Lance Loud, famous for being Lance Loud, lead Mump, journalist, AIDS activist, and the man who inspired me to move to NYC On this date in 1981, the AIDS epidemic was formally recognized by medical professionals in San Francisco, California. AIDS - an acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome - was first identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that same year when five men in West Hollywood, California presented identical symptoms of the disease and died because of it. Without going into politics or science, I just wanted to acknowledge and remember some of my friends in the punk rock population whose lives were cut short by this disease... these people should not be forgotten Above - Bradly Field of Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, and Joseph Fleury, Mumps Manager at Duke's at the Tropicana, Los Angeles, CA Kevin Kiely, Mumps bassist On the right - Black Randy, RIP - with Paul Roesseler (still very much with us) Jeffrey Lee Pierce's poor health ...