Cleveland's Finest - 2010

Cleveland reportedly was supposedly the site of the first rock and roll concert. March 21, 1952. A little more than two months before birth in late May. 20,000 youths crowded the 10,000 capacity Cleveland Arena. The police shut down the show before the opening act, Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams, finished his first song.

The civic leaders of the lakeside city have claimed this preseminal rock concert giving Cleveland the right to open the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame in 1993, despite its thin musical heritage of The James Gang, Dean Martin, and The O'Jays. Yoko and Little Richard hosted the opening, but no one ever mentioned Cleveland's greatest rock band. Not even in my trip to a wedding there in 2017.

The Dead Boys.

SONIC REDUCER is a punk rock classic.

Stiv Bators hanging himself by the microphone a showstopper.

The guitarist Cheetah Chrome once fell asleep in the underneath storage bin of the Damned's tour bus. He woke up in Pittsburgh. After the drummer was stabbed on 2nd Avenue, CBGB's held a benefit for Johnny Blitz. It was the Altamont of Punk. Blondie, Patti Smith, Suicide, the Ghosts, Jerry Nolan, Sic Fucks, Ramones, Senders, and a dozen other bands played at the Bowery bar May 2-6, 1978.

I saw every show.

Paid for them too. Johnny Bltiz survived the attack and the Dead Boys

I loved the Dead Boys. Cleveland's Finest, but they were really a New York band.

SONIC REDUCER by the Dead Boys

Every Memorial Day Weekend the radio stations spins the top 1000 hits of rock and roll. The #1 song for decades was Zeppelin’s STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN or else the Beatles HEY JUDE. SATISFACTION came close to reaching # 1, but Led Zeppelin's rip-off of Spirit's TAURUS has proven too strong to be knocked off the throne.

rockpedia.com lists the top 10 rock songs as follows

1. Led Zeppelin / Stairway To Heaven / 1971
2. The Rolling Stones / (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction / 1965
3. Eagles / Hotel California / 1976
4. Queen / Bohemian Rhapsody / 1975
5. John Lennon / Imagine / 1971
6. The Doors / Light My Fire / 1967
7. Derek & The Dominos / Layla / 1970
8. Bob Dylan / Like A Rolling Stone / 1965
9. Steppenwolf / Born To Be Wild / 1968
10. Don McLean / American Pie / 1971

HEY JUDE has slipped to # 12.

I'm good with BORN TO BE WILD, LIGHT MY FIRE, SATISFACTION, and IMAGINE, but the compilers of these lists never included rockers like the Dead Boys' SONIC REDUCER.

Cheetah Chrome blistered the guitar on the intro of this punk paean to nihilism. Jeff Magnum set a breakneck pace on bass accompanied by Jimmy Zero on rhythm guitar, while Johnny Blitz drove the band over the speed limit with his drums.

Live the Cleveland band scorned the norm of the 70s.

Stiv Bators twitched across the stage like cockroach with bleeding feet and regularly swung the microphone over a low pipe. The scrawny lead singer wrapped the cord around his neck, while the band scorched through its tight set, then Stiv would haul himself into the air until his feet left the ground.

Normally he let go of the cord after a few seconds but one time at CBGB's theater, the wire knotted on the pipe and Stiv’s face started turning blue. Finally Cheetah noticed the lead singer kicking his feet and rescued him from the theatrical auto-asphyxiation. After a short rest Stiv regained his breath and bounced to his feet ready for more. Everyone at the show cheered them. They were the Dead Boys.

Now and forever.

To listen to SONIC REDUCER, please go to this URL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30bv915bDtY

It's always # 1 for me.