A VERY INCOMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF
THE WALDOS
Tony Coiro and Walter Lure
Probably the group I've seen more than any other band, The Waldos have been a big part of my life and were a big part of my now long gone youth. Fronted by former Heartbreakers singer/guitarist Walter Lure, many musicians have passed through The Waldos and far too many have passed away, plucked like a tranny's eyebrows from the face of this cold, cruel, pock-marked world. The classic Waldos lineup included, in addition to Lure, another Heartbreaker, Tony Coiro, who had been a later-day Heartbreakers bassist. Since the late 1980s or perhaps early 1990s, The Waldos had a residency of sorts at The Continental Divide, a great rock 'n' roll club in Greenwich Village that eventually changed hands and was rechristened The Continental. The place pretty much stayed the same and it remained The Waldos home until late 2006 when the club disappointingly stopped featuring live bands. The Waldos play the kind of rock 'n' roll that The Heartbreakers were burning up stages and record players with back in the 1970s. Much of The Waldos live sets consist of old Heartbreakers' songs. Throughout their career, The Waldos only released one album (called Rent Party) and one single ("Crazy Little Baby" b/w "Cry Baby") around the mid-90s. There haven't been many (or possibly ANY) new compositions in about a decade and death has been as much of a Waldos' groupie as it was for The Heartbreakers. Still, The Waldos continue to rock and Lure is a great showman and guitarist, one of the minority of living legends of punk who delivers every time.
Consider this page a tribute of sorts to one of my favorite bands. I've tried to represent as many of the different lineups and bandmembers as I could. To borrow a catchphrase from one of Lure's previous bands, catch 'em while they're still alive. Buy them a drink and while you're at the bar, buy one for me too.
- J.N., Feb. 2007
What the fuck is this? A double exposure of The Waldos onstage with guest saxophone player Jamie Health playing next to Tony Coiro. Kind of a mess, the image is special to me because it's the only photo I ever took of Heath and one of the few I took of Coiro. Both men, sadly, are dead. I really didn't know either very well having only spoken a few words with both of them, generally just to sometimes say, "Hey, great show" after a gig, but I always loved watching/listening to them perform and I was deeply saddened by the news of their deaths.
Walter Lure, guitarist Joey Pinter and, cutting in from the bottom, the bass of Tony Coiro.
Tony Coiro, Walter Lure, Joey Pinter.
Walter and one of the band's occasionally backup singers and dancers, possibly (if I'm remembering correctly) called The Waldettes.
A rare shot of brothers Richie Lure and Walter Lure on stage together. Richie, who has sadly since died, guested with The Waldos one night, possibly standing in for Joey Pinter (I don't really remember). Richie used to play in various NYC bands including Sea Monster and Erasers. The drummer is Jeff West, formerly of a lesser-known early NYC punk band, The Testors. West was the replacement for original Waldos drummer Charlie Sox who, like so many people pictured on this page, is no longer with us. I regret that I never photographed Sox. A curious thing about this photo...the kid standing at the side of the stage watching Jeff West looks as if he might be none other than Joe Rizzo, who would go on to be Jeff West's replacement in The Waldos after Coiro died and Pinter left the band.
Below: Date unknown. Probably in the late '90s at The Continental
Lure loses his guitar to sing "Too Much Junkie Business," always a highpoint of a Waldos set.
Below: December 2002 at The Continental
As it was around Christmas, Walter wore an extra tie with Christmas-like colors and patterns on it in addition to his usual necktie. Who the fuck does he think he is? Wazmo Nariz????
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Walter Lure and Joe Rizzo
Waldos guitarist Takto Nakai
Walter and bassist EZ (AKA Ichiuji Takanori...or is it Takanori Ichiuji?)
Below: The Waldos performing at a tribute to Joe Strummer
February 8, 2003 at The Continental
Strummer was dead and it seemed fitting that The Waldos would perform at his memorial show at The Continental. Walter Lure had, after all, toured with Strummer back when The Heartbreakers and The Clash were on the Sex Pistols' infamous Anarchy In The UK Tour. Never the most sentimenal performer or one to get sappy, Lure's only words about Strummer (or at least the only one's I remember) were spoken when he gestured at the large portrait of Strummer that hung at the back of the stage and said, "I used to ride the bus with that guy." A heartwarming epitaph if ever there was one...
A snapshot of The Waldos in the dressing room.
(L-R) Takto Nakai, Walter Lure, EZ, Joe Rizzo
Below: The Waldos at Ralph's Diner in Worcester, MA; May 17, 2003
It's not often that The Waldos do a show outside of NYC. They did this gig at a cool club in Massachusetts because someone made it worth their while to make the trip and play the show. Whoever set it up was, I believe, arranging to have The Waldos play as a special birthday present for their spouse. Ain't love grand?
Above: Roll over EZ for super high-tech special effects
Joe Rizzo looking worried, unnaccustomed to fish swimming around his head while he's drumming.
Below: The Waldos' final show at The Continental.
This was a sad occasion for me, but several sadder occasions were just around the corner. I'd been seeing The Waldos play at The Continental and at The Continental Divide (which was pretty much the same club, in the exact same location, but in much earlier days) for just about half my life. And now the damn place was, well, not closing, but on the verge of no longer having live music. Worse yet, CBGB was going to be closing shortly after The Continental, effectively annihilating the two music clubs I spent more time in than any other music venues and the two clubs where I'd done most of my rock photography. Anyway, The Waldos put on a good, sloppy set. Playing earlier in the evening was former Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome and in the audience during The Waldos set was earlier-era Waldos drummer Jeff West. While The Waldos would never play The Continental again after this night, Walter Lure would return without his bandmates on the final night, doing some songs with CJ Ramone and closing the club (click here to see a photo from the final night of The Continental having live music).
Above: After the show, two generations of Waldos drummers: Joe Rizzo and Jeff West with Takto. Scroll over for more billion dollar special effects.
Below: The Waldos' final show at CBGB, the night before CBGB on the Bowery's final concert ever. October 14, 2006.
The Waldos started off the second to last night ever at CBGB, opening up for Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie who, in turn, opened up for The Dictators whose set featured a guest appearance by Tommy Ramone AKA Tom Erdelyi. Since The Waldos in their many different incarnations have been an important part of my life and since CBGB was an extremely important place to me that I really did love, The Waldos being included on the bill for the second to final night of the club meant a lot to me.
Other photos of Walter Lure and/or The Waldos on this website can be found in the galleries for the 2004 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash and 2005 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash concerts. All of my best photos of Walter Lure on and off stage are not included on this page. I'm saving those for my forthcoming book, NEVERMIND NOSTALGIA: The Last Book On Punk Rock (Part One).
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