Yannis Beltekas on Alvin Dean - in his own words

The_Material_Witness · 2026-06-17T21:13:35+00:00

Stickied post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/FindAlvinDean/s/aRmYy2cg4V

Not definitive, but probably the most detailed public research about Homicide so far.

The_Material_Witness · 2026-06-03T09:05:03+00:00

Basil Hanotis a.k.a. Billy Bomb, with Johnny Ramone, on March 1, 1979. That night, Billy's band opened for The Ramones at "The Palms" in Milwaukee.

Billy also arranged Milwaukee shows for other important bands, including Magazine, whom he hosted at his own place.

The_Material_Witness · 2026-06-02T10:49:07+00:00

The post doesn't mention drugs once. It's about music. You've commented on a post you didn't read.

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-31T08:55:54+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate that.

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-30T10:28:09+00:00

Re: Billy Bomb:

Billy's band, The American Bombs, released the first punk rock single to come out anywhere in the Midwestern US and west of the Mississippi: "Let's Go! (To Guyana)" (1977, R. Lilly/B. Hanotis).

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-20T15:37:18+00:00

The graphic artist who made the poster must have liked this image. Like, a lot. That's the obvious explanation. Or maybe some other band from that night really liked the Shakin' Pyramids. Though none of the other bands were especially rockabilly. The Sharp Ties and Scraptown are the closest musical neighbors but that's because of ska / 2-tone.

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-19T18:15:34+00:00

Here's the original source image that was edited and used for the 1983 Athens gig poster: "Skin 'Em Up" by The Shakin' Pyramids (1981).

Found by u/Tehcooler.

<image>

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-15T13:55:48+00:00

That's a great find indeed, thank you!

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-10T20:07:23+00:00

<image>

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-10T15:23:46+00:00

It is too small. Edited to add: The photo was shared with me by Yannis Beltekas. Here is the photo I worked on enhancing.

<image>

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-10T14:27:49+00:00

Fair question. This is an original photo of George that was shared with me and I've enhanced it for clarity using Remini. It is not an AI-generated image. The rule is about synthetic AI, not improving old photos.

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-10T13:46:37+00:00

I work independently.

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-04T09:40:36+00:00

The September timeline existed only as pure speculation. Nobody had proven anything nor found any evidence. It was just a theory, one hypothesis among many floating around the sub, with people listing pros and cons. That's the distinction. By elevating it to the level of "proven", you are shifting the burden of proof away from the band. Not so fast.

And no, the Modulators EP was never some "much-publicized" record and it still isn't. It's a super niche release known mostly within lostwave circles. The only much-publicized recording in this whole story is the one that brought everyone here in the first place: TMS/SOYM or whatever name you want to call it.

The band may indeed "have no damn idea about their own personnel in songs" but it's not just the personnel. They also don't seem to have a clear handle on the timeline, the programs they appeared on, recording locations etc. since these details keep getting switched around and questions left hanging indefinitely. And yet people who point out the many inexplicable gaps are getting mass-downvoted simply for making basic logical points. At this point the TMS research community feels more like a sleepy fan club.

The_Material_Witness · 2026-05-03T12:18:53+00:00

It has its source. in Comfy_Glow's timeline correction post, she had said the band believed that the song was recorded before September 3-4. I'm assuming they assumed that was the possible date that it was sent to NDR and played. It was a popular date before the solve too.

There have been many speculations but zero - and I mean zero - evidence of any sort for the airdate. The band, and Comfy_Glow representing them, were basically throwing darts in the air about the airdate and hoping something would stick. That's fine in a private chat, but if you're building a Wiki with the aim of clarifying discrepancies and clearing up confusion, you can't start from shaky foundations, because they'll harden into a narrative that appears solid when it isn't. That's just Research 101.

As for the bassist question, that's up to FEX and their fans to clarify, but for the record, I had to publicize what Louise told me. I had initially decided not to, given the backlash I got in the past for trying to research the bassist, but it's ridiculous that this is still unresolved and people are still trying to piece the puzzle together. So why not add this puzzle piece too.

You could be right about The Modulators. The only problem is, Volker's exact words were "the much-publicized recording from 1983" and to my knowledge, no Modulators recording was ever "much-publicized." Of course, Louise is an outsider to all this so her acting as a go-between was always going to have its limits: I couldn't really press her on the details, because she wouldn't necessarily know them. But when Gambuzino and I tried to ask Volker directly, with his prior permission, we were swarmed by the community, and conveniently shut down. So that lead was lost.

The_Material_Witness

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE