“I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph”
I was sitting on the couch watching TV with my family when Uncle Roy called. It was after 9pm, so I knew that whatever he was calling about, had to be important. When he told me the news, I was in complete shock. The flood of memories came rushing back to me. If you will indulge me for just a moment, I’d like to share some of the memories with you.
Not My photo but THEE best Christmas card I ever got
Rick Allan & The Upsetters mid-1990’s
(L-R) Jeff Pancoast, Roy Fisher, Rick Allen, Rick Strictler (as Santa), Rick Toy (in door) “Rev” Al Kleinschmidt (sitting and spitting)
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I was 17 years old, a junior in high school. I played drums but could never quite get into a band. My tastes were very limited at the time. Guns N’ Roses-ish rock music and early Aerosmith albums. It was Uncle Roy that opened my mind up to a much broader taste. He led by example. He didn’t just give me music to listen to, he showed me what it felt like to EXPERIENCE the music.
That summer, I began “working” for his band, Rick Allen & The Upsetters. I was too young to get into the clubs so, they said if I helped load and unload equipment, owners would not say anything because I was with the band. It was an opportunity that I will never forget. The Upsetters had put out a cassette tape of original songs couple of years before and I had studied it. By the time I began working for them, lead guitarist and vocalist Rick Scott had left the band and was replaced by this new guy. When I first met him, he wore a baret, he had long hair, a mustache, a guitar pick earing that he had made himself, a pair of sunglasses and a vibe. He looked like the coolest guy on the stage. This was the Legend of Rick Toy.
Rick didn’t just play the music, he FELT it. If you ever had the pleasure to watch him play, it was undeniable that every note he played flowed through him, down into his fingers and into his guitar. During many warmups before a show started, he would be standing on stage with his guitar strapped on and we’d talk about a songs and BAM he would just start playing it. His enthusiasm for music and how it was played never failed to show. He literally lit up when talking about it. When He came to jam with our little family band The Tuesday Knights, I’d watch him work and figure a song out on the spot. I had never seen someone pick it out so quickly. Like most people talk with their hands, Rick’s guitars were extra limbs which he used to express himself. And believe me, we heard him loud and clear!
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There were some shows that we did that I will never forget. We did shows that were in bars packed full of people and then there were the shows at The Speak Easy in Upper Darby that were paid rehearsals. Those may have been my favorite because the band played things that never made it into the regular set list. Rick Allen would start the second set then hand the stage to the band and let them take over to show just how good they were. It was as if Rick Allen was proudly showing off his band. Rick Toy would do songs I had never heard of before like “Beck's Bolero”, “Switchboard Susan”, and “Waterloo Sunset”. I have since found the originals, and they can’t compare to what he did with them. I was always so excited to watch Rick go into his solos that I’d call out for his songs. I would be sitting in the Speak Easy with only a handful of friends that came out and scream at the top of my lungs “CROSSROADS”. The late, great Biker Billy Serviolo and I would stand at end of the bar watching him play. At certain moments, we’d look at each other. One or both of us would hold our hand inches from our forearm signaling that Rick Toy was playing so great that it would make the hair on your arm stand up.
Rick Allen & The Upsetters were hired to play a wedding one time and it was an odd room, sound wise. The band were in the middle of a set. Between songs, it was announced that they were cutting the cake in another room. As the band launched into “White Room”, the room cleared out. I was talking to Rick Toy after the set about that and he turned to me and said “it was like a fart in an elevator”.
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On stage at Katmandu in Philadelphia Late 1990’s
playing “Manic Depression” behind his back
Then there was the time we played at Katmandu in Philadelphia. It was the hottest day of the year. The stage was built to look like it was in a volcano. There was no ventilation and all the heat was trapped into the stage. Rick kept telling me how he thought he was going to melt. On the other end of the spectrum, we once played a Toys-For-Tots benefit... in December... on an outdoor stage... in the middle of a parking lot... in South Philly. Rick said it was so cold, he thought his fingers would freeze off. Then when the motor cycles all started up, he said the fumes hit him at once and he thought he’d pass out. I remember us recounting these stories and he told them in the animated way that only he could with that giant smile on his face. Whether the stage was big or small, Rick Toy never failed to bring his best. I don’t think he ever viewed it as a gig or a job. He was just there and this is just what he DID. You put a guitar in his hand and just WATCH the magic happen.
After discovering this deep-cut classic rock music with the band, I would go and find the originals so that I could learn to play the songs as too. It wasn’t long until I was honored to take the stage myself and play “Crossroads” with them. It always amazed me what that man could do with a guitar. Watching him play “Manic Depression” was the ultimate in showmanship as he would channel his inner Jimmi Hendrix by playing behind his head, then he would play behind his back and to top it all off, he would play with his teeth.
“PLAY WITH YOUR TEETH MAN!! WHAT THE F**K!!”
As a wise man once said:
For me personally, this is what launched him into the Legendary status he earned from anyone who saw him play. In 1999, he became a founding member of The Road Dogs along with “Rev.” Al Kleinschmidt, Jeff Pancoast and Roy Fisher. Rick’s abilities only increased as they released their first and only album, “Songs About Love And Exhaustion”. His brilliance showed on cuts such as “Easy Circle”, “Whole Lotta Stuff” and “Kinnakeet Shores”. His shining moment on that album was the song he co-wrote with Roy, “Non-Stop Life”, a mashup of lyrics that reflect how chaotic life can get. A massively popular part of The Road Dogs shows would always be the unique version of “A Day In The Life” where he used his guitar to sing the lyrics. That is when you could see the transformation before your eyes where Rick went to that place that only he knew about. In that moment, there was no one else around, and he would express himself as openly as he ever could. Nothing shows just how amazing he was quite like this.
When Hollywood Dan and I began hanging out seeing other bands around the area, Rick Toy was the guitarist to measure all others by. One would say about a guitarist “he’s ok, but he’s no Rick Toy” to which the other would reply “yeah well who is?”. It was just a known fact that no one could ever come close to the genius that was Rick Toy.
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With Hollywood Dan after a show at Nick’s Roast Beef
