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TROY — The Fleshtones may be the band you never heard of, but it’s been at it for a long time.
The garage rock band returns to Troy to play the Hangar on the Hudson on Saturday, Oct. 27, starting at 3 p.m. It’s a Halloween show featured by radioradiox.com that also showcases the acts of Knock Your Self Out, Blackcat Elliott and The Lawn Sausages.
The Fleshtones is the first act to open Irving Plaza, it was the last rock band to play Windows on the World in 2001. The band’s collective, campy attitude could be encapsulated by a two-minute segment off of Warhol’s MTV show, “Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes,” where the band played background music to actor Ian McKellan reciting William Shakespeare. Keith Streng, Peter Zaremba, Bill Milhizer and Ken Fox (who joined in 1990) have played together for more than 25 years.
The Fleshtones emerged from an edgy music scene centered in New York’s Bowery that revolted against the commercialized disco dance craze. The band played at CBGBs, Max’s Kansas City and The Mudd Club, a holy trinity that provided a haven to a burgeoning new subgenre of rock.
The garage band sound exploded in popularity after 1980, drawing a demand in both the United States and Europe for New York City bands. The Fleshtones found itself sharing time with Brian Setzer’s Stray Cats and Shane MacGowan’s The Pogues. It was also at this time when the band appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, and in the British punk concert film “Urgh! A Music War.” In 1984, “American Beat” was featured on the soundtrack the Tom Hank’s comedy “Bachelor Party.”
Milhizer, the band’s drummer, is a longtime resident of Troy.
“Yeah, I’m from Pawling Avenue,” he said with a smile. “I’m in a band, you probably never heard of. We’ve been at it a long time.”
Tickets cost $15 each. For tickets and information, visit radioradiox.com.
The Hangar on the Hudson is located at 675 River St. in Troy.
