Floydian Slip

'The first Four Eyes album, recorded for MCA in 1982--1983, remains unreleased," says Mark DeCerbo. The guitarist/bassist/singer for Rockola and the Steely Damned founded Four Eyes in 1979 and revived the group late last year with a new album, Sweet on the Vine.

"Our first record was shelved due to the corporate shake-up at MCA, when Irving Azoff took control as president of that company. I do have the masters in my possession." DeCerbo says some tracks from the MCA sessions have already been remastered. "The original MCA record will probably never see the light of day as a complete album. But there will be remastered releases of some and maybe all of those original recordings on upcoming Four Eyes compilations already in the works."

DeCerbo has played on the local scene since moving here in 1975 when he formed a pop-rock duo called Roots with Gary Lehmann.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC?

"Well, let's see. My music is melodic. Wait, a lot of music is, isn't it? Um, it's rhythmic. Oh, yeah, I guess all music by nature has some sort of a pulse. Well, how 'bout harmonic? My music has chords and harmonies in it. You know, this is harder than I thought it would be."

WHAT'S IN YOUR CD PLAYER?

1. The Beatles, Rubber Soul ("My favorite Beatles album and, hey, it's got 'In My Life' on it.")

2. The White Stripes, De Stijl ("I like it raw.")

3. Leo Kottke, 6- & 12-String Guitar ("It soothes me.")

DESERT-ISLAND DVDs?

1. Sleeper ("Or most any Woody Allen movie, really.")

2. A Hard Day's Night ("The best rock 'n' roll movie, hands down.")

3. Dr. Strangelove ("My favorite quote: 'Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!' ")

4. The Godfather, parts I and II ("Man, Michael Corleone's/Pacino's face, after he comes back from the restaurant bathroom and right before he kills Virgil 'the Turk' Sollozo and Police Captain McCluskey...")

5. Falling Down ("Favorite quote: 'I'm the bad guy? How'd that happen?'")

WORST TV SHOW EVER?

"Pretty much any reality show. My own reality is scary, funny, and interesting enough."

BEST LONG-GONE LOCAL MOVIE HOUSE?

"During the mid-'70s the Cinema Leo in PB would show vintage movies with the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields on a giant wall at one end of a very narrow room. You would lie down on the carpeted, inclined floor with your head on a headrest and enjoy this giant-sized movie from floor to ceiling. It was the coolest and most ingenuous idea for a movie house ever."

FAVORITE CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER?

"Meeting the Everly Brothers backstage after opening up for them at Humphrey's. They are rock gods, and it was somewhat spiritual. My wife even took the water bottle that Don Everly was drinking from when he left, as a souvenir."

ANOTHER LOCAL DESTINED FOR FAME?

"Steph Johnson. What a voice!"

ROGER WATERS OR DAVID GILMOUR?

"I abstain...wouldn't want to commit a Floydian slip, now."