February 2009
Spain was a blast! We love it. Every show was fun and all the audiences were
fabulous. I can't believe that videos were up on YouTube the day after the shows.
The schedule was a little tough, six shows in six days with about 1,600 miles of
driving but we took our vitamins and hung in there. The first and third shows were at a
200 capacity club in Madrid called The Wurlitzer Ballroom. It really reminded me of the clubs we would play at in the 70s punk days. The staff was super nice and the audiences were insane. They were singing along (loudly) to all of our songs. Wow. Thursday night was Barcelona at The Apolo2. It was packed and it was so great to see people there from our first trip to Spain six years ago. Friday we made the trip to Basque country and played to a great crowd at a really nice venue. Saturday was back to Madrid for a completely sold-out insane show. It was full punk rock. The next night we made it to Castellon for another sold-out concert at the Auditorio. It was a sweet venue with a fantastic over capacity crowd. On Monday night we did our last gig, a book release party at a tiny venue in Barcelona called The Electric Bar. The book is called Retratos Pop, it’s a compilation of Xavier Valiño’s interviews of many pop groups including, of course, The Rubinoos. Xavier was there and it was a raucous little party. Anyway, we’re back, alive and possibly even considering playing a show in LA. Muchas gracias España por el gran viaje!
December 2008
Yes it is confirmed. The Rubinoos will be playing five dates in Spain.February 4 - The Wurlitzer Ballroom - Madrid
February 5 - La2 Apolo - Barcelona
February 6 - Plateruena Kafe - Durango
February 7 - The Wurlitzer Ballroom - Madrid
February 8 - Auditorio - Castellon de PlanaBook your travel now!
November 2008
The last show of 2008 has been confirmed. Here are the details:Where: Diablo Valley College Performing Arts Center, 321 Golf Club Road,
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
When: Monday December 8th, 8:00 PM
Tickets: $10 in advance/ $13 at the door
Info: Box Office 925-687-4445 or call Glenn Appell at 925-685-1230 ext. 2510
July 2008
The Rubinoos go for tenure! Well, maybe teaching assistant. On July 31rst The
Rubinoos performed and had a Q & A at Glenn Appell's "History of R & B and Rock
& Roll" class at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, CA. "We're Rock and Roll
and we're certainly history" quipped Jon Rubin. The students were very enthusiastic after
wondering why people their parents' age were doing a sound check. The group played two short sets between which the guys fielded questions and Susie Davis and David Rokeach related stories from the annals of their tours with famous acts (Prince, Mick Jagger, Ray Charles, Mariah Carey, ect.). Thanks to David Rokeach and Glenn Appell for making this really fun evening happen!
June 2008
Thanks to all who attended The Great American Music Hall on June 21st to see
The Rubinoos show and a special shout out to the great staff at GAMH. The club
was SRO and everyone had a blast. The RaveUps, a Yardbirds tribute band who
opened the show, did one hell of a job of warming up the crowd. The Rubes then took the
stage for an hour and a half show which included two encores. The set contained some rarely heard deep cuts from several different albums including the first ever performance of the a cappella "Altamont", on which the band was joined by bass vocalist Charlie Davis of The Mighty Echoes. Other tunes which were heard: "Hey Rita" and "Not Just Another Pretty Face" from Basement Tapes, "Go Go Go Tokyo",and the Kyle Vincent co-write "In The Worst Way" from Twist Pop Sin, "Party 'Til We Die", a song not performed in the USA for 16 years, from Garage Sale and "Must Be A Word" Al Chan's great power pop rocker from the Vox Pop album (Al's mom was in attendance). The whole night ROCKED!January 2008
Happy New Year! You heard it here first. The Rubinoos have announced the first
(and only) date of their World Tour '08, June 21st at The Great American Music Hall in
San Francisco. Stay tuned for updates.Year End Rap Up: 2007 has been a great year and sad year for The Rubinoos. Our career- spanning box set Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Rubinoos was released in March, followed by the the first CD release of Party Of Two. Our Japanese label, Air Mail Recordings, re-released our first 3 albums on CD, The Rubinoos, Back To The Drawing Board and Basement Tapes, remastered with bonus tracks from the original sessions. We got to tour Japan for the first time in 5 years and play in SF for the first time in 7 years. We added David Rokeach on drums and our keyboardist Susie Davis started singing with us.
