Frank Tonche was the original drummer for
The Minutemen.
[The great rock discography](_blank)
p. 1007 (2004)
When the band was formed by
D. Boon
Dennes Dale Boon (April 1, 1958 – December 22, 1985) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the punk rock trio Minutemen. He was born on April 1, 1958 in San Pedro, California, and formed the Minuteme ...
and
Mike Watt after their first serious attempt at a band,
The Reactionaries
The Reactionaries were an American punk rock band formed in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, in 1978. The band's continual members were lead vocalist Martin Tamburovich, guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley. Th ...
, fell apart, they had originally wanted their friend and fellow ex-Reactionaries drummer
George Hurley to hold the drum seat, but he had joined a
new wave band named ''Hey Taxi!'' after the Reactionaries split, so he was unavailable. Tonche, a welder by day (and according to some reports, had been in a
polka band named ''The Polish Eagle Polka Band'' at one point), was recruited instead.
[Musician , Issues 111-116](_blank)
("For our first two gigs we had a polka drummer named Frank Tonche")
Tonche's tenure lasted about six months, long enough to help arrange some early Minutemen songs and play a few early performances, but Tonche quickly tired of the aggressiveness of
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
audiences and quit in June 1980. By that time, Hurley was free to join the Minutemen.
In 1987,
Forced Exposure released a 7-inch EP featuring rehearsal recordings of the Minutemen with Tonche on drums. The EP, authorized by Mike Watt and titled ''Georgeless'', had a limited pressing but is now available fo
free download(also with Watt's full consent) a
corndogs.org
References
Discography
With The Minutemen
* ''
Georgeless'' EP (1987)
American punk rock drummers
American male drummers
Minutemen (band) members
Living people
American rock drummers
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{US-rock-drummer-stub