Fanzines in the Ivory Tower

This is the cover of Lobotomy, the brainless magazine, issue #1. Lobotomy enjoyed about a 2-year run. We published it whenever something was worth writing about, or when we felt like it. Because teenagers and 20-somethings have a whole different concept of time than older adults, we often published as often as the bands in England during the 60s released singles --- that is --- all the time!

Doing the 'zine was about a natural and organic an activity as breathing for us. Thirty-plus years later, the phenomenon of the fanzine is being recognized by the Ivory Tower. I read the following on BBC's website:

They were invented by fans of trashy science fiction novels in the 1930s before their hand-written Xeroxed pages chronicled the birth of punk.

But as the internet threatens to condemn them to history's shredder, traditional music fanzines - amateur magazines written, edited and produced by fans - have found an unlikely saviour.

You can read more about it by clicking on this link - "Fanzines enter pages of history."



The scene photographed above - with Lobotomy's Anna Statman (back to camera) and Pleasant Gehman interviewing Jam drummer, Rick Buckler, was typical of a day of brainless journalism. Before bands had handlers and "people," they merely had record companies that may or may not have known how to market to punk rockers. But we solved that problem (as did the precursor of them all - Who Put the Bomp? and then Slash, Flipside, Back Door Man and other California based zines. In the UK, there were loads more... and around the world, even more again). Writing in the punk rock culture's vulgate, fanzines and iconoclast publications (Creem - which we all revered) were able to engage punk rock readers much more than any mainstream publications that either gave lip service (with photos) or ignored punk completely.

Letting a handful of proactive, entrepreneurial kids trumpet their bands to the appropriate audience was a no-brainer. But that's not where "brainless magazine" came from. Lobotomy paid homage to the Ramones song Teenage Lobotomy.


Above - Mumps manager, the late Joseph Fleury reads the May 1978 issue of Lobotomy while dining in Duke's with the Dickies.

Lobotomy served a dual purpose for us - its creators. It launched the writing career of one Pleasant Gehman. Writing music reviews helped Randy Kaye and Anna Statman hone the chops it requires to be A&R executives - as they could write about music critically as well as pick out a band or song with potential for staying power as well as mass appeal. They both had respected A&R careers at Slash, Geffen and Interscope.


Anna Statman, left and Randy Kaye with Pleasant Gehman in San Francisco

It helped launch my own photographic career, as well as the careers of other local photographers who shot the punk scene (including the late Herb Wrede, who passed away before he could enjoy the renaissance of punk rock's importance).



The most notable careers launched from Lobotomy were that of our Art Director, Brad Dunning, and all-purpose valuable player, Kid Congo Powers.


Brad Dunning, 1978


Kid n Plez, 1978

Both of them were founding members of the Gun Club, encouraged to perform by our friend Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Kid has famously continued with his musical career, playing with The Cramps, Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch, Knoxville Girls, Congo Norvell and his current project Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds.

Brad is a well respected interior designer and now writes for publications that (I presume) pay him way better than Lobotomy did (which was nothing - except for in notoreity). You can read Brad's byline in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.



Back in 1978, Lobotomy was enough to get a group of fledging journalists access - some of it incredibly unprecedented - to the stars of tomorrow, and by extension, this access helped to build up a collection of clips and accomplishments as a foundation upon which to build a lifelong career.

Maybe next they'll start letting us teach students rather than have someone teach students about us....

Living to Tell

Really famous photographer Bob Gruen and I were standing right next to each other that night and we have similar shots... Bob's photo is in color and you can see on it Bill's website.

Today - Thursday, February 26 - at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Brooklyn Heights, my pal Bill German will be signing copies of his book Under Their Thumb, his memoir of being the guy who made his teenage dream of working with the Rolling Stones come true.

Read more on his website.

Punk + Elks Lodge Doesn't Always ="Riot"

Darby Crash / The Germs

A full year before the notorious and legendary Elks Lodge Riot, there were indeed completely successful punk rock gigs held at downtown LA's Elk Lodge -- and by successful, I mean no police interruptions.

One such set of gigs include the February 24 and 25 benefits for The Masque at the Elks Lodge.

Many of the artists who performed are featured in today's photos (none of these pix are from the Elks Lodge show, however).


