I'm A Poseur Too

This morning I re-wrote a story about the Damned's show at Hurrah in 1978. I thought that the Dead Boys from Cleveland were touring with the British group. Cheetah Chrome emailed a comment excoriating my time-misplacement.

What an honor.

Here is his email.

SONIC REDUCER rocks.

The Damned Live 1978

Cheetah

Nice story , too bad it never happened. Do yer research man.The only gigs we ever did with the Damned in the US were at CBGB.The only tour we ever did with them was in England. Documented fact. Christ, you lame-ass posers...

My replies

Mr. Chrome, I will change the facts about the gig. I was there and recall passing out in the underneath baggage compartment of the Damned's tour bus. Don't worry you were my favorite band from Cleveland. Sonic reducer will forever rock. Plus this is semi-fiction. And I don't give a shit for nothing other than seeing you guys live. My memory has been savaged by time. Once I was in a taxi coming down down 7th Avenue from Hurrah. Probably 2 in the morning. With a few high school girls from the upper west side. There was a traffic jam around MSG. Didn't make sense until I spotted you bare-chested in the avenue facing the traffic. The girls asked who was that.

"A true dead boy."

And that's the truth.

Thanks for the comment, Mr. Chrome.

ps I saw the Dead Boys every chance I had in the late-70s.

They were better than great. They were most excellent.

SONIC REDUCER by the Dead Boys

Every Memorial Day Weekend the radio stations spun 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-aphysiation. 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.