On the flip side we lost two dear friends, Gary Phillips and Jill Cruisey.
Gary produced our first two LPs and our last CD, Twist Pop Sin. He had a huge influence on us and it will just not be the same without him. We love him and miss him.
We met Jill in 1978 at the London office of Beserkley Records where she was a young secretary. She has been a stalwart friend and supporter all through the years. Her untimely passing was a shock and it has left a big hole. We love you Jill.December 2007
The East Bay Express ran a really nice article on The Rubes by Eli Messinger.
Yes, I know I'm writng this in the first person, no editorial complaints please. We
want to send a special thanks to all of you who came to the Great American Music
Hall and to Jonathan Richman. It was a blast! The show sold out and was a fantastic
way to end what has already been a tremendous year. A big hello to all the people we
hadn't seen in years (decades...gulp). It was so great to see you all. In other news, Al Chan will be undergoing some minor back surgery so we will be taking a break while he rests up. Please send your thoughts to Al for a speedy recovery. Have a great holiday season and a Happy New Year! Let's do it again before another 7 years go by.
You can check it out Here.
November 2007
The Rubes are back rehearsing for the second date of the US leg of their
world tour... One show at SF's Great American Music Hall on December 6th. The
first date , an unannounced appearance at The Peter Pan Co-op Nursery School on
November 7th, had to be cut short when the over enthusiastic crowd rushed the stage.
Security was called and nap time enforced.
October 2007 Update
The Rubinoos return from a fantastic, gigantic (3 shows) Japanese Tour. All the
dates were packed and all the audiences were Ichi-ban and singin' along. The
Rubes were treated royally by their label Air Mail Recordings. Lots of sight-
seeing, shopping and eating. A special nod to Susie Davis, who made her vocal debut
with the band, and to first time drummer David Rokeach, he rocks!
Fashion Tips from Japan:
Girls...Hot Pants, Knee Sox and Bee Hive Hairdos
Guys...'76 Punk Attire, Glam Shags and Anime Haircuts
Look for a bunch of pics in the gallery and maybe even some bootleg video. Japan, Hontoni Saiko!
October 2007
The Rubinoos are gonna Go, Go, Go Back To Tokyo, as well as Osaka and
Kyoto this October. Shows scheduled are:
10/19 Osaka Funj-twice
10/20 Tokyo Shinjuku Jam
10/21 Tokyo Shinjuku Jam
A special 2 CD set will be manufactured for the shows. The discs will include material previously unreleased in Japan. CD 1 includes 8 full length original songs plus 3 jingles written and recorded by The Rubinoos for the Air Mail Recordings website. Also included will be the never before released outtakes “Grey On Grey” (Paleophonic) , “Another Side Of You” (Twist Pop Sin), and prehistoric demo “Two Of Us”. CD 2 includes 8 cover songs done Rubinoos style, including never before released versions of The Hollies’ “Bus Stop”, Matt Monro’s “From Russia With Love”, and Frank Zappa’s “Absolutely Free.”
September 2007
Air Mail Recordings of Japan will release: The Rubinoos –the full original LP, plus 6 bonus tracks from the same sessions, re-mastered from the original tapes. Back To The Drawing Board – the full original LP, plus 4 bonus tracks from the same sessions, re-mastered from the original tapes. A reissue of Basement Tapes Plus - The studio demos for an unreleased 3rd Rubinoos LP circa 1980/81.
If you order all 3 from the Air Mail Recordings web site, you will receive them as a box set.
March 2007
England’s Sanctuary Records/ Castle Music releases the 3 CD career spanning anthology Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Rubinoos. All selections remastered with loving care by John Cuniberti from the original master tapes. This is the first time the original Beserkley recordings have ever sounded decent on CD. March 2007
Wounded Bird Records releases the Warner Brothers Mini-LP Party Of Two, which contains the original 5 songs produced by Todd Rundgren and Utopia, plus 6 bonus tracks.
January 2007
The Rubinoos release a new all original CD in the U.S., Twist Pop Sin, featuring 14 all-new original songs, produced by Gary Phillips, producer of The Rubinoos and Back to the Drawing Board. Alternate versions are available from Japan and Spain. The Japanese version (Air Mail Recordings) comes with a bonus bootleg live CD of the Rubinoos 1992 reunion show. The Spanish version was released by Rock Indiana Records.
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