Cleveland, OH muzak: RFI

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As demanded by Frank Kogan et. al. discussing Pere Ubu & other Cleveland musical luminaries on ILE. Let's cover it all, from the Electric Eels & Rocket from the Tombs to the Great Plains & Scrawl to whatever's happening nowadays.

― David Raposa, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

This would've been a "Search & Destroy" thread, but ... well, you know.

I would've loved _Datapanik_ much more if those cheap bastards @ DGC could've split the albums up properly, instead of just smushing everything onto 3 CDs. Have the albums been reissued proper yet? And more info on the folks that populate Disc 5 of the set would be greatly appreciated.

― David Raposa, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I heart Peter Laughner. "Take the guitarplayer for a ride" is one of my all time fave records. Not a big fan of Pere Ubu live. On record they rock.

― nathalie, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

DGC also reissued Terminal Tower and The Modern Dance in '98. I have the third and fourth records, which Thirsty Ear released in '99. Beyond that is beyond me.

I cannot say enough about Scrawl.

― Andy, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Woups -- I should know by now that I shouldn't answer a question without looking at my collection. Dub Housing was also released by Thirsty Ear.

― Andy, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Does anyone have any more Scrawl info outside of them looking for a new drummer? I will join Andy in speechless awe - I love 'em to pieces, flaws & all. And feck those pooing on their early Rough Trade stuff.

― David Raposa, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

question: as i already own "modern dance" and "dub housing," are the pre-album ubu singles ("final solution," "30 secs.," etc.) available anywhere else other than "datapanik"?

― jess, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I gather through Marcy's latest post on the Scrawl site that they're pulling a reverse Echo by using an inhuman drummer. Kinda sucks that Dana had to move -- he was so grate. And they're obviously off Neglektra; I doubt they'd have much trouble finding a small one to release 'em, though. Oh well. I personally don't expect another record at this point.

Speaking of people influenced by Scrawl, the new Jenny Toomey record is really really good.

― Andy, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The early Ubu singles are all collected on Terminal Tower, which is pretty widely available.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

You might want to include the Cleveland diaspora in this, too, since much of the New York mid and late '70s scene drew from Cleveland late '60s to mid '70s. E.g, people from Cleveland included Tim Wright of DNA, Bradly Field of Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Adele Berthei of the Contortions, Cynthia Womersley and Laura Kennedy of the Bush Tetras, all of the Dead Boys, Miriam Linna first of the Cramps and then Nervus Rex and then the Zantees, Nick Knox of the Cramps, and (into the '80s) Tony Fier of the Golden Palominos, Charlotte Pressler and Andrew Klimek of Red Dark Sweet, whatever projects Paul Marotta and Jamie Klimek were working on (I think that Styrenes and Mirrors releases kept coming after they were in New York), um, can't remember the names of Doug Morgan's New York band, or of David Solomonoff's (and don't remember for sure if he was from Cleveland); John Morton made his way to New York, with I don't know what musical result. Other places: Craig Bell was in the Saucers in New Haven; some Cleveland people ended up in Kent, where Tim Gilbride was in Cruel, Cruel Moon; I forget if the Bad Crabs had Cleveland origins.

First Cleveland punk song: "Time Won't Let Me" by the Outsiders.

― Frank Kogan, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

But Cleveland over the last decade = the sort of "industrial" bands whose t-shirts you can buy in the dark, stinky portions of the mall.

― Nitsuh, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

So let us ignore the AltPress / Hall of Fame-stained present in Cleveland and focus on the good stuff. Like Prisonshake, f'r instance - wasup with them?

And damn you, Andy, for TEASING me w/ that JT info. You dastardly dude, you.

― David Raposa, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Best Cleveland punk songs ever: "Boy Can I Dance Good" by the Pagans and "Two Sisters" by Prisonshake. Current search: antisocial hardcore/metal from the Ohio suburbs: Hangnail, Boulder (lots of AWFUL guitar solos), Hemdale, 9 Shocks Terror, etc. Does the Ohio Express have any actual connection to the region?

― Kris, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

When in Cleveland (well, Parma actually), make sure you stay away from a particular restaurant that boasts German/Mexican cuisine. This place made me physically ill for an entire weekend, and I'm not even going to go into the details about the turquoise cheese that highlighted a friend's dish. Come to think of it, I recall it having a really specific smell to it that I was previously unfamiliar with. So yeah, Germex -- not a good idea. I was thinking they might serve their burritos with sauerkraut, but no dice. It's been a personal crusade of mine to warn others of this establishment. Maybe the busboy was cooking that night. I don't know.

― Andy, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Great Plains, Scrawl = Columbus, though Ron House grew up in Elyria (west of Cle). Ohio Express = Dayton I think.

Nitsuh, the only commercially successful 'industrial' acts from here were NIN and Filter -- there certainly wasn't a A&R feeding frenzy (a la Seattle) here after _Pretty Hate Machine_ hit.

