Reddy Teddy

The pride of Winchester, Massachusetts, the ‘70s protopunk foursome Reddy Teddy never quite broke through in the rock ‘n’ roll mainstream – despite a few major-label dalliances – but their high-octane sound, captured over a series of independently released 45s and one LP, made them Boston faves during their six-year run and they paved the way for numerous Beantown garage bands.

FORMATION, EARLY SINGLES, OPENING FOR AEROSMITH

Guitarist Matt McKenzie, vocalist John Morse, bassist Ted von Rosenvinge and drummer Joe Marino joined forces in early 1972 – McKenzie having cut his teeth gigging with Willie Alexander – and gained a reputation in the Boston suburbs as an act to be reckoned with. Scott Baerenwald joined in 1973 to replace the departing von Rosenvinge and the unsigned band recorded “Boys and Girls” and “Helping Hand” at Aengus Studios.

They caught one of their first big breaks when Aerosmith, who were tilling much the same sonic soil as Reddy Teddy, invited the quartet to open for them during their New England tour dates in fall 1973. They toyed with an offer from Mercury Records, cutting unreleased demos of “Teddy Boy” and “It’s Breaking Me Up” at Intermedia Sound Studios in Boston, but no deal ensued.

LATER SINGLES, DEBUT ALBUM, DISBANDING

A move to Boston in 1974 pulled them closer into the city’s rock orbit and party scene. After another round of failed overtures from Mercury, the band cut the single “Goo Goo Eyes” b/w “Novelty Shoes” on the local Flexible Records, which garnered the band steady airplay on WBCN and gigs at The Rathskeller in Kenmore Square. In 1976, they recorded a self-titled LP, co-produced by Willie Alexander and WBCN deejay Maxanne Sartori, and the band got a push when former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham took over managing duties. Despite some high-profile gigs, however, the band didn’t quite stand out in the increasingly crowded field of late-’70s guitar bands.

Reddy Teddy played its last gig in 1978, opening for Van Halen at the Paradise Rock Club. After the split, Baerenwald played with Robin Lane and The Chartbusters and McKenzie joined John Felice‘s band Taxi Boys and Nervous Eaters before returning to Alexander’s band. McKenzie passed away in 1988 after a car accident; his former Reddy Teddy bandmates played a tribute concert for him at the Paradise.

(by Stephen Haag)