Started as a lark, Blazer now creating a buzz
By Charles Cassady
happenings
Published March 22, 2006

When Richard Butler, of the classic 1980s band Psychedelic Furs, played the Agora in Cleveland last night, he wore a different - but fitting - garment as his opening act. Blazer.

This is a rock quartet made up of Bay Village natives Steve Bergala (bass guitar) and the Glenn brothers, Raymond (guitar) and Jay (keyboards, vocals), with Fairview Park’s Mikey Gould (drums). In a matter of months Blazer has garnered acclaim with their recording “The Last Wave” and a reputation as a group to watch.

“Jason, Steve, and Mikey have played around Cleveland in different bands for the last few years,” said Raymond. “Our musical backgrounds are varied and we love all types of different music.”

But it’s a particular 1980s sound - post-punk, melodious, with reverberating wall-of-sound guitars and moody vocals - that have become Blazer’s calling-card. “In the vein of bands like The Smiths, Joy Division, New Order, early U2, The Chameleons, The Police, and Depeche Mode,” said Glenn. “We would have loved to have played with any of those bands, or The Clash, in the early ‘80s.”

...Or Richard Butler of the Furs.

    “He wrote the song “Pretty In Pink” that inspired the John Hughes ‘80s movie of the same title. We have seen a lot of the bands from the ‘80s that didn’t break up when we were too young to see them.  We actually were influenced more by music before and after the ‘80s. But Blazer’s original concept was to explore the music filtering in our ears as little kids.  Pop songs you maybe didn’t ever buy the album for, but you knew the words by heart.”

Blazer began almost as a lark in the late spring of 2005. Raymond Glenn said he was teaching middle school in Virginia when he and brother Jason, who had performed in assort North Coast bands, wrote and recorded original concept songs in Raymond’s apartment “with no intention other than personal enjoyment.” Positive feedback from listeners and professionals convinced them to continue Blazer as a full-fledged group, so Raymond returned to Ohio. Blazer was officially launched in 2005, with the debut CD “The Last Wave” gaining acclaim far and wide.

“The songs are well-written and produced, and when all the elements come together, they’re beautiful,” raved the critic for SCENE Magazine.

Whence the group’s name? A reference to the Blue Blazers in the classic ‘80s cult sci-fi movie about an alien-fighting rock star, “Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension?

Not so, according to Raymond, it’s simply, “Blazer is a pleasurable word to say. It’s fun to whisper, yell, or pronounce with a French accent. Our only rule when we were selecting a band name was that `The’ didn’t preface it.”  

If you missed out on the Agora show, don’t despair. Blazer plays tonight, Friday and April 1 as part of the band lineup at the Hi Fi Club in Lakewood (11729 Detroit Ave.; phone (216) 521-8878).

    On April 6 the foursome returns to the Agora. “We are opening up for the band Hard-Fi. They are sure to be the next huge band from England and they already have a number-one song in the United Kingdom,” said Raymond Glenn. “Tickets are available from Ticketmaster, but even more important we really, really want people to buy the tickets straight from us instead. 

    “People can buy tickets on www.myspace.com/ blazermusic. The tickets are $12.50 and there is a “Buy Now” button on our page so people can use a credit card.  If people buy the Agora tickets directly from Blazer we are giving them a free copy of our CD.”

    Opening for a top British band also fits nicely into Blazer’s niche.

    “We do think the majority of good music in the ‘80s was coming from the U.K and Europe.  American music was focused on bad rock `hair bands.’ There were good American bands underground, but the stuff just from Manchester, England, alone in the early ‘80s was unparalleled.”

   “...At least MTV actually played music then, instead of brainwashing kids with these politically-correct mantras and fake `reality shows’ now.”