Cleveland didn't quite know what to make of the punk and subsequent new wave revolutions of the mid-to-late '70s. There was a small but rabid underground scene that produced, but could not sustain punk greats, Dead Boys.
Dead Boys departed for New York and became mainstays at the now endangered CBGB's, but Cleveland was where it all began and there is snarling magic in the air on the Northcoast once again with the announcement that a reunited Dead Boys will play a 30th Anniversary show on Halloween 2005 at Cleveland's Beachland Ballroom.
The band features its original line-up of Johnny Blitz (John
Madansky), Cheetah Chrome (Gene O'Connor), Jeff Magnum (Jeff Halmagy), Jimmy Zero (William Wilden) and, being that it's Halloween, the late Stiv Bators in spirit.
"We're just gonna get up there and do what we always do" Cheetah Chrome explains. "People will either like it or they won't but anyone who knows us knows we don't give a shit what anyone thinks anyhow."
Dead Boys frontman Stiv Bators, guitarist Jimmy Zero and bassist Jeff Magnum were looking for musicians in Cleveland in the summer 1975. Being fans of Iggy Pop they wanted to play Stooges covers and have fun. At that time guitarist Cheetah Chrome and drummer Johnny Blitz had just walked away from the seminal Rocket From the Tombs. The five formed a band called Frankenstein and their first gig was that Halloween.
Frankenstein did only four gigs total in Cleveland and were immortalized on a lone posthumous release, Eve Of The Dead Boys (Bomp), with three songs including "Sonic Reducer," "High Tension Wire" and "Down In Flames." The band found it hard to find gigs in Cleveland and soon broke-up only to reform again three months later in New York City, calling themselves Dead Boys.
Frank Mauceri of Smog Veil Records opines, "Today's rock 'n' roll comets come and go. They quickly become remnants of the past, but Rocket From the Tombs were the Big Bang, and the resulting gamma-emiting constellations were, and are, Dead Boys and Pere Ubu. This gig, however, celebrates the primordial spew that came between the two. It's the 30th anniversary of the first live sighting of the Dead Boys pre-cursor, Frankenstein, and it provides the rockologists in Cleveland a glimpse of what it was, and what it then became."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Eric Olsen
no Dead Boy fans? I hate having to "stimulate" comment on my own posts
2 - Mark Saleski
no way man...i was about to post a comment last night when my internet access went down the toilet.
anyhoo...
Young, Loud & Snotty is just classic. i mean, "Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth"?....hey, it's just good clean, punky fun!
3 - MT
I was a Dead Boys follower, Eric, but they were unpredictable. You didn't know what you were gonna get on any given night -- and it ranged from absolutely thrilling to mixed reviews. When they were on, though, they were as good as it gets.
4 - John Owen
Awww maaaan... lucky Cleveland! The Dead Boys are one of very few bands I would emerge from my fortified zombie-proof bunker to go see, no matter the cost, and they gotta play ten hours away in Cleveland.
Serves me right for ever leaving.
5 - Eric Olsen
I recall you telling me that MT, a volatile mix indeed! I saw them once in Cleveland and they were hot, but I've heard recordings that were not.
If we can find baby-sitting, we may have to make this one ourselves, John - too bad Halloween is a Monday.
6 - Michael J. West
Eric, this is a GREAT article! I've never heard the Dead Boys, much as I've read about them; you really make me wanna hear more.
One thing I'd like to know, if you feel it's explainable: what about the Dead Boys distinguishes them from the other punkers?
7 - Eric Olsen
thanks Mike, they had better songs than most and an energy that, as Marty said, either propelled them to greatness or doomed them to madness depending upon the night.
Thanks Mark, I know the comments have been down on and off - just feeling sorry for myself.
8 - wallybangs
I think I'm gonna go and beat up the first hippie I see in honor of this event.
9 - Eric Olsen
as well you should
10 - Mark Saleski
you people are gonna be sorry when i whip out my patchoulli pepper spray!
11 - google.com
Here in Hollywoodland we have a commercial station that plays Sonic Reducer pretty regularly. Only took 28 years.
12 - MT
Last comment -- many felt Genya Raven's production was inadequate. Some felt that Hilly Krystal shouldn't have managed them. However, Genya's production has withstood the test of time and it wasn't like Hilly was fending off producers waiting in line to record the band. Managers and producers are as good as the artist he or she has to work with. Had the band survived long enough to develop a consistency, they might have become examples of Manhattan's malcontents crossing over the Hudson River to the heartland. And don't forget this, there were no radio and distribution outlets for the kind of music the Dead Boys were playing. The majors considered them to be too primitive, MTV was still on the drawing boards, and the band weren't exactly what you would call teen role models. Their personal habits played just as much a part in their demise as it did for the Dolls. Still, all that aside, they are highly under-rated. I really liked them a lot.
13 - Eric Olsen
excellent points Marty - "personal habits" were certainly an issue for a lot of bands, especially at the time
14 - BARNABY
THE BOYS DID A FEW GIGS AFTER [NIGHT OF] RECORD CAME OUT.I HUNG W/THEM BACK THEN. THOSE GIGS WERE INSANE ,LOTS OF BOOZE DRUGS AND PUSSY ! PRETTY MUCH IN THAT ORDER. GOOD OLEDAZE MR. CHROME AND I USED TO CAUSE A LOT OF MAYHEM TO GETHER WHEN WE LIVED IN BOSTON INMID 1980S MISS STIV HE LEFT TO SOON. B.
15 - Eric Olsen
thanks B, yes Stiv certaily lef too soon.
I wonder if we'll hear from any of the Boys themselves
16 - Mark Saleski
Stiv was probably bummed that his movie career didn't take off.
17 - Eric Olsen
he could have been the next Bond
18 - Mark Saleski
loved him in 'Tapeheads'
19 - sberger
what made the dead boys so great(i remember buying yls first day it came out when i was 20...yeah, i still listen to it a lot)was they were the real deal. where as the ramones were cool, but dumb(at least their image)and loveable, the dead boys were truely gruesome and BAD. if you wanted to separate yourself from the mainstream in those days with a brutal rock'n'roll band, you chose the dead boys. them and the real kids provided all the energy and 'tude that i needed in the crazy year of acne, fumbling drunken sex, and uneasiness most 20 yr olds go through. and they still get it done for me when i need a shot of it today.
20 - tescosuicide
Loved reading your post... put me right back in time. The Dead Boys will always be on the top of the list with me.
21 - Snake Rock
I knew Stiv and Cheetah when they first formed The Dead Boys. They cut their hair, which astonished me at the time, and told me they were visiting New York where they already had performed. They actually came on stage with my band at Lakewood Highschool in Cleveland. They performed,Mott The Hoople's, "Rock n' Roll Queen", as part of my encore with my band at the time, "The Rock Delinquents". This was I believe, in 1976. They went back to New York, and were soon signed to Sire.I went on to join, "The Raven Slaughter Band", and then formed my Band, "Snake Rock". The rest is history. Please visit:www.snakerock.com. SSSssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
22 - Cheetah Chrome
Damn,this is like a Star Trek site! And where is Richard Reigel?? I woulda thought he weigh in on this one!
Barnaby??Yer still alive?!!! How the hell are ya man?
23 - Eric Olsen
great to hear from you Cheetah - hope the show rocks!
okay, beam me up
24 - BARNABY
HEY Cheetha yeh "OLD LOUD +LAMF".happy halloween gig you sick fuck ! ha ha have some fun man, still love ya you DIRT BAG I will be in touch .B
25 - fuzzycuddly
gotta url for the venue?