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Dead End America Top
Ten
Scott's Favorite Cleveland Albums
By
Scott Stemple
When the task was given to
me to pick the Top Ten Cleveland albums of all time, I really thought long
and hard about it., being the long time rock’n’roll / Cleveland underground
fanatic that I am.. This list is made up of all old bands and records. Not
only because I’m old, but because the newer bands and albums that I own
(some that I really love) just haven’t stood the test of time yet. Some
of which deserve to be on this list. Ten years from now I’ll make a new list,
and then they’ll get their due. With that said...here we go!
1. Pagans - Buried
Alive (Treehouse TR002) 1986
This is the essential
Pagans! The original band, all the original singles, plus 10 more scorchers
that leave you shredded and reaching for another beer. It doesn’t get any
better than this. This is the album that should have been released in 1978. This
is the real Pagans, minus all the Clocks and Les Raving Sounds covers that
turn up on all the later Pagans releases. If you can’t rock your boots off
to this record, you should start going to the mall to buy your music.
2. Easter Monkeys -
Splendor Of Sorrow (Hit & Run HR-6) 1991
The Easter Monkeys landed
hard, somewhere in between hard core and psychedelia. As a live band, they’re
still one of the best rock’n’roll bands I’ve ever seen. On vinyl, you start
to realize how good they really were. Jim Jones is a guitar god who should
have been a superstar decades ago. On this record, you can hear how fucking good
he really is. And “Mr.” Chris Yarmock was (and still is) one of the most
original singers music has ever produced. All the Monkeys classics on one
platter. “you take your right hand...nail it to the cross...”. Amen!
3. Dead Boys - Younger,
Louder, And Snottier (Necrophilia NECRO1)
Some say inferior in
quality to the Sire release. Thank God! Punk Rock was never supposed to be
pretty! This the Boys’ first album minus all the polish. Much rawer and a
ton more balls than the finished product. I can’t even listen to the Sire
release anymore (not that you can go wrong with either record). This album
is a punk rock gem. When I used to get in fights as a teenager, this was the
album that was playing in my head.
4. Electric Eels - The
Eyeball Of Hell (Scat scat 62-1) 2001
A double album’s worth of
Eels! Fuck, were they a monster! This LP is loaded with classics like
“Agitated” and “Cyclotron”. Plus an amazing cover of Jan and Dean’s “Dead
Man’s Curve”. Rock’N’Roll has yet to produce a snottier front man than Dave
E...and John Morton... still the one guitar player you never want to meet in
a dark alley. Actually any Eels record could hold this spot, from “God
Says Fuck You” to the original Rough Trade Agitated/Cyclotron 7”. You can’t
miss with the Eels.
5. Pere Ubu - The
Modern Dance (Blank blank001) 1978
Ubu’s first LP. This
record is so Cleveland it’s not funny.. It’s the soundtrack to the old
Flats...before it became a college campus. This music is as dark, rusty, and
dirty as the town itself. All great musicians and Dave Thomas on vocals.
Great songs all the way through. Allen Ravenstine is the only true
synthesizer player ever. He didn’t play it like a keyboard (which everybody
and his brother does). He chose to make static backdrops for the songs. I
remember one time he rattled the walls and ceiling of the old Pirates
Cove...it was pretty amazing!
6. Peter Laughner -
Peter Laughner (Koolie NR13007) 1982
This is a seven track LP comprised of home recordings and some live stuff with his band Friction. Laughner was an excellent song writer and Cleveland rock pioneer.
Co-founding member of Rocket From The Tombs and Pere Ubu, as well as many
other local bands. He lived fast and died young at the age of 24 in 1977.
This record has folk workings like “Sylvia Plath” and “Baudelaire”. As well
as rockers like “Dear Richard” and “Dinosaur Lullaby”. Great record. It’s
now out of print but you could track down a copy of the more complete “Take
The Guitar Player For A Ride”.
7. Kneecappers - Urban
Kill (Buckwheat Headlock Productions BHP 02) 1996
Possibly the most
underrated Cleveland band of all time. They started out in the early Cle
punk scene sharing the stage with such luminaries as the Pagans and the
Lepers. Comprised of long time scenesters like Yarmock, Gary Lupico and
Russell Sherman. This record bashes through classics like “I Don’t Want To
Go To Dallas”, “Tumor” and “West Virginia Refugee”. They were hard, tough,
and unique. Still one of my prize records in my Cleveland collection. If you
ever come across a copy snag it! They “will bury you!”
8. The Clocks - Wake Me
When It’s Over (After Hours ARCK-101) 1983
Not a punk band, the
Clocks were sort of a Sci-Fi/ 60’s band. Featuring Mike Metoff (aka Tommy
Gunn of the Pagans) and ex-Chronic Dave Deluca. I could describe the Clocks
music in one word: Fun! This record was released a year (or two) after the
band's demise, but it captures all the energy and enthusiasm of these guys.
You get both sides of their debut single that came out on Terminal (“Tick
Tock Man / Confidentially Renee”) as well as 11 more catchy tunes that will
get your foot tapping and put a smile on you face.
9. The New Hope -
Compilation (New Hope Records NHR-001) 1983
This is an excellent
sampler of the early 80’s hard-core scene. Released by Tommy Dark (Dark,
Knifedance, Step Sister) and loaded with all the movers and shakers of
that time like The Offbeats, The Dark, Agitated, Zero Defex, Starvation
Army, The Guns and several more. Each band turns in a rocking 3 or 4 cuts a
piece. All the tracks are recorded very well, so you could really hear how
these songs were meant to be heard (it was really hard to hear anything in
that huge fucking hallway that was called the Lakefront). There are still a
few copies floating around town. Track one down. Somebody should re-release
this sucker on CD.
10. Pink Holes - We’re
Glad We Are What We Are (Eldo Farms Records ELDO FARMS - 001) 1984
The Pink Holes were a bad
joke that got out of hand. Gigging in the early 80’s hard core scene, the
Holes were the only band with the balls (or drunken misjudgment) to point
their pop top fingers at the current scene and laugh. The brain child of Bob
Richey (Pagans, Offbeats 2 Bobs) and Bob Sablack (Defnics, Plague, Chrome
Kickers). Side one is all studio tracks with such classics as “MSB Love” and
“Proof Is On The Pad”. Side two was recorded live New Years Eve 1983/84 at
the Lakefront and gives you a glimpse of all future Pink Holes shows which
usually would get really out of hand (on good nights). The Holes were the
whoopee cushion that the Cleveland underground scene really needed at the
time.
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