When you think of memorable friendships in punk rock history, I'm willing to wager that your mind gravitates almost instantly to the chaotic and tragic friendship of John Lydon and Sid Vicious of Sex Pistols infamy. I've never been sure why that is though, seeing as though the relationship between a young and naive Lydon and Vicious would lead to a domino effect that would eventually result in Vicious' untimely death due to drug overdose - not exactly a budding friendship, huh? This is old news sure, but it raises the point that it's a damn shame that this early days tale of toxic punk rock pals still reigns supreme over what are far more interesting and endearing stories from the scene.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to sit here and talk smack about the friendship between these two dudes, Lydon's emotional discussion of Vicious' death in Filth and the Fury I would say is evidence enough of what Sid truly meant to him, but I would like to highlight a far more meaningful punk rock friendship, one that was both healthy and complimentary of both parties involved, and one that gave back to the scene that both bros hailed from. In brief, this is a look back at the history and friendship of Joey Cape and Tony Sly.
I think it's best we start right to the beginning, when both musicians really began to hit the scene. Not just because - well yeah dude, stories do work best from the beginning - but also because I believe it's important to highlight the parallels between both artists' lives, and how their experiences and successes would go on to give them a true connection when eventually crossing paths in life.
So let's go back to the early '90s - punk rock was about to make the rise to new heights of which had never been seen before, with more radio play, more mainstream success, and more sub-genres, labels, and bands. Caper's band, Lagwagon, would become the first band signed to Fat Mike's independent label Fat Wreck Chords in 1992, the same year they would release their debut album, Duh. The band had been previously known as Section 8 and released a few demos sure, but under the Fat Wreck banner things really began to take shape for them. Similarly NUFAN began to see more attention and appraisal once they became Fat Wreck's second signed band in 1993, having already released two albums on New Red Archives that were well received but paled in comparison to their later success. Both bands quickly became huge hits within the punk community and the skate scene which seemed to show more preference to Fat Wreck bands than most else. Lagwagon cemented themselves in the annals of skate punk history when their hit May 16 was released on Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, whereas NUFAN's only video game outing was sadly Soulmate popping up in Mad Dash Racing.
Yeah, I never heard of it, either.
It was a no-brainer then that Lagwagon and NUFAN would embark on tours together and with other Fat Wreck bands, and so amidst the madness of sleepless nights on shitty tour buses, warm beer, and playing in sweaty dive bars, a friendship was formed. The two hit it off over a number of reasons, the most obvious one being their music and lyrics, but more importantly than that though as time and meetings went on they would just be stoked to be in each others' company - the foundation of any true brotherhood. In an interview Joey summarised these early days as, "he was as always funny and charming. I liked him immediately but really didn’t get to know him until much later in our lives. No Use For A Name’s music was a great parallel in my life and especially to Lagwagon’s music."
This mutual respect for each others' work comes as no surprise given how similar Lagwagon and NUFAN's lyrics were in terms of topics and themes, with both bands' tracks often tackling relationships, heartbreak, emotional strains, and retrospectives of their past mistakes and how to move on from them. It was therefore only right that the two would decide to create their first collaboration. This came in the form of the 2004 album Acoustic, arguably one of the greatest yet underappreciated albums released that year, that saw Joey and Tony breathing new life into what were already stellar songs from both bands' back catalogues, re-imagining them in an alternative/folk punk style, which added heaps of melancholy to otherwise bittersweet yet fast-paced skate punk anthems.
Coupled with the brilliant follow up Acoustic vol. 2 in 2012 and 2010's split EP Tony Sly/Joey Cape, the duo produced not just a means to open up to the world, but also a soundtrack for fans who were perhaps in dark places mentally; these albums were a depressive affair that pierced the heart and twisted it good, though with a blade that secreted optimism rather than doom and gloom. In short, these songs were just what the doctor ordered. They're the songs that come on the bar's jukebox at the worst possible time, they're the harsh truths you need to hear that only a close friend can deliver, and they offer you clarity in dark times so that you may see the path options that lie ahead.
I mean shit, most music you listen to when you're feeling down often feels more like a bottle in your hand than anything - a short-term "solution" that won't help you begin the healing process but allows you to wallow for as long as you deem fit, and whilst Tony and Joey's collaborations might seem that way on face value, they in fact offer a way out, a light at the end of a tunnel, giving you reason to perhaps put down the bottle and get back out there and do what you need to do. These guys have been there too, and they want you to know that they got out alright, and so can you.
