So, Jeff Magnum Tells Me...

The other day, I emailed Dead Boys bass player Jeff Magnum this photo as I don't think he had ever seen it. When I took the photo, on November 3, 1977 at the Starwood in LA, there were certainly a lot of people in the crowd. They were, as people usually are, much taller than me, and it was packed like a sardine can near the front of the stage. I found it difficult to get any good shots from a front-of-stage vantage point and it seemed a bit chaotic to me...so I stepped back, got a couple full stage shots and just enjoyed the show. Jeff remembers this show as being one of the Dead Boys more calm performances. There's a video from that night that supports Jeff's memory... Stiv Bators Los Angeles debut was NOT his usual NYC stage act. Jeff remembered Stiv's performance as "statuesque." Doubly funny as Stiv was about 5'3" in heels.

This is how a lot of people remember Stiv, deeply into his performance - his shirt has been ripped off him by a frenzied audience member, he's slid around the stage on his knees and his pants show the wear and tear (that's really why bands wear leather). This shot and that performance moment has been memorialized in many ways --- its what represented Stiv on stage (above the band's heads) when the Dead Boys have played in recent months, starting with their October 2004 reunion. It was the image on the t-shirt from the event too.

The moments of pride and melancholy never subside when I see that live pic of Stiv and know that his fans around the world know this image and that many of them wear it. Cynic and Get Hip Recordings honcho Gregg Kostelich told me at the first Dead Boys reunion just how much those images meant to him and his friends and I have to tell you, I got all "aw shucks" on him.





But Gregg inspired me, and so does everyone's love of Stiv. Until June 23, you can pre-order this Very Limited Edition Stiv Bators portrait t-shirt that will represent Punk Turns 30 in our "Gone But Not Forgotten" portrait tour this year. We're making all our shirts this month and then destroying the screens... so if you want this edition, act now. Shirts will be back...and easier to find and get, but if you want one of the DIY Punk Turns 30 versions directly from us, you've got a couple weeks to place an order. GO HERE TO ORDER.