The Tribulations, Ithaca, NY, 1980s

Josh Neuman writes: I first heard Bob Marley when I was 12 and it became plaintively clear to me that I was a black man trapped in a white man’s body. I am in the middle sporting a hat. Very Reggae. Our guitar player became semi-famous with Veruca Salt. Our drummer was our greatest musician though. He set his heart on becoming Madonna’s drummer, had an audition and a call back but did not get the job. He committed suicide right after and the band never recovered.

The Adidas track suits were an image upgrade and were my idea. There were 9 of us in the band and our sense of style was appalling. So I tracked down the head of entertainment marketing when I was 18 and got the woman who was working there to give us an A level endorsement. We had about 8 track suits each and enough sneakers to fill a 2 bedroom apartment. I was even given the Run DMC Tracksuit in Marcus Garvey back-to-Africa colors. Probably worth a mint today, but I sent to my younger cousin who threw it out. To listen to some of the Tribultations at their finest. Click Here