In the early-to-mid 90’s I attended Towson University (then called Towson State Univeristy) for a couple of years. Via a mutual acquaintance I was introduced to a large, friendly, bearded fellow named Tom who lived in the dorms on campus. I was commuting and sometimes had an hour or two to kill between classes without much to do around campus. At some point Tom invited me to check out his “pad” and that’s when I saw the guitars.

He had an acoustic bass that he played primarily but there was also an acoustic 6-string as well. How convenient. So before long it was a regular after-class appointment to visit Tom and strum acoustics. I really don’t recall playing any cover songs although we must have played some. At some point we just started putting together really simple songs and had a decent list of them, although I can only remember a handful of the titles. But I do remember that we were able to spit them out one after the other and it was a fun experience writing a batch of songs along with another person and coming up with something I wouldn’t have come up with myself. Our decision to call ourselves The Weebles was kind of an inside joke; Weebles were a 70’s toy (later re-vamped and reissued) that used the slogan “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.” We thought that was a good slogan for us because Tom liked to drink and I was dealing with a balance disorder. So we both wobbled.

TSU did regular local shows on-campus and that’s where we bumped into a very cool and kind of soft-spoken guy named Mike who worked at a fancy studio downtown called Oz. He was allowed to bring bands in on weekends when they weren’t booked to record and offered to let us come in. What a treat to go from messing around with acoustics after class to heading into a professional-class studio!

We recorded three songs in an afternoon: “Kiss Me,” an attempt at a Descendents-styled poppy punk song, “Judy,” a slower song, and “Crazy Man,” our attempt at being silly with the lyrics and just having fun. I was able to lay down drum tracks on an already-mic’d up kit, and then Tom and I did our guitar parts. Mike let us pick from a candy store of equipment and I’m pretty sure I got to run through a halfstack Orange amp, which at the time I thought were pretty exotic.

I’ve included “Crazy Man” here because it’s the one song that Tom and I share vocals on. He takes the first verse and I take the second. We both sing the chorus, which we both know is kind of annoying. It’s supposed to be circus crazy I guess.

Crazy Man

He dresses up like the UPS guy

To deliver you a bone

He dress his dog up like a cat

And then he pisses on your lawn

He rifles through your refrigerator

When everyone’s away

He’s chillin’ in your basement

And he is not afraid

He’s a crazy man

Crazy, man!

He’s a crazy man

He’s crazy!

He’ll cut you off when you’re on the highway

And he’ll make you skid

He’ll say that it’s his ego

But it’s really his id

He puts his toast in the coffee maker

And he butters his drink

He watches “Baywatch” over and over

Because it make him think… crazy!

He’s a crazy man

Crazy, man!

He’s a crazy man

He’s crazy!

Last I heard Tom had bought a bar in Baltimore after graduating from TSU. I’d love to hear from you if you’re out there, man. I totally can’t remember your last name.