Last summer, it was Dangerous Minds’ extreme privilege to be the first to show the world the contents of a long-lost cache of rock history—the very first publicity photos of punk pioneers the Dead Boys, shot just after their name change from “Frankenstein,” but before the move to NYC that launched them into prominence in the year-zero CBGB scene, and ultimately into enduring infamy. The photos, by Dave Treat, an art student and close friend of the band, went almost entirely unused, as the band added bassist Jeff Magnum shortly after the shoot, quickly rendering those photos of that briefly extant four-piece lineup obsolete. Only one of them was ever published, this image of the band in an alley, which turned up in the May, 1977 issue of Rock Scene magazine. The photo was roughly recreated for the cover of the band’s debut album, Young Loud & Snotty by photographer Glenn Brown.
Clipping via rockscenester.com
That story, as it turns out, has an ongoing afterlife. Those photos were on exhibit in the Dead Boys’ original home base of Cleveland, OH, when Blondie drummer Clem Burke happened to be in town. Burke put Cleveland curator Bryon Miller in touch with L.A. gallerist Danny Fuentes of Lethal Amounts, where an expanded version of the exhibit—featuring a generous number of even more never-before-seen shots from Treat’s stash—is currently hanging through March 18, 2016, and where the few remaining copies of the show’s companion book STIV:1976 are available for sale. For highlights from the first batch, we’d refer you to our previous post on the subject.
Cheetah Chrome meets 40-years-ago-Cheetah-Chrome. Photo: Bryon Miller
The L.A. opening was a lively affair, attended by Treat and Miller, and topped off with an amazing after-party: Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome, backed by the band Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs, did a set of Dead Boys songs to a probably dangerously packed house of enthusiastic fans at Monty Bar, next door to Lethal Amounts. I shot the photos of Chrome below during soundcheck—I was pretty much pinned to the bar during the show (not a half terrible place to be stuck, really, so that wasn’t a complaint) and so getting any decent rock action shots of the actual performance wasn’t gonna happen, but I am including my requisite phone video of “Sonic Reducer,” with guest vocals by “Roadie to the Stars” Ames Flames.
L-R: Dave Treat, Danny Fuentes, Bryon Miller
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Stiv Bators, pop crooner
Dead Boy Cheetah Chrome’s ‘Sonic Reducer’ guitar lesson
John Waters eulogizes Dead Boy Stiv Bators in heartfelt video tribute
Before The Dead Boys were the Dead Boys, they were the oh so glamorous ‘Frankenstein’
Never before seen photos of Stiv Bators and the Dead Boys, 1976. A Dangerous Minds exclusive