Jeff playing bass".
But once again, an unexpected blessing availed itself. This time it came via the celebration of an annual area gala of sorts.
"One Paczki day in Hamtramck, Gerry (Paz), who is now our bass player, approached me while we were listening to the Polish Muslims", said Pasadena.
"I didn't know him, but he knew me. He said that one of his old bands, the Weasels had opened for the Mutants more than once.
"I had no memory of that! But I asked him if he was interested in playing bass with us. He said he was".
Happily, Paz's inclusion came full circle with an endorsement from Shoemaker.
"I was amazed that Jeff and Gerry knew each other from years earlier", said Pasadena.
"So now Gerry was on bass and Jeff Shoemaker switched to rhythm guitar. We played three shows as the Blackouts, performing Mutants and Plugs songs.
"We even did a gig on Mackinac Island, playing three sets a night for two nights. So we included a lot of the covers that Jim and I had rehearsed with Rich and Wally".
But after a season of reliving one another's individual triumphs, it inevitably became obvious to all concerned that a vision with an eye towards establishing and building upon a collective legacy was a more feasible goal.
"After playing another gig at the Loving Touch with See Dick Run, still playing Mutants and Plugs songs, we decided that we wanted to be our own band and start writing new material", said Pasadena.
"Jeff Shoemaker had been writing all along. So we had material to work with right away".
To be certain, the resultant At Sixes And Sevens is one of the highlights of the decade to date. Comprised of eleven solid originals, the album is the first release under the band's current name, the Rearrangements.
"One song on our album called Tears In The Ocean was a Shoemaker song that he wrote for his '90s band, the Figure Four", said Pasadena.
"They played it almost as a soft ballad. Jeff asked if we wanted to use it, since it was his song. I told him that if we do it, we are going to have to rock it up a little.
"So I came up with the arrangement that is on the album. In fact, a lot of the songs that Shoemaker brought to rehearsal I helped rearrange. It's no coincidence that the band is called the Rearrangements!"
Their name may indeed be the Rearrangements. But Pasadena's notion of rocking it up is as much of a factor in accomplishing that goal. Indeed, the Mutants and the Plugs both rose to prominence at a time when albums rife with full bodied arrangements with solid execution (augmented by sympathetic production) were an integral part of the proceedings. The results could be found in everything from the works of Huey Lewis And The News and the Producers to the Plimsouls and the Tremblers.
And while incorporating such attributes into a given work might have meant that an endeavor such as the one at hand may well have been lost in the shuffle at that time, in the modern day setting, such an approach is indeed a breath of fresh air. As such, At Sixes And Sevens follows suit, with strong original material that draws from a rich variety of inspirations.
"We all have a love of good pop songs, and I think that shows on the album", said Pasadena.
"We also all love the '60s style garage band Nuggets type tunes. I think we captured that pretty well on the two songs where I play the Vox organ on the album".
The band also received an unexpected and most welcome profile boost from the early 2020 release of the Hold Fast label's two LP compilation, End Of The Night (1976 - 1983), which features rare and previously unreleased tracks by the Mutants, Plugs, Cinecyde, Ivories, Flirt, Reruns, Seatbelts, Ramrods and other area front runners from the dawn of the movement. That limited edition collection was a U.K. Record Store Day exclusive in April 2020, and an instant sellout in its initial pressing.
"Of course there was going to be some high energy, guitar dominated Detroit style rock and roll", said Pasadena.
"I think Invincible gets that point across. To me, it sounds like something that would have fit on the MC5's High Time album or the Stooges' Raw Power album".
Thankfully, songwriting adheres to democratic principles within the band, thereby allowing for the creative juices to flow from all concerned. In the process, the need to rely upon previous individual triumphs is eased somewhat, although not eliminated altogether.
"(Jeff Shoemaker composed) everything except Snow Files and I Just Wanna Be Seen", said Pasadena.
