The
Rock City Angels were another popular Florida band that moved to LA in
the mid 80's. Johnny was the rhythm guitarist in the band for
about 4-6
months in 1986 and continued to sit in with them for about a year.
The Rock City Angels
began as The
Abusers in South Florida, with members Bobby Durango (aka Bobby Bondage
aka Bobby St. Valentine) and Andy Panik among others. They
played
punk rock and opened for bands like Black Flag and the Circle Jerks,
and eventually developed into more of a glam band and changed their
name to Rock City Angels. According to a 2007
interview with Andy
Panik, the lineup of Bobby, Andy, Jimmy James, Punkee Stevens
and Jack
Smack moved to LA on June 20, 1986. Drummer Punkee Stevens
quit
the band 3 days after the move and then joined Johnny Crash,
and Jackie
D.
("Ringo") Jukes replaced Stevens as drummer.
Soon after the move to LA, guitarists
Jimmy James
and Jack Smack were fired, and Mike
Barnett (aka Mike Angel) joined the band. Because they had
always
been a two guitar band, another guitarist was needed, and Mike's good
friend Johnny Depp
became their rhythm guitarist. Johnny had just returned from
filming Platoon in The Philippines. It was evident from the
start
that Johnny would make the band; Andy Panik recalls Johnny learning an
entire 12 song set during a rehearsal in which he was auditioning.
To this day, Panik describes the lineup of Durango, Panik,
Jukes,
Barnett and Depp to be the "quintessential" RCA lineup.
Johnny
has described the band as "a cross between Muddy Waters and the Sex
Pistols", and
their site describes them as "an exciting mixture of punk-inspired
glam-rock." According to Andy Panik in a 2009 interview, Johnny
only ever recorded one song with the band in the studio for what would
have been the band's glam album. Johnny had to quit the RCA when
he
agreed to do
the 21 Jump Street
Fox TV series, and was replaced by Doug Banx. Taping for Jump Street
began in Vancouver in December of 1986, but since Johnny was not an
original cast member it's not certain if he moved to Vancouver this
early. However, by most accounts, Johnny continued to play
with
the RCA on occasion, even after getting the Jump Street role,
through about the summer of 1987. Panik recalls Nic Cage and
Sal Jenco sometimes sitting in, as well. Some live gigs
featuring Johnny that have been recalled
by Jukes, Durango and Panik include:
Three to
four shows at the Lingerie Club
A street
fair for the homeless at Thanksgiving, presumably in 1986
A festival
in Oxnard, CA
A show at
the Scream Club on Valentine's Day 1987, opening for Jane's Addiction (This
Jane's
Addiction
website confirms the show).
A show at
the White Trash au Go-Go on July 3 or 4, 1987.
At one point,
Mike Barnett got in an ugly confrontation with Bobby Durango.
This, in combination with alleged drug use and many missed
rehearsals and sessions on Barnett's part, led to his firing from the
band. According to Panik, Johnny has not been in contact with
any
of the band members since Barnett was kicked out. Mike Barnes then
joined the RCA as another guitarist.
In May of 1987,
the Rock City Angels were offered a huge
record deal from Geffen records, and sent to Tennessee to prepare their
debut CD, Young Man's Blues. The album, recorded in Memphis
from
Nov. 1987 to Apr. 1988, was released in 1988 by Geffen, and was
re-released by Gott Records in 2005. The album features
one song, Mary, in which Johnny co-wrote the music. The band lineup
consisted of:
Bobby
Durango - vocals
Mike Barnes
- guitar
Doug Banx -
guitar
Andy Panik
- bass
Jackie D.
Jukes - drums
But they were dropped from the record
label a few
years
later. The story of the breakup and the theories about why
Geffen
dropped them are strange tales indeed, and would best be served by
reading the stories yourselves, in the 2006 American Music Press and
2003
Ringo/Bobby interviews that are linked below.
Ringo
Jukes is a significant contributor to theDo It For Johnnydocumentary,
that had its world premiere at the 22nd Santa Barbara International
Film Festival on Jan. 28, 2007.
The
film also had a screening at the Bug Theatre in Denver and additional
film festival screenings throughout '07. Four Rock City
Angels
songs are said to be featured, including Johnny's cowriting effort,
Mary.
In 2008, Bobby
Durango and Ringo Jukes completed the long-unfinished RCA album,
Use Once And Destroy, for release. It can be purchased from CD Baby. They have also recently played some unplugged shows
at
the Tap Room on
Beale Street in Memphis. Finally, Ringo played drums on a
recent
release by Elam McKnight called Supa Good. The music is said
to
be hardcore punk/blues, and was originally going to be used for the
film Black Snake Moan. Young
Man's Blues was ranked at #106 in
Chuck
Eddy's book "Stairway To
Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe."
biographer Randi
Reisfeld's account of Johnny's stint in the Rock City Angels:
(thanks Maggy!)
and an earlier mention from the Florida days:
newHere's a mention from the April 1989 issue of 16 magazine, which tells
about Johnny's involvement with the band, as well as his contribution
of the music to the song, Mary:
Some more magazine blurbs,
interviews and other RCA links:
2006 Life Story: Johnny Depp blurb that
somehow manages to mangle the difference between an album name (Young
Man's Blues) and a band name (Rock City Angels). Oh well!
Bobby
Durango does an exclusive interview with the Spanish music magazine,
"This Is Rock", in the February 2007 issue. (This is a
Spanish
language
magazine).
The original transcript in English of Bobby's replies to "This Is
Rock"'s questions for the interview, was compiled by Cat of Gold Coast
Live. The link to this translation has been broken; if anyone has
saved it, please contact me so that I can restore it!
Cover scans, Mary lyrics, and Liner Notes to the
2005 re-release of Young Man's Blues (click to
enlarge)
Scans of pre-Johnny Depp Self-Titled CD aka "The Glam Album"
(originally recorded in1984
with additional recording done in 1986; released on New Renaissance
Records in 2000)
Ads for the Valentine's Day 1987 Scream Club show
Some other cool RCA-related pix
(click to enlarge)
Lyrics To Mary
The Fontenoy, where Johnny and
several band members lived
From "Johnny Depp:
An Illustrated Story"
Club Lingerie
The Rock City Angels played here!
Barney's Beanery
popular haunt of the RCA
Young Man's Blues-era
Rock City Angels
Have
any corrections or additions? Please Photos would be
especially appreciated!