Photos by Cori Amato. View the PHOTOSTREAM here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCUfje
Photos by Tom Apathy. View the PHOTOSTREAM here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCUcyu
Photos by Dr. Michael Polsinelli. View the PHOTOSTREAM here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCUghy
Photos by Cori Amato:
Photos by Tom Apathy:
Photos by Dr. Michael Polsinelli:
More info on The Birth of Punk in NEO: https://coolcleveland.com/i6y7
NEO Rewind Series:
The Birth of Punk in NEO
Presented by Thomas Mulready and Vanity Crash
The Birth of Punk in NEO celebrates the fountainhead of punk rock in
Northeast Ohio prefacing the scenes in New York and London, presented by
Thomas Mulready and Vanity Crash. The NEO Rewind Series celebrates the
surprising musical history of the region with 10 events in 2026 across 5
venues in NEO.
The Birth of Punk in NEO. Years before punk reared its ugly head in New
York or London, a group of misfits, art students and disaffected youth in
Cleveland, Akron & Kent, Ohio, many of them appalled by the massacre at
Kent State University, spun off bands and artists that eventually moved on
to New York and London as leaders of the new punk scene.
Obsessive musicologist Thomas Mulready, in collaboration with
glam punk goth heroes Vanity Crash/Queue Up, turn their attention to a
movement that still shakes the world to this day. This multi-media event
includes special musical guests from the Cleveland/Akron/Kent axis
performing seminal music from this pioneering era that changed music for all
time. Performing live in concert:
* Bizarros
* Robert Conn Band
*Massive Hotdog Recall
*Patty No!
*Vanity Crash/Queue Up
*Mirrors (CLE show only)
In addition to live music, the shows feature exclusive video interviews
with artists from the region who were instrumental in the early punk scene,
and whose influence penetrated worldwide:
* Stiv Bators (Dead Boys, Lords of The New Church, in a vintage interview
from 1979)
* Craig W. Bell (Mirrors, Rocket From The Tombs, Saucers, X__X, co-wrote
Final Solution)
* Adele Bertei (The Wolves, The Contortions, The Bloods, Brian Eno,
Thomas Dolby)
*Chris Butler (Waitresses, Tin Huey)
* Denny Carleton (The Lost Souls, The Choir, Moses, Milk, The Pagans)
*Robert Kidney (15-60-75 The Numbers Band, spawning Devo, The
Waitresses, Tin Huey)
*Marky Ray (Rock & Roll Mercenary, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers,
Jesus & Mary Chain, terrible parade, Death on a Stick, Death of Samantha,
The New Salem Witch Hunters, the Jim Rose Circus)
*Plus all the performing artists on the billThe live shows will feature legendary bands performing songs that made
Northeast Ohio known as a punk breeding ground, along with a selection of
their own original songs. The original lineup of the Bizarros will rock the
stage with their early standouts Young Girls at Market, I Bizarro and Laser
Boys. Robert Conn Band with original Pagans vocalist Bill DeGidio will
perform Six and Change, the first Pagans release, along with Live and Die
For Rock n Roll and Gimme Some More off their upcoming LP, Rock n Roll
Casualties. Al Mothersbaugh of Massive Hot Dog Recall channels his
cousins, Mark & Bob Mothersbaugh, by covering DEVO’s Freedom of Choice,
plus their own hits, Kick My Ass in the Balls and (I Wanna Be) Bored.
Mirrors most recent lineup will honor the recently passed Jamie Klimek by
performing the classic Shirley plus Need Me All Night and Pageant off the
recently released LP High All The Time. Patty No! vocalist Kristin Casale and
the band perform the Pretenders’ My City Was Gone and the Dead Boys’
Sonic Reducer, plus 2 originals, The Way Birds Fly and Sprinkle It In. Vanity
Crash reunites as Queue Up with Ali Garrigan to perform Unit 5’s No Ones
Girl and Pere Ubu’s Final Solution plus their original Blondie.
Live performances will take place on the following dates:
*Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 8:00PM at The Beachland Ballroom Tavern,
15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, OH 44110
*Saturday, May 23, 2026 at 8PM at The Akron Civic Theatre Knight Stage,
182 S. Main St, Akron, OH 44308
Tickets & info: https://VanityCrash.com
Biographies
Thomas Mulready is creator of Cool Networks LLC, an influencer-driven
multimedia content network utilizing sites, podcasts, videos, and e-blasts to
promote economic development, arts, culture and technology in Northeast
Ohio. After creating the Performance Art Festival+Archives, he co-founded
the Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology, and has served as Senior Vice
President of National City Bank and worked at Management Recruiters
International, Richardson-Vicks, and Campbell Soup, presented his
performance art in New York and Paris, and served as a Senior Research
Consultant in the United Kingdom. His multimedia presentations on Andy
Warhol, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Glam and The Beatles have
been presented at universities, jazz clubs and aquariums.
Vanity Crash/Queue Up In the mid-90’s Queue Up was a musical force to
be reckoned with: dark lyrics, emotionally disturbed imagery and over-the-
top stage theatrics from leaders and co-writers Ali Garrigan and Dennis Van
Crash. Vanity Crash was born on stage under hot lights in the crucible of
sound and fury as the glam-punk band The Angry Inch in the rock musical
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, opening for the likes of the New York Dolls,
Poison, the Darkness and Gogol Bordello. Vanity Crash’s 5th original release,
Phantasmagoria, includes an original track featuring David Bowie’s longtimepianist, Mike Garson. Garrigan joins Van Crash along with drummer Thomas
Anonymous, guitarist Matthew Angel, and new bassist Julia Jewels.
