NEO Music and More

Pere Ubu is a rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band’s lifetime.

Rocket from the Tombs was a Cleveland-based group that eventually fragmented: some members formed the Dead Boys, and others The Saucers, while David Thomas and guitarist Peter Laughner joined with guitarist Tom Herman, bass guitarist Tim Wright, drummer Scott Krauss and synthesist Allen Ravenstine to form Pere Ubu in 1975.

“Street Waves” b/w ” My Dark Ages (I Don’t Get Around)” was their third single.

Wild Cherry was a funk rock band formed by Rob Parissi in Mingo Junction, Ohio (just outside of Steubenville), in 1970 that was best known for its song “Play That Funky Music“. 

The band’s name, ‘Wild Cherry’, was taken from a box of cough drops.

While brainstorming for new song ideas, drummer Ron Beitle recounted hearing a fan shout, “Are you white boys gonna play some funky music?” Parissi was inspired to write a song based on the phrase, so he began writing on a drink order pad with a pen borrowed from the bartender.

“Play That Funky Music” became a huge hit when released in 1976, peaking at number one on both the Billboard R&B and pop charts. Both the single and Wild Cherry’s self-titled debut album went platinum.  The band was named Best Pop Group of the Year by Billboard and received an American Music Award for Top R&B Single of the Year as well as a pair of Grammy nominations for Best New Vocal Group and Best R&B Performance by a Group or Duo.

The Michael Stanley Band was formed by Michael Stanley of Rocky River, Ohio in 1974 with singer-songwriter–lead guitarist Jonah Koslen, former Glass Harp bassist Daniel Pecchio and drummer Tommy Dobeck from the band Circus and later joined by Bob Pelander. There were several personnel changes over the years and by 1982 the group had evolved into a seven-piece band.

The group reached the peak of their popularity nationally in 1981 when the single “He Can’t Love You” from the album Heartland (written and sung by keyboardist Kevin Raleigh) made the Top 40 (#33 Billboard, #27 Cash Box) and “In the Heartland” from the album North Coast went to #6 on Billboard’s Top Tracks chart. Their video for “He Can’t Love You” was the 47th video ever played on MTV. The band’s last Top 40 hit was “My Town” in 1983. 

From Stage Pass Album Review by Bret Adams: The Michael Stanley Band’s live album Stagepass is a fine example of the no-frills rock & roll concert experience. This double album was recorded over three consecutive nights in October 1976 at their hometown’s old Agora Ballroom, which was destroyed by a fire a few years later. The band was working on a studio album at the time, but in the liner notes of the 1992 compilation Right Back at Ya (1971-1983), Stanley says Epic Records wanted a live album to capitalize on the phenomenal success of Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive!. The first cut, “Midwest Midnight,” is a catchy rocker with Stanley’s sneering vocals and cynically venomous, anti-music biz lyrics.

While at Shaw High School in East Cleveland, Alex Bevan acquired a six-string classical guitar and he played local night clubs and various coffeehouses in the Cleveland area such as “La Cave” and “Faragher’s Back Room”.

While a student at the University of Akron, Bevan was introduced to his first producer, Eric Stevens, who signed him to Big Tree Records.

The release of the album Springboard got him some public recognition due to the local hit song Skinny Little Boy. In 1977 he performed on the air on Cleveland’s WMMS Radio with a band called Alex Bevan and the Buzzard Band, featuring DJ Matt the Cat on guitar. He performed in the mid-1970s with an acoustic trio consisting of two guitars and electric bass, and opened for such acts as Seals and Crofts, The Michael Stanley Band, The Doobie Brothers and Hall & Oates.

The Dead Boys are a punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv Bators, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Zero, bassist Jeff Magnum, lead guitarist Cheetah Chrome, and drummer Johnny Blitz in 1975, with the latter two having splintered from the band Rocket From The Tombs. The original Dead Boys released two studio albums, Young Loud and Snotty, and We Have Come for Your Children.

When the band members relocated to New York City in July 1976 at the encouragement of Joey Ramone, the Ramones’ lead singer, the Dead Boys quickly gained notoriety for their outrageous live performances. That is also when they adopted the Dead Boys moniker which came from a line in the RFTT song “Down in Flames”.

Their song “Sonic Reducer” is often regarded as one of the classics of the punk genre, with AllMusic calling it “one of punk’s great anthems.”