Sun 8/9 at 7PM
Vanity Crash meets every other week on Sunday night in the Vanity Crash Pad. The cool people stick around for the After-Party. You are invited.
If this week’s episode had a sub-title, it might be: Anthems Through Time. From a blistering cover of the epic All The Young Dudes (1972) to Rocket From The Tombs’ much-covered Final Solution (1975) to Lady Gaga’s goth masterpiece Bad Romance, this week’s Crash Pad has something for everyone. Get a ticket here.
SONG of the WEEK: All The Young Dudes
Written by David Bowie, All The Young Dudes was initially offered to Mott The Hoople (after they turned down Suffragette City), only as a way to convince the band not to break up. It worked. The radio-friendly tune, sweetened by Hoople’s Mick Ralphs’ guitar and Bowie’s own production (ably assisted by Mick Ronson), went to #3 in the U.K., and it feels like Bowie wished he could take it back ever since. He “covered” his own composition in most of his live performances for the rest of his career, but never quite topped the soaring original. It turned out to be one of David Bowie’s most enduring anthems, and, like Under Pressure, a rare non-solo hit that resurfaces with each new generation. Vanity Crash’s drummer Thomas Anonymous does his best, and, isn’t it fun to sing along with? Boogaloo, dudes! Free ticket here.
QUESTION of the WEEK: What do you collect?
Tell us about yours, and we’ll tell you ours, right here in the Crash Pad this week. You must acquire a FREE ticket and join on Zoom to tell us what’s on your mind. Plus, we’ll peek into Vanity Crash drummer Thomas Anonymous’ collection of Bowieana: LPs, memorabilia, bootlegs, collectibles. Even pillows! Share your obsessions with us!
BONUS TRACK: Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
Hear Vanity Crash tackle an unlikely radio hit, Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance.Cueing off its driving four-on-the-floor beat, the Crashers pick up on the glam quirkiness of Gaga’s presentation, and take it to the next level. Check out Vanity Crash’s intense version this week in the Crash Pad. Get your free ticket here.
SPECIAL GUEST: Craig W Bell of Rocket From The Tombs
The Birth of Punk: Cleveland, Akron & Kent. We hope to see you for our next set of gigs in October, 2020 at BOP STOP, Jilly’s Music Room and CLE Urban Winery for a premiere of our next show, The Birth of Punk. Sunday in the Crash Pad, we’ll preview a chapter exclusively for our guests
This week, we feature an interview with former Clevelander Craig W Bell, founding member of Rocket From The Tombs, according to Clinton Heylin, “one of America’s most important precursor’s to punk.” Bell co-wrote the proto-punk anthem, Final Solution, and he tells the story of how the song came about and what it was like when, years later, he heard the next generation turn it into a hit on MTV. It helps answer the question: Why was our region such a hotbed of Punk?
Secure your free ticket to the Vanity Crash Pad here.