Patty No! hails from the punk capital of Ohio – Akron, where they are
carrying on the rich experimental legacy of groups like Devo and The
Pretenders, as well as Cleveland stalwarts The Dead Boys and Pere Ubu.
They are more than just punk though. Gritty girl vocals set the tone for loud,
intense drums so thick the ground shakes. But, this foundation is refined by
intricate picking and rich tones reminiscent of The Smiths and Siouxsie and
the Banshees. Things can get as chaotic as the Velvet Underground and as
sprawling as John Coltrane. Patty No! features Kristin Casale on guitar and
vocals, Joe McCormick on guitar, Lyle Witt on bass and lan Witt on drums
and vocals.
Bizarros rose up from the muck created by their rubber worker fathers,
standing as one of the most underrated bands from one of the most
underrated regions for rock & roll in the 1970s. Akron-based vocalist Nick
Nicholis was inspired by the debut of Cleveland’s Pere Ubu and in 1976
summoned lifelong pals Jerry Parkins (guitar), Don Parkins (bassist) and
keyboardist Terry Walker to start the Bizarros. Along with a rotating cast of
drummers, they worked up a ruckus and issued their own 4-song debut on
Nicholis’ own Gorilla Records label. Hideo’s Discodrome carried the vinyl and
store attendants David Thomas and Peter Laughner of Rocket From The
Tombs/Pere Ubu suggested they send it to Robert Christgau of the Village
Voice among others, all of whom began to sing the praises of the Akron &
Cleveland scene. Nicholis next started Clone Records and issued releases by
The Waitresses, Tin Huey, Rubber City Rebels, Human Switchboard, and
Bizarros, who eventually signed to Mercury subsidiary Blank Records who
had already signed Pere Ubu. Blank folded, but Mercury itself released the
Bizarros’ self-titled debut. The band continues into their 50th anniversary
with the Parkins brothers, Nicholis and Don May on drums carrying on a
storied legacy.
Massive Hotdog Recall refer to themselves as Midwestern Trashcan
Trombone Rock. Al Mothersbaugh was heavily influenced by his cousins,
Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh of DEVO and how they railed against the status
quo. Hailing from Northeast Ohio which he calls, “A pretty insular place to
raise your kids- there’s no beach, there’s no large city. You have to make
your own fun. Idle hands. The people are real. We make art, we make
music, because we want to, not as a career. And we can afford to.” His
mother had perfect pitch and music was always playing in the house. He
joined the Latin-influenced horn rock outfit the Twist-Offs and toured the
nation until returning to raise a family. He parlayed his trombone and
arranging skills into forming Massive Hotdog Recall, which broke up just
weeks before PorchRokr, Akron’s leading annual showcase. He approached
the 3-piece blues band Xtra Crispy, who learned the entire set in time for the
gig, and they have been playing together as an 8-piece horn-driven combo
featuring Al Mothersbaugh, John Gmerek, Jerry Principe, Tony Rockich, PaulBezbatchenko, “Dirty” Dan Flowers, Ephraim Miller, Shane Adams and Kid
Calhoun.
Robert Conn Band features Bill DeGidio, the original vocalist on the Pagan’s
first release, Six and Change in 1977. Soon after, it was apparent that Mike
Hudson would be the better singer, and DeGidio went on to form AK-47,
played bass on the Pagans’ Pink album, and joined the Plague. He moved to
Houston in the 90s, but returned to Northeast Ohio, back to his punk & roll
roots, where he was originally inspired by WIXY and WMMS radio and
anarchic late-night b-movie host Ghoulardi, whose Shock Theatre railed
against the establishment and set off small explosives during the telecast.
DeGidio enjoys the freedom of punk: “Punk rock is freedom to me, letting
loose, being yourself, no judging or following a set of rules. Who are you to
define it or set rules? Are you going to take our punk rock card away?” Bill
DeGidio goes by Robert Conn, the first words of Hemingway’s The Sun Also
Rises, and is joined by son Curtis DeGidio on guitar, Hunter Lust on drums,
Jon on bass and Jimmy Beautiful on vocals.
Mirrors has been described as “psychedelic garage” “art-punk” and “proto-
punk,” but it’s essentially Jamie Klimek, vocalist and guitarist who passed
away in 2024, and whatever musicians he could surround himself with. At
first, it was Jim Crook on guitar, later Dave Franduto, and Mike Weldon on
drums, along with a rotating cast of bassists: Craig Bell, Paul Marotta, Jim
Jones, et. al. Obsessed with the Velvet Underground, whose leader Lou Reed
found a rare Midwestern following at Cleveland’s legendary La Cave, Klimek
attended all their local appearances and recorded entire performances on his
Norelco cassette deck, recordings which have become legendary bootlegs.
Mirrors initial set lists included plenty of VU, plus Kinks, Brian Eno and
Troggs, and they released a 7” single on Pere Ubu’s Hearthan Records,
Shirley, before breaking up. Klimek went on to form the Styrenes with
drummer Anton Fier and members of the band electric eels. In 1986, the
original lineup released an album, and in 2001 they released rare tracks. In
2010 and 2016, Klimek worked with original members Marotta and Franduto,
along with Tom Fallon on guitar and Tom Madej on drums to record and
album, High All The Time, released in 2026. Along with vocalist Buzz
Kompier, this is the lineup that currently plays. Mirrors will perform at the
Cleveland show only.
Tickets & info: https://VanityCrash.com
Additional information, photos and interviews available upon request:
Photo of Stiv Bators of Dead Boys in 1977 at Cleveland Agora by Anastasia
Pantsios
Everything is subject to radical change.