F-Word's Rik L Rik and Darby Crash


The Dils


Black Randy and Dickies guitarist Stan Lee (both bands performed)


Dianne Chai of the Alley Cats


Patricia Morrison aka Pat Bag, of The Bags


John Doe and Exene of X

The success of 1978's Elks Lodge shows compared to the bloody battle between punk rockers and cops a year later is a hint at why I think that 1979 was a bad year for punk rock, despite everything cool that was happening... getting on the radar definitely had its down side...

Dreams of 1976

I don't watch a lot of TV... mostly the same shows [Law and Order reruns, CSI reruns... get my drift?] but I DO watch a lot of movies and last night, I caught the last hour of TAXI DRIVER which was released in 1976. I first saw it upon its release in a theatre when I was a college student. Impressionable as all 18 years olds can be, "Taxi Driver" confirmed my desire to move to NYC. It was alive with danger.

Robert DeNiro was 33 years of age in that film and looked even younger - fresh and almost innocent and naive as the complicated "Travis Bickle." In his impressive body of work, the elder statesman version of DeNiro wears a more knowing face, full of experience,understanding and just plain life. Travis Bickle, at the end of "Taxi Driver" is called a hero for saving Jodie Foster's teenage hooker character "Iris." The start of DeNiro as anti-hero character, perhaps... although he's a brilliant villain [check the remake of "Cape Fear," another Scorsese/DeNiro effort], to me, he's the ultimate anti-hero as a mobster ["Godfather 2," "Casino," "Good Fellas"] and most certainly iconic as the hero who takes a fall ["Raging Bull," perhaps the pinnacle of the Scorsese/DeNiro oeuvre] and perfect as a nut job - not as violent as Travis Bickle, but just as unhinged and dangerous ["King of Comedy"].

The two DeNiros - the somewhat innocent and the later rather experienced one - reminds me of the two reactions I always receive when exhibiting this portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce. So many people are taken aback by his youthful innocent dreamer's gaze, while others prefer the familiar image of his bleached blond fucked up genius glare of his later years.

It is no wonder to me that last night I dreamed it was 1976. The co-star of nearly all Scorsese's movies is NYC, and in "Taxi Driver," it is no different. NYC, despite its tony Park and Fifth Avenues, its glitterati, etc., is portrayed in all her seedy grittiness in the bulk of Scorsese's early work. It is the same NYC that I first visited and then moved to. It wasn't until the early 90s that the "Disney-fication" of Times Square took a forever-changing foothold on the city.

NYC in the mid/late 70s was the perfect breeding ground for musical and artistic experimentation and its no wonder punk rock came out of it. Over on my coast, we too had a perfect clash of cultures and in the shadows of all that bright California Sun, we birthed a noir version of punk rock perfectly epitomized by fans of the seminal punks.... guys like Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who would conscript his friends to join him as performers on stage.



None of these images - Jeffrey's portrait, nor the one of Pleasant and Kid Congo Powers - were made in 1976. In 1976, Jeffrey and I were 18... Pleasant and Kid were younger. We were all fans --- of The Ramones, Blondie and a whole lot more NYC and UK punk bands, and Jeffrey delved into the heart of American blues too.

Yet, last night, I dreamt it was 1976, and there was a Gun Club and they performed in my dream... it was Jeffrey, Kid and Terry Graham in the dream.

Who knows what inspires dreams. I dreamt it was 1976... a time where anything and everything seemed possible and a time when all our heroes and anti heroes were young and baby-faced, despite the menace their work might later reveal.

Happy Birthday Cheetah Chrome

If there is such a thing as Punk Rock Royalty, then Cheetah Chrome is one of the Knights of the Round Table. From the ashes of Rocket From the Tombs and Frankenstein, Cheetah emerged as one of The Dead Boys alongside Stiv Bators, Jimmy Zero, Jeff Magnum and Johnny Blitz. They were the "rock" in punk rock and they lived up to their debut album title Young, Loud and Snotty. All in good fun, of course. Ultimate showmen, they were, setting the benchmarks that would lay the foundation for what made great punk rock shows.


First photo I took with Cheetah in it - he's the blur behind Stiv, and note there's a photographer standing in front of me -- from The Starwood, November 1977

I'm proud to say that Cheetah Chrome is still my punk rock friend, and we both live in Nashville, Tennessee, where the contemporary photos you see here were taken.



