at Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ in Brighton, Mass.
The Hubcaps started in December, 1986 when the Boogaloo Swamis were about one year old. The Swamis played the Plough & Stars in Cambridge, Massachusetts and had been offered a residency there. However, as a band they decided not to do it. Swamis bandleader Mickey Bones didn’t miss a beat and told the Plough he had another band that would do it. And he got the gig, for every Sunday night, 9pm to closing at 1am. Then he lined up players to make the band. Coming up with the first name that popped in his head, The Hubcaps were born
Mickey played drums and sang, and Swamis guitarist Joe Pete played guitar and sang. Mickey knew bass player Brian Rost who also added vocals. We started with one tenor sax player, Dan Torosian. Dan is in Austin, Texas now, but he was then using the stage name Curtis Stone (because someone he played with in another band couldn’t remember, wouldn’t learn how to say Torosian, ha). Things were going pretty well, but shortly Dan couldn’t make it for awhile, and we got a new tenor sax man, Gordon Beadle, who would later become known as Sax Gordon. But then he was just Gordon, and he was fantastic (as he is now, Gordon is one of the truly great musicians anywhere).
Not too much later Dan became available again, and we added him back in and became a 5-piece. This was the classic Hubcap lineup. Later other horn players, Scott Shetler and Myanna Pontoppidan became regular and great parts of the rotation. The guitar/bass/drums unit got together and practiced and learned new songs. The horns just showed up and played, making up fantastic arrangements on the spot. Gordon and Dan were an awesome team, Gordon more flashy, Dan more controlled, both very, very good players. They really worked well together and added so much. When we began using the other horns players more often, they too were just the best.
The Hubcaps had a great run at the Plough, great crowds with faithful regulars, it was just a lot of fun. For me Joe Pete, it was one of the biggest highlights of my musical life. But things run their course and eventually things wound down and around 1991 or 1992 it came to an end.
featuring artwork by Joe Pete’s mom.
Mickey made two solo Hubcap records (one vinyl, the other cassette). Joe Pete made one solo Hubcap record, Joe Pete’s Hubcap Experience, (on both vinyl and cassette) featuring cover artwork by my mother. It’s my favorite work I’ve ever done in a recording studio.
Mickey and Joe Pete used the Hubcap name for 5 or 6 summers in the early 2010s, playing on then-named Yawkey Way outside Fenway Park. The band was a trio, no horns. We used a car battery to power the amps, and played for a couple hours before Red Sox games. This was a great run of gigs, different than the Plough thing, but really great, lots of fun.
For me Joe Pete, The Hubcaps have been the model of what I do now with my trio Joe Pete + Six is Nine. And Hubcaps Brian Rost and Mickey Bones are frequently in my band now. I stick to the trio format, and with the focus being all on me, it’s not a replication of the Hubcaps, but it carries on what I did then.
The Hubcaps could return to life for anyone interested in hiring the band. Contact Mickey Bones.