When referencing Detroit's influence on Rock music, one immediately thinks of 2 other industrial centers that rivaled the motor city as the hot bed of Rock'n'Roll angst: New York City & Cleveland, OH. Like Detroit, Cleveland also witnessed a kind of hard rock renaissance that seems intimately tied to the city's "rust belt" economy & history. Like Detroit there is so much material from the Ohio state to explore, but I will focus on a trinity of interconnected projects: Rocket from the Tombs, Dead Boys, & Pere Ubu. But before that, let's look at a short-lived, legendary project that later influenced Stiv Bators, frontman of the band Dead Boys:
electric eels
In terms of irony, negation, & disorderly conduct, Cleveland's the electric eels were as punk rock as anything else circa 1975. They were a short-lived project that only played 5 live shows, but apparently the live antics of someone like Anton (of Brian Jonestown Massacre) had nothing on the electric eels; they were known for fighting each other or the audience and often had run ins with the police. In spirit of Punk, they were uncompromisingly offensive. (For example, examine the free usage of swastikas on the album art below. This is something the Dead Boys will model in their image as well. Stiv Bators obviously got many ideas by watching eels' frontman Dave "E" McManus.)
(Dave "E" McManus of the electric eels on right)
Although the electric eels are cited as one of the early Proto-Punk bands of the Cleveland Rock scene, their music explores more than sped up, stripped down bluesy rock'n'roll. McManus was said to be influenced by Ornette Coleman and other Free Jazz performers. The electric eels definitely experiment with song form, and one can hear anticipations of what later becomes noise rock in their material. They never recorded a full-length album, but many of their songs have been collected on the CD release, The Eyeball of Hell (which collects recordings from 75-76; don't know year of release nor the label, however. If someone knows, please comment!). The recordings are raw single takes of some rowdy garage rock free jazz with some punk rock attitude. Check out the track "Agitated":
It's pretty raw & rowdy. Like stated before, McManus & the eels were a great influence on another young Cleveland rocker, Stiv Bators. You might hear it in the above track. They're a great addition to any Proto-Punk library. Definitely listen to the whole collection.
Rocket from the Tombs
Rocket from the Tombs were contemporaries of the electric eels and had a similarly short-lived career. Like the eels, they were only together for a couple of years, and they too never recorded any studio albums during that time. Many of their recorded songs have been collected on a CD release as well: The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs (Smog Veil Records 2002). Unlike the electric eels, the members of RFTT went on to form other much more successful projects, most notably the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu. Stiv Bators, however, was not in this band; the most notable lineup was Cheetah Chrome, Johnny Blitz, Peter Laughner, and David Thomas.
Here's a track off the above mentioned collection:
Their recordings are pretty raw as well, but that's what is to be expected from 70s underground Proto-Punk. Definitely check out the entire collection; Dead Boys & Pere Ubu fans will recognize some of the songs. Both bands re-recorded selections from the RFTT catalog.
Dead Boys: When Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz left RFTT, they joined singer Stiv
Bators to form the group Frankenstein. They later renamed the band Dead Boys and eventually moved to NYC. The Dead Boys are considered one of the major 1st wave American Punk bands. Stiv Bators took much from the live antics of Steve "E" McManus and Iggy Pop and performed many memorable (and controversial) shows at clubs like CBGBs. He was known for cutting himself on stage, for instance. (I would have just stuck to the peanut butter personally...) Like the electric eels, Stiv and the crew would often make us of provocative forms of pastiche, sporting swastika signs for instance. When I first discovered them as a 13 year old pimply kid with a skateboard, I naively thought: "Holy crap! these guys are skinhead nazis!" So I never explored their music for a brief period of time. I wasn't too keen on semiotics and the creative signifying practice of negation at that point in my East Texas experience.
Dead Boys released their 1st studio full length, Young Loud and Snotty, in 1977 on Sire Records. On that album, they re-recorded the song "Sonic Reducer" (as well as other RFTT songs), which became a favorite pick for classic Punk Rock mixtapes.
Here's a great clip of Dead Boys performing at New York's CBGB's:
Dead Boys released a 2nd album from Sire Records in 1978 called We Have Come For Your Children. The recording experience supposedly caused the band to break up. There was pressure from the Corporate label to tone down their "disturbing" image to make possible more marketability in the mainstream. Sound familiar? So they called it quits soon after the album's sessions. Despite its history, it's a punk classic as well. Both albums are great for any classic Punk collection.
dl: http://www.mediafire.com/?1uddzx1yyew (YLAS)
dl: http://www.mediafire.com/?mjdizzwtotc (WHCFYC)
Pere Ubu
When Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz left RFTT eventually to form Dead Boys, Peter Laughner and David Thomas started a new project as well: Pere Ubu (David Thomas still performs as the act today...). Like their source's name, their artistic vision directed them towards the more experimental side of things. (Their name comes from the avant-garde play Ubu Roi by French proto-Surrealist Alfred Jarry.) The group formed in 75, and over the years, their music has explored genres such as new wave, post-punk, electronica, and noise. Their discography is overwhelmingly large, but their early period has gained the most attention from critics and popular listeners alike. Their first album, The Modern Dance (1978 Blank Records), received much praise from various rock critics. It's definitely an essential for Post-Punk & (even) Garage Rock enthusiasts. Here's the track "Street Waves":
Pere Ubu immediately released their 2nd full length, Dub Housing, in 1978 on Chrysalis Records. One can hear the band's departure from Garage-like sounds towards more experimental elements of Post-Punk & New Wave. Check out the track "Navvy":
The band continued to release albums, and like stated before, David Thomas (the only constant member) is still active today. An earlier post made mention of Mayo Thompson & Red Crayola/Red Krayola of Houston, TX. In 1980, Mayo Thompson joined Pere Ubu to record the album The Art of Walking (Rough Trade Records). If you liked Mayo's material and the above videos, you should definitely check out this album as well.
dl: http://www.mediafire.com/?avjzxtjjbz0 (TMD)
dl: http://www.mediafire.com/?ykoghjmutct (DH)
dl: http://www.mediafire.com/?cha36mthn4sr37o (TAOW)
Once again, there are so many other bands one could mention in this posting. Perhaps later I'll post something on the super-group Lords of the New Church. But for now, Happy Labor Day and enjoy the music!
Listening to (and nearly done with) Dub Housing right now. Certainly very strange, but it kind of reminds me of Television as sung by Randy Newman freaking out. Darn this guy's voice is strange.
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