Los Angeles, California - 50 years ago this year, the placid seas of British and American rock were disturbed… if not destroyed… by a tsunami of sound arising from the streets of New York City and London.
It wasn’t called punk rock yet… just a bunch of bands, disparate in nature and unique in sound, but seemingly bound together by a single common cause. Something must change. Everything must change. And we’re the people who are going to change it.
What happened next remains among the most dynamic and drama-filled interludes in rock history.
Cleopatra Records was not around for punk rock. But, over the last 30 years, the label has done as much as anyone to preserve and advance the first wave of punk rock giants.
From The Damned to Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, and ex-Runaway Cherie Currie to late Sex Pistol Sid Vicious; from Eater and The Vibrators to The Dickies and The Germs, brilliant new releases and precious archive treasures alike have lit up the shelves, and later this year will see both a major punk rock sale and a very special 50th anniversary edition of the podcast Pirate Radio Cleopatra.
To kick everything off, however, Cleopatra’s long relationship with Cleveland’s legendary Dead Boys hits a savage new peak with the launch of The Dead Boys Bootleg Series, an on-going collection of live recordings capturing Stiv, Cheetah, Johnny, Jeff and Jimmy at their absolute peak.
The first two albums in the series, Down On The Bowery (recorded in 1977) and From The Sleaziest Catacombs (1978) will be with us on May 22, across two all-encompassing CDs and a raucous double vinyl collection.
And while the sound quality might not be pristine, it is perfect for the Dead Boys, a coruscating roar that bleeds all of the live energy, sweat and savagery for which they were renowned.
Even more excitingly, both shows were recorded live at CBGBs, the Dead Boys’ favorite stamping ground, and bristle with the band’s best known numbers - “Catholic Boy,” “Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth,” “Son Of Sam,” “Ain’t It Fun” and, of course, “Sonic Reducer” - the anthem that uncaged the Dead Boys in the first place, and which still stands proud within any self-respecting Punk Top 10.
There’ll be more punk rock later in the year, and more Dead Boys as well - volume three in the series, Time Warp Baby, will materialize in late summer. In the meantime, you can also dig back into past releases - the band-approved Younger, Louder Snottier demos collection, the 1986 reunion Night Of The Living Dead Boys, the legendary Dead Dolls’ benefit gig, the rarities collection Ignorance In Action and more.
And there’s also the brand new Dead Boys album to look forward to.
50 years? It still sounds like yesterday to me.
Down On The Bowery
DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/deadboys_downonthebowery
CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=dead+boys+down+on+the+bowery
From The Sleaziest Catacombs
DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/deadboys_fromthesleaziestcatacombs
CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=dead+boys+from+the+sleaziest+catacombs
Two Dead Boys Live Albums Ignite Cleopatra’s Punk 50th Anniversary Celebration
