As noted in previous Boogaloo Bag entries, our friend Billy Miller passed away on November 13. Billy Miller was a huge influence on the Boogaloo Bag writers, especially Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, who knew him quite well. Billy, along with this wife Miriam Linna, founded the legendary Kicks Magazine; the important Norton Record Company; and he was the lead singer for the incredible A-Bones. To get an idea of the breadth of his activities and importance to the musical community, please read the New York Times obituary. Billy sold Phreddie some of his favorite records. They often talked about records and recording artists. When Billy was in the hospital, Phreddie visited with a stack of records and a portable record player.

About a month ago, when The Phast Man was rounding up a guest DJ for the December WHAM-O WATUSI at the Bootleg Bar, our hero Lenny Kaye agreed to appear and turn some records. Billy and Lenny have been friends since the late seventies. After Billy passed, Lenny suggested the WHAM-O night be transformed into a tribute to Billy by playing some of his favorite records, records Norton issued, records that reminded us of Billy, records by artists that were important to him and especially records emblazoned with the Fortune label–the Detroit record company that Billy was in the process of writing a book about.

The event took place on Saturday December 3. Although this was not an official Billy Miller memorial, it had the blessing of Miriam, who shared the Facedog event page and expressed pleasure with Lenny and Phreddie for arranging it. It looked as if she may even show up, but alas, she was still overcome with grief at Billy’s loss and could not make it. Many of us are still overcome with grief; however, some of us were able to celebrate Billy’s life and the music he loved at the Bootleg Bar on this WHAM-O WATUSI night.

Among the celebrants were people who were close to Billy, including Avi Spivak, the artist for Kicksville Comics; Brian Hurd, singer for the boss blues with rhythm combo Daddy Long Legs, whose records are issued by Norton; Reyes Rodriguez, who currently works with the Norton people; WFMU DJ Todd-O-Phonic Todd (AKA The Boss Groover); Jonathan Toubin (Soul Clap). Boogaloo Bag photographer Nancy “Jeannie” Gardner made chocolate crinkles that gave everyone a sweet taste.

One of the highlights of the evening was about forty minutes of Lenny and top reet music DJ Drew Redmond spinning 45s from the Fortune Records catalog. That was a gas and a half! There was a fellow who brought an album by the Flat Duo Jets (issued on Norton) that he said changed his life, so a track was played. With a photo of Billy in the DJ booth, his presence was definitely felt, and one can only hope that he would have enjoyed this little tribute to him. A larger, official memorial is being planned for the spring and we hope that all the Boogaloo Bag readers will be able to attend.

Billy Miller was a major force on the reet music scene, here in New York City, as well as around the world. To give you just an idea of how great of a force he was we can tell you that no less than ten WFMU DJs presented tributes to him on their respective shows in the immediate days after his passing.

Even more than being such a music impresario, Billy was a great friend and one of the most wonderful human beings that anyone will ever meet. The world cannot afford to lose people like him—especially in these trying times. His absence is going to leave a significant hole in our soul forever. Nearly every one of Phast Phreddie’s DJ gigs are spiced with records that are connected to  Billy in some way, and in the future they will evoke a special poignancy and reflection.

Here is a list of all of the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the WHAM-O WATUSI tribute to Billy Miller:

