EddyD & the SexBombs are one of the most fun live experiences in Vancouver: they have a sense of showmanship and style; a sense of playfulness; and what seems a sincere love for vintage rock'n'roll, soul, and R&B, which they present live with a tongue-in-cheek cheekiness and a roomful of character(s). As skillful as they are, musically, it's not entirely a serious experience - and it has very little to do with punk rock, from which scene Eddy Dutchman hails - but it's very entertaining, as the videos for "Boom Boom" and "Lemon Squeeze" amply attest, sung by a typically leggy "ShowBiz" Shelley Preston (of Preston and Fletcher) and, uh, "bassed" by an atypically furry Bob Petterson, AKA Jelly Bean Beaudine, also of the Frank Frink Five. (While we are on the topic of lemons, a brief aside: what the hell do sex and lemons have in common, besides juices, anyhow? People have been squeezing their lemons until the juice runs down their legs since the days of Robert Johnson, but never once during sex have I USED lemon, THOUGHT of lemon, or WANTED lemon, nor have I seen genitals, male or female, that reminded me in terms of shape, colour, odour, flavour, or texture, of ANY citrus fruit. One of the weirdest metaphors in music history, if you ask me!).
EddyD & the SexBombs aren't just a fun live show, either; they released their second LP, Yikes!, in the midst of COVID. They didn't really get to support it with many shows at the time, but they have a new gig at LanaLou's on Saturday - a food bank benefit, too, so you can go check it out confident in the knowledge that the money will be going to a good place. (And speaking of food, if you haven't been to LanaLou's, they have some amazing items on the menu; last I was there, my go-to, the lamburger, seemed to have disappeared, but Lana's poutine is excellent, and she makes some sort of Jolly Rancher cocktail that is totally yummy, too).
Commence Eddy Dutchman interview (he was a gent and put a lot of work into making this read naturally, since he knew I had surgery recently, so this will follow mostly HIS formatting choices, not mine - I've tidied up a few things, but I sent him a block of questions and he basically took care of the rest!).
Let’s meet EddyD & the SexBombs! Left to right, using Gord's picture, above:Fletch: Guitar whiz, production guru, singer song writer, musical mastermind.
Eddy Dutchman: Guitar scoundrel, singer/ songwriter, band chauffeur.
Jelly Bean Beaudine: The boss at holding down the bottom end.
EDDY- Hey Al. Good to see you. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us and giving us an opportunity to push our up coming show. It’s a fundraiser for The Greater Vancouver Food Bank.
ALLAN: No problem Eddy. Glad I can help. We can talk about the food bank gig later. I was hoping to ask you a few questions about EddyD & the SexBombs. You guys have been around for quite a while now. Do I assume the Sex Bombs started with you and Jazzy wanting to make music together?
EDDY: Absolutely Al.
The opera was well received so we decided to milk it. With other players coming and going we did the Rock Opera a few more times until Jazzy and I realized this was fun.
We work well together and joined forces and started writing together expanding our musical direction.
She’s an amazing poet so the cross over to song writing was easy peasy.
That’s when EddyD & the SexBombs started to explode on the scene.
ALLAN: Can you give me a bit of history of the two of you?
EDDY: We are soul mates.
We have known each other since our twenties and here we are, still hanging around with each other. We’re a lot of things but most of all, we are really good friends. And we work well together.
We used to write funny songs for our amusement way before punk.
Here’s how I met her.
It was 1974. I was driving home to my dump in Kits and I picked up this chick hitchhiking on the downtown side of the Burrard St bridge. It was Jazzy but who knew what was to happen.
Unknown to me, she had also made numerous other dates that night with other guys.
I was infatuated with Jazzy so, the first thing the next day, I was the very first one to get to her place and off we went. Ha ha ha - too bad losers!
We did everything together and even raised a fabulous human being, our daughter (Hi Lyza!). We work well together and have fun doing so.
ALLAN: Wow. You guys have been together a long time. I realize you date back to the old-time Vancouver punk scene - does she?
EDDY: Oh yes. We would go to the Buddha, Windmill, Starfish Room, all the hall gigs. Yes, we went to all those shows together.
