"Ronnie" limbering up at the gym so as to be prepared for his prestigious
New York performance that same evening. Not.

IT'S ONLY ROCK AND ROLL - By JOHN SWENSON, United Press International

The Tap Bar at the Knitting Factory was packed wall-to-wall last weekend
for the long-awaited reappearance of one of the signature figures of
post-punk/new wave rock, Tony De Meur of the Fabulous Poodles.

Twenty years ago the Poodles took some of America by storm behind the hit
single "Mirror Star" and a live show that combined the crashing intensity of
The Who with the wry, comic songwriting of The Kinks.

Like so many rock and rollers before them, the group was upended by a
ruthless manager who waged a war of attrition against its members,
preventing them from being able to work under their real names after the
band broke up.

De Meur was forced to invent an alter ego, Ronnie Golden, and pursue a new
line of work as a standup comedian in order to survive. The experience honed
his already sharp skills as an entertainer. Today he is one of the most
versatile showmen in the business -- juggling comedy gigs, solo performances
and theatrical roles, while reviving his career as a bandleader as Ronnie
Golden fronting London's best party band, Ronnie and the Rex.

De Meur was brilliant at the Tap Bar, treating a crowd of Poodles fans to
chestnuts from that band's repertoire such as "Mirror Star," "Toytown
People" and "Work Shy."

As New York's best bartender, Dreiky Caprice, dispensed the libations.

De Meur displayed the breadth of his talents, from the Sonny Boy
Williamson blues "Help Me" to the Hank Williams country classic "I Can't
Help It If I'm Still in Love With You," the terrific original "Wrong Time,
Wrong Place, Wrong Woman" and a ribald song about pigeon guano on Nelson's
Column in Trafalgar Square that had the crowd roaring with laughter.

For about half of the set De Meur received wonderful instrumental support
on steel guitar from virtuoso Gib Wharton.

The saga of Tony De Meur -- aka Ronnie Golden -- is one of the more
interesting stories of the post-apocalyptic entertainment landscape of the
last quarter of the 20th century. It's fitting that Ronnie and the Rex
should finally provide the context for De Meur's long awaited album at the
dawn of the new millennium.

Devoted followers of the Fabulous Poodles have waited nearly 20 years for
De Meur to make his return, trading tapes by his vocal group, the Dial
Tones, and bootleg recordings of precious demos. De Meur's long-awaited solo
album has thus become the stuff of rock mythology, joining other "lost"
albums of legend.

The underground status of his mock-Stones anthem "Drinking At Home" made
the song worthy of the kind of scrutiny usually saved for Dylanologists.
This song was the kernel of the Poodles identity that De Meur never
surrendered during his lengthy identity exile as comedian Ronnie Golden.

Now, with "Return of the Fabulous Poodles," those who've been waiting for
the next documented incarnation of the man who crashed through the ceiling
as Buddy Holly in the British sitcom "The Young Ones" have their pay dirt.

From Edinburgh to Brooklyn, from London to Texas, De Meur has twinkled on
the radar screen from time to time. But Ronnie and the Rex now gives him the
platform to ply his trenchant wit in the roots-rock and R&B veins that he
mined so effectively with the Poodles once again -- this time augmented by
horns.

The combination of wry humor and hot licks that De Meur/Golden has always
balanced is struck here immediately with "Five Minutes," a witty
reconfiguration of Wilson Pickett's soul masterpiece "In the Midnight Hour."
Finally a new version of "Drinking At Home" appears, punched up with a sassy
horn arrangement. "Ronnie" is at his insouciant best in the well-reasoned
"Let's Have Sex," while Tony can't resist revisiting his beloved early rock
'n' roll for the delightful arrangement of "Town Without Pity," blended
artfully with the theme from "Perry Mason."

And while Nick Lowe is lounging these days, Ronnie and the Rex are still
here to remind the world that pub rock lives with a vibrant "Girls," which
is followed by a deadpan rendition of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon (Round the Old
Oak Tree)."

Anybody who has sweated through a delicious night of Ronnie and the Rex in
North London at the King's Head or in the West End at the 100 Club already
knows that this is one of England's best live bands.

Now, with the release of "The Return of the Fabulous Poodles," the rest of
the world is in on the secret.

--
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.