Citizen 23 "Janie's Got a Black Eye"

Citizen 23
The Taj Mahal Present$
No Room to Dance
compilation LP
(Blue Wave Records, 1980)

These days, Mr. Don Fleming is a big time record producer. He's also most likely still very tall.

I once said to Thurston Moore, many, many years ago, that he, Don, and Steve Michener (then in Dumptruck, following a stint in the Volcano Suns) should form a band, since they're all so tall. Of course, Steve plays bass, so he was not involved with the Dim Stars, since Richard Hell sang and played bass, but Don and Thurston were both there.

Freaky, man!

Don was, at the time of the aforementioned conversation with Mr. Moore, still leading the Velvet Monkeys and playing in Half Japanese. His roots went back further, though.

The Velvet Monkeys were based in the Washington, DC area. Prior to that, however, they lived in Tidewater, VA, and played under the name Citizen 23. Their only release, to the best of my knowledge, was the three songs on this compilation album. Don sang one, "American Neutron," and Elaine Barnes sang the other two. Since "American Neutron" appears on the Homework #9 compilation CDR (according to the track listing on the Hyped to Death website), I decided to go with one of Elaine's. There are no writing credits anywhere, so I don't know if she wrote it, or Don did, or they collaborated, or someone else did.

Prior to Citizen 23, Don was a member of The Stroke Band, from Valdosta, GA. They released an LP called Green and Yellow in 1978, and I've been looking for a copy for over twenty years. Any help would be appreciated!