“We never formally saidwe’re through,” says guitarist Terry Tanger. “We all had other projects and didother things, but we never hated each other. Whenever any of our fans put a gigtogether for us, we’ll play it.”
Those XCleavers willperform Saturday, April 17, at Shank Hall. The first 150 customers will receivea free copy of the band’s newly pressed CD, a live set recorded in 1996 atShank. The Cleavers were among the earliest local bands to see the future inmusic videos; a selection of their videos will be screened between sets. Backwhen band posters covered every phone pole on the East Side, the Cleavers commissioned some of the city’s finest graphicdesigners, including Bob Solem and Neil Mickey, to execute fliers. Many ofthose visually dynamic posters will be on display. An added bonus: XCleaversbassist Tom Lesions will open the concert at 8 p.m. with a short solo set fromhis new CD, Me, My Songs and Beer.
In reviewing their peakyears in the ’80s, Lesions recalls opening for U2’s first U.S. tour at Merlyn’s in Madison and for The Police at their swan-songtour at the Milwaukee Arena.
“That was bittersweet,”he says of opening for The Police. “It was their last date on the tour andeveryone arrived in separate limousines.”
The XCleavers alsoreceived a rejection letter from legendary music mogul Clive Davis. “The thingwe thought was our strong point, that we played rock and ska, he considered tooscattered,” Lesions says. It was, ‘Choose a genre and get back to us.’”
“The ’80s started outgreat,” Tanger adds. “Think about the [Milwaukeealternative club] the Starship: Every band in that scene was unique, edgy andarty in its own way. By the mid-’80s it became a formula. We always wrote andplayed our songs the way we wanted. We didn’t want to sell out…”
“But we were accused ofselling out when we were on the radio,” Lesions notes.
Although they have spentmore time in recent years on their own projects, including Lesions’ acousticact Mr. Wrong and Tanger’s reggae band King Solomon, the XCleavers’ set atShank Hall will include some new songs along with many old favorites.
“The coolest thing aboutthe early ’80s,” Tanger concludes, “was all that creativity. There weren’t anyrules yetit was just fun to be part of it.”
