Reunited Dead Boys for CBGB

photos and collage by Jim Lanza

The Dead Boys were hugely influential to me in many ways. Not only did I love their music, a great blend of pure punk with a clever pop underlining, I loved the tension the band members had between each other. It made for great live performances. Each and every one of these men is intense in his own way. Put them together, and you have a band that could unleash all kinds of mayhem and fury. For a nice suburban girl, this was truly a treat.

Years later, they have mellowed in a way, but are still full of the fire and the drive that made them burn brightly and stop suddenly.

For the most post, they are a kindler, gentler Dead Boys if you see them one-on-one. They still give you the punk business from the stage.

Jim Lanza who took the photos in the collage above, helped reunite them the first time last year in September to do a show to help Stiv's elderly parents. It was a sell-out crowd at the Beachland Ballroom in the band's adopted hometown of Cleveland, OH. They were originally from Youngstown, and if you've ever been there, you will know without a doubt that the Dead Boys were bonafide members of the "No Future" generation.

Of course, there is always a future.



Here's the Cheetah Chrome family! Doesn't that baby look exactly like his Dad? I was thrilled to see Cheetah when he brought the family to my exhibit at Grimey's in Nashville this past June. Cheetah lives there now, and its served him well. Look at his beautiful family. He must have done something right somewhere along the line. And he's given rock n roll a potential guitar player, too.

Good work, Cheetah!


silly birthday of note: today is the date that in 1850, my home state of California was admitted into the union