They’ve got a last name, but the world knows them simply as Tish and Snooky.
The Bellomo sisters are known worldwide as the creators of Manic Panic, a little store on St. Marks Place that became a hub for the East Village punk community with the shop’s mix of colored hair dye and rock and roll threads. Not only did most of the bands that played CBGB make a point of stopping by, but there were times when, Tish Bellomo recalls, “We’d have people sleeping lined up on the floor like sardines, too wasted to go home. Everybody slept on the floor at one time or another.”
“I know that I did!” Snooky Bellomo laughs.
Although they wrote the book on rock and roll hair dye (literally — it’s called “Manic Panic: Living In Color”), they’ve also had a musical career that tends to get overlooked.
“We’ve been written out of a lot of history,” notes Tish Bellomo, “because people think of us a business people, not creatives.”
“Of course,” she admits, “it might have something to do with the fact that our band’s name was ‘The Sic F*cks!'”
And their repertoire of original songs by lead singer Russell Wolinsky consisted of ditties such as “Insects Rule My World’ and “Chop Up Your Mother.”
John Hamilton, bassist with the Bakersfield Breakers, has fond memories of the SFs.
“I first saw Tish & Snooky with the Sic F*cks at CBGBs, probably in 1980 when I was in high school. My mind was pretty thoroughly blown by the experience,” he recalls. “The SFs all wore outfits that were completely over the top (ripped up nun’s habits and fishnets – seriously ?!?!). Tish & Snooky provided the sassy punk version of backing harmonies and the outrageousness of the lyrics and onstage antics were completely over the top and initially shocking. But one of the things I love most is that offstage, they’re all some of the nicest, most genuine people I know.”
That’s one thing that hasn’t changed over the years, as evidenced by their willingness to be nice to the folks who stopped to chat in the middle of our photo shoot.
“I knew it was you right away,” a senior woman gushed. “As soon as I saw the color of your hair.”
Besides that musical (and somewhat theatrical) venture, their performing history includes a stint in an early version of Blondie and has continued over the years with gigs with Squeeze, Ronnie Spector, Patti Smith, Robert Gordon, the Blues Brothers, David Johansen, Johnny Thunders, Lenny Kaye and more.
Currently they are in Blue Coupe, a rocking combo that includes Dennis Dunaway (of the original Alice Cooper group) and Albert and Joe Bouchard (founding members of Blue Oyster Cult).
Their charm and humor was on full display in a Tish and Snooky gig last week at La Palapa on St. Marks Place. With a band of family and friends dubbed “The Prisoners of Love,” the siblings chose a setlist of gems that had some personal meaning for them and were just plain fun.
They started the set with a rockabilly chestnut “Black Slacks” — taught to them by the late East Village fave Robert Gordon — and ended with their old buddies the Ramones classic “Blitzkrieg Bop,” with an arrangement that started out swinging and ended up as a sing-along.
Tish Bellomo’s son Orion was on guitar and harmonica while Snooky Bellomo’s husband played bass and, in a tender moment, stepped up to the mic for a bit of a romantic reminiscence about his wife.
“The first time we made love, I cried,” he admitted. “Although that was probably from the pepper spray.”
They miss some things about the old days like, as Tish Bellomo says, “the social aspect.” Snooky Bellomo adds that, “I miss the friends dropping in — but I don’t miss the shoplifters.”
And then there were the runaways who would ask to leave their luggage at the store; the moms who would call frantically looking for their kids; the man who paid the employees to walk on him when the boss wasn’t around; and the unexpected A-list drop-ins like Meryl Streep, Bruce Springsteen, John Belushi and Caroline Kennedy.
But like all those late-night CBGB gigs, that’s all a memory now. “I would put my kids in their little leather jackets, carry them in with the carriers and leave them on the bar while we did the gig,” Tish Bellomo recounts.
Although they now put in a full week (with overtime) in their Manic Panic headquarters in Queens, they make it a point to perform with, Snooky Bellomo says, “anyone who asks.”
Tish Bellomo mentions, “Our two passions as children were to see the world and perform.” Snooky Bellomo concurs: “It was always our dream … it’s amazing that it’s happened.”
“Who would have thought that 37 years later we’d still be going on?” Snooky Bellomo wonders. “I remember when 40 seemed really old.”
“We must have done something right,” Tish Bellomo concludes.
There’s lots more of the Tish and Snooky on their website, tishandsnooky.com, and their Instagram, @tishandsnooky.
The Sic F*cks will be performing on Sept. 28 in a free show at Washington Square Park as part of the Village Trip festival. More info on the festival can be found at thevillagetrip.com.
