The Tonearms

Left to right:  Frankie Paradise,  Jerome Broughten,  Nick Radovich (on drums), Paul Scher, and  Larry Hayes

Another image from the Flippist Archives.

The Tonearms were a short-lived Minnesota blues band that was active in the early 1980s,  a turbulent era in local music. There was a (and still is) a vibrant blues scene centered around the Twin Cities, but the gig opportunities for a “straight” blues band were diminishing from a peak of a few years previous. The big names now were Prince, The Replacements and Hüsker Dü, none of whom were blues acts. Still, “da blooz” never dies, and this group definitely had credentials: Larry was one of the founders of Lamont Cranston (who were an inspiration for The Blues Brothers), Frankie and Paul were from The Explodo Boys, Jerome was an alum of Willie and the Bees, and Nick, well, Nick was Nick!