FIRST STOP: CHET’S LAST CALL

1983 – 1987

65 CAUSEWAY STREET, BOSTON, MA

NEXT STOP: STORYVILLE (1 Beacon St, Boston, MA)

Years: 1983 – 1987
Opening: The Bosstones (pre ‘Mighty Mighty’)
Headliner: The Beastie Boys

Take a look at the photograph of the Budweiser sign above the Causeway Ticket agency, which probably sold tickets to Celtics and Bruins games back in the ‘70s and ‘80s. That is hand-drawn, indicating the hidden location of Chet’s Last Call. This epitomizes a hole-in-the-wall music venue that initially wouldn’t seem like much but was essential to the bands and the people who saw them.

This wasn’t a place where national headliners would go, but it certainly was where local bands had a space to perform, and their friends and fans could see them. Sure, a few famous bands played at Chet’s, but these were their pre-fame, struggling musician early days where they would play wherever anyone would let them. Whether the Beastie Boys, Scruffy The Cat, Hüsker Dü, or Bim Skala Bim, places like Chet’s were where they would hone their skills and learn how to play to an audience. But more importantly, it gave a space for local bands to play without the worry of trying to fill the place. It was a tight-knit group, as evidenced by the documentary 'Chet's Last Call - A Story of Rock and Redemption. Chet was the owner, volatile gatekeeper, and the club's soul. It was not the well-known space that other venues enjoyed, but it was an essential place for those who loved it.

The Story

Back in the 1980's most people didn't visit the West End unless they were attending a game or a concert at the Garden. With the Green Line T running over Causeway Street and the dark vibe it cast beneath, the area wasn’t exactly a tourist trap in those days. Most former residents had long been run out of the neighborhood and the residences replaced with seedy theaters and dive bars. Among all the “dirty old Boston” qualities of the old West End there stood an important club that supported local bands and the gritty Boston music scene of the day. That club was Chet’s Last Call.

Located across the street from the Garden on the corner of Causeway and Lancaster Streets, Chet’s was on the second floor up a narrow stairway above the old Penalty Box bar. Owned and operated by Richard “Chet” Rooney, Chet’s was not built for anything but live music. The interior was a special shade of orange and the walls were still mirrored from days gone by when it was a strip joint then a disco. That said, no one went to Chet’s for anything but to see and hear live local music from bands hungry to make the scene. There were clubs all over town but what seemed to separate Chet’s was the sense that you felt like anything could happen — bands had the freedom to be exactly who they were — even if they weren’t sure!

This resulted in some raw, bare bones performances that weren’t always good, but were always real. Some of those who played Chet’s regularly were Scruffy the Cat, the Bosstones (pre-“Mighty Mighty”), and The Flys along with Lizzie Borden, and the Dogmatics. National acts like the Beastie Boys and Hüsker Dü also made the scene at Chet’s. Between 1983 to 1989 the club booked three bands a night from Wednesday to Sunday, giving acts that wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity elsewhere a chance to get on stage — and the rest of us a chance to hear them. And at the end of the day that’s probably the most important contribution that Chet’s Last Call provided all of us: a place for those that wanted to play and those that wanted to listen.

Source:
Turner, Mark. "Chet's Last Call." Music Museum of New England. August 8, 2017. https://doi.org/https://www.mmone.org/chets-last-call/.

Just across the street from Boston Garden was the spectacularly dingy Chets Last Call, a club that lived up to its name one night when a patron keeled over while dancing to Ricky Parsons post unnatural acts group stickball chats also got a moment of fame when a character of the Boston TV set drama St. Elsewhere propose catching “dinner at Chets Last Call.” (a writer for Boston Rock magazine came up with the perfect comeback, “Hope the peanut machine was working that night.” (2)

Continue on to the next stop on the tour: Storyville. This is about a 14 minute walk. (½ mile) 

1. "Chet's Last Call." Chet's Last Call - A Story of Rock & Redemption. January, 2022. https://doi.org/https://www.chetslastcall.com/.

2. Milano, Brett. 2004. The Sound of Our Town - A History of Boston Rock and Rol. Beverly, MA: Commonwealth Editions. p 142.

Performers (partial list)

Scruffy the Cat
Bosstones (pre - “Mighty Mighty”)
The Flys
Lizzie Borden
The Dogmatics
Beastie Boys
Joe Viglione
Hüsker Dü
Bim Skala Bim

"Joe Harvard - Interview for Chet's Last Call Documentary." Chet's Last Call. May 21, 2016. Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibgbEccymNc.

"Vivisect at Chet's Last Call Boston 1985." Mark Kennedy. September 12, 2012. Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibgbEccymNc.

"Joe Viglione Live at Chet's Last Call in Boston." Joeviglione. July 11, 2011. Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibgbEccymNc.