Punk Turns 30

Imagine my surprise, after not being able to get online for days while taking my joy ride across Michigan to find an email from Kent Smythe. Well, I'm pleased as punch that Kent has visited these pages and has seen this moment I stole from him many years ago. This photo here below is for you, Kent - our mutual friends, the Dickies. Its been a year since my last joy ride through Michigan, and I still haven't figured out why I choose the dead of winter to visit a Great Lakes state...must be the music On Friday night in Ann Arbor, I saw SSM and my other Detroit faves, The Dirtbombs. Dirtbombs soundcheck Seeing the Dirtbombs reminded me to remind you that people still pogo, mosh and otherwise dance and shake their ass at rock n roll shows. The Dirtbombs do inspire that fist in the air move, too. Ko, Dirtbombs I ran into the coolest guy in St. Clair Shores there - Jackson Smith, who's playing with Wendy Case and the Paybacks these days. Wendy and Jackson The following nig...

I'll be heading off to Michigan in a few hours and my first stop is to visit with Tom Potter for a few days. He's a bad-ass noise maker you first heard as one-half of the guitar/drums duo Bantam Rooster. Seems like that combination was the start of a trend... from there, Tom went on to be the coolest of the dual bass players of the revolving cast of the Dirtbombs, and then made some noise leading Detroit City Council. Tom Potter is the most clever, funniest guy I know. While in Detroit, I'm also going to check out a show by Troy Gregory and the Stepsisters. Troy is another of Detroit's Most Valuable Players. Also manning one of the basses for the Dirtbombs, Troy has also led the Witches, and played guitar for the Volebeats. Yes...today's theme is bass players and their cigarettes in black & white... Troy also played with Killing Joke and some metal type bands (he's a speed demon on the bass...ask him about the time Metallica asked him to au...

I don't think anyone has said or written quite enough about Dangerhouse Records co-founder and leader of his own punk/funk/soul combo, the Metro Squad, Mr. Black Randy, who is pictured here with Dickie, Stan Lee. Long before Slash and the other indie labels started putting out the records that would come to be synonymous with Los Angeles, Dangerhouse, which was Randy, Pat "Rand" Garrett, and David Browne (also a member of the Metro Squad) put out 7" singles by X, the Weirdos, and The Avengers. By 1979, however, once LA Punk seemed to be on an international map, Dangerhouse called it quits. Slash took up the slack, as did other labels. You can get a Dangerhouse compilation if you look hard... I saw one once. I'm no record collecting fanatic, but more than any vinyl out there, I treasure my small handfull of Dangerhouse releases and fought a tug of war with Lance Loud over my copy of X's "Adult Books." I still have it. I've been thin...

What's the absolute hottest thing in rock n roll - punk or otherwise? Girl drummers. Without a doubt. This lovely lady is Miriam Linna, original drummer for the original no-bass punk rock band, The Cramps. Primitive and primal when she's playing music, Miriam is quite simply a lovely lady when she's off musical duty. Together with Billy Miller, she runs the Norton Records label, one that releases the best in punk and trashy garage rock and soul music. They're also in the A Bones together, if you want to catch Miriam in full swing. Karen of the Pandoras -- seated on the right -- was a great and powerful drummer, but now she's a great wife and mom and not doing music as far as I know. Its below freezing where I am - so I hope that the beach-themed picture of the Pandoras help to conjure up summertime for those of us experiencing winter. Yes, I am in Chicago!

This crazy shot is the very first photo I took of any Ramone. I think its pretty funny. I've seen Joey photographed doing many things - from his high kicks to holding the famous GABBA GABBA HEY sign... but I guess no one cared to publish a photo of him holding on to that long hair. Joey Ramone was particularly generous to Stiv and me over the years. The Ramones gave the Dead Boys and Stiv's various solo projects opening slots on their shows in great venues around the states. I remember running into Joey, as usual, in the middle of the night at Veselka, the all-night Ukranian diner on 2nd Ave. in the East Village...it was the day the world learned that Stiv had died. Joey said, "stupid fucker. Should have gone to the doctor. He'd still be here." Not one to mince words or avoid medical attention. Joey was as on top of things as anyone could be during his illness. He'd have his laptop with him in the hospital. Keeping in touch... But I don't wan...

It was a wild and crazy week at the Whisky A Go Go in 1977. From February 9 through February 12, there was a sultry blonde double bill. How many Angelenos remember that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers opened these shows for Blondie? I remember vividly. I was there. And this photo of Debbie Harry was taken on one of those nights. That's original bass player, Gary Valentine in the background. We had been reading about Blondie for ages in the various magazines such as New York Rocker, Creem, and of course Punk. We also had their eponymous debut record, which we adored and played relentlessly. We knew all the songs inside out. But our excitement over Blondie did not take away from at least my enjoyment of seeing Tom Petty. Not a punk rocker at all, but certainly a guy with some punk attitude, Tom Petty was quoted as saying "If you call me a punk, I'll cut you." Nuff said. Do you feel lucky punk? Tom Petty's career would go on a stratospheric climb,...

