MUMPS!

Anyone who ever saw Mumps perform live risked getting sweat on by Lance Loud whose athletic performance caused him, in his own words to "sweat like a pig." Right up against the foot of the Starwood stage, I not only took this risk, but captured Lance's sculpted "Muscle Boy" torso in action.








Kristian Hoffman, the musical arranger/songwriting genius of the group was less athletic but by no means tame as a performer. Although best known as a keyboard player (seen here with his campy peace sign shirt), Kristian knew his way around a guitar too.



Bass player Kevin Kiely was Pleasant's favorite Mump, and the girls did all seem to swoon over his big blue eyes and rag doll innocence.



Drummer Paul Rutner once told me that I was rather indulgent in taking oh-so-many photos of the Mumps live, but I'm glad I did. Paul bunked on the couch of the Famous Lobotomy Apartment in 1978 when Mumps spent an extended period of time in Los Angeles recording "Muscle Boys," "That Fatal Charm" and "Rock n Roll This, Rock n Roll That." Pleasant and I even sang back-up on "Muscle Boys." Even though your copy of the single may say we're on another track, that's us screaming "Oh you boys" in the break. Nancy Nitro is the other female backing vocalist, and unlike Pleasant and me, who yelled, Nancy actually sang.



Paul also was the one person who believed Pleasant, Kid Congo and me when we returned chez Lobtomy on Easter Sunday night, white as ghosts after what was supposed to have been a friendly visit to the Hollywood Forever cemetery to smell Douglas Fairbanks. We were chased by weapon-wielding low-riders who meant business. We were all thankful for the tight turning radius of my 1978 Honda Civic hatchback. The car was the size of a lawn mower, but when you needed to make a quick U-turn to elude a 1950-something Impala, the Honda's small size had big advantages.



Guitar player Rob Duprey went on to play with Iggy Pop on record and on tour for a few years, and collaborated as a songwriter on "Zombie Birdhouse." Rob got a turn on vocals during Mumps set, singing a cover of The Standells' "Sometimes Good Guys Wear White."

But it was Lance above and beyond all of them - no matter how cute, handsome, talented or compelling the rest of the band was individually or as a group - yes, Lance who held the crowd's attention with his antics: part class clown, part sophisticated NYC underground elite, I always think of Lance as punk rock's Mercutio.