"Jeff and I co-wrote Wish That Girl Was Mine".
Elsewhere on the album, the notion of a collaboration takes on a slightly different approach.
"The song on the album called Ghost is interesting. The Plugs used to do a cover of the Mutants' song, Machine, using that music, but keeping the Amore lyrics", said Pasadena, in reference to Kordosh's John Amore stage persona.
"To me, that one sounds like it could have come from an early Alice Cooper album. Black Ju Ju (from 1971's Love It To Death) comes to mind".
For Pasadena, a significant portion of the gratification came from the recording process itself.
"The new songs are all in the same vein", he said.
"Some pop, some garage and some Detroit style high energy rock and roll. I've never had so much fun with a band. I think the chemistry shows on this first album".
To be certain, some of that chemistry is borne of their adherence to the aforementioned democratic process.
"Jeff does sing lead vocals most of the time", Pasadena affirmed.
"But the songs that Gerry writes, he sings lead. I simply wrote music for some of the songs, and Gerry or Jeff will write lyrics. For instance, I wrote the music for Snow Flies, and Gerry wrote the lyrics".
Inevitably, the material occasionally takes on a personal perspective.
"The song is actually about some difficult times that his daughter was going through", said Pasadena.
"But she persevered and came out of it in great shape.
"With the new songs, it's the same. The ones I wrote, I simply came up with the music and riffs. Jeff Shoemaker wrote lyrics. I am really excited about one song called Upside Down World. I think it's a hit single, with a riff that is somewhere between (the Monkees') Last Train To Clarksville and (the Beatles') Paperback Writer."
Like the Monkees and the Beatles, being a self-contained band has worked out quite well for the Rearrangements in the studio.
"On the album, I did the lead guitar work, the Vox Continental organ parts and a few backup vocals", said Pasadena.
"Jeff played rhythm. Gerry played bass and did a lot of the backup vocals. My son Jeff, who is an exceptional drummer, helped with some of the backup vocals and percussion, (including tambourine and castanets)".
In fact, Pasadena kept the process largely a family affair by bringing it full circle in the studio.
"My other son Mike, who was the shredding guitar player in A Wilhelm Scream, engineered and recorded the album", he said.
"He also mixed and produced it. He is a big reason why it sounds so good. The album was recorded in my house".
But while home recording has become the order of the day out of necessity during the pandemic era, the Rearrangements have proven that sonic quality need not be compromised in the process.
"Mike is extremely fussy when it comes to recording", said Pasadena.
"(He does) things like comparing the drum sound over and over after just moving a microphone a half inch closer or father from a particular drum. Same when recording the guitars. Microphone placement has to be just right.
"He also sets up open air mics to get just what he is looking for. The effects on the vocals on some songs and on the guitars were his idea. And he recorded us on his laptop!"
All of which makes At Sixes And Sevens a most promising debut.
"We are all really happy with the way that the album turned out", said Pasadena.
"We plan on putting Mike back to work soon to record the new material".
In fact, with their debut barely realized at this point, the Rearrangements have already taken decisive steps towards the completion of their follow up effort.
"Rehearsals continue, and we now have several new songs fully realized for the next album", said Pasadena.
"There are more written that just have to be rehearsed".
Albeit with one key difference from their first outing.
"Whereas Jeff wrote most of the songs on the first album, the new material is more spread out among Jeff, Gerry and myself. I wrote three of the new ones, Gerry wrote two, and Jeff wrote two of the ones that we now have rehearsed".
All of which, to draw from a maxim that is frequently invoked within Gospel music circles, makes for a joyful noise.
"The band is stoked (with) the new songs we are rehearsing", said Pasadena.
"One of them would have fit on the first or second Monkees album. But I am getting ahead of myself. I am having a blast with this band! And so are the other guys".
Given the principles involved, all of those elements should combine to make a democratically executed musical celebration. And that, in the words of the Mutants, is a tried and true method for success that is, among other things, So American.