Oh no, its not about love...its about punk rock. My dear departed friend and fellow photographer, Herb Wrede had a Valentine's Day birthday. Herb was a dear. He lived in Ontario, California, and would come up and see shows in Hollywood with a friend of his, Diane Grove. Together, they did the Screamers Fan Club. This is their handiwork. Both Diane and Herb took pictures, and Herb and I took photos of each other. Herb took more photos of me than I of him, however... it was this routine we had - so that he could get some good isolated shots of musicians...I would talk with them and then Herb would yell out my name, and the musician and I would both turn towards him. One of Herb's most well-known of these photos is one he took of David Johansen and me in 1978 backstage at the Whisky. David and I had become quite friendly (and I drove him around too) and so when he was relaxing alone backstage, I simply wandered in and started chatting with him and Herb came in to ask "Can ...

Today is Jim Diamond's Birthday. He's the guy who runs Ghetto Recorders in Detroit. He's the guy who defined dirty garage rock sound of the 90s with all the records he produced and/or engineered. Its a real punk rock place, that Ghetto Recorders - housed in a place that used to be a chicken processing plant, behind the State Theatre...its cold in the winter, the roof leaks, the oven doesn't work... but there is a whole bunch of cool vintage gear. Despite the conditions and the surroundings, some of the greatest and grittiest records were made there. Here's a short list... The Compulsive Gamblers Les Sexareenos (Montreal garage punks) Mystery Girls The Dirtbombs Ko & the Knockouts and some other fabulous bands and records like The Sights, New Bomb Turks, Clone Defects, Von Bondies, and a Detroit duo you may have heard of: The White Stripes. Check out Ghetto Recorders website for the long list and some MP3's of some of Jim's handywork. Check ...

But instead - I'll tell you about someone not quite that old. My life-long friend, Gary Stewart . You may know Gary's name from those fantastic Rhino Records box sets. Gary knows more about all kinds of music than anyone I know. Oh - wait, you want a photo. I have photos of Gary, but not with me (I am still traveling on this Punk Turns 30 tour, you know - with the same 2 weeks worth of clothes I took to Memphis in September 05. Its winter now and I'm heading to Chicago today - I understand it is going to snow.) Well, let me give you a Gary Stewart-related photo, then: This is a clipping from the defunct LA Reader (now LA Citybeat) choosing The Last as its Critics Pick gig that week. At the time, Gary was managing the band; I took the photo. Like Greg Shaw, Gary was a guy who helped me get ahead in this career I was inadvertently forging. When I was promoting special punk rock shows at the Whisky, Gary introduced me to a new girl group, The Bangs, and he suggested a...

Before they became the world's biggest pop stars, The Beatles were a rough and tumble group from the working class North of England who, like so many of today's musicians, found a following in Europe. You might call that version of the Beatles a garage band. You could easily say that John Lennon had punk attitude. On this date in 1964, The Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The British Invasion began. On February 10th, probably thousands of kids in the USA picked up guitars for the first time and formed bands with other first time musicians. That's really punk - forming a band when you can't play. But the Beatles did play pretty damn well. Slogging it out for two or three sets a night makes you pretty expert. By the time they became pop stars, they were recording in Abbey Road, London's top of the line studio, with George Martin, no slouch himself. They re-invented and pioneered so much in the world of recording that even though I know it...

That's Peter Case, front and center, leading the Plimsouls round about 1979 at the Jefferson Bowl in Culver City. That place had the best fried noodles - yeah, bowling and Chinese food... that's very LA. Anyway, I had the greatest time hanging out with Peter and catching up with him in Los Angeles around Christmas time. And now, I'm in New York City and he will be too. Dig this info from Phast Phreddie Patterson: I don't edit Fred - his transmissions are just so entertaining. He's a real hep cat. Dear Friends, On Wednesday evening at the Cutting Room club there is going to be a celebration of the music of my good friend Peter Case. Peter and I have been pals since he first moved to California in early 1977. I have been a big supporter of his through all his bands-- The Nerves, The Breakaways, The Plimsouls, and of course his solo career. He is one of the most talented guys you'll ever meet. I heartily urge you to attend this event on Wednesday ...

The Dictators have a lot to celebrate in the normally dull after-the-holidays period. Three of them have birthdays in the first six weeks of the year. Ross the Boss and Handsome Dick Manitoba celebrate in January, and Scott "Top Ten" Kempner celebrates today. The Handsome One's Birthday Bash was held last week at his bar, one of the best in NYC. If you haven't been, you really must check it out. There are photos of the 70s rock n roll glory days there by wonderful NYC-based photographers such as Stephanie Chernikowski, Bob Gruen, Mick Rock, and the Jackie Onassis of the East Village, Roberta Bayley. So, where ever you are, salute Scott, Ross and the Handsome One. How old are they? Rockers never age. On another note, Bob Marley was born on this date as were Axl Rose, Fabian, Rip Torn, Mamie Van Doren, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Babe Ruth and Ronald Reagan. Don't know what they all have in common with Reagan....I guess no matter what you think... all these peo...

This iconic image of Stiv Bators was selected by Bomp! Records to be the publicity photo during his solo recording phase ("Disconnected" and the singles like "It's Cold Outside"). Frank Secich reminded me that this photo was taken at Bijou Studios in Hollywood. In addition to being one helluva fine bass player and musical arranger, Frank's got the world's best memory. Anyway - if you like this photo and you want one - don't go to eBay to get an old Bomp mass-produced print from a cranky collector when you can get it directly from me, the one who took the picture. I printed it too! I have a few 8x10 prints remaining from my 2005 tour and I'm selling them at clearance prices on my new Inventory Clearance Sale site. I'm even hooked up to Paypal! (I know you've all been doing the Paypal forever... I finally came around) In addition to this photo of Stiv, there are a couple of Ramones shots. There's the one of Dee Dee, pictured ...