Grotesqueries at Random, Vol. 72: Dead Boys/Cold Blood

Dead Boys and Cold Blood

Today is Halloween…A day maligned by some conspiratorial types as a vestigial remnant of humanity’s Satan-worshiping pre-Christian past at worst, or a superstitious backslide into paganism at best. That is if it’s not just another excuse for people to be afraid of every damn thing including terrorism, sexual predators, kidnappers, vandals, people putting foreign objects in candy, street-crime or the “strangers” who are their neighbors.

For me it’s an occasion to remember my childhood, when the simple act of dressing up as a Star Wars character, a ninja, Zorro, or, as on my final All Hallows’ Eve outing as a trick-or-treater the October following the release of Tim Burton’s 1989 landmark comic-book adaptation, Batman’s arch-nemesis The Joker, would net unholy amounts of free candy. Well, that and cause to be bummed out over being too broke and/or old to rock a costume (playing dress-up is fun) and the fact that there’s currently no yummy candy in my house.

I thought about using Halloween as an opportunity to cover some “spooky” band or another. But to be perfectly honest I can’t really think of any. And to top it off Halloween fell on a Friday (the day I reserve for my ________ at Random posts) this year, which means the field of potentials was narrowed in some respects. So, I picked out a couple of old-school sides that are still currently available (in digital format no less…I checked) at your average music retailer, by acts who weren’t necessarily horror-themed but possessed monikers with a macabre edge.

Dead Boys ‘Young, Loud and Snotty’First is Cleveland, Ohio-bred Punk band Dead Boys and their 1977 debut Young, Loud and Snotty. Don’t let the name fool you, the band wasn’t a Misfits-esque Horror-Punk act with aspirations of being music’s answer to George Romero. The name–like their music, which could be bleak, anarchic, and anti-social–is more-so a metaphor for their angry, disaffected, some might say nihilistic world-view. This image, envisaged as it was by their album-title, was only bolstered by a confrontational on-stage demeanor that included occasional blood-letting.

The band’s breakout came after Ramones frontman Joey Ramone helped them win a spot playing at New York’s CBGB after which they soon signed to flagship New Wave label Sire Records. Young, Loud and Snotty was–conspicuously enough–recorded under the production aegis of Genya Ravan who is perhaps best known as the Janis Joplin-ish vocalist for Ten Wheel Drive, a Soul/Jazz/Rock fusion big-band. A fact that’s a bit mind-bending considering the raw Punk sound of the album and the misogynistic tone of some of the group’s lyrics.

Influenced by Michigan punks The Stooges, Big Apple glam-punks the New York Dolls & theatrical Glam-Metal shocker Alice Cooper, their music, despite it’s seething energy, serrated edge and mean-spirited content is, like that of their friends the Ramones, an obvious descendant of Garage-Rock and Bubblegum Pop. Angrier, fastier and more cynical than most pre-Hardcore American Punk bands, they sound sort of like the Sex Pistols if they were virtuoso instrumentalists, or the Pistols tempered with the Pop-sensibilities of the Buzzcocks.

Cold Blood ‘Thriller’Then we have Thriller, a 1973 LP from San Francisco-based Fusion-Rock troupe Cold Blood, which I chose for a number of reasons. First, the album title presaged that of Michael Jackson’s 1984 classic and its horror-themed title-track. After that the name of the band itself has its own share of ghoulish connotations. And finally the band, a collective of musicians, gathered around a bluesy belter named Lydia Pense, who played Jazz, Soul and Funk-infused Rock music, remind me of Dead Boys producer Genya Ravan and Ten Wheel Drive.

Formed in the post-Hippie Bay, the band gigged in parks before landing at the historic Fillmore West. Their relationship with the venue allegedly began on recommendation from Janis Joplin (whom Pense was frequently compared to) and they impressed promoter Bill Graham enough that he signed them to his San Francisco Records imprint. Their horn-driven music would put them in the same category as bands like Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, Tower of Power (with whom they have shared personnel) and the aforementioned Ten Wheel Drive among others.

Thriller was their fourth album, and was a bit more polished and straightforward than their previous efforts like First Taste of Sin which was lushly-produced by Soul legend Donny Hathaway, the fuzzily funky Sisyphus and their precocious debut. It’s made up mostly of covers, the most notable being a twinkling Jazz-Funk rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “You are the Sunshine of My Life” that recalls Bob James‘ arranging work and a rework of Bill Withers‘ “Kissing My Love” which boasts a sandpapery break and lots of funky wah-wah & clav action.

See, that wasn’t too scary now was it? Personally I don’t scare too easily, so I’ve always been more about tasty treats on Halloween anyway. Since I don’t have any sweets we’ll all just have to settle for these musical treats. Oh, and don’t forget that the Fall festivities don’t begin and end with Halloween people, Día de los Muertos or The Day of Dead is this weekend too. But if I don’t get some candy soon there’s gonna be a few additions to the population of the deceased!

This entry was written by El Keter, posted on October 31, 2008 at 10:30 am, filed under Music and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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