by: Craig MacInnis

Those who still crave the sweet folk-rock of early 10,000 Maniacs - before commercialism took them down a different road - will want to know about The Billups.

Led by former Maniacs guitarist and bandleader John Lombardo and original drummer Bob Wachter, the Buffalo, N.Y., band makes its Toronto debut Thursday at Lee's Palace, 529 Bloor St. W., part of Eugene Ripper & The North's Rock 'n 'Roll Extravaganza.

Lombardo left the Maniacs two years ago; in fact, the split occurred the day after a concert in Toronto at which the Jamestown, N.Y., group had opened for The Cure.

Recalls Lombardo: "I was backstage watching The Cure and our keyboard player (Dennis Drew) came up and said: 'Are you about ready to go home? Everyone wants to leave.'

"Leave? The Cure's up on stage and those guys wanted to go home to Jamestown? The reason I got into music in the first place was because I loved it - I've always been a fan."

The incident was but the final quibble in a bitter dispute over creative direction, says Lombardo, who quit the next day during rehearsal. Without him, the Maniacs have risen to the giddy heights of pop stardom, led by golden-throated singer Natalie Merchant.

"As far as I'm concerned, she's really the person with the extreme talent," says Lombardo. "I knew when she was 17 years old, watching her improvise lyrics, that she had something very special."

But he feels that much of the band's talent has gone to waste on songs - the tepid cover version of Cat Stevens' Peace Train comes to mind - that dilute the group's original charter.

An ardent student of British folk-rock and a fan of such early '70s bands as The Strawbs, Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, Lombardo describes the Billups (including guitarist Scott Miller and keyboardist Reese Campbell) as a stylistic extension of the early Maniacs sound.

"That's what people say when they hear the music," he says. "A lot of people say they recognize the sound that I contributed to the band.

"A lot of it sounds really folksy and that was the music I really championed before. I'm always amused when I read interviews now that say how 10,000 Maniacs are responsible for the folk revival. The others never really cared that much about folk."

Formed just over a year ago, The Billups are still looking for a record deal, which may come soon.

Lombardo, meanwhile, still hasn't decided if Billups is the right name for the quartet, just as the 10,000 Maniacs moniker came to be detested after the initial novelty wore off.