Jerome Brish, Milwaukee Punk Rock Legend

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Photo courtesy Guy Hoffman

The Haskels circa 1978

The Haskels circa 1978

In the 1970s new wave and punk rock music from bands like the New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Iggy Pop and the Ramones came west to Milwaukee. One of the first disciples of pop music’s new direction was Jerome Brish, a teenager from Cudahy. His life was unstable in the formative years, and he never knew his father. His mother came and went, leaving Brish to be raised by his maternal grandmother. He left home at age 16 and came to Milwaukee, determined to become a professional musician.

He formed Marilyn, a glam rock band that later became In a Hot Coma. That group included drummer Guy Hoffman, vocalist and bassist Richard LaValliere and his brother, guitarist Gerard LaValliere. Vocalist Jill Kossoris left In a Hot Coma at age 16 to form The Shivvers, a power pop with songs inspired by The Raspberries and Bryan Ferry. Brish (who eventually called himself Presley Haskel) also started a new band with Hoffman and the LaValliere brothers called The Haskels. More than a dozen bands were already writing new wave and punk rock songs. Within a year The Haskels were popular at East Side music venues such as Damien Zak’s nightclub at Humboldt and North Avenues. They were a high energy band that delivered great music while not taking themselves too seriously.

“We don’t just sing about being good boys. We are,” said Brish. “I go out of my way to help old people across the street.”

But it was already clear to bandmates and friends that two Presleys fought for control of one body. The kind-hearted Dr. Jekyll who looked out for seniors and mentored young musicians could become Mr. Hyde in the blink of an eye. Brish’s arrogant alter-ego pushed many people away, making it hard to be his friend or collaborator. He battled his demons with self-destructive behavior and lots of alcohol.  The ‘live life to the hilt’ concept is my concept”, he once said. Hoffman and the LaValliere brothers realized that the music created by The Haskels was worth weathering Brish’s storm.

Judy Simonds, a 17-year-old art student was dating Richard LaValliere at the time. “I loved Presley but sometimes I loathed him,” she said.  “I thought he was both hilarious and obnoxious.”  “He was ambitious and desperate to ‘make it,’” said a fellow musician. “That was apparent to most of us.” During a newspaper interview Brish said he was angry at the direction contemporary society seemed to be heading. “I don’t know how to control my feelings about that,” he said. I’m unable to deal with it.” The reporter noted that Brish was polite and articulate at all times during the interview. He may have expressed his societal frustration with songs like “Taking the City by Storm.”  

Master of Self-Promotion

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Photo courtesy of Larry Widen

Haskels flyer

A flyer for The Haskels

Saxophonist Caleb Lentzner said that despite his flaws, Brish was a master of self-promotion and that he knew how to get his name in the newspapers. Brish contributed to the start-up costs for a new an East Side music newspaper called X-Press, which grew into Express before merging with the Crazy Shepherd to became the Shepherd Express. In 1977 Presley and a member of the Lubricants band convinced nightclub impresario Damien Zak to book The Haskels and Lubricants on alternate weekends. Zak was doing well with blues and rock bands, but he noted that audiences who came to see the punk bands danced all night and perhaps spent more money at the bar. “Presley was a major catalyst for enlarging the music scene at that time,” said a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “He convinced club owners to take a chance on The Blackholes, Orbits, Plasticland and other bands that played original music.”

In February 1980, Brish and Zak publicly clashed over money, particularly the Haskels’ fees. Zak called him “a moderately talented musician” who no longer drew crowds to the club. Banned from entering Zak’s nightclub. Brish suggested bringing a dozen of Zak’s bands to perform at an emerging Downtown club, The Starship. Starship owner Ken Baldwin was threatened with physical harm and substantial damage to his club if he continued to work with The Haskels. A 1979 Fiat, belonging to Brish’s wife Suzette was destroyed in a fiery explosion outside their Franklin Place home. Then the van used to haul the band’s gear from one gig to another was burglarized. Oddly only an old tape recorder was missing, while money in the front seat went untouched. “It was almost like someone was telling us they could get to us any time,” Suzette said. 

Guy Hoffman and Richard LaValliere left The Haskels to form the Oil Tasters, an innovative band that included Caleb Lentzner on saxophone. “The sparkle went out of the Haskels,” said LaValliere. “We had a desire to try something different.” “All scenes shed their skins,” Brish said. “Philosophically and culturally The Haskels will continue with a different line-up.” He rebuilt the band with Bobby (Mitchell) Haskel and Vodie (Rhinehardt) Haskel. Original Haskels member Gerald LaValliere remained in the group.   

