Johnny Thunders & Wayne Kramer's Gang War!
s/t
(Skydog Records / Jungle)
In a moment here that captures Johnny's too-cool-for-any-a'you attitude, he prefaces "These Boots Are Made for Walking" by offhandedly snorting at the audience: "Shut up, shut up. You're gonna get what you get anyway. So shut up!"
(I recall a Creem magazine bit from the time. Wayne recounted a Gang War gig incident in which Johnny emptied a full pitcher of beer on the heads of front-row fans, who loved it. "I thought, 'We've got something here,'" the former MC5er laughed.)
July, 1980: I was in the crowd at Minneapolis' Sam's, and Gang War were headliners. Local legends The Hypsterz, who ignited 1960s fun tunes with post-'77 Punk flamethrowers, had opened to raucous acclaim.
The headliners gave raving attendees (who came in all technicolor descriptions) all the slapdash icy-kool Rock'n'Roll we'd shelled out for. Wayne's MC5 heritage and Johnny's Dolls dream/nightmare background collided and made spectacular messes we thrilled to, all over the club later immortalized in Prince movie Purple Rain.
The night previous to the Sam's show I witnessed (having managed to be in the second, stage-front pogoing row), Wayne/Johnny/Gang War had played in the same building's crackerbox 7th Street Entry club. That gig had surely featured identically hep phenomena: Rousing and electricity charged performances from Wayne and the rhythm players; a truly kicky string of tunes transmogrified into new creatures with sneering talons; and Johnny's characteristic loveable shambolism (which Walter Lure told an interviewer was at times affected -- y'know, image.)
Wayne's calculatedly fierce guitar lent sinew to the curled-lip enterprise. It was offset, in skewed counterpoint, by the wreckless-crazy careening up-and-down the neck for which Mr. Thunders was globally infamous. As a graffiti-note stylist, he was, and will forever be, without peer. (Who knew treble strings could sound like razor blades?)
Issued by Skydog in 1992, and rereleased last year as a limited-edition, red/black splatter vinyl LP by Jungle, this has since been produced as a compact disc. Barreling sideways from its grooves are the magic that JFK-era teens dug from ear-pressed transister devices, but wonderfully twisted and thrown out LOUDER by leathery Punk Godfathers who'd not just tooled around the Rock'n'Roll block, but were also wise to its alley's perils -- and were entirely cool with them.
(In closing, Johnny blasts the audience: "You kids have been disgusting!")
Recommended: "Ramblin' Rose," "London Boys," "These Boots Are Made for Walking," "M.I.A.,," "The Harder They Come," "I'd Much Rather Be With the Boys," "Hey Thanks," "Courageous Cat theme," "Around and Around," "Do You Love Me"
Videos: "London Boys" "M.I.A." "The Harder They Come" "Hey Thanks"
Facebook (Wayne)
Facebook (Johnny)
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