The Observation Deck

This past week The Minister of Culture, and ex-Lakewoodite Michael Heaton dove deep into
a question many have asked and few have figured out. Who Started Punk Music. Well over
the course of 4 days with people weighing in from all over the country, the nod was given to
two Lakewood Bands as the start of Punk Music.

The electric eels, and the Dead Boys.

The eels, basically from LHS Class of 71, John Morton(Kenneth Dr. (Marlowe Ave., Brian
McMahon, and Dave E McManus (Lewis Drive) was joined by Drummer Nick Knox who was
the Cramps drummer for years, was from Seven Hills.

The Dead Boys with the exception of Jimmy Zero lived over on Giel in the second apartment
down from Detroit. All of them worked here for a period of time.

Check out the article" BE PROUD OF LAKEWOOD

http://www.cleveland.com/ministerofculture/index.ssf/2014/01/passion_for_cleveland_rock_mus.html

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YOU DECIDE

LHS Class of 71 electric eels, with what the Rock And roll Hall of Fame are now considering
as the first punk recorded recorded. "Pro-Punk"

From 1972



OR

a year or so later when Rocket From The tombs broke up..

The Dead Boys, (this from a 1977 show)




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What about "Death", a proto-punk band from Detroit circa 1971? How do they fit into the history?

There's a great documentary on them as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_(protopunk_band)

Sean Wheeler wrote:What about "Death", a proto-punk band from Detroit circa 1971? How do they fit into the history?

There's a great documentary on them as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_(protopunk_band)

Actually brought into the discussion, eels beat them by about 16 months from what we
can figure. Also Detroit had their own thing going with Stooges, Frost, Detroit, Alice Cooper,
etc. If you listen to the eels and Dead Boys, you here everything punk offered from then on.
Cheetah Chrome mentioned Death as one of his fellow bands of the time.

Earliest Death on tape is dated 1974 according to sources.

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John Morton and Jim Ellis X_____X

Story by John Kompier

X_____X (pronounced “ex blank ex”) returns to its Cleveland birthplace next Saturday, August 23, at the Beachland Tavern. If you’ve heard the stories and know the debate surrounding the question of where punk began, you know that the city of Lakewood, Ohio is in the running for having produced more than its share of musicians who created the form. Lakewood High graduate John Morton is among the first having founded the electric eels in 1973 with fellow LHS classmates Dave E. McManus and Brian McMahon.

X_____X, described by Ektro Records’ Jordan Mamone as being a “tighter, more rocking successor” to the electric eels, is a band formed in 1978 by John Morton which “tore through Cleveland like a Dadaist cyclone” for six months before leaving for New York City. Initially comprised of Morton on guitar, fellow electric eel Dave E. McManus on vocals, and former Mirrors drummer (and future editor of the Psychotronic Video Guide) Michael Weldon, the lineup shifted to Morton on vocals and guitar, Andrew Klimeyk (also of Death On A Stick/Ugly Beauty/Scarcity Of Tanks) on guitar, CLE Magazine editor Jim Ellis on bass, and Anton “Tony” Fier (later of Pere Ubu/The Feelies/Lounge Lizards/Golden Palominos) on drums. The name was chosen so anything could be put between the two X’s, such as a gig they played as “X Charlie Manson and the Family X.”

Read the rest off our front page at...
http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/2014/08/19/xx-local-boys-make-good

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