New Wave Days

(Album cover photo courtesy of Kelly Miltier)

Up to now, the 1960s rock scene in Hampton Roads was in some ways better documented that what happened here in the 1980s. It's strange, but some of the music recorded by local bands in the era just before CDs evaporated and hasn't be researched and reissued with the care of that from the garage/psychedelic era. Kelly Miltier and Pete Desnoyers are trying to change that. Miltier, who played bass in a group called the X-Raves, and his long-time friend Desnoyers are trying to organize a reunion of musicians and fans from the early punk and new wave scenes in the 1979-1985 era. They are also making a film documentary about the scene and a book of photographs from the era. It's all in the early stages, but Miltier -- who lives in Virginia Beach -- insists that lots of folks are getting excited and contributing to the project. "This thing hasn't just grown legs, it's sprouted wings and is flapping around," he told me. If you have music, photos, fliers or other memorabilia from that era, contact him at kelly@emc-co.com. "All media loaned will be digitized and a copy of it plus the originals will be returned promptly," Kelly promises.
They've already got some great stuff, including a copy of the 1980 Tidewater new wave compilation called "No Room to Dance" which featured songs from The X-Raves, The Noise, Rock Bottom, The Naros, Citizen 23, and Tango Storm. The scene apparently was centered not at clubs on Hampton Boulevard, but at the Taj Mahal and at the oceanfront. "My only hope is that somehow each band may benefit from this effort," Doug Keefer, who produced the LP, wrote in the original liner notes, "and that you, the listener, will enjoy it, and that the 'Taj' is remembered as the new wave club where it all began in Tidewater."