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Mike Jaillon, Mark Adomaitis, Ellis Spanos, Al Kezys
1993 - 2006
Three years later, Adomaitis produced and released, The Rise and Fall of Steel Wolf, a compilation of
cuts from earlier jam sessions and live recordings.This album sparked some new life into the band and, in 1996, writing
and rehearsals for a new recording was underway. The band, now comprised of Adomaitis in his usual position of
drummer/vocalist, Jaillon on guitar and keyboards, original member Rim on bass, and his brother Ed doing session work, began laying down tracks in July 1997 and paused only in October to perform this new material (and old classics) for an enthusiastic crowd at Mark and Ed’s 30th birthday party. The final mix was then completed and on June 10th, 1998, Rectal Records released Boozer Friendly,
featuring eleven new songs, including "Exploring Uranus" and "Night of 1,000 Koldunai", plus four re-recorded classics. A promotional cassingle with bonus tracks was distributed by Lounge Music in the fall of that year. Immediate concert dates were put on hold due to the Kezys brothers refusing to play live.
The eventual two-leg, fifteen-date Boozer Friendly tour (and subsequent live recordings, Loungin' Live, Too! and Night of 2000 Koldunai) came to be when godsend bass player Ellis Spanos answered the band’s now-famously misspelled ad that read “Neads Base Palyer” and that was written on a cocktail napkin (which can now be seen in the band’s 2001 documentary Rhythm ‘n’ Booze) pinned up on a Long Island rehearsal studio (Lyric in Garden City Park) notice board.
After releasing a twentieth anniversary compilation, After Twenty Beers, the trio invited Al Kezys to the fold as a bonus drummer/vocalist adding new dimensions not only to their December 2003 release, Midnight Train to Siauliai (“Give Pizza Chants” could not have been sung by any other known singer), but also to the immediately-following six-month tour that included their triumphant return to CBGB just months before the legendary club closed its doors for good.
Unbeknownst to the band at that time, their 1986 song, "A Complete Breakfast (Ka Tu Nori Pusryciams?)", had been living a life of its own due to Lithuanian scouts continuing to perform the song around campfires. When Steel Wolf members learned of its on-going popularity, they distributed a compilation, The Complete Breakfasts, consisting of various versions of the song that existed in their archives. The guitar on which this classic was composed remains on permanent display at the Kezys brothers' restaurant, The Avenue, in Glendale, Queens.
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