BLOOD AND MUSCLES @ CBGBs - 1978

1978 The Hell’s Angels frequented CBGBs. A rough Bowery bar. No one challenged their claim To the punk rock venue. The Angels scared off other asshole bikers Although not every night__ Tonight The night The Cramps first played to a packed house Garage rock fans, punks and a few Jersey bikers The Cramps Rocking As if the world was diving into the sun tomorrow__ I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Strychnine, The Way I Walk My hillbilly girlfriend hip-shimmying Head banging Dear Alice A hillbilly Alice she was Baptized by moonshine At a West Virginia home Not far from the coal-mining hollows. She as hillbilly As it gets in New York She loved the Cramps They weren't Country Road__ During the encore Two Jersey biker chicks jumped on the stage Obviously go-go dancers Tramps in the best sense of the word__ James Chance, a man of danger Joined them biker sluts Fondling their stripper breasts Their boyfriends in the front row The saxist stuck out his tongue The girls thought him funny Not so the bikers. They jumped onto the stage Chance's skin and bones versus the bikers’ motorcycle muscle A solid right cracked Chance's nose Blood spurt onto a dirty white shirt A b-movie actor scrambled on the stage To rescue his skinny friend__ Eric Mitchell. The half-Cherokee stepped between the biker and Chance. The band played another chorus of Surfing Bird This was CBGBs The show went on___ Alice grabbed my arm "Not your fight." The biker looped a slow overhead right. His fist loudly impacted on the actor’s nose A crack louder than the Cramps Blood splattered everywhere___ Merv the bouncer 6-6 A punk version of the Addams Family’s Lurch He threw out the bikers They left without a struggle Even the Angels feared Merv He had a heart of gold__ The next night Eric entered the bar A black eye. Chance sported a double badge of honor Twin racoon rings under his eyes That night eEric and Chance Everyone’s darlings Because at CBGBS There was never any shame in losing. Not for punks__ Foto by Andrey Armyagov