Hi, I’m Thom Drewke. I was the second “Technical Director†(read: non-Union rock ‘n roll house electrician and resident techie) in the 1970s for Howard Stein, at the Academy of Music. My predecessor was Mike Zasuly. Howard had made a deal with (I think) United Artists, a deal with the Teamsters, and a deal with the IATSE stagehand’s union, in order to be able to produce rock shows there, but for some reason no one from any of those unions really wanted to work with the long-haired hippy freaks who arrived with sound systems, lighting systems (both small by today’s standards) and bizarre special effects like confetti canons. So it was pretty much my problem, to get these visiting crazies hooked up to whatever power we could. Some bands required a rental generator to be parked outside backstage on 13th street.
We had one hell of a time the night they recorded Lou Reed’s “Rock'n Roll Animal.”
I ultimately left for greener pastures at John Scher’s Capitol Theatre in “beautiful downtown Passaic New Jersey.†But I remember my time at the Academy fondly.
How is that list coming along, of all the bands that played there at the Academy in the 70s?
Hi, I’m Thom Drewke. I was the second “Technical Director†(read: non-Union rock ‘n roll house electrician and resident techie) in the 1970s for Howard Stein, at the Academy of Music. My predecessor was Mike Zasuly. Howard had made a deal with (I think) United Artists, a deal with the Teamsters, and a deal with the IATSE stagehand’s union, in order to be able to produce rock shows there, but for some reason no one from any of those unions really wanted to work with the long-haired hippy freaks who arrived with sound systems, lighting systems (both small by today’s standards) and bizarre special effects like confetti canons. So it was pretty much my problem, to get these visiting crazies hooked up to whatever power we could. Some bands required a rental generator to be parked outside backstage on 13th street.
We had one hell of a time the night they recorded Lou Reed’s “Rock'n Roll Animal.”
I ultimately left for greener pastures at John Scher’s Capitol Theatre in “beautiful downtown Passaic New Jersey.†But I remember my time at the Academy fondly.
How is that list coming along, of all the bands that played there at the Academy in the 70s?
Thom Drewke
NBC Universal