Dead Boys, or should I say Dead Dolls (no, not those creepy little Dolls that were mass produced for wannabe Wednesdays).
Johnny Blitz had just been stabbed on the streets of New York. A benefit was created to raise funds to help the fallen comrade, known as the Blitz benefit. Look it up, plebeians. Anyways cue in snot, attitude and high energy dangerous rock and roll.
How could you go wrong with a combination of New York Dolls, particularly Jerry Nolan, The Dead Boys minus Johnny Blitz and killing it behind the puking Dead Boys Kick Drum was none other than Saturday Night Live's John Belushi. The days of cell phones obviously didn't exist at this time, but this time capsule was captured as an audio recording, and it proves that John Belushi is no slouch on the skins, and of course, Jerry Nolan is the master of his pink drum kit. (I still kick myself for not acting on an opportunity to buy one of his kits- Ya snooze, ya go on a cruise). Of course, this all took place at the infamous CBGB's Club in the underbelly of the Bowery, where “all the animals come out at night—whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday, a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets.” Well, keep movin’, nothing to see here.
Being a tight-knit community, one night turned into a cohesive calling of all brothers and sisters in solidarity, looking out for a fallen comrade.
Blondie, Suicide, the Ramones, The Dictators, Sic Fucks, The Erasers,James Chance and the Contortions, The Student Teachers, The Fleshtones, The Mumps, Helen Robbins, Shrapnel,The Dots, The Rudies, The Senders, Divine and The Neon Women!
The set comprised of Dead Boys tunes and New York Dolls staples, something that Johnny Blitz, Cheetah Chrome, cut their teeth on. Yes, Sir little Blitz and Chrome suckled on the teats of glam, wham, thank you ma’am!
"Looking for a Kiss", "Pills", "Trash" were just a few of The New York Dolls' output recorded to analogue as well as "All This and More", "Sonic Reducer" and the classic, soup line hit I Don't Need No Cookie, "I Need Lunch" ... .Wink Wink:)
Night of the Living Dead Boys* is the sixth installment of Cleopatra Dead Boys archive collection, following on from the out-takes and live material of *Ignorance In Action (The Rarities)*, the 1977 concert recording *Live in San Francisco, *The Halloween 1986 reunion show *Return of the Living, Dead Boys the out-takes collection *Younger, Louder And Snottyer *and the lost sessions collection *Third Generation Nation.
I was a little late to the Young Loud and Snotty era as I was only at the tender vittle age of ten in the year 1977-Meow Hiss. However, once I went through my musical puberty journey( no, not that Journey because I Stopped Believin’ and in fact never subscribed to that dribble from the anal cavity of Satan) and landed on The Dead Boys, I knew I had discovered something unfathomable, unprecedented and any other words I can think of that start with UN. It was only years later, I began collecting Dead Boys ephemera, autographed material, tour buttons, the Blitz benefit program and promo pictures. Now I have them safely tucked away and occasionally get on Facebook music groups to say look what I have and then slowly disappear back into the fabric. Johnny Blitz actually lived in Toronto for several years, and in the late '90s, early 2000s era, played in a band called Raw Dog. I was lucky enough to bang away on his puking Dead Boy skulls double bass drums a couple of times. Why, you may ask, or maybe you couldn’t give a flying Dead Boy. Well, I shared a studio with Raw Dog. Think about releasing that Cleopatra. I am sure tapes exist..?
Cleopatra, thanks for keeping the torch alive, and I hope you continue to unearth mouthfuls of hot molten lava rock and roll. I want to be a Dead Boy -I'll die for you if you want me to
Okay, I might not be that dedicated.
L.U.V
9 Puking Skulls of 10 Puking Skulls.
PS: For all those asking why I might be writing about this 10 months later... Well, let’s just say it is none of your business. Ha, and it is worthy of a mention for admirable releases for the skidmark year, that just passed also known as 2025. Onwards and Upwards, my friends. See ya down in Hell.