ALLAN: Do you and she "hear ear to ear" on most music, or do you have different tastes?
EDDY: Well. I guess we have more in common than not. She listens to heavy metal which does nothing for me and I like some country which makes her leave the room. But for the most part, we have very similar likes.
ALLAN: Are there things on the album that really reveal one or the other of you, in terms of your musical influences and inclinations?
EDDY: Well Allan, we have 2 CD’s out. Our first CD, Bombs Away, showcased a more individual song writing approach, with me writing more ballad type songs while Jazzy wrote more up beat songs, while on our second CD, Yikes!, there was more of a collaboration between Jazzy and myself.
Each song there, we both worked on together.
I guess if there were to be a comparison of our styles, I would say Jazzy is more Ramones-ish and I’m more Stones-ish.
People love labels so when I am asked about what kind of music does EddyD & the SexBombs play, I refer to it as original “retro rock.”
ALLAN: What was the order of people joining the SexBombs?
EDDY: Myself and Jazzy and Bob were there from beginning at the Rock Opera days.
Through the years this band has gone through some wild personal changes and Im not going to name everyone that has come and gone but I guess maybe five years ago Fletch (Scott Fletcher) and Show Biz Shelley (Shelley Preston) joined the band.
Jazzy and Shelley were friends outside of this band.
We had EddyD, and they had Preston and Fletcher.
We needed a guitar player and so Jazzy invited Shelley and Fletch to join the band which they did, and man are we lucky.
The newest member would be Tony Lee. We had a real tough time finding the right drummer. It’s the toughest piece to find.
So we got Tony on loan from The New Black and we bribed him with snacks and eventually he joined the band full time.
And that is the current and final line up. If anyone leaves the band now, the band folds since this is the perfect line up for us all.
ALLAN: So Preston and Fletcher were already performing as a duo before they joined up?
EDDY: Yes. They were performing as Preston and Fletcher while we had some version of EddyD & the SexBombs on the go. Shelley and Jazzy were friends before they joined EddyD and Scott had seen me in some other band where I did this bit where I would sing from the top of a ladder. So they knew about us and we knew about them. It ended up being a perfect fit. They are both so talented.
Actually the whole band is super talented.
EDDY- Yes they do. We encourage everyone to write as we believe it adds to the diversity of our music.
Fletch and Shelley have a very strong background in pop music and if you listened to either of the CDs you can hear their songs. Like on Bombs Away they wrote a beautiful James Bond-type spy song called “The Kiss Of Death.” And on Yikes! they wrote this great Bossa Nova type song called “Lemon Squeeze." They write such beautifully crafted songs.
ALLAN: Of course, Eddy. Tell us all about it.
EDDY: Thanks Al - like I mentioned earlier, it’s a fundraiser for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Always a good cause. And because of COVID and trying to minimize contact, we will ‘NOT’ be accepting actual food but only cash. We’re using the motto, ‘CASH IS KING’ and it is because for every dollar donated the Food Bank can get 3 dollars worth of food.
So it’s great value for everyone's donation.
Yes.
With costume changes.
Yes.
Entertainment for donations.
Anyways.
It’s on Saturday, October, 23rd at Lana Lou’s.
I should also mention that a Vaccination Passport will be required and we would like everyone to still practice COVID-preventative measures such as masks, social distancing and minimize table hopping.
So admission is by donation and we are hoping to raise $500.00 which will buy $1500.00 worth of food to feed some very hungry people. A great cause.
So come on out. [Eddy also points out on Facebook that the first set will be the songs from Bombs Away, with sunglasses and berets, and the second set will be the whole of Yikes!, in order, with the band in sparkly attire, because, as Jazzy reminds us, "There is no such thing as too much sparkly"]
Al, thank you very much and all our best. Not just from our band but all the other musicians and artists that you support - thanks.
ALLAN: you're very welcome, Eddy! And good luck with show.
Find more information about the gig here, and please folks - I'm still recoverin' from surgery, so a) don't get me talkin', and b) use what Eddy calls your "COVID common sense," and if you don't feel well, stay home!
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