They met in first grade at the Edison School in Port Chester NY, immediately connected because of their mutual love of comic books, monster movies and drawing. Tom was a wonderful artist and prolific in creating his own pantheon of characters and was constantly turning out his own amateur comic books. In a funny incident, Brendan relates how he and Tom were invited to visit famed artist and inker Dick Ayers at his home. At the end of their visit they asked if the artist would sign a comic for them, however in their excitement about the meeting they forgot to bring any copies of Ayers books with them. So Ayers picked up a current issue of a comic that he had drawn, and proceeds to tear it in half, then personalizing each half, and handing one part to each of them.

Tom’s interest in writing was really helped along by his late cousin William L. DeAndrea who would go on to write numerous mystery novels and won three Edgar awards. The two would collaborate on stories for Tom’s comics.

At a young age Tom and Brendan were collaborating on 8 mm short film projects. Tom was the first one to grab up the camera shooting a horror opus called “The Shock Monster” where they received their first taste of filmmaking.

Over the next few years Tom and Brendan continued to crank out a number of short films, dealing in genres from superheros to horror. Brendan remembers they had planned to shoot a little effort entitled “The Werewolf vs. Dr. Jekyll”, but the night before there had been a large snowfall and it looked as if the shoot would have to be postponed. However, undaunted, Tom made it to Brendan’s house after braving the elements and the shoot went on.

Tom took his first foray into 16mm film making (can’t remember the title) with an ambitious project which was an action/ adventure tale set in the 1930’s. Co-staring with him was future writer Alex Simmons, sadly the project came to a screeching halt when Tom performed a dangerous stunt and suffered a serious injury, he was in a cast for a long time and unfortunately the film was never finished. But he continued to move forward, working on a number of modest budget pictures doing art direction, sometimes uncredited.

The two worked together on the film “Igor and the Lunatics”, they came onto the troubled production and together re-wrote the script and co-directed most of the film. With the unusual credit of : ‘ horror, action and suspense sequences’. They also played small parts, Tom as Slim and Brendan as Conway.

While promoting a script that they co-wrote, and showing around a trailer for it that they co-directed they became involved with their most well-known project “Spookies”. The film started life as ‘Twisted Souls’, Tom with Brendan co-wrote the script, co-directed and co-produced the film. Tom also handled some of the art direction creating production sketches and helped create some of the props used in the picture.

Sadly after finishing principle photography and starting to pare down their two and a half hour rough cut things came to a head with the backer of the film. The backer wanted to add unnecessary and unwanted material and there was a parting of the ways. The unnecessary footage was added by another director who had nothing to do with the original shoot and did nothing to enhance the original product.

In less than a year from the end of “Spookies” Tom was working with Brendan again as an assistant director on Brendan’s film “Killer Dead”. He also took another turn in front of the camera playing a hood that winds up mixing it up with a number of zombies. Outside the USA the film was known as “Non-Vegetarians Zombies from Outer Space”

Tom and I met when he came into Sam Ash Music in White Plains in late 1972. Jeannie Bell was the cashier and earlier that year helped get me a job in the sheet music department. We were the first two people you would see when entering the store. Tom came in with a sign looking for musicians to play with. He asked Jeannie if he could put it on the bulletin board. She immediately called me over. After a few minutes of talking about music interests, influences and other background, I knew we were an excellent match. It was the beginning of a partnership that lasted over a decade, and a friendship for over 45 years

In those days,Tom looked like an English rocker dressed in black, very long straight hair, lots of jewelry especially bracelets. We had so much music in common King Crimson, Captain Beefheart, free jazz, Miles Davis... He seemed to know every UK/EU underground band and introduced me to so many: Roxy Music, Soft Machine, Gong, Hawkwind, Throbbing Gristle...plus so many others . He was well connected in the Westchester/Portchester music scene. I met many of his friends; Gail, Loretta, Danny, Faith Fraoli (Flying Island), Larry McGowan (Rat Race Choir, caretaker of the Rye Playland Carousel and other restorations)

We started off playing with a variety of people; Tom on bass and lapsteel guitar, I played electric bassoon, Jeannie on oboe, Gail Spence vocal/flute, and a friend of Jeannies - a cellist who also played the saw, and some other people. In 1973-1974 we played together a lot and did a number of gigs. Two memorable performances include a trip up to Binghamton to play a club organized by Charles Kramer, and a Sunday afternoon tea party for a group of contemporary music fans listening to free music in a Scarsdale backyard with ducks walking around!

