Ricky And The White Boys, outside their practice space at 809 Idlewood Avenue; c 1977.
Pictured are: Boo Smith, Bruce Terrell, Ralph Harper, Richard Buchanan, Craig Thompson, Jennifer (Cherry Bomb).
Some of the following people & bands lived there at one time or another. They were: Rob Reisinger of NY Dux; Jennifer (Cherry Bomb); Richard Buchanan of Ricky and the White Boys; White Cross, Red Cross [the forerunner to White Cross]; Dennis Madigan and Tom Zimmerman “Z” of Crossbreed, which later became X-Breed; John Hall; Bruce Terrell (Ricky And The White Boys/Boys From Skateland); Inquisition lived there from ‘91-‘96 and practiced there; Thomas Barnett (Inquisition/Strike Anywhere); Maurice Garrett (Single Bullet Theory)
The first band to practice in the basement was Crossbreed which later became X-Breed (Richard, Dennis and Z). Ricky and the White Boys followed. The NY Dux rehearsed there too. Other bands that rehearsed there were the original lineup of Hotel X with Julie O, Deke and Neil and Always August (on occasion); KAL-KAN
White Cross was formed in Richmond in 1980, the members were, Richard “Crispy” Cranmer, Mike Rodriguez, Alford Faulkner, and Scotty Price. Other members of the band were, Pen Rollings, Dewey Rowell. The band was together from 1980-1985. The band originally called themselves Red Cross. They changed the name to White Cross after being served a cease-and-desist order from the American Red Cross organization. At the time cheap little speed pills called white crosses were popular with the more enlightened citizenry. So, that’s why the name White Cross was chosen, certainly not for any religious purposes. White Cross played often in and around the Richmond area. Alford Faulkner left the band not long after the name change. He would later play with The Prevaricators. The band released a few records, opened for big-name U.S. and U.K. punk bands, and toured cross-country before its members moved on, joining Unseen Force, Mudd Helmut and GWAR. Reunited in fall 2009 for the Benny-fit show, White Cross then performed with Tommy Rodriguez replacing his brother Mike on guitar, and Greta Brinkman instead of Rowell on bass. Greta became a founding member of the well-known punk bands Unseen Force and Four Walls Falling, and she played bass with Kal Kan, The Hurly Gurlies, and Dead Blind Gone. Sources: Photo: Unknown; Thomas Bailey; Michael Maurice Garrett; Thomas Barnett
(Editor’s note: This was posted by Christopher B. Coleman on the ‘Old Images Of Richmond’ FaceBook group and is reposted here with permission.)
