The Senders were a fantastic and sadly overlooked punk band from New York that started in 1976 and were peers with some of the big names like the Ramones, Heartbreakers and Blondie.

Left For Dead Records will issue a very special compilation featuring over two dozen tracks, captured in down and dirty local studios and in sweaty dives between 1977 and 2001 all previously unreleased or long out of print. ‘All Killer No Filler (1977-2001)’ is being issued as a 2 x 12” vinyl LP featuring 27 tracks in a gatefold sleeve, a 2 x CD also in a gatefold sleeve and with four additional bonus tracks. The packaging includes separate liner notes by music journalists James “The Hound” Marshall and Tim Stegall as well as a Peter Crowley who oversaw the Senders session for a Max’s Kansas City Records seven-song single, material that appears on this album. Releases November 18th, 2022 via Left For Dead Records.

“We hand-picked the very best songs from 1977 to 2001”

We are all very excited about the upcoming double album of classic recordings by The Senders. Are you excited to have this one on vinyl?

Phil Marcade: Yes, very excited! This will definitely be the “ultimate” Senders compilation. We hand-picked the very best songs from 1977 to 2001, it’s fabulous! Haha! It includes a reissue of the ‘Seven Song Super Single’ 12-inch we did for the Max’s Kansas City label in 1980 with its original sleeve and all. It also has our first 45: ‘The Living End’/’No More Foolin’ Me’ from 1978, and all the best stuff from a 25 years catalog. Left For Dead Records put so much love into this project. I’m impressed by their great attention to details. It will come as a double vinyl LP with a beautiful gatefold cover and also as a two CD set with a cardboard sleeve. The front cover is an amazing illustration by Bruce Carleton. Wait until you see that!

“Included is a whole “never released before” live set at Max’s with Johnny Thunders on guitar”

The compilation features over two dozen tracks, captured in down and dirty local studios and in sweaty dives between 1977 and 2001 all previously unreleased or long out of print. Would you like to share some further words about the unreleased tracks.

Included is a whole “never released before” live set at Max’s with Johnny Thunders on guitar from August 1978. We played five gigs in a row with Johnny as our guitarist that summer: three at Max’s and two at Hurrah’s. This one from Max’s is especially insane! Johnny was in top shape during these gigs and he’s playing great. Much to our surprise, he had insisted on doing Senders’ originals instead of just covers. So here’s Johnny Thunders playing six Senders songs with the Senders plus an amazing version of ‘I Can Only Give You Everything’ by Them. Hold on to your hat!!

Would you like to take us back to New York City in the 70s, how would you describe the underground scene?

Small! If I was to describe the New York underground scene in 1975, 1976, I would describe it as small. Very small! There were only about a hundred people participating, at most. Everybody knew everybody else by name. When a band was not playing, they’d be in the audience watching another band. There was the Ramones, Television, Suicide, Blondie, The Fast, Mink DeVille, then the Heartbreakers in 1975. Just a handful of bands. It all started at a little club on 23rd Street called Mother’s, run by Peter Crowley, who had a great eye and ear for interesting bands. Then, CBGB started. Peter Crowley became the booking agent at Max’s Kansas City and the rest is history.

Would you like to talk about some of the early days, were you in any other bands before forming the Senders?

No, except for a little band with friends at school in Paris, where I grew up, I was not in a band before the Senders. I had no plan on being in a band until I met Steve Shevlin, our bass player. I met Steve thru Johnny Thunders. They were old pals. I worked as a roadie for the Heartbreakers, at the time. When we started the Senders, I was the drummer, at first, then we all decided I would be the singer. This was in 1976. I had no plans of becoming a singer before that. As it turned out, that’s what I did until 2001. I think that, apart from the Fleshtones, we were the longest running NYC band without a major record contract or anything. Once we started, we just couldn’t stop!! Our dedicated fans wouldn’t let us!! We kept going because they kept coming! This went on for 25 years. Until we all became partly deaf!

What about influences? What kind of records would we find in your room back in the very early days?

We were mostly influenced by late 50s and early 60s American Rhythm & Blues. People like Ike Turner’s Kings Of Rhythm, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Andre Williams, et cetera and early Rock & Roll like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Don and Dewey,.. All the stuff from Specialty Records.. We also really liked some Rockabilly; Gene Vincent, Billy Lee Riley, et cetera and, of course, some early 60s American and British Garage, like Them, the Sonics, the Yardbirds and all. We were avid listeners to The Hound on WFMU, and we loved discovering old obscure insane records on his show and covering them. That’s how we ended up doing ‘Please Give Me Something’ by Bill Allen and many others.

What led you to record your debut single, ‘The Living End’ in 1978?

