Spring Heeled Jack U.S.A. was a third wave ska band based out of New Haven,… Read Full Bio ↴Spring Heeled Jack U.S.A. was a third wave ska band based out of New Haven, Connecticut. The band was formed by guitarist/vocalist Ron Ragona and drummer Dave Karcich in 1991. After a short breakup, Ragona and Karcich reformed the band with a new lineup. This lineup would record two albums before announcing a hiatus in 2000. While the band members moved on to new bands, their intention was to play the occasional reunion show. This idea was would never come to fruition due to Karcich's sudden death in 2002 after suffering a brain aneurysm.

The Early Years

Shortly after forming the band, Ragona moved to Boston, to play guitar for Skavoovie and the Epitones. After six months in Boston though, Ragona returned to Connecticut and reformed Spring Heeled Jack. The only other returning member would be Karcich. By the time the band decided to record its first demo tape, the lineup consisited of Ragona on vocals and guitar, Karcich on drums, Mike Pellegrino on vocals and guitar, Rick Omonte on bass, Chris Rhodes on trombone, Pat Gringas on trumpet and James Riley on saxophone. The demo tape was titled CT Ska and was released in 1993. The band played many shows and soon had a devoted following amongst the strong New Haven ska scene. The band would also contribute studio and live songs for various ska compilations over the next few years.

The Moon Ska Years

The band's popularity did not escape notice by Moon Ska Records, the label owned by Robert "Bucket" Hingley, of The Toasters. The label signed the band and had them start recording their debut album. By this time, the lineup had gone through some changes. Gringas had left, and was replaced by Tyler Jones. In 1996, their first album, Static World View was released. At some point, Riley had decided to leave the band. As a result, half of the album featured his saxophone playing, while the other half was played by (re)Pete Wasilewski. Wasilewski had played with Rhodes in the Connecticut band, JC Superska. By the time the band started touring for the album, Wasilewski had become a full time member. The band also filmed one video, for the song, "Pay Some Dues." To support the release of the album, the band started touring, a lot more, outside of their usual hometown base. During that time, ska started to break into the mainstream, due to hits by bands like No Doubt and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Major labels started looking for ska bands to sign. This led to Spring Heeled Jack's eventual signing with Ignition Records.

The Ignition Years

Ignition Records was a spin-off label of Tommy Boy Records. They booked the band to record at the legendary Hit Factory recording studio. The same studio had been used by musicians such as John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, & The Rolling Stones. The resulting album was Songs From Suburbia, released in 1998. To promote the album, the band toured extensively, with bands such as Reel Big Fish, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Dance Hall Crashers. One performance was filmed for an episode of the HBO music show, Reverb. They also played several dates on the 1999 Warped Tour which also featured Eminem. The band then filmed their second video, for the song "Jolene." It received minimal MTV airplay but a clip of the video appeared regularly as part of the introduction to the daily MTV show, I Spy Video. Things seemed to be going really well for the band when it was announced that, due to a merger, Tommy Boy Records would be dissolving the Ignition Records imprint. Suddenly, the band had no more record label and therefore, no more label support. As this was happening, the band were in the middle of what would be their final tour of the West Coast. A friend of the band, Kyle Herrman, toured with them for several days and filmed what would become the documentary, Mass Appeal Madness. While inititially only available at their final show, it would be sold on the internet for several more years.

The End & New Beginnings

Shortly after being dropped by their label, Dave Karcich decided to leave the band, in pursuit of making new music. He played, what was to be his last show with the band, in Long Island. Soon after, the band set out to find a replacement drummer. The band had their next show booked for Rutgers University in New Jersey, yet still had no drummer. Karcich came through and played drums for them, one more time. It was after this show, that the band announced they were going on hiatus. The goal was to continue recording music and playing shows together, without the constant extensive and expensive, touring. In the meantime, they'd be free to pursue new bands and projects. They announced their final show, for the time being and it was held at Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut in May, 2001. The unfortunate part was that by the time the show was booked to happen, Chris Rhodes had joined The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. In his place, on stage, a microphone stand stood with one of his shirts hanging from it. Earlier that day, the Bosstones had recorded a performance on David Letterman. The club had a giant screen airing the TV show and when the Bosstones segment aired, Spring Heeled Jack called Rhodes via cellphone. Together, the band and audience sang a variation of the Bosstones song, "Where'd You Go," entitled "Where Is Chris Rhodes," to him.

Almost immediately, rumors about the next possible reunion, began to surface. The band did plan to play the occasional show but all of those plans came to halt in April, 2002, when Karcich suffered a sudden brain aneurysm and passed away. Eight months later, a tribute show was held at Toad's Place, in honor of Karcich. Each band that played the show, had some connection to Karcich's life. The show ended with the one night reunion of Spring Heeled Jack. Various drummers that had been friend of Karcich, took his place during the performance. Over $8,000 was made and put into a scholarship fund, in Karcich's name.

Where Are They Now?

Since the split, all seven members have continued working in music.

Ron Ragona became the singer for Lost City Angels, and released two albums with the band before departing in 2006. He has since become a member of the band, The Murder Mile.