Dropping the Alias

By 1990, Brish seemed to have his demons under control and was writing and performing music closer to Prince or Hall & Oates. The Presley Haskel alias was dropped, and he became Jerome Brish again. “I want to be a ‘today musician,’” he said. “I don’t want to isolate myself playing my old records. I don’t want to play yesterday’s music.” Brish said getting his life in order and moving past his behavioral flaws helped him to see how he alienated people around him. “I chased a lot of people away in those days,” he said. “I’ve learned that you don’t have to be self-destructive to be creative.” He began playing in bands such as Invisible Babylon and Wilderness of Pain.

In May 1991 British was walking near Humboldt and Brady Street late at night when he got into a shouting match with a belligerent carload of teenagers. No one knows what insults were hurled back-and-forth but a 15-year-old in the group punched Brish in the face several times, knocking him to the ground. As the perpetrators sped off, someone overheard the words, “My knuckles are bleeding.”

Brish’s head had smashed hard against the concrete, and he lay unconscious until someone called an ambulance. The injuries to Brish’s brain were severe and the Froedtert Memorial hospital physicians were unable to stem the internal hemorrhaging. He died several hours later.

Aided by anonymous tips, police arrested individuals thought to be part of Brish’s murder. A 15-year-old male was convicted of homicide, but his sentence was reduced to assault, and he was remanded to a juvenile reform facility. “I was angry about the way Jerome died. It was a senseless crime, and it happened close to our flat,” said Judy Simonds in 1991. “I honored him with a public rally called Safe Streets for a Safe Future,” she said. More than 300 marchers attended along with members of the Peace Action Center and the Milwaukee Police Department. The crowd marched peacefully through the Brady Street neighborhood carrying lighted candles. “Some of Jerome’s bandmates led the march and played guitars while everyone sang peace songs,” Simonds said.

She and her boyfriend Douglas Lavalliere already had plans to relocate in Austin, Texas, when she got physical threats from the killer’s parents. “That was a very scary time for me, she said.  “I couldn’t wait to leave town.”

In 2012 Simonds, Lavalliere and Milwaukee musician Clancy Carroll began pre-production work on Taking the City by Storm: The Birth of Milwaukee's Punk Scene, a documentary film that focused on the city’s music scene from the 1970s and early ‘80s. The trio spent years amassing photos, decaying super-8 film clips, television videotapes, handbills, posters and rare recordings made by many of the era’s bands. They also filmed 80 contemporary interviews that captured the memories of people who were there. The final clips were culled from 45 hours of tape and assembled into a linear narrative that accompanied visuals of the rare ephemera they had gathered.

In 1978-’79, Jerome Brish, a.k.a. Presley Haskel, was the city’s musical godfather and he wore the mantle well. A growing fan base loved his stage presence and ability to transform words and phrases into original song lyrics.

“I will be the only survivor of every [music] scene”, he said. “I have a right. I was there from the beginning.”. Jerome Brish aka Presley Haskel died in 1991 at the age of 39.

Partial List of The Haskels Shows

1977

• Zak's (May 27 & 28, 1977)

1978

• Brady Street Festival (date unknown)
• Summerfest Peaches Rock Stage (July 7, 1978)
• Zak's (July 21 & 22, 1978)
• Fantasy's (August 24, 1978)
• Free City Music (August 24, 1978) Alternate Site
• Oriental theater (October 31, 1978)
• Zak's (December 8-9, 1978)

1979

• Zak's (March 9-10, 1979)
• Harlow's (Chicago, March 18, 1979)
• Zak's (March 30-31, 1979)
• The Pub (Madison, April 5, 1979)
• Paradise theater The Pub (April 21, 1979)
• The Palms (May 18, 1979)
• Zak's (June 29 & 30, 1979)
• Summerfest Rock Stage (July 1, 1979)
• Summerfest (July 5, 1979) opened for John Hiatt
• UWM Union (August 3-4, 1979)
• Free City Music (August 19, 1979) Alternate Site
• Bruno’s Crystal Palace (August 31, 1979)
• Oriental theater (Nov 19, 1979) opened for Iggy Pop

1980

• Zak's (January 24-26, 1980)
• Bogart’s (July 18 & 19, 1980)
• Starship (September 19 & 20, 1980)
• Metropole (December 19 (aka Miramar Theater.)

1990

• Shank Hall (reunion performance)

Thanks to Ron Faiola, Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee Sentinel, Guy Hoffman and concertarchives.org for the Haskels’ performance dates and venues.