Alan K

In Loving Memory

BORN: Alan Kalicki: March 11, 1955, Buffalo, NY || DIED: November 10, 1996, NYC

Alan K spent his early years outside of Buffalo in Upstate New York growing up listening to Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, and Alice Cooper. The first most influential artist that compelled Alan to learn the guitar at the age of ten was Jimi Hendrix. Then from Hendrix, he discovered Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. As his musical tastes broadened he began to discover bands like MC5, New York Dolls, Dead Boys, Sex Pistols, and the Ramones. But the guitarist that had the most impact on his musical development was Johnny Thunders, who, later in his life he would befriend.

From Grimm Reaper to New Toys

It was Alan K, who decided that he and his brother needed to start a band. Both being in sports, as hockey players, he knew that neither, though as good as they were, could become professionals due to their body size and that hockey players someday had to retire. Alan wanted something that would allow him to be a kid forever and avoid the dull drum of normal life. Rock ‘n’ Roll was the answer…you could be a musician and never have to retire, and, of course, musicians were chick magnets. So was born Grimm Reaper, then Aunt Helen. However, it was The Toys (later New Toys), that affirmed Alan’s reason for becoming a musician/songwriter. The Toys become one of Buffalo’s leaders of the late 70s/early 80s pop/punk movement, garnishing much adulation, not only from their fans but from critics. Reaching their pinnacle in late 1980/early 1981, and having opened up for bands like The Ramones, The Babys, Pat Benatar, The Romantics, Eddie Money, Squeeze, the Dead Boys, and The Tourists (later The Eurythmics), Alan and Kevin (aka Rocky Starr and Kevin Rat) were no longer satisfied being big fish in a little pond. As the punk scene died and many of the era’s bands along with it, the band reinvented itself. The out-of-control antics and sounds of Rocky, Kevin, Meat Cleaver, and Mick Tyler matured and adapted to the oncoming of the power-pop era. Having changed their name, now New Toys, their sound, their management (now managing themselves), and a bass player, they set out to conquer the larger cities of Chicago, Detroit, and the Big Apple. By 1982 the band had relocated to Staten Island, NY eventually becoming friends with artists like Dirty Looks, Johnny Thunders, Cheetah Chrome, and Iggy Pop, and were playing regularly at New York City clubs like CBGBs, Gildersleeve’s, and Zappa’s.

Lone Cowboys & Road Vultures

By 1983 guitarist Doug Tyler quit and returned to Buffalo. The band continued as New Toys until early 1984. Then they changed their name to Lone Cowboys. This new incarnation of the K brothers band would be even more successful, charting number 20 on Sweden’s independent music chart with a remake of the Debbie Boone classic, “You Light Up My Life,” which in turn got them signed to Caroline Records. By late 1989 the two brothers would reinvent themselves once again as the Road Vultures, this time with Kevin playing guitar instead of drums. It wasn’t long after the new formation that former New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain and ex-Heartbreaker Jerry Nolan asked them to open a show at the Continental Divide (NYC). This was the first public performance by Road Vultures. One show turned into 15 straight weekends. More shows followed with friends like Dee Dee Ramone, The Waldos, and Cheetah Chrome. Road Vultures quickly attained a large underground Rock ‘n’ Roll following not only in New York City but up and down the mid-Atlantic coast and the LA/Hollywood scene due to their flamboyant, glitter-glam look, their edgy, hard-driving sound and their signature anthem song, “Fire It Up.”

After Road Vultures

By late 1995 depression over the deaths of his close friends Stiv Bator (’90), Johnny Thunders (’91), Jerry Nolan (’92), Charlie Soxx (’94), and Marco Sin (’95), his growing hate for the New York music scene (believing there were no good musicians left) and trying to conquer the perks of success, or perhaps excess had taken it’s toll on Alan. Alcohol and substance dependency not only fueled his growing depression but put a strain on the band as talks of a third album were discussed but never materialized. After missing several out-of-town shows, due to his methadone clinic visits preventing him from touring, Alan K announced he was quitting the group. The remaining members stayed with Kevin to become the Kevin K Band. By 1996 substance dependency had become too much for Alan. He was determined to beat it once and for all. In February of 1996, he went to Florida to get his life under control. Later that year Alan returned to New York City healthy and with a new determination to pursue his music career.

On November 9, 1996, Alan K checked into the St. Marks Hotel. Later that afternoon he spent time walking around the East Village and sitting in Tompkins Square Park. He also kept an appointment at an alcohol abuse clinic. That evening he returned to his hotel, fell asleep, and never woke up. Though rumors circulated that he died of an overdose, this is incorrect. The official medical report concludes congestive heart failure. After years of living life on the edge, Alan’s body just stopped working.

His Final Hours

“On November 9th my brother got off a plane from Florida and took a cab to Manhattan’s St. Mark’s Hotel, where he paid $100 for a two-night stay,” Kevin began. “The first thing I know he did was go to Tompkins Square Park. That was his favorite place in all of the city. He hung out there a lot. He liked to watch people and he wrote a lot of his songs there. Later in the day, he kept an appointment at a Lower Eastside substance abuse clinic. He was very determined to stay clean and get back into music. He went back to the hotel later in the evening, fell asleep, and never woke up. No drugs, syringes, or needle marks were found and it was not a suicide. He was completely cleaned out when he got back, but his organs were under depression and his liver was damaged from drinking. Sadly his body just gave up.

Kevin continued, “About eight months prior he went to Florida to stay with our parents, to get away from New York and straighten up. He never recuperated from Johnny (Thunders) and Jerry’s (Nolan) deaths. They were really good friends and he could just never deal with their departing and figured there were no good musicians left. He didn’t have a lot of friends and just became secluded. The changing New York music scene angered him too. Not only had most of the people he was close to died, but the rest had left the city. The clubs started cramming more and more bands into a night. It used to be three or four on a night, but then it was like five and six or even seven. Then it seemed all the old booking managers suddenly quit and the new ones wanted you to audition to get on the bill — even for the worst night of the week. And it didn’t matter if you had played the club before, they still wanted you to audition. He hated the New York music scene.

“Eventually he got his life together and came back to the city he loved. Sadly when it seemed his depression had gone and he had overcome his years of drug use, his body was exhausted. Alan always wanted to be buried near Johnny, but we weren’t able to arrange it. But we did the next best thing. We (the family) had Alan cremated and Richie (former bassist), Ted (long-time friend and tour manager) and I put his ashes on Thunders’ and Nolan’s graves in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Flushing. We also spread his ashes throughout Tompkins Square Park and even put some on the stairs of Iggy’s apartment building (at the time) over on Avenue B.

Kevin’s final thoughts were, “If Toys would have been in NYC in 1979, we would have been signed to Sire FOR SURE [sic]. We had the songs and the show. It’s A Shame [sic], something Alan could not accept.

“I know Alan is happy. He’s with Jerry, Johnny, Charlie (Soxx), Stiv, and Marco. He’s with his friends.”

~ Kevin K