Reid Paley: Laughing in the face of life's unrelenting ugliness
In a town previously known for doo-wop and blues-based bar bands, Reid Paley came along in 1980 to help ignite a new scene with a four-piece band called The Five that could have become one of the era’s more formidable post-punk bands had anyone been paying attention to Pittsburgh.Paley was a Brooklyn-born singer who came here for college, and made his impact not only as the howling voice of The Five, but as catalyst in organizing the scene and being a thorn in the side of the elder bands.
In 1986, The Five picked up and moved to Boston, where it made one more album, before disbanding. During his stint there, Paley struck up a friendship with Black Francis (aka Frank Black) that has led to a handful of collaborations. Along with touring together, the Pixies frontman produced Paley’s 1999 debut, “Lucky’s Tune,” and their writing collaborations appeared on some of Black’s mid-’00s albums, including the song “I’m Not Dead (I’m in Pittsburgh),” which isn’t as insulting as it sounds.
In 2010, they hooked up for “Paley & Francis,” a raw, bluesy Americana record cut over two days in Nashville. Now, they're on tour together, playing a sold-out show at Club Cafe on Tuesday. Paley, who’s been back in Brooklyn since the early ‘90s, took time out this week to talk on a wide range of subjects.
What can people expect from this show — two solo sets and some overlap?
Who knows. We’ll see what happens. I’ll play, he’ll play. Maybe somewhere in there, something will happen, who knows. We’ll figure it out as we go along. We’ll work it out on the drive up the Hudson.
Take me back to when you guys first met. What that was like?
We were both playing the Boston rock club circuit. The first time or so, the Pixies opened up for us. It was a very long time ago, it was a very new band.
Do you see something right away?
Oh yeah, of course. They were a great band. They kind of offended certain people in the Boston rock scene, because it was a very strict garage-rock kind of thing, even back then. And The Five, we showed up in Boston, a bunch of guys with long hair, and some members had tattoos, and we were like Led Zeppelin compared to what was going on in Boston at the time. It was good, but it was all kind of garage-rocky. These were people who were used to playing in clubs with nice PAs and lighting systems and we were Troglodytes from Pittsburgh by comparison.
Where were you on the afternoon of Jan. 31?
Green Day is the Best Punk Rock Band of All Time ... Yes, Green Day.