Seventeen years ago today, the one and only Stiv Bator died from injuries sustained after being hit by a car in Paris, France (I remember hearing that it was actually a garbage truck that struck poor Stiv, but that may be the stuff of legend). For those not in the know, Stiv Bator was the original lead singer of New York-by-way-of-Cleveland Punk Rock legends, The Dead Boys and, later on, the Lords of The New Church. Not a fan of that stuff? Well, ya might remember Stiv from John Waters' "Polyester" (wherein he played an obnoxious hooligan -- quite a stretch) and as the lead singer of The Blender Children in the undersung John Cussack vehicle, "Tapeheads."
I was lucky enough to catch the Dead Boys a couple of times in the late 80's, when they'd play their annual "we need the money" X-mas reunion show at the old Ritz on 11th street. It was always a furious mess, but huge fun. I was also quite into the Lords as well, and -- oddly -- ripped a bunch of their stuff to my iTunes only yesterday. Truthfully, that stuff hasn't aged quite as well, but ya can't go wrong with the Dead Boys, notably such campfire classics like "Sonic Reducer," "Son of Sam," "I Need Lunch," "Detention Home" and "Caught With the Meat in Your Mouth." Go fetch thyself a copy of Night of the Living Dead Boys, bask in the caterwauling feedback and raise a tallboy to poor Stiv.
Cheers to tireless rock scribe, Joel Gausten, for raising this to my attention.
Recent Comments