Peter Burg & Bluesuburban open for Sonny Landreth at Blue Bird Theather in Denver 2006

Clown Town A Play by Peter Burg

Clown Town
by
Peter Burg
Water Color Painting by Melissa Adkison

Performances on
July 11,12, & 13 2008
At the Playhouse
2099 Main St,
Rye, CO. 81069

Where Clowns go after the show? The year is 1958 and just southeast of Pueblo there is a haven. It is late summer and on a few acres of windblown chamisa infested high desert the magic of friendship electrifies the wind. The place is Clown Town. A place of the past and present and the possibilities of the future for six clowns living the lives of men. Men doing double duty in the circus of life singing the melody of laughter, but time is fading fast and on the horizon the specter of change is imminent.
Share the whimsical ramblings and comical camaraderie of Rusty, Bobo, Suds, Zappy, Nod and Scamper, the inhabitants of Clown Town, before the wind carries them off into a distance memory.

The Pueblo Chieftain

Lonely end of circus era

explored in ‘Clown Town’

Posted: Friday, July 4, 2008 12:00 am

It's 1958 and life is about to change for Rusty, Suds, Nod, Bobo, Zappy and Scamper.

They're circus clowns in an era when their various talents are no longer in demand, living in a place called Clown Town in Southeastern Colorado. They're also the subject of a new play, "Clown Town," written by well-known area musician Peter Burg. "Clown Town" will be presented by the Greenhorn Valley Players July 11-13 at The Playhouse in Rye.

"I got the idea when I was playing at the Saddle Saloon (in Pueblo) in the early 1990s," said Burg. "We were talking to some people and someone mentioned ‘up by Clown Town.’ That immediately caught my imagination. The seed had settled."

Clown Town apparently was a real thing, an area inhabited by former circus and carnival performers. Burg started jotting down ideas and took about two years to complete the play once he began writing.

"The (real) story is mixed with my imagination in the play," Burg said.

Rusty, a World War II veteran, is the owner and honorary mayor of the failing Clown Town. The play takes place on the group's final night together, before everyone scatters to new lives.

Dick Greet, Jeff Garman, Lange Simmons, Brian Weisz, Justin Jaynes and Cliff Pattison portray the clowns. Burg is co-director with Pattison and helped with costumes, props and set design. He also wrote original music to go with the play.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. July 11 and 12 and 2:30 p.m. July 13. Ticket prices range from $6 to $8; call 489-2099 for information.

- Amy Matthew

IF YOU GO

WHAT: "Clown Town," presented by the Greenhorn Valley Players

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. July 11 and 12, 2:30 p.m. July 13

WHERE: The Playhouse, 2090 Main St., Rye

TICKETS: $8 adults, $7 seniors (62 and older), $6 kids (17 and younger). Call 489-2099.

454 Pop Rock Group from 1980 DVD

454
Peter Burg - vocals , guitar
Chris Judge - vocals, bass
Larry Goldberg - vocals, drums
1978-1981
Pacific Palisades, Califonia
Released a single on Rave Records 1980 "OK Lets Rock & Can't Keep Away"
DVD produced by DigiVintage Records 2008
454 -”Name on the Marquee”

I fell into amazing friendship with Chris Judge and Larry Goldberg while working at the Music Bag on Antioch Street in the Pacific Palisades, owned by Pat Hildebrand and Ray Sullivan. At that time I gave guitar lessons and worked the front in sales part time. Larry was also working there part time while attending Palisades High School. Chris too attended Pali and was just getting started on bass. It was serendipitous that he came to me for a few bass lessons. With his voracious appetite he soon absorbed all I could share with him and moved on to a more competent teacher.
After a baptism by fire as the guitarist with The Razz (original pop rock quartet, headed by Billy Bang circa. 1978) and The Actionaires (original rock band, headed by Terry Keller circa.1979) it seemed the natural progression for me to start my own band. Larry, whom I knew played drums and had an inexhaustible amount of energy and Chris who’s abilities I was familiar with, were both interested and so we started jamming.
The songs during that period were cover songs so we could hone our chops as a trio. They included; Jailhouse Rock, Pipe Line, Rave On, I Fought The Law, Money, All Day and All Night, I Think were Alone Now, and Hang On To Yourself. The early originals were, Downtown Girls, My Heart Skips A Beat (Love Me Now), O.K. Lets Rock, and Walking Home At Night.
The band rehearse in my bedroom at 887 Muskingum Pacific Palisades. There was just enough space for the drums, amps, P.A. and a bed.
Our first performance took place at the Music Bag on October 10, 1979. Larry was 15, Chris was 17 and I was 25. We called ourselves The Look because I had a song by that name. We soon had to abandon the name because another other band had it already. At that time there were a rash of bands with numbers for names, so we chose 454 because it was the Palisades telephone prefix, which stood for Gladstone-4. We first used that name on December 13, 1979 at a Gazzarri’s gig.

