She's Not On The Menu - SNFU (...And No One Else Wanted To Play, 1984)

Now there's a Christmas themed cover if I've ever seen one. Interesting piece of trivia about this cover art though. The original cover was a drawing of a child in a park holding a hand grenade wearing shorts and a really disturbing expression. Only problem is that the drawing was obviously a reproduction of a photograph by the famous American photographer Diane Arbus, called Child With Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, NYC, 1962. I guess the estate of Diane Arbus wasn't so keen on the cover... Nevertheless, 'the child' still makes an appearance in the new cover, this time with an elephant head, next to the fireplace. Aside from the strangling incident at The Ramones concert (described elsewhere), S.N.F.U. will always be synonymous in my mind with all ages matinees at Spartan's Mens Club. Good thing Wayne Skaret had his orange Datsun, because otherwise we'd never have got to these shows (or more importantly, got home!). Spartan's was on the north side, not far from where Mark lives now, right next door to the imfamous Gainer's Meat Packing Plant. Not the nicest part of town... especially then! Spartan's was a freak magnet. Punks, mods, skins, all matter of misfits paying (typically) $5 to see as many as four or five local bands, such as S.N.F.U., Down Syndrome, and Entirely Distorted (featuring one Brian Kassian on guitar), the Malibu Kens and Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra. Good times indeed!