Andy, I've had my share of bad Mexican food around here but don't know the German/Mexican place you mention. Name of it?

― Jeff Wright, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I recall the restaurant being on a major road, and I'm pretty sure it was in Parma proper. My recollection is a little fuzzy. Was it in a strip mall-type deal? I recall it being rather dimly lit inside and it had a bar.

― Andy, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Via the Scrawl connection, weren't the Afghan Whigs and Howlin' Maggie from around those parts?

― bnw, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Jeff -- Hmmm: Maybe I'm just thinking these bands are from Cleveland because I've never met a kid from there who wasn't crazy about them. If Cleveland's not currently packed with such bands, it definitely should be, as the fan base is already there.

― Nitsuh, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Ian Hunter's classic "Clevelandd Rocks"!

― dave q, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I ate the worst mexican food of my life in a crap-hole on Coventry Street. Was this possibly the same awful restaurant?

Mushroomhead (or is it mUshROOmHEaD?) is the biggest band in Cleveland. You may know them from their battle with Slipknot over who invented the new craze for mask-wearing bands.

― Chris H., Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I believe Howlin' Maggie were -- like Scrawl -- from Columbus. The Whigs were more Cincinnati, though I believe they were truly from Hamilton. I know HM were the house band at Sudsy Malone's for a while, that place you could go to and do your laundry while checking out the band.

And then there's WKRP, though that wasn't a band.

― Andy, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Forgot to mention in earlier post -- re: Prisonshake: Robert Griffin moved to St. Louis several years ago. Scat is still on the web at www.scatrecords.com -- there's a pretty comprehensive Electric Eels compiliation coming soon.

Chris -- Coventry Rd. is east side, Parma is west, so probably a different bad Mexican place than Andy found. Can't think of any Mexican places on Coventry except for a taco place, and tacos are usually pretty hard to screw up.

― Jeff Wright, Thursday, 20 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I heart Bradly Field, bless his soul. He was my gay mentor when I first moved to scary NYC. He was out of his mind and sweet as can be. I really miss him. You know he used to go out with Nick Knox when he (Nick) was in the Electric Eels? They must have made an interesting couple.

― Arthur, Friday, 21 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Does anyone else like Fuzzhead?

― duane, Friday, 21 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I knew Bradly too, though I can't say that he was my mentor. I did find it inspiring that he played "drum" - not "drums" - for Teenage Jesus. I worked in review at the Strand Bookstore when he worked in shipping, late '70s. Once one of the supervisors said to me, "I was walking by the freight elevator, and Bradly jumped me from behind and sunk his teeth into my neck, and then walked off smiling, saying that today he was a vampire."

― Frank Kogan, Saturday, 22 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Maybe Bradly just wanted to get to know people directly. In the meantime, are Kris and I the only people to sing the praises of the Pagans, then? "What's This Shit Called Love," indeed.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 22 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

yeah the Pagans were choice!
hey weren't the James Gang from Cleveland?

― duane, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

one month passes...

electric eels have a website

http://www.electricfuckingeels.com/

My friend is telling me that John Morton played guitar for some 80's female pop singer ...anybody know the deal?

― Mark Beef, Thursday, 1 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Hey - more talk about the CLE scene:

Specifically - Bizzarros (OK, from Akron) - I thought they were such a cool band - but I don't know anything about them. Where are they now?

Tin Huey - Butler is still releasing albums. I heard a rumor about a Tin Huey Live release.. anyone know anything about it? Ralph Carney is in San Francisco - blowing into things that make sound. Don't know about Harvey Gold.

My Dad is Dead - Moved to North Carolina or somewhere. I think he's working on a new CD though.

Scrawl - I wish they would get a drummer. They don't play out as much as they used to. Although I saw them using the Casio2000 drum machine - and it was pretty cool .. They did a cover of Marianne Faithful's "Broken English."

Early memories of CLE band - Circus (Cirkus?) "Stop Wait and Listen" I haven't heard that song in 25 years. Was it good? I don't remember. (Search or destroy?)

I think my favorite CLE band right now is Cobra Verde. I saw them a few months back - they totally reminded me of the late 70s CLE/glam/punk scene. Actually, they reminded me of listening to "Clevelank Rawks" & "Friday on My Mind" on WMMS every Friday afternoon. But I still like Death of Samantha better.

― Dave225, Friday, 2 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Search: Cleveland Confidential, cd reissue of 82 lp comp w/ Pagans, Clocks, Styrenes, Easter Monkeys, more. Very worthwhile.

― dan, Friday, 2 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Moved to North Carolina or somewhere.

Does anyone have more specific info? Mark's a great guy, originator of the line: "Why doesn't Frank Kogan shut up and play his guitar?"

― Frank Kogan, Monday, 5 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

You can get MDID updates (updated semi-annually, it seems) from
http://mdid10.home.mindspring.com/updates.htm
(He's in Chapel Hill, NC)

― Dave225, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

one year passes...

