Punk Turns 30

Michael Monroe in my rooms (6 & 7) at the Portobello Hotel, London, 1985 note my ridiculous Yoko Ono-esque Courreges sunglasses in the foreground, now MIA - VERY 80's! 1985 was the summer that Stiv, Michael Monroe and I were roommates in London - in Stiv's flat in Ladbroke Grove, in mine at the Portobello Hotel, and in Michael's road manager's flat in Old Church Street, South Kensington ... Stiv had already conquered punk rock, he'd gone solo as a power popper and made the world safe for Goths with the Wanderers and Lords of the New Church . Always a lover of glam AND rock and glam-rock, Stiv was about to make some music with Hanoi Rocks front man, Michael Monroe and he was about to show his sense of social responsibility by participating in Artists United Against Apartheid, otherwise known as the Sun City project. I know you are accustomed to seeing me photographing Stiv, but here, he's photographing me. This photo was taken - of him photographing me p...

October 22, 1949 - June 3, 1990 Frankenstein, Mother Goose, Dead Boys, Disconnected, Wanderers, Lords of the New Church From Youngstown, Ohio to NYC to LA to London to Paris Steven John Bator, Jr. --- Loved by all who knew him You can use the search bar above to see all the posts on this blog relating to Stiv.

Everything I know about punk rock, garage rock, touring guerilla style, living large in London with no money and the musical history of Cleveland, I learned from Stiv Bators... by osmosis. I met Stiv in 1977 when he was in the Dead Boys, and we became fast friends. Michael Sticca was involved in our introduction, but I'm not entirely sure of the why's and wherefores... Sticca was the premier roadie for NYC punk bands and also provided the world's best hand claps on record. Seriously... that's in print on either a Dead Boys or Blondie album.... if not both. Stiv, though eight years older than me, was in many ways like a son. A son you sent off to war. In many other ways, he was like a brother, with his matchmaking attempts, and his bonafide guidance and help/advice that I can say completely straight-faced, did indeed advance my career. In fact, I credit Stiv, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Pleasant, the Kessel Brothers and The Germs right alongside the likes of three s...