Cleveland was supposedly the site of the first rock and roll concert. March 21, 1952. A little more than two months before my 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 claimed this preseminal rock concert gave 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.
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.
I loved the Dead Boys.
Cleveland’s Finest.
To view SONIC REDUCER live, go to this URL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8dC9M6OCkE