Tuff Luck
Tommy Frenzy is back.
Those in direct marketing know Frenzy by another name, Tom McCulloh, senior account manager with healthcare database firm SK&A Information Services. But aficionados of late ’70s/early ’80s punk know him as the lead singer of the band Tuff Darts.
The band recently released two new CDs: “Sweetheart,” a collection of early demo tapes, and “You Can’t Keep a Good Band Down,” their first new album in nearly 30 years.
The CDs are produced by Tokyo-based Captain Trip Records, a label suggested to McCulloh by a fellow session musician.
It’s been interesting working with a Japanese label, he says. “We’ve never spoken by phone, just e-mail. And they paid us up front by PayPal.”
Only 1,000 copies of each disc were pressed for the first run; a second is under way. If it sells, the band may do a few club dates in Japan.
McCulloh did the jacket design for both CDs. (“That’s why my picture is on both of them,” he joked. “It’s all about me.”) He also e-mailed the lyrics to Japan so they could be translated for the liner notes. Is he certain they’ll be interpreted correctly? “I have no idea what they say,” he says, adding that he may ask someone at a local sushi restaurant to check their accuracy.
Meanwhile, another McCulloh tune is on a U.K. compilation album due this summer, and his song “The Ghoul I Love” will be featured on a Halloween CD in the fall. One of his other bands, the Nixie Chicks (featuring ALC’s Bruce Hammer) may even play at a DMA event or two.
McCulloh says he’s enjoying this musical resurgence. “When you don’t count on it and you don’t kill for it, it’s a lot of fun.” For more information, visit www.myspace.com/tommyfrenzy.
