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This is Phantasia From left to right Phantasia lived on a farm in Warrington, Pennsylvania in Central Bucks County and played in bars from the Jersey Shore to Reading, Pennsylvania and Newark, Delaware to Lowell, Massachusetts. English Rock and Roll was the repertoire performed by this band. With over fifty songs from the Rolling Stones, the band also played songs by Humble Pie, Joe Cocker and Yes. Phantasia was a singing band with tight three, four and sometimes five part harmonies. This is not to say we were not without musical skill which was evident when we played some technically challenging songs such as "Roundabout" and "Yours is no Disgrace" from Yes. This description of the band would not be complete without mentioning the antics of Christopher Scott, our frontman. He was so energetic and unpredictable, people would come to see us every night of the week and our local following would travel a hundred miles to see him perform. He had Mick Jagger down and would jump, spin, run and prance like "a rooster on acid". When I once asked a fan why he came out every night, he told me he just had to see for himself the outrageous things Chris would pull out of the air. When we would play "Sympathy for the Devil", Chris would discard pieces of his clothing one by one. He had a pair of pants that had zippers on the outside seams. He would unzip those pants up to the belt and eventually remove them and throw them into the undulating throng on the dance floor. Left with only a scant pair of silk bikini briefs to cover his manhood, Chris would then baptize the heaving mass with water, throwing the contents of full glasses over the crowded dance floor. One summer we played twenty-nine nights in a row with one night off, then twenty-seven nights in a row with one night off, and on for fourteen more. And it continued. That performance run was the beginning of the best I have experienced ever. Three months of playing every night except for four. The busiest band I've ever been in. Our two favorite clubs were The Widows Watch in Trenton, New Jersey and The Menagerie Three in New Hope, Pennsylvania. |
