Before there was MTV, before there was alternative rock, before Albany had any claim to a national music identity, there was Blotto. The new wave comedy-rock band that emerged from the University at Albany in the late 1970s became one of the Capital Region’s most unlikely success stories — and one of the first music videos ever broadcast on MTV.
From Washboards to New Wave
Blotto grew out of the ashes of the Star Spangled Washboard Band, a comedic bluegrass group of UAlbany alumni. Around 1978, the core members traded acoustic instruments for electric ones and embraced the new wave explosion sweeping New York City. The lineup adopted Ramones-style stage names: Sarge Blotto (Greg Haymes, lead vocals), Broadway Blotto (Bill Polchinski, guitar), Bowtie Blotto (Paul Jossman, guitar and vocals), Lee Harvey Blotto (Paul Rapp, drums), and Cheese Blotto (Keith Stephenson, bass), with Blanche Blotto on keyboards and later Chevrolet Blotto on vocals.
MTV Day One
In 1980, the band self-released “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard” on their homemade Blotto Records label as part of a four-song EP titled Hello, My Name is Blotto — What’s Yours?. The quirky surf-rock-meets-new-wave single picked up radio play in New York City and beyond. When MTV launched on August 1, 1981, Blotto’s low-budget video — filmed by SUNY students as a senior project — was among the first clips in rotation. The band was suddenly getting fan mail from across the country and features in Rolling Stone and Trouser Press.
Capital Region Kings
At their peak, Blotto owned the Capital Region club circuit — JB Scott’s, The Ritz, the Chateau, and beyond. They opened for Blue Oyster Cult at Albany’s Alive at Five in 2015 and attracted interest from Atlantic and Boardwalk Records, though a major-label deal never materialized. The 1984 drinking-age increase to 21 devastated the club scene that sustained them, and full-time touring wound down. But Blotto’s impact endures: they proved that Albany could produce nationally relevant music, laid the groundwork for the Capital Region’s indie and alternative scenes that followed, and gave the city its first genuine brush with rock and roll fame.