September 19, 2019

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“You know, the truth is that the business of music sucks, but the making of music does not suck.”

It’s always been about the music for Dave Malone, but since The Radiators have retired, he’s getting back to his Huck Finn-like, River Parish roots.

As a young man, Dave Malone, guitarist/vocalist for The Radiators, worked for MaBell. He climbed telephone poles and repaired damaged phone wires. However, that work frequently took a back seat to his burgeoning music career.

“The band started traveling a lot and I’d call in sick,” he says. “We were up in New York and I called in sick again and my boss said, ‘C’mon, Dave, we know you’re in New York,’ and I said ‘But I am sick,’ and he said. ‘And you are fired.’ That was my last and only non-music job.”

“The Rads are My Beatles”

“Their damn music was everything to me…”

The New Orleans Radiators consists of Malone, Ed Volker, Camile Baudoin, Reggie Scanlan, and Frank Bua Jr. In 1978, the band began playing local venues such as Luigi’s, Jimmy’s, and the Dream Palace. They quickly found a fan base, especially among Tulane University students, many of whom claimed that the band was their major.

“I first saw the Radiators on the Tulane Quad in 1978,” says Tulane alumnus and longtime fan, Ken Steinberg. “I’ve been a very happy man ever since. The Rads are my Beatles. Their music brings smiles, dancing, and such great musical pleasure.”

Malone thinks the band was accidentally brilliant because they let concert attendees tape their shows.

“They’d ask if they could tape us and we’d say, ‘Sure,’” he says. “It got to the point where our soundman had a patch made for the soundboard so people could plug in their decks.”

Malone knew something was up when they showed up for a performance at the Lone Star Cafe in New York and there was a long line weaving around the block.

“All those Tulane students went home and shared our music with their brothers and sisters and friends and they were all there waiting to hear us play.”

“Back in a New Hampshire college dorm room in 1988, a friend of mine gave me a cassette tape of this band his buddy, who went to Tulane, was raving about and he wanted me to check it out,” says Steve Pearl. “The cassette he gave me was a live Rads show from Tipitina’s from 1986. I finally saw them in 1989 and was completely blown away. It was the start of a 30-plus year love affair!”

Malone says another part of building their fan base happened in the early ‘80s when the Radiators became the designated musical entertainment for the infamous M.O.M.’s Ball.

“Fans began organizing themselves into regional clubs, holding balls featuring us like the Krewe of DADs in Minneapolis,” he says. “These krewes were fearlessly creative. We could always see the effort they put into replicated the experience. So we tried to match their enthusiasm and passion.”

The band eventually signed with Epic Records and went on to enjoy a long stellar career. After 33 years and more than 4,500 performances, in 2010, the band retired.

“It was just time to do something different,” Malone says. “Being on the road constantly can be fun and rewarding but it’s tough. It eventually just wore us down.”

To the delight of their fans, The Radiators still reunite once a year to close out a stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, along with several concerts at Tipitina’s.

Malone grew up in Edgard, Louisiana. After high school graduation, he immediately left for New Orleans. He now lives in Prairieville with his wife of 30 years, Beth James, and he keeps a small apartment in New Orleans where he crashes after late-night gigs and rehearsals.

Malone threw himself into music and songwriting after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.

“Their damn music was everything to me; I was gobsmacked by the Beatles. I began practicing my guitar until my fingers bled.”

Malone’s younger brother, Tommy, who is with another legendary New Orleans band, The Subdudes, says his brother is just a natural musician.

“He’s got a great sense of pitch, a great ear, and he can really harmonize,” Tommy says. “The dude can hear a melody once and then jump right in. And as a performer, he’s always had charisma. He’s where your eyes go on stage. He’s just got it.”

Lifestyle Modifications

“I was Huck Finn, but with lots more music.”

The only thing Dave Malone hasn’t enjoyed about his lifelong career is all the things not associated with music.

“You know the truth is that the business of music sucks, but the making of music does not suck.”

On August 29, Malone turned 68 and is aging gracefully with a few lifestyle modifications. His thermos, which once contained Southern Comfort, now holds hot coffee. He’s trying to cut down on his consumption of butter crunch ice cream, he curtailed his cigarette smoking, he takes Cannabidiol (CBD) supplement to help him get a good night’s rest, and is learning to live with diabetes.

“Everything that used to be easy isn’t anymore,” he says. “I’m glad to be here, but now that I know how to play these damn things (guitars) I can’t always play what I want to play. Because of diabetes, I get a tingling in my fingers when I play now. I try to just push through it.”

Though he did a lot of traveling with the band and played internationally and throughout the U.S., he’s finally taking some time to do a bit of high-quality traveling. He recently returned from a Danube River cruise on Europe’s second longest river.

“People always said, ‘Oh, you got to see so many places,’” he says. “But let me tell you what it was like: it was an airport, a hotel, and a concert hall. Now I have the time to enjoy the full experience.”

Malone is also keeping busy with a variety of projects. He still occasionally performs with his other band, Raw Oyster Cult. And, he’s working with drummer Kevin Aucoin and guitarist Joe Tullos on a CD that’s loosely based on growing up in Louisiana’s river parishes. Tullos and Malone are writing all the songs.

“As a kid, I was swimming in the river all the time,” he says. “I was Huck Finn, but with lots more music.”

He’s also rehearsing a project that features low-end (frequency) instruments such as bass guitars, tubas, and baritone saxophones. Plus, there’s talk about relaunching “The Last Waltz 40 Tour.”

“It celebrated the 40th anniversary of The Last Waltz and had people like Dr. John, Cyril Neville, and Taj Mahal,” he says. “I enjoyed it the first time around and look forward to possibly doing it again. I’m just always trying to create and do interesting things.”

Lucky Knucklehead

“I’m an incredibly lucky knucklehead from Edgard, Louisiana…”

One thing is abundantly clear, Malone is eternally grateful to the band’s many devoted fans, who absolutely thrive listening to their boys bring the noise and who relish in receiving a bit of the band’s unique New Orleans music therapy.

“We are more than fans and friends,” says Gayla Owen. “It’s the family you choose in which you can feel the love flowing back and forth, extending to the band members and then back from them. It’s a unique bond where you truly radiate.”

Malone says that this fan family is otherworldly and splendiferous.

“I’m an incredibly lucky knucklehead from Edgard, Louisiana, who sincerely believes music is meant to bring joy and that it does have the power to heal.”

Pamela Marquis has lived in New Orleans for more than 40 years. She is a freelance writer and holds a master’s in social work from the University of Missouri.