Willie Alexander

Willie "Loco" Alexander is a rock & roll genius, a true original who kicked around from band to band for years before featuring his beautifully demented songs with the Boom Boom Band. Their 1978 debut album, Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, drew raves for its guts, humor and originality. The followup, "Meanwhile Back In The States," proves it was no fluke.

Alexander's credits include a short stint with the Velvet Underground when it was led by Doug Yule, who'd played with Willie in a Boston area band called Grass Menagerie. Before that Willie was in two other New England bands, the Lost and Bagatelle. How anyone can call somebody who's played in this many contexts "New Wave" is beyond comprehension, yet Alexander is constantly lumped in with the many punk rock groups that frequent the same bar circuit that nurtured him. This is a mistake, for Willie Alexander is a classic rocker, a walking oral history of great rock ideas of the last twenty years, and that's why his records are so interesting. Here's a better discography than Mystery Train could ever assemble.

Willie's newest release is entitled "The East Main Street Suite." Willie's oldest release we can find a picture of is entitled "Violet Gown" and was recorded by his band The Lost.

"Never mind that Willie Alexander's a Boston punk legend -- what's important is that he remains one of the more idiosyncratic, boundary-pushing musicians in town." Read the whole review of "The East Main Street Suite" in the Boston Phoenix.

Around Boston, Willie "Loco" Alexander is known as the Godfather of punk. His credentials practically mirror the history of rock and roll: He toured in a version of the seminal rock group the Velvet Underground, recorded for Capitol Records in the 1960's with his garage-band the Lost, then for MCA in the late 70's with his punk rock group the Boom Boom Band, and expanded his sound to include experimental jazz textures in releases throughout the '80's and '90's with the Persistence of Memory Orchestra." Read David Wildman's review in the Boston Globe.

 "A thirty-five years into his incredible rock n' roll journey, Willie Alexander could have one of those end of the Century lists devoted solely to himself. He played in the seminal garage band the Lost, psychedelic crew Bagatelle and the post Lou Reed Velvet Underground." Read Tristram Lazow in the Boston Herald.