‘The Living End’ was one of the first songs I wrote. It always got a great reception from the audience when we played it live so we decided to record it and released it as our first 45 in 1978, with ‘No More Foolin’ Me,’ another original, on the flip side.

How did you get signed to Max’s Kansas City Records?

Tommy Dean, who owned Max’s at the time, decided to launch a Max’s record label. He asked Peter Crowley to pick a few bands to be on it. Peter had been really kind to us, giving us great weekend nights gigs at Max’s. We were thrilled when he offered to record us for Max’s label.

What’s the story behind your ‘Seven Song Super Single’?

EP 45s were very popular, then, and Peter decided to make a 7 song 12-inch EP with the Senders. We recorded it all in one take, the whole thing. We thought it was funny to call it our ‘Seven Song Super Single.’

And then you were under Skydog International recording ‘Retour A L’envoyeur’. What are some of the recollections from working on it?

We recorded that one in a studio in Times Square. Our guitar player, Wild Bill Thompson, was suffering from some health issue at the time, and was hospitalized. Barry Ryan, a good friend from the Victims (and, later, the Rockats) filled in for Bill on lead guitar for these sessions. I love +Devil Shooting Dice,+ from that record. It’s included in ‘All Killer No Filler’ too.

Would you like to share some of your own songs that you still enjoy listening to?

I’m most proud of ‘When I Die I’ll Be A Ghost.’ I think it’s my best song. I never get tired of that one. I would like it to be played at my funeral! I’m also very proud of ‘You Really Piss Me Off.’ I think it’s my best lyrics, especially the line “You took that diamond ring and swore your love for me would never end, but did you have to take my car when you left town with my best friend?” Haha! Shakespeare, eat your heart out!!!

“Opening up for The Clash at Bond Casino in 1981 was a thrill”

Tell us about gigs, where did you play and what are some of the bands you shared stages with?

Opening up for The Clash at Bond Casino in 1981 was a thrill. Opening up for the Heartbreakers at the Village Gate in 1977 was great too. We played so many gigs at Max’s and CBGB in the late 70s, with fabulous bands, like the Cramps (which we loved), Blondie or Robert Gordon with Link Wray… In 1988, we started a weekly residency at the Continental Divide on Third Avenue and Saint Mark’s Place. It turned out to be our most successful gig in New York. We called it ‘The Sender Thing’ and, though we first planned to do it for no more than two months, we ended up doing it for almost two years.

It was the best time for the Senders, when we were the most popular ever. That’s when we recorded ‘Baby Glows In The Dark’ live at the Continental Divide, which, of course, is included in this compilation.

What can you tell us about later releases such as ‘Back to Sender Revisited’ and ‘Goodbye Cruel World’?

For the Skydog record, we had originally been contacted by its owner, Marc Zermati in 1983, and agreed to make a record for Skydog. However, we were a bit disappointed as we lost all contact with Skydog before its release. The album was released in France without our knowledge, with a sleeve and a tittle we didn’t really like and had nothing to do with. I guess it could be called a “bootleg.” Same thing happened when Skydog reissued it as a CD in 1998 as ‘Back To Sender Revisited.’ It came out in Japan, or something. Again, we were never told about its release when it came out. The ‘Goodbye Cruel World’ CD was from Action Records, also in France. It was a pure joy working with these people and we participated a lot in that one’s release. I painted the illustration that became the front cover and also designed the booklet.

Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band?

Well, 1978 and 1979 were really exciting for the Senders. These were fabulous days. But 1988 and 1989 were especially existing too, as we became more popular than ever in New York. We had become so tight, then, and the gigs were always great. In 1989, we ruled!!! Haha!!

Pretty much all of you were involved with other bands, would you like to discuss it.

I played drums in the first line up of Gang War, for a while, in 1979, with Johnny Thunders and Wayne Kramer. That was so much fun. I also did another project in 1983 called the Backbones. I sang. The Backbones were more into Soul music. We toured California a few times. It was a blast! The Senders’ guitar player, Wild Bill Thompson, participated in several side projects too, like, for example, a tour of England as a second guitarist with the Stray Cats in 1981 when Brian Setzer wanted to “fatten-up” the Stray Cats live sound by adding a guitar, sax and piano. Our drummer Ned Brewster played with Andre Williams for a while in the late 90s, which I thought was way-cool too.

What currently occupies your life?

I draw and paint a lot. I also do occasional music projects with different friends, the most recent one being the Far Flung, a band formed by my pal Brett Wilder during the pandemic with different members in different countries. We recorded a tune called ‘(I’m not a) Toy Boy,’ the other day, with me on vocals and harmonica. It came out great. Maybe Brett will release all those tracks, one day…