On Saturday, October 15, 2011 Frankie and the Actions will play their last gig. After 22 years, they are going to stop playing together. Their last show is at Memories. The BayNet asked Frankie some questions and he gladly answered. Here is our interview:

TBN: So how many years has Frankie and the Actions been around?
 
FRANKIE:  Nearly 22 years in this incarnation.  Me (Frankie Clarke – Vocs, Lead Guitar) Mike Mead (Vocs, Guitar), and Jeff Huffman (Bass) that is — Mike Mann, the drummer, is still the ‘new guy’ — he’s only been our drummer for 15 years lol.  Before him it was Robert Torrey and before him it was Doug Sanford.  Basically, we’ve been playing since the stone age.
 
TBN: What are some of the highlights, looking back?
 
FRANKIE:  When we started, we had no idea it would last this long…  it all kind of blurs together.  I mean… when we started, we were doing a lot of original — we released an independent album in 1990, when we first got together.  I wrote it in like 3 months, and we recorded it in 3 more – quick and dirty.   It was named after the title track, which we still play today, “Stripped To The Bone”.  That song has one of my favorite lines I ever wrote in it… “The mansion of my mind is haunted”… anyway… like I was saying, we recorded fast and dirty – lots of one-takes — the opposite of how we did the second album (Generation Why), which seemed to take forever.  I love the way the first one sounds– it’s very raw.  The second one, not as much.
 
But writing and recording 2 albums together… those are definitely highlights.  And the nights when the club was packed – all hot and sweaty — and everything was just a blur — man, we had some good times.  In the 90’s, we started covering the new stuff like Nirvana, Soungarden, STP, whatever — way before anyone else.  All the other bands were still playing 80’s hair-metal, but we grabbed the Seatlle sound and ran with it.  Mike could sing the Hell out of some of that stuff — especially Soundgarden —  it was so much fun.
 
TBN: Are those albums still available?
 
FRANKIE: Um, yeah they show up at the Hughseville Farmer’s Market from time to time LOL – oh, and on Ebay once in a while!  Seriously, I need to put them on iTunes one of these days…
 
TBN: So are you sad to see it end?
 
FRANKIE:  We all are, to some degree — I mean 22 years is a long time.  Mike and I have been like Steven Tyler and Keith Richards, ya know?  LOL  No we really have been like a family in some respects —  We love each other, we hate each other… but we never broke up, cause you know — Family sticks together, I guess.  It’s gonna be weird not to have a FATAL show lined up.
 
TBN: FATAL?
 
FRANKIE: Frankie And the Actions Live
 
TBN: So to what do you attribute your longevity?
 
FRANKIE: It always kind of came naturally to us; the whole thing —  We’ve had a great Road Crew for many years — my tech, Tommy Duncan, has been with me for 18 years — I’m not even sure how to plug in my own amp anymore LOL —  and the other guys…  Randy Wilson, Billy Cooksey, and Danny Duncan — man, we would have had to give up years ago if it wasn’t for them.  That and always staying on top of new rock music —  but I dunno — there hasn’t seemed to be any really good new rock music in like 6 years!  So that hasn’t exactly helped…
 
TBN:  Is that what made you decide to finally break up?  The music?
 
FRANKIE:  It’s part of it, but really,it’s more about getting old, i guess.  We got older, and the road crew was younger th