December 23, 1979 454 recorded two songs at Harlequin Studio in Northridge, California Double Ticket and Someday Somewhere Else. (No recordings found)

From the end of 1979 to May of 1981 454 played; private house parties in Malibu, Palisades, Brentwood, and Westwood, (Several were broken up by the police because they would get so crowded), Gazzarri’s (Hollywood), The Londoner (Santa Monica), Blackies (Santa Monica), Hong Cong Café (China Town), The Troubadour (West Hollywood), Palisades High School, Palisades Park, Paul Revere Jr. High School, Wood Crest Grammer School (Northridge), Bay City Jewish Community Center (Santa Monica), a total of 35 performances and most were paid gigs.

March 20, 1980 Palisadian Post runs article, “Local boys make new waves in quest for rock stardom”. By Rob Mandell.

April 3, 1980 Palisadian Post runs article, ”Dancers respond to call of 454”. Staff writer unknown.

On April 23 of 1980, 454 recorded two songs, O.K. Lets Rock and Can’t Keep Away at Cat Tracks Recording Studio in Hollywood, California. The session was engineered by Frank Sparks.

May 23, 454’s has differences with manager regarding finances and direction. The manager was also owner of The Music Bag where Peter was employed. The managerial agreement was terminated as was Peter’s employment.

On August 4, O.K. Lets Rock was broadcast on K-WEST Radio, “Seeds”, Monday night at 12:45.

September 6, 1980 454 hired Richard Titelman to shoot home beta video of the band, live at Peter’s parent’s home at 887 Muskingum Ave. in Pacific Palisades.

On October 9, 1980 an altercation occur on the sidewalk in front of Gazzarri’s night club along the Sunset strip after 454 finished there last set. Two street punks were harassing friends of the band and Peter stepped in and then a short fight took place. Peter was kicked in the chest and suffered a broken rib, as a result he was laid up for over a month, unable to perform.

On Sunday, February 1, 1981 The Calendar section of the L.A. Times ran an article, “Washed out for a decade, surf’s up again”, by Stuart Goldman. In it, 454 was mentioned as a surf band.

In May of 1981, 454 played it’s last gig together at Sandburg Junior High School in Glendora, California.
The band was paid $225.00.

March 3, 1994, Palisadian Post ran article written by Patrick Hildebrand Jr. where 454 was mentioned as being at the top of the Palisades music scene in 1978 and 1979.


One of the funniest mishaps occurred at a party on Haverford Street in the Palisades. Chris’s half brother, Jeff McBrien, our roadie that night, walked into a plate-glass sliding door. He hit it dead center, bounced off and we watched the huge mass of glass wobble, then explode, and shatter. Fortunately he was not injured. This was one of the many party’s that ended with the police showing up.

Peter Burg at Boats Blues & BBQ 2008

Peter Burg
& Blue Suburban


Originally from the coast of California, Peter Burg lives in the mountains of Colorado. Influenced by the beach sound and pop megalopolis culture of LA and juxtaposed with the pure simplicity and uncomplicated life style of a rather isolated mountain town, he has been bending and twisting country and blues of Southern Colorado into his own brand of original songs.
Peter is known regionally as a singer and songwriter and performs regularly with his original blues band Peter Burg & Blue Suburban. They have been heard on radio and have performed at many festivals and venues throughout Colorado including the Trinidadio Blues Fest ’00 and ‘05, the Belvedere Blues Fest ’03, Blues Boats and Barbecue Festival in Pueblo every year. Peter is a member of the Pikes Peak Blues Community playing Paint the Town Blues Series and Blues in the Park Series, and a life time member of Pueblo Songwriters & Musicians Association (President in ’04 &’05).
His blues…a Colorado blues, (Roots Music), a blues that encompasses elements of traditional blues forms, rock-a-billy, country swing, and rock’n roll, with the occasional surf twang, and folk elements.
Peter has released four CD, Open Wound ‘02, Corvette Irene ‘02, Hit & Miss ‘03, and Way out West ‘04. Currently, Peter has embarked on a solo venture with his latest release from Digivintage Records, Dizzy Light. Performance at Boats, Blues, & BBQ on June 6-7 at the Digivintage Stage, Riverwalk. Pueblo CO. Peter will be joined by Rick Terlep, on slide Guitar and Sam Giannetto, on bass and Bruce Paulman on harp.
More information can be found at: www.digivintage.com