Willie "Loco" Alexander is a rock' n' roll survivor, who's Boston-based career has traced the history of rock and roll for forty years. "Because I've been doing it for so long," said Willie Alexander, "I've almost got to a point where I can see my work. It's like a procession, where there's a whole bunch of characters. There's Taxi-Stand Diane, Dirty Eddie, Shopping Cart Louie. Most of them are based on real people. I usually just change the names." According to Polly Campbell in the May 10, 1991, issue of the Boston Phoenix, Willie got his start playing in church. Well, not exactly in the actual services. His father was a Baptist minister and Willie would sneak into the church and bang away at the piano. His early influences were Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Somehow the path away from that church's piano led him toward the Boston rock and roll band, the Lost. "Everything has changed so much since we started. Back then it wasn't like you were part of society. Now rock 'n' roll is an industry--there are awards, and it's on television 24 hours a day. Back then you were lucky to get a CYO dance on a Friday night."
