When Dee got a black eye during a gig from a waitress at Mama Aglione's restaurant over the affections of the owner, it seemed like a good time to look for other opportunities.

I was playing with the late Providence songwriter Steve Dubois in a band called the Fruit Hill Thrusters when I got a call from John Andrews, who was in the process of retooling his swing band, Johnny & the Luncheonettes, into an original pop/new wave band called the Mundanes. I was the last member to join, and we debuted in April 1979.

The Mundanes was a smart, melodic, punchy band playing high-caliber original material, by far the best band I had been in, and we hit the scene with a bang. We won the first statewide WBRU Rock Hunt and shared bills with Talking Heads, the Ramones, B-52's, Joe Jackson, David Johansen and NRBQ, among many others. The band gigged constantly throughout New England for the next two years and put out a single that got strong airplay in Boston and Providence. We also made several appearances on Boston TV.

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