The NY Citizens in "Zoot"

Over the weekend, I picked up a second copy of The NY Citizens' On the Move LP on eBay for about $11 (hey, I need a back-up in case something happens to my old one, you know they're not making these anymore)--this is not a release that you see too often for sale anywhere (the UK version of this album on Ska Records, Pounding the Pavement, is going for close to $120 on GEMM right now). This reminded me to exhume my "Zoot" skazines (put together by George Marshall who went on to publish "Skinhead Times") from the late 80s and early 90s, one of which contains one of the few articles on the NYCs that I've ever come across (click on the image at right to read George's piece on the band from "Zoot").

I actually reviewed On the Move for my college newspaper back in 1989 (gotta dig that out and post it here) and was surprised/thrilled to receive a letter of thanks from the band's guitarist (Dan Marotta), who happened to be going to my university's law school and caught the glowing review. At some point, I ran into him on campus and sheepishly introduced myself. Later that spring (May '89), The NY Citizens and Scofflaws (this was before their debut album was released--the only recording they had out was "Rudy's Back" on the Ska Face comp) played a gig with the Grip Weeds (power pop that didn't go over too well) at The Pyramid--an amazing show. Both The Citizens and The Scofflaws were on fire that afternoon--some of the best performances I've seen by either band. To give you a taste of what the NYC scene was back then, my friend and I were the only non-skinheads at the show (him in a boiler suit, me in a Toasters shirt and black jeans). Needless to say, we kept a low profile.

When the Citizens started playing, my friend and I worked our way up to just in front of the stage (a lot of the skins had come to see The Scofflaws that day and their ranks had thinned a bit by then). Sadly, I can remember skanking hard right in front of the guitarist, looking up trying to catch his eye--kind of a completely pathetic look-at-me-you-know-me-I'm-a-big-fan-of-the-band-you're-the-greatest moment. He must have thought I was a complete freak (sorry, man) and a little part of me dies every time I think about it. Definitely a low point in my ska fan boy-dom.