Young Rogan, Cheetah and Anna's son will be four this year! He's already playing guitar... a young Cheetah in training. Daddy Cheetah's birthday is today. Happy Birthday Cheetah Chrome. May you have many many many more.

New York's Finest in LA - 1977

It was 32 years ago yesterday and today, that The Ramones made their sophomore appearance on LA's Sunset Strip.



They debuted at the Roxy in August of 1976, and in February 77, they headlined a New York's finest set of days at the Whisky a Go Go down the street with Blondie opening. Blondie headlined the previous two days, sharing the stage with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.



Coincidentally, all three of those seminal 70s bands are in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame!



These gigs showed me what Beatlemania might possibly have been like. My friends and I were excited and had been anticipating the double-header of these CBGB all stars for weeks, if not months.



Not sure if it is "fun" being a superstar... but it seems that the blonde faction of that week in February 1977 at the Whisky a Go Go made it all the way to the top of the charts and made grand careers out of chart topping.

Of All the Obits for Lux Interior...

Sixteen months ago, I started the doubled-headed tours Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond and Punk Rock Day of the Dead in Oxford, Mississippi (One Night Stand at the Ole Miss Motel - part of the Motel Art Show series created by the brilliant Erin Abbott) and in my favorite cultural corner of the South - Memphis, Tennessee at Goner Records.

Images involving members of The Cramps as individuals and as a group figured prominently in both exhibits.

The eerily prescient image above, so funereal, was installed in its old wooden black frame perched atop a stack of Gideon's Bibles placed on the nightstand next to the bed at the Ole Miss. I wanted to invoke the "Songs the Lord Taught Us" theme and spin off the concept of "style the Cramps gave us."

Featuring The Cramps so prominently in the Motel Art Show was a no-brainer. My most cherished punk rock photo session ever was the one that took place in 1978 at the erstwhile Tropicana Motel with The Cramps. To be able to showcase both a favorite band with a fave motel hangout in an ad hoc motel room gallery was just too good an opportunity! Carpe diem indeed.



I am hoping that Pleasant Gehman writes a memoir-styled obituary of our beloved Lux Interior so you can read for yourself how we met him. (Thanks to Kristian Hoffman) Next thing you know, these classic group portraits were created. The noir lighting was my idea, but the props and b- and monster movie scenarios/poses were all courtesy of Lux and Ivy, who personified that particular bit of culture and parlayed it into a wonderful way to make a living doing what one loves.



I am not at all surprised at the outpouring of honest emotion surrounding Lux's passing. He touched so many people and influenced generations of listeners and players alike. We always talk about how unique our idols were, but Lux had unique in spades. A fearless beast on stage, off stage, he could be the polar opposite. Not meek/mild, but definitely approachable, eager to talk about music and movies and imagery. He shaped the vision we have collectively in punk rock, garage rock and underground cinema.

We have all read a great many memoirs and obituaries of Lux over the past week. They go from superficial to opinionated to ill-informed to well-written.

Rob Miller, co-owner of Chicago's Bloodshot Records wrote the memoir/obit that says it all for me. You can read it here: blurt-online.com/features/view/275/

Lux leaves behind not just a world-wide legion of fans and friends, but a wife and true partner in every sense. Lux and Ivy's marriage was one of the rare ones that death did part. So was my parents'... how's this for a numbers game? Death did part my parents after 36 years of marriage (and they are or were old enough to be Lux's parents...). Lux and Ivy had 37 years together. That's just simply rare. But it speaks to true love, and to the notion that there just might really be such a thing as soul mates.

Dear Ivy: thank you for sharing your soul mate with us for all those years. While we share a grief and a loss with you, we too share a love for Lux and I hope you find solace in knowing just how well-loved he was, and that together, you and Lux turned so many people on.


"

Tonight - The Grammys - And We Don't Care...

I remember back around 1980 or so, The Go Go's were nominated for a Grammy Award. None of my punk rock friends nor I really cared about this dubious mainstream honor, but at the same time, it was an indication that lots of people out there noticed what you were doing.

