Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "Herbie" at JP's, New York City in 1978.  Backed up by Sid Rice -- acoustic lead guitar, David Gross -- bass, Blake Travis -- percussion.

Herbie

Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "Do You Believe In ESP?" at the Centerfold Coffeehouse, NYC in 1977 with Sid Rice on second acoustic guitar.

Do You Believe In ESP?

Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "The Clown Dies In Costume" at the Centerfold Coffeehouse, NYC, 1977.

The Clown Dies In Costume

Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "Little Red Teddy Bear" at the Centerfold Coffeehouse, NYC, 1977.  Sid Rice on second acoustic guitar.

Little Red Teddy Bear

Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "Punchy Little Star" at JP's, NYC, 1977.  With Joe Ford on bass.

Punchy Little Star

Buckwheat and Lazoo singing "If You Start Out Smoking Camels You End Up On L.S.D." at the Centerfold Coffeehouse, NYC, 1977.  Sid Rice on second acoustic guitar.

If You Start Out Smoking Camels You End Up On LSD

Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "Marshmallow" at the Centerfold Coffeehouse, NYC, 1977.  Sid Rice on second acoustic guitar.

Marshmallow

Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "Song For Evie" at the Centerfold Coffeehouse, NYC, 1977.  Sid Rice on second acoustic guitar.

Song For Evie

Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "The Legend Of Mondo Freen" at the Centerfold Coffeehouse, NYC, 1977.

The Legend Of Mondo Freen

Buckwheat & Lazoo singing "Waiting In The Wings" at the Centerfold Coffeehouse, NYC, 1977.  With Arthur Spencer on second acoustic guitar.

Waiting In The Wings

As students in the theatre department at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Buckwheat (Louis Mattioli) and Lazoo (Lory Lazarus) became instant pals. Lory had been after Louis for quite some time to join up with him as a vocal duo, and in 1976 Lou finally said yes. They had their first public performance at Milwaukee's Theatre X and proceeded to gather more gigs around the state: the Omnibus Resort in Northern Wisconsin, UW-M's Kenwood Inn (as an opening act for Jim Post) and Milwaukee's Summerfest. They also toured the college circuit, gathering a loyal following. In 1977 Buckwheat & Lazoo moved to New York City, performing at various clubs and coffeehouses like JP's, the Other End, the Postcrypt, the Centerfold and Folk City, where a reviewer for the Village Voice caught their act and labeled them, "Simon and Garfunkel gone mad." Indeed, with songs like, "Eat Till You Puke," "If You Start Out Smoking Camels You End Up On L.S.D.," "The Legend Of Mondo Freen" and "My Baby's Got No Erogenous Zones" as part of their repertoire of original folk songs, they were quite the schizophrenic acoustic duo. Because everyone was focusing on disco and going dance-crazy during their heydey, acoustic acts were an afterthought to record execs, so Buckwheat & Lazoo finally "hit the big time" on SoundCloud. Ha ha. However, they paid homage to the dance craze sweeping the nation in their "death to disco" song, "Reaching For The Third Rail," and got a tiny bit of revenge. Although their last "official" show was in 1979, they continued to reunite and perform well into the late 1980s. Sadly, Louis passed away in 1992, but he'd be happy to know that some of his songs made it to the Internet. God bless you, Lou Boy. 

Buckwheat & Lazoo

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