Dead Boys

So we've got no guests this week, so we're expecting Luke to be happy that this episode could fly by.

I'm going to start off with one of the first punk records I ever heard was on the compilation... album New Wave which came out in 1977 it had bands like Flaming Groovies, Boomtown Rats I think the Damned were on it Ramones but one song that really stood out for me was by the Dead Boys and it's there's a bit of a Dead Boys theme in my choices today Does that go with what Cultures United are doing at the moment? Do you know what? Psychologically that's what I was thinking doesn't it? Yeah, Dead Boys.

That'd be a great nickname for the use.

Here it is, the Dead Boys and Sonic Reducer.

MUSIC

I don't need any world Don't need no mom and dad Don't need no paradise Don't need no human rights I've got some news for you Don't even need you to I got my damn machine Got my electronic dream Sonic producer ain't no loser Got my Sonic producer ain't no loser Go! People out on the streets They don't know who I am I watch them from my room They are just passing by But I'm not just anyone Still I'm not just anyone I got my dumb machine Got my electronic dream Cause I'm a producer, ain't no loser Cause I'm a producer, ain't no loser I'll be a pharaoh soon Root from some cartoon Things will be different then The sun will rise for me Then I'll be Tevita And you'll be nothing at all I got my dial machine I got my electronic drive So I'm a loser, ain't no loser I'm a song producer, I ain't no loser I said I'm a song producer, song producer Yeah, I'm a song producer, song producer, song producer

the dead boys in the great sonic reducer you were amazed that i'd never heard it hadn't you i can't believe that

anyone with a shred of punk rock credibility would not

They, uh, they put out this 12 song album that is so good.

Um, it's funny like they reference split system in the bio and i think that's a good analog it's like is another band that's just like all muscle so like so many catchy songs really reminds you of first wave punk i also think you can really hear like a sort of dead boys nature to this record like it's very there's a lot of attitude but it's not like over affected um carbonas is another band that kind of comes to mind with this where it's like it's very like they managed to do that thing where it's like i don't know i i think that the term chain punk kind of like it kind of brings to mind people who are like really almost over performing toughness or something like that and i think cult crime are an example of people who are focused on great hooks like really catchy songs great momentum and then otherwise just focusing on like you know just performing them strongly without doing like a big like character like tough guy caricature or like You ever listen to that band, Nina, Personal and the Pizzas, who were like a Ramones somewhat parody band? No, I

feel like I'm squinting and can kind of picture record art, but not.

I don't think I ever listen to

This is a collection of early singles and b-sides, and it has a ton of classic songs on it, but I would have thought maybe a proper album.

But this is noteworthy because it's the third band from Cleveland on the list of this kind of 70s, 80s era, Devo, Dead Boys, and now Pear Ubu.

And this is one of those records where the opening notes of every song on this record start.

I'm just like totally psyched.

So one of the things that was great was there was this record called New Wave that came out on a label called Vertigo in the late 70s.

And it had Richard Hell and the Dead Boys and Patti Smith and the Runaways.

And that just blew my mind.

I just thought this stuff was incredible.

it's good it is excellent yeah and i i see it the exact same way because i don't think it's as spectacular as what everyone thinks as being the you know you see those top 10 punk albums right and you see the clash the ramones and of course x pistols is

but even even ramones were gnarlier in their own way you know they were they were more aggressive and and i mean and they were more syrupy than the sex pistols at times too but you know i've always said this and not that the ramones were aware of this band i know the chronology you know dead boys come after right but dead boys young loud and snotty to me is the platonic ideal of what the sex pistols were shooting for but never accomplished

yeah i agree with that that that's

Now, again, the Dead Boys had no influence on the Sex Pistols.

No.

It was more likely vice versa, right? But the Dead Boys were like, well, if the Pistols were more like this,

I would love this.

But anyway, it took me a long time.

We're also celebrating the very first show of the Cramps on November 1st, 1976.

So going into Halloween, unannounced opening for the Dead Boys.

at cbgb's i happen to have been the drummer on that first performance and was with the group for a year almost and during that time played over 40 shows with them so it was a hazing and a really great time for me I have a lot of stories to tell on that, and I think that I can shed light on what exactly was the origin of the group.

It's always been veiled in the mists of time, and frankly, Nobody's ever asked me what really happened.

It took a while.

I mean, it was a long summer, you know.

But during that time, you know, we got, you found the apartment, you know, and James Slyman and myself were, you know, I'd come to New York on that July 4th day and I moved in with Lux and Ivy for a brief time, but then It was our apartment, you and I and James, you know, living in this apartment that seemed to be rock and roll central once the Dead Boys came in.

Oh, yeah.

On the eve of punk rock for most people, even the New York variety, they signed to Sire, one of the first bands of the new Sire era.

Anticipating the Ramones, who also came out with their first album in 76, and Richard Hell and the Dead Boys and the Saints and Radio Birdman and Talking Heads and all those bands, Rizzillos.

What a great label they had.

One of the very first there on that label when they were going to the new sounds.