Belinda Carlisle is pictured above standing next to a cardboard cut out of Elvis Costello, one of two punk rock era artists to actually win a Grammy Award. EC however won his Grammy in 1998, a good 20 years after the punk rock fact and he won it for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for a recording he did with classic pop master Burt Bacharach.

Needless to say, although I believed that perhaps the Go Gos were one of punk's Grammy winners, a search of the Grammy website for past winners turns up ZERO for notable punk rockers, many of whom are in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and museum of discarded leather pants.



I remember the Go Gos Grammy thing pretty vividly because a few weeks later, at one of my annual April Fools Parties (for those of us born in that month), Plimsoul Peter Case, (an April Fool himself) who was at the time dating Go Gos guitarist Charlotte Caffey described to me the whole hanging backstage at the Grammys experience which included a chance meeting with The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis who had recently recovered from open heart surgery and was there downing beers like water.

That brings me to remind you that last year, Peter Case was nominated for a Grammy in the FOLK category for his fantastic album Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John. Peter also is recovering from recent open heart surgery (he wrote about it in his own blog on petercase.com, so I'm not revealing a secret, and if you'd like to send him your well wishes, you should drop by his blog and leave a note)



Blondie were nominated early on - the track "X Offender" from their debut eponymous album received a nod but not the statue. I also could have sworn that "Call Me" won some kind of Grammy... but perhaps it too was just a nominee.



Much to my surprise, platinum selling artists Joan Jett and Billy Idol are also absent from the Grammy winners list! And so are the Ramones who are however in the Hall of Fame.



Another Hall of Fame punk rock artist that doesn't show up in the Grammy winners list:

The Pretenders



It boggles the mind. Well, my mind at any rate.

The Clash long form video "Westway to the World," directed by Don Letts, who was Mick Jones's partner in Big Audio Dynamite and an important figure in UK punk rock was a 2002 "Best Long Form Music Video" winner. But that award went to Letts, who for all the great work he's done, including the documentary Punk Attitude, seems to ignore the contributions of California punk rock, or at least think of us as an afterthought.

Green Day, who wear their admiration for the Ramones on their collective sleeves, have won three Grammys - in 1994, 2004 and 2005... in dubiously important big categories. Well, good for them... but... but... but... what about the artists who influenced them, and moreover, made the airwaves safe for the Green Days of the world?

No respect I tell ya! But it really really doesn't matter and I don't care. I don't think anyone should care either. Who wants acknowledgment from a body of people whose taste you don't agree with?

I will not be watching the Grammy Awards tonight. Whatever you do tonight, have fun.

We Interrupt Death With a FIGHT TO LIVE

While the world mourns the beloved Lux Interior, tonight, Detroit will be fighting along side Jim Shaw in his battle against cancer. That benefit concert is TONIGHT, February 7 at the Magic Stick in the Motor City. As you can see from the flyer, there's no shortage of talent to entertain and uplift Jim & Sandy's spirits. Following is info from their Facebook page, peppered of course, with photos of related persons...

As many of you have likely heard, Jim Shaw was recently diagnosed with cancer. What at first seemed like a semi-manageable diagnosis has, unfortunately, become considerably more dire. That being said, both he and his wife Sandy Kramer Shaw are staying positive and they are going to FIGHT. We should too.

On Saturday, Feb. 7 Jim's brothers will host a fundraiser at the Magic Stick (4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700) There will great bands and an art auction. Please come and support one of the kindest, most generous souls Detroit has ever known.
Event details include:

Saturday, Feb. 7th
The Magic Stick (4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700)
$10 minimum donation at the door

6 p.m. - Doors & Gallery Reception @ CPOP GALLERY (See below for list of participating artists)

8 p.m. - Rare unseen 16 mm short film of THE MC5 and THE STOOGES (shown at Magic Stick). This is a must-see if you are a fan of rock 'n roll.


Wayne Kramer and Michael Davis of the MC5



BANDS
9 p.m. -THE FONDAS

9:20 p.m. -THE GO

9:40 p.m. -THE PIZAZZ

The Pizazz circa 2005

10 p.m. -GARDENS

10:20 p.m. -HUMAN EYE

Bill Hafer & Timmy Vulgar, Human Eye 2005

10:40 p.m. THE SPACE HEATERS

11 p.m. -DRUID PERFUME

11:20p.m. -TYVEK

11:40 p.m. -SMASHED WINDOWS

Mid -GREG CARTWRIGHT

Greg Cartwright
Let me say this about the amazing Greg Cartwright: if not for Greg, I would not know Jim or Sandy. Their friendship has enriched my life beyond words, and I have Greg to thank for making that possible. Oh, and he is an awesome singer, songwriter, musician and all-around cool dude.

