The Vamps story began back in the small town of Steelton, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Susquehanna River in the Harrisburg area where brothers Frank and Joe Pugliese were born. When nearby Olmsted Air Force Base was scheduled to close the Pugliese family would relocate to San Antonio, Texas in 1966. The Vamps started as an antidote to the prevailing mainstream Rock of the early-70's. Informed by a love of Detroit R&B, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, Sixties Garage Rock and some of the newer artists starting to make waves in New York and the UK, sometime in 1974. The Vamps incorporated all those influences into their sound. Joe asserts We wanted to be the band that wasn't around, the band we couldn't see in San Antonio, playing the type of music we loved. At the time there weren't many (if any) acts in the area playing original rock'n'roll that wasn't either heavily blues, country or metal. They had a number of different names thru-out their time-span (Loose, The Boys, Chatterbox, etc.) until finally settling w/ The Vamps name. They only performed out a handful of times and barely had a following. They would however open for the Sex Pistols at their infamous San Antonio Randy's Rodeo appearance of January 8th,1978. They only released four 7s during their run. The last one issued in 1980. This compilation Used to Be Cool includes all of their recorded material. I Used To Be Cool stands tall in the canon of Texan proto-punk and their lack of popular acceptance amounts to a badge of honor. The Vamps didn't used to be cool -- for my money they've always been cool. As a couple of novice musicians Joe and Frank accomplished exactly what they set out to do - they became the band they wanted to see!
