The
Feud: Willamette Week vs. The Rocket
1201
Cafe & Lounge 1201 SW 12th Ave, 225-1201
9 pm Sunday, April 25
Free
Gregarious T. Cline once modeled for Montgomery Ward and sang
karaoke professionally to pay the bills. Now he's making a
living the old-fashioned way--with rock 'n' roll.
As a disc jockey he spins everything from the Kinks to
Cheap Trick at Bar of the Gods on Wednesdays, the 1201 on
Sundays and the Panama Red Room on Thursdays. He also lends
his DJing abilities to Jeffrey Kyle's monthly Show-Off fashion
and music extravaganzas. Lately Gregarious has hosted rock
tributes with local musicians performing songs by legends
David Bowie, the Stones and John Lennon. His rock band the
Moops--also featuring guitarist Erik Smith, drummer Patrick
Lunch and bassist Ty 5--recently released its first CD single,
"Rumination." Add to that his Kinks cover band, the Young
Edwardians, and duties as host of the 1201's Family Feud
games, and you've got one busy guy.
Even so, Gregarious found time to show off his automatic
ascot rack and discuss his love of the Bee Gees, his favorite
vowel and a brief stint at the Elks Club.
WW: The name "Gregarious" seems pretty fitting
for you. Was it a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Gregarious T. Cline: I remember my mom telling me something
about the meaning of "Greg" being Latin for sheep. Instead
of naming me Gregory, which means one who watches the sheep,
she would name me Gregarious and have the sheep flock to
me--as opposed to Egregious, which would be the black sheep,
which I was. Being named creatively helped start something.
How did you first get involved in the music scene in
Portland?
I'd have to say karaoke. It helped build my confidence
and my self-awareness as a singer. I met Erik [Smith] working
at Little Baja, and he played guitar. Then people started
giving us shows, and then because of that we met Patrick
[Lynch]. It wasn't like we set out to be a band. It just
happened.
You did a professional karaoke stint as Tommy Bubbles,
a fictitious performer doing '60s songs for Elks Clubs and
other groups a while back, right?
This bar I went to was really seedy, but they had karaoke,
so I went. The guy who worked there invited me to do these
karaoke "showcases of the stars." They were always in the
outskirts of town. It was so insane. I was so afraid that
they weren't going to like my version of "I've Got a Lovely
Bunch of Coconuts." It sounds so silly now.
As a DJ, what are some of your favorite records to play?
I'd have to say "Jeans On" by David Dundas and "13 Women"
by the Renegades. I'll always have an Elvis Costello record;
I'll always have a Cramps record. Tom Waits is guaranteed,
too, but I never play him. I don't know why I don't; it's
not like it's cheating. I get weird about DJing sometimes.
I get weird about Blondie and Abba. I won't play them.
What's the first thing you listen to when you wake up
on the wrong side of bed?
Probably either Van Morrison or Cat Stevens in the morning,
especially "Morning Has Broken." If it's sunny, maybe something
like the Beatles' Revolver.
What does Moops mean?
Moops is backwards for spoom.
If the Moops could play a show anywhere, opening for
any band, living or dead, where and who would it be?
It would be like these outdoor shows in Berkeley we used
to have called A Day on the Green. It would be like Judas
Priest, Rick Derringer, Led Zeppelin, Santana. It would
be four Monsters of Rock bands. We would open. Then it would
be the Kinks, the Beatles and the Bee Gees.
You've been hosting a lot of rock tributes lately, with
musicians you know playing covers. Are there tributes you
want to do that you haven't done yet?
Heck, yeah. I want to do Johnny Cash. I'm thinking the
Doors might be a good one. Cheap Trick is definitely going
to happen. We're going to do a Motown one. That's the next
one. And then--oh, I can't wait--the Bee Gees.
Now you're hosting Family Feud games with local teams
duking it out at the 1201. Have you always wanted to be
a game-show host?
Never. I feel kind of awkward about that. I feel like game-show
hosts are something you do after you're washed up. You're
washed up, what's left? I'm starting out as a game
show host.
Is there any game-show host that you admired as a kid?
I like Wink Martindale's name. I thought Monty Hall was
cool. Now that I'm older, I think he probably was a drunk.
I could totally see him being a drunk lech. Richard Dawson,
of course, he didn't hide it; you don't have to imagine
that. Bob Eubanks was my favorite game-show host. He used
to be a concert promoter, and he promoted the last Beatles
concert at Candlestick Park. There's a guy with some depth.
What's your game-show host name?
It changes all the time. Last time it was Blink Shenanigans.
I really like Blink as a first name because it rhymes with
Wink.
If you could buy a vowel what would it be?
Definitely Y. Oh no, W. Why is W sometimes a vowel?
It's not a vowel. Not W.
I swear. As a kid, they were teaching W. I must have gone
to a faulty school. A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y and W.
Maybe like in "whole."
OK then, I'll go with Y.
What things, musically, do you want to do that haven't
done yet?
I'm pretty happy right now. I think I'd like to be involved
in a musical or be a music supervisor for a movie. Or maybe
be a disc jockey in grocery stores.
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Willamette Week | originally
published April 21,
1999
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