Pete Wasilewski now plays with Less Than Jake, under the name JR. His first album with Less Than Jake, was Anthem.

Tyler Jones played in Reel Big Fish, for a brief time, before leaving the band. He plays on several songs on their Cheer Up! album.

Mike Pellegrino now performs with Lord Fowl, a New Haven based three piece rock band. He also performs, from time to time, with Cenzo, a band he helped form with Karcich and former Pilfers and Bim Skala Bim member, Vinny Nobile, for a World Trade Center benefit show in 2001. Future shows did not feature Pellegrino but in 2005, he returned to the band. Pellegrino also briefly played with Ragona in Lost City Angels, before joining the Connecticut based band, Ladyfriend. He appeared on Ladyfriend's album , I Am An Autumn, before leaving the band who then changed their name to Welcome.

Rick Omonte remains a strong part of the New Haven, Connecticut, music scene. He plays bass for the band Crooked Hook, as well as The Mountain Movers. When not playing music, he books bands for Sunday nights at local New Haven club, BAR.

Chris Rhodes played briefly with Bim Skala Bim before joining The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He appears on their A Jacknife to a Swan album and wrote the album's single, "You Gotta Go." After their breakup, he started playing with The Toasters, where he continued to play until his departure in 2006. Rhodes has also been know to perform with Omonte, in The Mountain Movers, and briefly toured with Less Than Jake in 2004.

Before his passing, Karcich had also been a member of Pilfers & Cenzo. At the time of his death, he was a member of Avoid One Thing with former Bosstone, Joe Gittleman. Although featured in the artwork, for their debut release, he did not actually play on the album.

Reunions and full-time return
In February, 2010, the band officially announced a reunion performance scheduled to take place at Toad's Place on May 7, 2010. In March, 2010, a second night was announced and scheduled for May 8, 2010. The opening acts for the first night were Mellow Bravo, The Organ Beats and Tip The Van. The openers for the second night were Make Do and Mend, We Are the Union and The Pietasters. The reunion shows coincided with vinyl reissues of both albums through Asbestos Records. A friend of the band, Howard “Corky” Evans, played drums for both shows.[1] Both shows were recorded for a future DVD release.

On December 10, 2011, Ragona, Pellegrino and Evans reunited as Spring Heeled Jack Acoustic, for a show at Daniel Street, a venue in Milford, Connecticut. In October 2012, the trio was joined by Nick Bacon and Seager Tennis, on keyboards and bass respectively, to perform seven shows as part of the Asbestos Records-sponsored Skalapalooza 2012 tour which also featured the Pietasters and Pilfers.

In 2013, Ragona, Pellegrino, Jones and Evans decided to reunite as Spring Heeled Jack on a full-time basis. Omonte, Rhodes and Wasilewski declined to return. Seager Tennis and Vinny Nobile replaced Omonte and Rhodes on bass and trombone respectively. Bacon also returned to the lineup on keyboards. The band performed its first return show on May 10 at Lupo's in Providence, Rhode Island. A second appearance was made on June 1 at Irving Plaza in New York City as part of the two-day Apple Stomp concert. In October, the band embarked on a four-day mini-tour. The band began the tour at Spaceland Ballroom in Hamden, Connecticut by performing both of their albums over a two-night engagement. The show was followed by an appearance at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, New Jersey and a show at The Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In July 2015, the band returned once again for three consecutive shows. The first show was on July 24 in Fredericksburg, Virginia as part of the Virginia Ska Fest. The following night, the band performed at Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut. The final show took place at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. All three shows featured the returning lineup of Ragona, Pellegrino, Jones, Evans and Bacon, alongside new members, Peet Golan (bass), Mike DeMatteo (saxophone) and Tom Quartulli (saxophone).

On May 5, 2017, the band released their third studio album, Sound Salvation digitally. The revised lineup, featuring Ragona, Pellegrino, Evans, Bacon, Golan, Quartulli as well as the returning Vinny Nobile and new trumpet player, Nick Di Maria, performed at a record release party at Toad's Place in New Haven that same day. The band performed again as an opening act for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones on July 26 at College Street Music Hall in New Haven. The band was joined on stage by Chris Rhodes for a performance of "Jolene" to close out their set.

On March 17, 2018, the band performed with Sgt. Scagnetti at Space Ballroom in Hamden, Connecticut. On April 28, Spring Heeled Jack was one of several bands to appear at Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company as part of This is Croydon Fest festival in Croydon, Pennsylvania. On May 27 the band performed at the 2018 Supernova Ska Festival in Spotsylvania, Virginia. A four-piece version of the band, featuring Pellegrino, Ragona, Evans and Golan, returned to Space Ballroom to perform at a benefit for their friend, Todd Rogers on October 7.

Spring Heeled Jack continued playing throughout 2019, culminating with a twenty-first anniversary celebration of the release of Songs From Suburbia at Toad's Place in New Haven on November 30. The performance saw both Wasilewski and Rhodes return for one night to join the band in performing the album in its entirety, as well as several other songs from throughout the band's history.

