stiv performs with lords of the new church, october, 1983.
photograph by dave collins.
Out of the ashes of the same funeral pyre that spawned Pere Ubu - Rocket From The Tombs - Dead Boys moved to NYC from Cleveland, Ohio in the summer of 1976 on the fraternal advice of Ramones sibling and nasal stick insect, pal Joey; their ubiquitously anthemic, "Sonic Reducer", was co-written by David Thomas with Johnny Blitz and was previously an RFT staple, still circulating on those Cleveland tapes from 1975 - repackaged by Smog Veil and produced by Richard Lloyd.
Stiv Bators: vocals; Cheetah Chrome: lead guitar; Jimmy Zero: rhythm guitar; Jeff Magnum: bass guitar; Johnny Blitz: drums.
Handclaps a-go-go and plenty of attitude. "I wanna be a dead boy..." Stiv finally got his wish when he was run over by a taxi - intoxicated while crossing the street - in Paris, 1990, at the ripe old age of 38. According to medical reports, he "died in his sleep as the result of a concussion"; a terminal injury endured for the best part of 20 years.
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, NYC. Produced by Genya Raven; engineered by Dave Wittman. Released in October 1977.
▼ DEAD BOYS: ALL THIS AND MORE from "Young, Loud And Snotty" LP (Sire) 1977 (US)
PURCHASE YOUNG, LOUD AND SNOTTY
PURCHASE ROCKET REDUX FROM SMOG VEIL
8 comments:
Bless you, you're a star - mate of mine who was with me at this gig - still reckons it was one the loudest he's ever been to. The LOTNC were an all-star band weren't they. As well Stiv and Brian James you had Dave Tregunna from Sham on bass and (and I think) and ex-Banshee on drums
PS have you checked out Jenny Lens's book Punk Pioneers a US take on the punk explosion - well worth a peep.
This was the best pic I could find of Stiv at short notice!.. ;)
All-Star band is right. Looks like it was a great gig. I actually forgot that Dave Tregunna was with Sham 69, so thanks for reminding me - I still have "I Don't Wanna" as a 12" on Step-Forward, but I kind of wearied a bit on Sham after their first LP and the dawning of Oi!. Don't know if Nicky Turner was ever with the Banshees or not...
Thanks for the tip and link on Punk Pioneers. Nice.
Speaking of Nicky Turner, Dave, and The Barracudas; there was a band called The Piranhas before them and I always managed to mix them up. They had a single, "Jilly"(?) (1978) which I bought at the time but it was the b-side that was the choice song. I can't remember now what it was called but I think I've still got it somewhere...
There is a line on it, I think, which goes:
"in the morning I look like a toast-rack..." Great song, and all the more apt in that my son recently called me a "fat git" in a moment of rage. Ah, to be waif-like again!
Your right IB he was The Barracudas don't know where I got The Banshees from (I always got them mixed up with the Pirhanas too.)
Robin Wills ex Barracudas, runs a great blog - Pure Pop
http://purepop1uk.blogspot.com/
Yes my two tots make a few too many references to my creeping waist line.
Saw Stiv just once. He was singing songs from his initial solo record. I remember thinking, "Damn, this guy is as good a front man as anybody." He was touring with Magazine, I was a huge fan of their's at the time and "Permafrost" was even better live than on record; Pere Ubu, who melted in front of my very eyes; and maybe another band I can't think of this minute. That was a fucking rock show.
Well, once is more than me.
I may have made mention of this previously, but I am not a huge fan of gigs; concerts; call them what you will. I am too curmudgeonly to feel comfortable rubbing shoulders with vast numbers of people. Even queuing outside a venue is enough to make me feel irritable these days.
Stiv was a fine front man, for sure. And I, too, was a big admirer of Howard Devoto's Magazine. Maybe as much as Pere Ubu.
Thank fuck for vinyl, though.
Thanks for that link to Robin Wills, Dave. I'll check it out.
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