Tom was always reaching out to a variety of people, connecting us with people like John Zorn in NY and Derek Baily in London

When I moved to Boston in Sept 1974 he (and Jeannie on and off) rented an apartment down the block over Babos (sandwich shop). We hung out and played every day. Tom created posters looking for musicians. We had an enormous response and played with dozens of musicians in a wide variety of settings. This included Woody who showed up with suitcases filled with sound making toys and small percussion instruments, an early public transgender who could sing simultaneous multi harmonics (years later we both agreed she was too weird for us!!) We also found Rob Davis (guitar) and Gene Gilmartin (drums) who later became part of the Molls.

Tom and I would also use the name Bandicoots when just a few of us were playing. The band names Megaston and Ampersand were also used in different formulations. Tom connected with David Hild of The Girls and played with them before they formed the band

I got sick with mono in the spring of 1975. I had to stay in the school infirmary for a few days. I was completely out of it but every time I woke up, Tom was sitting there, drawing or watching tv (we didn’t have one in those days) This is when he drew the 3 part series: Tenement Bassoon, Bassoon in Idaho w/potatoes and Brain Damaged Bassoon (in pencil). Years later he did a fourth air brushed drawing in the series: a portrait of me as a space monster bassoon player.

He decided to go back to NY in the summer of 1975. I continued to play with Rob and Gene eventually forming the Molls with them, Tris Lozaw, and John Coe. Peter Prescott joined the Molls before the single and then later joined Mission of Burma. Rob, Tris and Jon later formed Someone and the Somebodies. Gene joined Ball and Pivot. Tom was part of the Molls creating artwork and co-writing songs with me From that point thru 1979 Tom and I would be constantly going back and forth between NY and Boston.

Tom did much of the artwork for the band including posters for the various gigs and his best known Molls piece, The Molls Head. There are three versions of the Head; early Vorpmi version, a more sinister version used for the posters and a larger (24inx24in) version which was used as the front cover of the single and as a branding logo.

Together we wrote many of the Molls songs. The A side of the single Black Sheets / White Stains was the best known. Some of the other titles are: The Girls Keep Coming, Electric Kid in an Electric Land, Vivarin and Vitalis and many others

After I moved back to NY in 1979, we continued to play together. We reconnected with John Zorn who I eventually played with in his Archery series around 1981-2. But Tom’s interest was pulling him more towards film. I remember visiting him a few times on the set of Spookies at the Jay residence. One time we went into the old Bleecker Bob’s store and the single was hanging on the wall. He told us that no matter what the record sounded like that the cover could really sell. When Bleecker Bob moved to his last store. it was on the ceiling until the store closed down

Thru the years Tom was often sending me mentions of the single or references to the band. On a few of the various blogs he came across, he corrected people’s history or facts about the band and the single. A few times he actively asserted our ownership rights. At one point he got into a wild argument with someone on a post who was ‘certain’ about the influence, meaning and intentions of the song! (all completely wrong)

After he moved to LA, I would always stop by when I was out there on business thru the 1990s. We stayed in close touch by email at least a couple of time a month after that, sometimes a few times a week. His last email to me was a week before he died. Tom had found a great video of some early Captain Beefheart

[I have most of the original artwork, and some old tapes]

Bill Koff

At some point in my life, I realized that the main thing that remains after someone passes is the memory of their character, what they meant to those that know them, for good or otherwise. Death doesn't reward the virtuous with a crystalline eternity, nor does it redeem the jerks among us.

Tom may have been the best friend I never got to see much. His loss really is like losing a brother I never had. By "best", I mean that, despite our distance and very different upbringings until we crossed paths at THAT job, I felt closer to him in so many ways - temperamentally, aesthetically, in what we valued, laughed at, hated and complained about, than anyone else I could think of.

And it would not do his memory and character justice to deny that, that includes those times when I wanted to whack him upside the head.

Since I spent so little time with Tom, maybe the best summation is: I’m glad I knew him, even if from afar, and regret that there wasn’t more opportunity to hang out together. Of anyone I personally knew, he was the most knowledgeable and conversational about movies, aesthetics, history, etc., which I really appreciated. He had strong opinions and voiced then entertainingly. He knew the value of the art form and the abuse of it, a sentiment I shared in spades.

He could offer an empathetic ear when I bitched about job or life problems and genuinely share the travails.

He was definitely a talented, thoughtful, expressive creative writer, graphic designer and visual stylist in photography. From his storyboards and visual ideas, it was such a shame not to have the chance to realize them.

All that said, if I have one memory of Tom that I’d savor, it was hanging out post-CST, mid-90s, at his apartment in Culver City. I came by one afternoon to share shots of his single malt and we bitched about life, talked movies and drew up a list of candidates to target for our new underground organization - the R.A.S. The R-etroactive A-bortion S-ociety would start as a cheesy movie, maybe a documentary, which would be a cover for its real-life mission to cleanse the world of assholes. We also talked about our lives, etc. I think it was that day when Tom gave me (for him) his highest compliment: “You coulda been a New Yorker.”

I still can’t believe he’s gone.