News for fans of the CLE wave -

PBS documentary to be filmed about the 70s Akron/Kent music scene
A taping is tomorrow night in Kent ...

Also - Return of ... Rockets From the Tombs - Disastodrome

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 6 December 2002 16:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

two years pass...

Circus - Stop, Wait and Listen is one of the best songs of all time. I am distraut because I cannot find it anywhere on the internet to download because you can't buy it anywhere. It's just a lost song. One of the greats though if you get a chance to listen to it.

― William C., Sunday, 16 January 2005 17:56 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...

I cannot believe no bands of note have emerged from Cleveland for a long time. It is such a fertile ground with a great fanbase in place (though you wouldn't know it from the dearth of good record stores...seriously, Bent Crayon is the best my city can offer?).

Actually, one of my favorite recent bands was Uptown Sinclair (think Cobra Verde, but, well, more fun), but i think they're defunct now. The lead singer is preparing some stuff with one of the guys from Walt Mink, so i guess i'll have to wait for that.

How can a comparable city like Detroit routinely outshine Cleveland?

― PB, Wednesday, 23 February 2005 05:10 (nineteen years ago) link

I saw Infinite Number of Sounds open for someone about 2 years ago .. and I thought they were cool then .. but I sort of remember them as also maybe sucking if I had seen them on another night.. So that's a cautious endorsement, I guess. Worth checking out, no promises.

― dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 23 February 2005 13:35 (nineteen years ago) link

I went out to see a band for the first time in almost six months (at Pat's in the Flats). There were no more than 20 people there. Flat Can Co., was their name. Noisy improv.

I used to live by the Beachland- that seems to be the place nowadays.

Haven't been to the new Grog shop.

― cleveland marriott (lawrence kansas), Wednesday, 23 February 2005 16:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Richard Reigel's reviewed several, like the finally released Chi Pig, and Human Switchboard's Myra Macarian solo, archived at villagevoice.com, although their archive's still somewhat fardled since the latest re-launch (pretty sure those two reviews would be in ther, though). Also George Smith on the Numbers Band's re-issued Jommy Bell's Back In Town (which I've always thought of as "The Doors and horns jamming on 'L.A. Woman'"). I prefer the '04 re-reissue of Ubu's live One Man Drives While The Other Man Screams. Mayo Thompson is is on some of it, and I think his tracks work as well as the ones with Tom Herman, in a different way. Mayo plays rhythm-as-lead, in a way that suggests he was listening to Texas soul back in his acid 60s, and also sounds like the Velvets' Live In Texas sets, and an extention of Nile Rodgers, who was hitting his stride about when One man was recorded, so Mayo wasn't just workin' roots, he was al caught up! David Thomas and 2 Pale Boys' 18 Monkeys is mostly good, but DT sometimes tries too hard to be spooky (he's spooky enough when he just looms)

― don, Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:06 (nineteen years ago) link

No one's mentioned the 'No Cleveland' movement yet!?

― Sasha (sgh), Friday, 25 February 2005 02:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Is that like No New York, or a fatwah wave? Or both?

― don, Friday, 25 February 2005 02:39 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...

4/8-9:
ihttp://www.tinhuey.com/images/benefit-derf.jpg

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 15:45 (nineteen years ago) link

ten years pass...

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20188-punk-45-extermination-nights-in-the-sixth-city-punk-45-burn-rubber-city-burn/

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 1 April 2015 17:32 (nine years ago) link

I guess David Thomas didn't do liner notes for those things (based on that grumpy Tidal interview with him)

― curmudgeon, Friday, 3 April 2015 18:45 (nine years ago) link

good stuff via john petkovic www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/04/lost_cleveland_rock_n_roll_lan.html

― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 April 2015 14:59 (nine years ago) link

places that are gone...

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 16 April 2015 18:37 (nine years ago) link

next time i'm in cleveland i'm going to park for a while at the la cave site

― tylerw, Thursday, 16 April 2015 18:38 (nine years ago) link

Akron is not Cleveland! Next time you're in Cleveland you should visit Akron.

― groundless round (La Lechera), Thursday, 16 April 2015 18:39 (nine years ago) link

2 albums....Soul Jazz has released two new anthologies of Ohio proto-punk, punk, and post-punk from the late '70s and early '80s: Burn Rubber City, Burn! (centered on Akron) and Extermination Nights in the Sixth City (centered on Cleveland).

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 16 April 2015 18:42 (nine years ago) link

u know it

― groundless round (La Lechera), Thursday, 16 April 2015 18:49 (nine years ago) link

four years pass...

Two lost great Cleveland bands: Terrible Parade and Tripod Jimmie. The former st least has a comp with most of their material whereas the latter desperately needs a reissue.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 5 April 2020 00:49 (four years ago) link

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