Rox Rocks From Hayward To Japan

Originally published in East Bay Band Calendar, December 1979
By Devorah Ostrov

Rox with vocalist Dyan Buckelew center. Dyan left for a solo career

after the group returned from Japan. She later married Rick Derringer.

They're not the Runaways, and they're weary of the constant comparisons to that heavy metal outfit. "We try to interest the audience with our music," says Rox bassist Toni Falconio. "We can't avoid the fact that we are girls, but we hope that the audience will like our music and not just us."

And after listening to these East Bay rockers, the only comparison to be made is that both groups are all females. Rox — consisting of Falconio, vocalist/guitarist Nina Markert, keyboardist Gere Fennelly, and drummer Christie Nehlick — are all highly accomplished musicians, each with many years of musical experience behind her. There's a toughness in each one, a defensiveness that comes from having to prove herself in a male-oriented field where females are barely tolerated.

While they were rehearsing at Pearl Studios in Fremont, it became a running joke that neighborhood boys would appear at the door wondering who was playing such hard-core rock. And they'd always be taken aback to find GIRLS behind the instruments.

In fact, according to Markert, the only people who don't think Rox is equal to comparative male bands are "guys who don't want girls to make it because they don't want us to show them up."

Cover of the "American Kan Kan" 45

Although recognition has been slow for them in the Bay Area, a recent seven-month tour of Japan found them on the same level as most top American bands, playing to packed halls, being chased for autographs, and hounded for television commercials.

Rox (spelled Roxz before the tour) had been together for less than a year when a rep from Shinka, Japan's largest music publishing company, saw them perform at San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens and signed them to a Japanese contract.

In Japan, the girls were well taken care of, with all their expenses paid for by Shinka (including chauffeured transportation). They were also given extensive promotional advertising, such as a "shopping tour" of Japanese malls, several TV appearances (two were "dubbed," the rest were filmed live) and dozens of radio interviews.

And, of course, at each promotional stop, the fans were waiting for them. "We had some fans that would follow us to radio stations and wait three hours just to see us," comments Markert. "And when we'd drive away, they'd chase our car!"

L-R: Christie Nehlick, Gere Fennelly, Toni Falconio & Nina Markert

(Photo of Rox originally used in the East Bay Band Calendar)

"At concerts, they would throw all these little superballs onstage and streamers and balloons," adds Falconio. "They have guards standing in the aisles to make them sit down, but you know, if they didn't, it would be total insanity."

Not bad for a group that got its start scarcely two years ago by taking first place in the Hayward Battle of the Bands with a set featuring Kiss' "Detroit Rock City," Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak," and Montrose's "Rock the Nation" — during which Falconio slipped and fell and Markert's guitar somehow got out of tune.

While they were in Japan, Rox recorded an album (half in Japanese) called Tantrum (only available by import), and two 45s — "American Kan Kan" and "Okay Boys" — written for them by Japanese songwriter Tokura.

They weren't allowed to record their own material because "the company didn't think we could sell anything." But Markert argues that it was the other way around. "You should have heard it ['Okay Boys'] before we rearranged it. We were pulling our hair out, saying, 'We can't rearrange this. It's too far in the pits!'"

As for the album, Nehlick says they're happy with their playing but that the production "could have been a lot better. When we went into the studio, the Japanese producer said, 'Use this amp, use this... this... this...' Next time we go in, it will be nice because we'll know how to use the sound the way we want to."

Rox pose with Abba for a Japanese music magazine!
(Photo courtesy of Gere Fennelly)

Although the LP won't be released in America, it supposedly shows a totally different side of Rox. With the Japanese idea of hard rock being the Bay City Rollers, the girls were forced to record tunes in the commercial pop vein.

"Not pop like power pop," states Fennelly, "but pop like puppy pop." Quite a change for these rockers whose sets usually include Van Halen, Scorpions, Cheap Trick, and Led Zeppelin covers, as well as their own self-penned heavy rock numbers.

Still adjusting to the culture shock of not being chased down the street and only recently returning to Bay Area stages, Rox want to dispel any rumors of their demise. They are still together and rocking harder than ever!