Kenny Howes

‘I was a Shambles drummer’

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles counts off drummers he’s worked with.)

“I was a Shambles drummer” pin (collection Bart Mendoza)No doubt about it: Kevin Donaker-Ring and I have worked with a lot of drummers over the decades, keeping in mind that we first began our team-up in 1976.

Here are a few of the incredible musicians who have spent time behind a drum kit with Manual Scan or the Shambles over the past 30-plus years. Not pictured: Paul Brewin, Morgan Young, Terry Moore, Rob Wilson, Trace Smith, Brad Kiser. … There’s a future post there.

1) “I was a Shambles drummer” pin. People have sat in with the band for one song to obtain one of these.

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From Scan to the Shambles

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles talks about how he got from there to here.)

Detail: The Shambles’ first lineup (collection Bart Mendoza)Of course the various members of the Shambles knew each other for years before the band’s formation, but I can put down the beginnings of the band to two events.

In the late ’80s, Kevin Donaker-Ring co-produced Manual Scan’s “Days & Maybes” EP with Ray Brandes (side note: humorous liners by Mike Stax), and we were all part of a group of musicians that frequented Megalopolis on Fairmount Ave., often playing round-robin style — David Moye and Jon Kanis amongst the round-robiners who didn’t end up in the band (though we did back up Kanis on a compilation-album track).

Detail: Shambles at the Casbah (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Manual Scan, Adams Ave. Theater (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Manual Scan, Tower Bridge (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Mark Zadarnowski / The Shambles (collection Bart Mendoza)

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