12:40 p.m. -THE DIAL TONES

1 a.m.-DAN KROHA

* Rad RnR Raffle & Sale! *

ART SALE AND AUCTION ~ ~ AT THE CPOP GALLERY!

Silent Auction from 6 - 9 PM
Cash & Carry at Auction's close
Beer from Motor City Brewery
Light refreshements served

Niagara
Steve Shaw
Speedcult
Michael Segal
Kristin Beaver
Glenn Barr
Tim Caldwell
Theresa Kereakes
Brian Victor C.
Mel Schridde
Keith Jackson
Tracee Miller
Glass Action!
Steve Nawara
Gwen Joy
Roe Peterhans
Andy Krieger
Greg Siemasz
Dave Krieger
Doug Coombe
Wendy Case
Aran Ruth
JR / Atomic Customs
SK Young

ONLINE EBAY STORE:

DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF MEMORABILIA, EQUIPMENT, COLLECTIBLES THAT HAVE BEEN DONATED, THERE WILL BE AN EBAY STORE SET UP IN JIM'S NAME. DONATIONS INCLUDE SIGNED MEMORABILIA DONATED BY MARY WEISS OF THE SHANGRI-LAS, AND THE DRUM KIT USED IN THE "HARDEST BUTTON TO BUTTON" VIDEO, DONATED BY JACK AND MEG WHITE OF THE WHITE STRIPES.

I have donated a print of the Iggy Pop image below.



Its printed on metallic paper. I like to think of it as an old Jim (Osterberg - Iggy's birth name) coming to the aid of a newer Jim, Shaw.

Also - if you want to help Jim Shaw by buying my art work, I will donate to the Shaws my portion of the proceeds from sales of Iggy Pop images that I have on exhibit at Metropolis, the gallery in Lancaster, PA that represents my work and where I made my last stop on the Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond tour.

Everybody wins!

Crazy for The Cramps

On June 13, 1978, The Cramps performed at Napa State Mental Hospital. That performance was legendary before it even began!

Today, that performance is a piece of pop culture history that every music fan who has ever felt like an outsider has cleaved to their soul with a bit of ownership... who knew that Lux & crew would strike such a chord so early in the punk era?

In the wake of Lux's sudden and untimely passing, clips of the performance have been circulating on the social networking sites... an homage to the band and their ingenuity.

Videotaped memories are a result of more than the band in any scenario. It was Target Video, the collective from San Francisco, California - that documented the performance and released it on DVD for all to share and re-live. For those who don't know Target Video, it can best be described as the punk rock / indie art version of Andy Warhol's Factory. It was indeed the hotspot of the West Coast in the very same way the Factory was on the East Coast. The parallels are numerous, and I believe when all is said and done, pop culture history will consider The Factory and Target Video equally as important to their respective underground art/music/culture scenes.

If you haven't seen the performance, find this DVD and watch it over and over again! It is a document of more than one of the most theatrical and innovative bands to come out of the punk era, it is a document of the nascent, anything-goes days of punk rock itself. You can see Target Video principal and photographer Jill Hoffman snapping away... you can see plenty of Bay Area punk rockers in the audience, blending in perfectly with the patients... they would be members of the Mutants and Flipper. Check it out for yourself. It is a treat that stands up to repeated viewing.

Part of my on-going photographic eulogy for Lux:
Below is a photo I took while standing on the stairs of the Whisky to get the whole stage in my frame. I was next to Miles Copeland, essentially blocking his view. I told him rather adamantly that The Cramps were the future and that legions of punk and other rock bands would be forever influenced by them. I was right.

Lux Interior Photographic Eulogy

Let me just preface this with the thought that I know many people out there who have their own blogs come here looking for photos to illustrate them. I do not mind if you use my images of Lux or the Cramps or anyone pictured here BUT... please notify me/ask and give credit where credit is due and acknowledge that the photos came from punkturns30.com
thank you,
Theresa K.