• The Nite Sounds–Cheese Cake (Fortune)
• Bobby Fuller–Stringer (Todd)
• The Guitar Ramblers–Surf Beat (Columbia)
• The Bell Notes–I’ve Had It (Time)
• Hasil Adkins–Don’t Start Cryin’ Now (Norton)
• The Rivieras–Let’s Have a Party (Riviera)
• Rick & the Ravens featuring Ray Daniels–Henrietta (Aura)
• The Fleshtones–Soul Struttin’ (alternate version) (Get Hip)
• Andre ‘Mr. Rhythm’ Williams with the El Dorados–Daddy Rollling Stone (Norton)
• Jerry Dallman and the Knightcaps–The Bug (Punch)
• Fantastic Dee-Jays–Fight Fire (Tri Power)
• The Fire Escape–Love Special Delivery (GNP Crescendo)
• Paul Revere and the Raiders–Him Or Me – What’s It Gonna Be? (Columbia)
• Randy Fuller–It’s Love Come What May (Show Town)
• Link Wray & the Ray Men–Fat Back (Norton)
• Joel Hill–I Thought It Over (Trans American)
• Dale Hawkins–Number Nine Train (Norton)
• Larry Williams–She Said ‘Yeah’ (Specialty)
• The Zantees–Rockin’ in the House (Little Ricky)
• Flamin’ Groovies–Slow Death (United Artists; UK)
• The 5.6.7.8’s–19th Nervous Breakdown (Norton)
• The Sonics–Don’t Believe in Christmas (Norton)
• The Elite–One Potato (Charay)
• Paul Revere and the Raiders–Oo Poo Pah Doo (Columbia)
• Nathaniel Mayer and His Fabulous Twilights–Work It Out (Fortune)
• Gino Washington–Gino Is a Coward (Ric-Tic)
• The Girlfriends–My One and Only Jimmy Boy (Colpix)
• Frankie Olvera–Huggie’s Bunnies (N.R.M.)
• Eddie Kirk–The Grunt (Fortune)
• The Artesians–Tick Bag (Norton)
• The Iguanas–Mona (Forte)
• Lyres–Security (Norton)
• The American Four–Luci Baines (Selma)
• The Primitives–The Ostrich (Pickwick)
• The Other Half–Mr. Pharmacist (G.N.P. Crescendo)
• Fax–I Can Only Give You Everything (Trans-Action)
• The Shangri-Las–Sophisticated Boom Boom (Red Bird)
• Randy Fuller–Wolfman (Mustang)
• The Saxons–Camel Walk (Part One) (Sho-Biz)
• The Shangri-Las–Give Him a Great Big Kiss (Red Bird)
• The Rivingtons–The Bird’s the Word (Liberty)
• Bunker Hill–Hide & Go Seek Part I (Mala)
• Lacy Gibson–I Am Gonna’ Unmask the Batman (Repetto)
• Rockin’ Robin Roberts–Louie Louie (Norton)
• Paul Revere & the Raiders–Louie – Go Home (Columbia)
• The Surfaris–Go Go Go for Louie’s Place (Decca)
• Linc Jeffries with the Missing Links–On the Rampage (Key)
• Paul Peek–The Rock-A-Round (National Recording Corp.)
• Rudy ‘Tutti’ Grayzell–Duck Tail (Starday)
• El Bandido–El Lobo Feroz (The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin) (Decca)
• Les Missiles–Ring Dang Dou (Ring Dang Doo) (Ducretet Thomson; France)
• The Remains–Once Before (Epic)
• Unrelated Segments–Story of My Life (HBR)
• Godfrey–The Trip (Cee-Jam)
• The Chocolate Watchband–Sweet Young Thing (Uptown)
• The Shadows of Knight–Oh Yeah (Dunwich)
• Thee Midniters–Jump, Jive and Harmonize (Whittier)
• Les Rats–Wooly Bully (Fantastic; Canada)
• The Flamin’ Groovies–Teenage Head (Kama Sutra; UK)
• The Seeds–Pushin’ Too Hard (G.N.P. Crescendo)
• The Wailers–Out of Our Tree (Norton)
• The Sonics–Boss Hoss (Etiquette)
• The Animals–Inside-Looking Out (Decca; UK)
• The Royaltones–Flamingo Express (Goldisc)
• The Lollipop Shoppe–You Must Be a Witch (Uni)
• Miriam–My Love Has Gone (Norton)
• The Shangri-Las–Remember (Walking in the Sand) (Red Bird)

None of these records are for sale.