The band's sole performance of 2020 occurred on February 28 at Alchemy in Providence, Rhode Island. On March 22, 2020, former trumpet player, Tyler Jones, died of a cause that, to date, has been not been made public.

Additional information

After the Long Island show, which was planned to be Karcich's last performance with the band, there was only one occasion where all seven members were in one room at the same time. Wasilewski could not be present at the next show in New Jersey and Rhodes was not at the final show. The occasion that brought them all together was a mutual friend's party in New Haven.

The Spring Heeled Jack horn section appears together on the song "Do The Devil" by The Amazing Royal Crowns.

Tyler Jones appears as the trumpet player on the entire Change Up album by the Skalars.

For a time, when Chris Rhodes wasn't busy touring with SHJ, he also played trombone for the New Haven funk band, Boogie Chillun.

After leaving SHJ, Karcich temporarily filled in on drums for Mephiskapheles. He had also auditioned for the band 2 Skinnee J's before joining Pilfers.

No member of SHJ performed at every single show in the band's history. Karcich and Ragona were the only two original members and they both missed one show each during the Songs From Suburbia era.

Most fans know that the song "Jolene" is about the band's old tour van. Not everyone knows that the van featured in the video is the very same van. By the time the video was filmed, the van had been sold and a new one had been purchased. The band didn't feel right about doing the video without the original van and it was bought back. After filming, the van was sold yet again. Some Connecticut fans were upset when the fake license plate, shown in the video, was from New York. This was a circumstance of the video being filmed in New York City though and therefore the plate that was made was from New York as well. Soon after the video was shot, the band featured a contest on their website that allowed a fan to pick a name for their new van. Once all of the submissions were in, the band decided on "The People's Van" as the name.

The USA addition to the name was the result of a legal agreement with the British electronic band, Spring Heel Jack. It was done strictly to avoid confusion on album covers and live performances. While some considered it an actual name change, the band never referred to themselves as anything but Spring Heeled Jack. Rumor has it that Spring Heel Jack was to add UK to their name, as part of the deal, but this never happened.

The band recorded several songs that were never released publicly. One of the songs was a cover of The Stray Cats song, "Sexy & 17" which was reguarly performed at live performances. A second song was titled "Lonely." A third song, titled "Josie," was submitted for use in the Drew Barrymore film, Never Been Kissed but it was rejected. "Josie" was the name of Barrymore's character in the film.

Members

* Dave Karcich (drums)
* Ron Ragona (guitar, vocals)
* Tyler Jones (trumpet)
* Chris Rhodes (trombone, vocals)
* Rick Omonte (bass guitar)
* Mike Pelligrino (guitar, vocals)
* Pete Wasilewski (saxophone, vocals)
* James Riley (saxophone)
* Pat Gringas (trumpet)

Discography

1. CT Ska (1993 cassette only demo)
2. Static World View (1996)
3. Songs From Suburbia (1998)
4. Sound Salvataion (2017)

Nervous
Spring Heeled Jack Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You know I can't understand
Why when you're around me
I have to get so nervous
And then I'll be just fine
Until the time you unwind
And then I go get nervous
I realize that in time
I could never make you what

I want you to be
So go right ahead
Sit back and relax and watch
What you're doin to me
You know you make me so.
I find it hard to believe
That you're a straight-edge woman
Sometimes you get caught up
in that no show scene
There was a time
When I'd let my thoughts go jumpin'
But right now
I'm the only think that's real to me!!
I said sittin' alone with you
It makes me want to shiver
And when you glance my way
I can't help but stare
But then it starts right over!!
Sit down and talk a little
Ok fine, that's fine
Just leave me alone

Cause if you hang around here
You'll see me go crazy!!!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Spring Heeled Jack's "Nervous" express a sense of unease and uncertainty in a romantic relationship. The singer admits to feeling nervous around the person they are singing to, and their nerves resurface when the other person relaxes. The singer wants the person to be a certain way, but ultimately realizes that they can't change them. The playful and upbeat tune of the song contrasts with the anxious lyrics, creating a sense of tension.

The song seems to be reflecting on the insecurities and anxieties that can arise in a relationship where one person wants the other to change. The singer is trying to reconcile their own feelings with the reality of the situation, and the lyrics suggest that they may be struggling to let go and move on. The repeated refrain of "nervous" reinforces the sense of anxiety and inner turmoil.

Overall, "Nervous" is a catchy and relatable song that explores the complicated emotions that can arise in relationships. It provides a window into the challenges of navigating other people's expectations and our own desires.

Line by Line Meaning

You know I can't understand
I am confused and unable to comprehend

Why when you're around me
My nerves get triggered by your presence

I have to get so nervous
I become anxious and uneasy

And then I'll be just fine
I calm down and relax

Until the time you unwind
Your relaxation makes me anxious again

And then I go get nervous
I become uneasy once more

I realize that in time
I understand that it's not possible

I could never make you what
I can't change you

I want you to be
Into who I want you to be

So go right ahead
Just do what you want

Sit back and relax and watch
Observe the effect on me