The Bongos - Bulrushes

philm25

The Bongos - Bulrushes

Most of this was filmed at the Peppermint Lounge, NYC, 1982. Rob Norris on bass, Frank, Giannini drums, Richard Barone guitar, James Mastro guitar.



What was great about the early Bongos, to me anyway, was the extreme sense of spontaneity and recklessness onstage. There was no second-guessing. There was zero self-consciousness. Believe me when I tell you this. And, if I recall correctly, on the rare occasions that we rehearsed, we hardly ever played our own songs, focussing instead on covers that we may or may not perform in front of an audience. So, when the Bongos went on stage, it was always a new experience.

Phil Marino captured the essence of the early Bongos like no one else. He understood the sweet roughness. And because he could see it, he allowed us to. He showed us who we were.

The Bulrushes video is my favorite of the several we made. Instantly archival-looking, even new, it had the appearance of lost footage... like The Beatles at the Cavern Club. Besides the sense that Phil was documenting moments with the urgency of someone who knows they will never happen again - matching and complimenting our energy with his camerawork - the look and feel of this video was truly influential: Grainy, saturated Super-8 footage was simply not seen much in the early 80s, when the emphasis was on florescent colors, sharp edges, and and the false clarity of videotape. I got more than one phone call from other bands asking how we got that Super-8 effect in our new video. "We used Super-8," I would answer, in a tone that can only be described as... well... impish.

Phil may not have been trying to start a trend, but like all truly creative artists, he did, unintentionally, just by being himself. Just by not second-guessing, and with zero self-consciousness.

Richard Barone
June 20, 2008
New York City