Antacid Rock: One Foot In The Grave mixes rock, polka, alternative music Scottsdale Arizona Progress, August 29, 1991 by Amy Silverman, Scottsdale Progress First it was cheerleaders in support hose, then a group of gray-haired rappers from Miami Beach. Now it's One Foot In The Grave, a punk-rock band from Sun City that produces "antacid rock." A small crowd gathered Wednesday night at Scottsdale's Anderson's Fifth Estate to listen to the group, whose sound can be described as a mixture of 50s, polka and alternative music. Fans nicknamed them The Foot. "Actually, it's one foot coming out of the grave," says Jo Dina, 5l, a retired mortician from Scottsdale who placed an ad in the newspaper for has-been musicians four years ago and wound up in the Wall Street Journal and - next month - in People magazine. With song titles such as "I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up," and promotional T-shirts borrowed from the Garzone Funeral Home (Jo Dina's cousin's business in New Jersey), the mood is macabre. In "Menopause," Jo Dina sings: Someone please turn up the fan. I try to resist it all I can. I think I'm turning into a man! Menopause! Menopause! She wears black go-go boots and a mini-skirt. Drummer Gino Costa, 74, of Sun City, sports a black beret, sunglasses and navy-blue Nike tennis shoes. Discerning listeners may detect a hint of polka. That's the influence of Danny Walters, 74, who played with the Lawrence Welk Band for 20 years. Wearing a straw hat with his ripped jeans and black T-shirt, Walters looks like he's plucking a banjo, not an electric guitar. But he is plucking an electric guitar, wearing a caved-in grin. And Danny's versatile, too. How many rock 'n roll guitarists pick up an accordion for the encore? Most of those assembled at Anderson's Wednesday night - many in their 20s and 30s - hunched over their drinks with bemused, almost embarrassed expressions. Watching Jo Dina is sort of like having your mother yell at you. In "Clean Up Your Room," she belts out: It looks like a dump. It smells like your rump. And the refrain: All you wanna to do is party, party, party. All you wanna to do is party, party, party. "I've been hearing about them for like the last two months," says Gherada Blair, 26. Gherada and her brother Hilber, 24, are from Phoenix and follow the rock/alternative scene. "I thought it was a lot of fun," she says. "Pretty competent musicians" Hilber adds, shaking his shoulder-length platinum blonde hair. "I love alternative and this is extremely alternative," says Marty Muniz, 28, from Phoenix, who follows The Foot. He gives Jo Dina a big hug. Muniz says he listens to groups such as Depeche Mode and Led Zeppelin. So far The Foot has not played any Sun City gigs. "Not too many (older) fans at this stage in the game," Gavan Wieser said. At 48, Wieser of Glendale is the youngest member of The Foot, but has the strongest background in the kind of music the group produces. He's toured before with country bands, he says, but prefers the alternative sound of fairly new groups such as Mojo Nixon and Robyn Hitchcock. "When all of this stuff popped out, I said, 'l've been writing this stuff for years!"' says Wieser, who spends his days working for his wife, an accountant. He's prepared for the future. "Certainly a record deal and tour," he says. "I'm ready." And the others? Now that the group has heard they will be appearing soon on Japanese television, they're ready to go international, Jo Dina says. "The guys are looking forward going to Europe," she says. Wieser offered some advice for closet musicians who dream of fame. "Stay at it. Stay at it. Stay at it," he says. And it's never too late. Costa didn't start playing the drums until he was 60. Last update 10-Mar-2002. © One Foot In The Grave. Contact us or sign the Guest Book.