Talkin’ Cheese with Chaz Molins

The following is an excerpt from articles originally found on www.mpprojects.com/tc.

Twenty years ago, University of Delaware student Chaz Molins was the original bass player in Tommy Conwell’s Young Rumblers. Fans affectionately tagged the trio… Ham (Tommy Conwell), Fish (Brad Fish), and Cheese (Chaz Molins).
 

Although not a member of Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers during its impressive run at fame and record deals, bass player, turned counselor, Charles Molins, reflects on his early years.

Did you ever think that Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers would be remembered after two decades?

I recognized Tommy’s guitar virtuosity and always figured he would be like a Stevie Ray Vaughan-type guitar hero.

I guess Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers sounded more rock n’ roll than Ham Fish + Cheese?

Originally the band was called Tommy Conwell’s Young Rumblers. Tommy figured that many of his fans from his previous band, Rockett 88, would recognize his name and come check us out. The Rumblers came from the Link Wray instrumental, Rumble. We would open every set with it; it was a good sound check song. Bass and drums start the song. Tommy would usually be off stage. Then as the guitar part would crescendo, Tommy would make his entrance.  

Good Love Bad (demo) - Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers

From the Guitar Trouble demos, Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers perform "Good Love Bad."

Hard as a Rock (live) - Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers

Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers perform "Hard As a Rock" live in 1990 at the Empire Concert Club in Cleveland, Ohio. Performance was simulcast on radio station 100.7 WMMS.

Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers were on tour promoting Guitar Trouble.

Why are so many bands named Rocket 88?

Rockett 88 (1983)

The Nites Of Spring
The Washington Post | Friday, March 31, 1989
Byline: Eve Zibart
Section: Weekend; Page N19; Nightlife

    

          ...Jump street/rockaboogie pianist Mitch Woods and His Rocket 88's (all alums of such against-the-tide bands as Commander Cody and David Bromberg) roar into the Roxy Friday on a double bill with Tom Principato.

          And (we know you've all been wondering) this leads Doctor Nightlife to explain why every bar band wearing blues genes wants to call itself Rocket 88 or 88s or '88 (up to and including the Atlantic shore band that spawned George Thorogood and Tommy Conwell), Rockett 88:

          In 1951 Jackie Brenston, one of Ike Turner's Delta Cats (aka the Kings of Rhythm), wrote a hard blues-rock song called "Rocket '88'  and recorded it with the Cats at Sun Studios in Memphis with Sam Phillips at the wheel. Brenston sold the master to the Chess brothers for their Chicago-based, Delta blues-heavy label, and by mid-1951 "Rocket '88'" was a number-one hit -- the first really rock-hard country record. 

          A few months later, a Chester, Pennsylvania, deejay named Bill Haley tried to introduce his swingabilly sound by covering Brenston's hit, but the whiter and lighter version sold only about 10,000 copies.     
          Not until 1952 and "Rock the Joint" did Haley really cut loose. (Brenston and the Delta Cats, incidentally, took off for Chicago and left Turner on his own in Memphis; he kicked around the studio/roadside bar circuit until 1960, when he and Tina, ne'e Annie Mae Bullock, hit with "Fool in Love.")
          Now, as to what a Rocket 88 (without the quote marks and apostrophes) was -- an Oldsmobile with not merely fins but swallowtail flares complete with star studs.

Tommy Conwell - Acoustic 3/3/2013

          A highlight of Tommy Conwell's acoustic performance at Coffee Works includes a rare song - "May We All Be Here Until the End." 

This song was one of several played as a preview of new rock material featured on a WMMR live showcase in the early '90s. The band was promoting Neuroticus Maximus, an album later rejected by MCA.

          Tommy has re-worked this song with new lyrics. If you have heard the original demo for this song, you know it's an instant classic.