This attempt to reach out to the downtrodden whilst also exploring oneself is also very prominent in both writers' solo projects, which sees a lot of those same folk punk/alternative punk boxes ticked, though this time featuring original songs as opposed to what was mostly renditions of previous material on the collaboration albums. I wouldn't go as far as to say without each other these albums would never have seen a light of day, though I would argue that both Joey and Tony would certainly have involved each other in their writing process to some extent. Between their history and their friendship, their mutual respect and friendly competition and everything between, I would not be surprised if the two would discuss each others' projects as they were crafted, even if that just came in the form of words of praise for their efforts.
By the late '00s both artists were confident enough in their solo projects to hit the road and take it on tour, and this naturally led the pair to tour together in 2010, on a month long European tour that also featured another close collaborator, Jon Snodgrass, who was familiar with Joey and Tony via their side project band Scorpios. From there the duo then embarked what would be a first for both of them - a solo tour of Australia, which kicked off just a few months after their European run. Truly, it was the peak of what punk rock could offer the pair - the stability and comfort that they could just pack up and hit countries far, far away from their homeland, and be guaranteed a fan-base willing to shell out for tickets, all whilst being backed by a record label that gave them total freedom to do as they pleased, even if that meant travelling half way across the world with one of your best buddies, seeing sights and meeting people, playing your band's songs, your own songs, and even each other songs - what more could a couple of dudes from the heyday of '90s punk want from life?
Sadly folks, we have come to the final chapter of our story, and it sure does end on a bummer. Whilst touring once again with Joey from the east to west coast to promote his latest solo album, Sad Bear, Tony wrapped up at a show, got in a taxi home, rung his wife to say he was gonna take a nap, and never woke up. The news sent a shock wave throughout the punk community, of which the most affected were Tony's family and friends at Fat Wreck, and of course Joey Cape, of whom had shared the stage with Tony to perform his final song with him - NOFX's Linoleum
Fat Wreck would release Tony Sly : A Tribute in 2013, which featured renditions of Tony's greatest songs by a hefty roster of great bands that had known Tony, which of course Joey was involved in. With Lagwagon he performed one of Tony's solo tracks, Discomfort Inn, but for the surviving members of Scorpios he opted for what is possibly Tony's most famous track - International You Day, which according to Joey he had to fight Frank Turner for in order to secure it for himself. I can see why Fat Wreck would've liked Frank for International You Day, but frankly (no pun intended) nobody was better suited to perform it than Joey. He'd not only performed it plenty of times on tour prior to Tony's death, but as his greatest achievement it should only rightfully have fallen to one of his closest friends - and damn man, the lyrics were perfect for Joey to sing to his fallen brother.
Joey's version of International You Day is quite possibly one of the most emotional renditions of a punk song I have ever heard, the pure fuckin' emotion behind his voice as he utters the iconic words of that chorus, each one just feels like a dagger directly into the heart, as the raw pain of this dude losing one of his buddies pours out of the speakers and directly into your soul. Powerful stuff, man. Check it out, we've sourced two different versions for y'all and everything.
Following the tribute album and the closure that came with it, Joey had no intention of honouring his friend again, not out of any hard feelings, but simply because he didn't feel he had it in him. This all changed however when writing songs for what would become Lagwagon's 2014 album Hang, which featured the heartfelt One More Time. Speaking of the conception of the track, Joey said in an interview, "I had no intention of writing a song for Tony like this because I just didn’t feel in this case that words or melodies or anything would really suffice. I didn’t feel like anything would be deep enough or good enough to represent anything that I wanted to say or feel. [...] I’ve certainly written lots of songs about friends I’ve lost and about those subjects. [...] It is painful."
So there you have it folks, the greatest friendship of punk rock history laid bare. Sure it ended in tragedy just like so many before it, (see: Lydon/Vicious, Thrisk/Pennywise, Nowell/Sublime, and many more.) but what it gave back to the scene that conceived it and what it meant to both parties involved cannot be denied as more meaningful than any that have come before it, and perhaps even those that come after it. This was the friendship of two righteous dudes, with similar lives and ambitions, who got to work together, form a connection, and go on to make some incredible music both alone and together, and I for one think that is pretty fuckin' rad. We'll end then with a quote from Joey, who had this to say of Tony a year after his passing:
“When I think of losing Tony, I think not of myself but of Tony’s budding family, his many close friends and his loyal fans all desperately missing him. I find an emptiness, a figurative hole in my chest and a literal hole in my life and I most certainly will never be able to fill it. Still, I am a better person having known Tony Sly and will always consider our shared experience a fortune in hand and now in heart and mind.”
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