When the major media began to report on New York’s punk rock scene in the ’70s, they were in full fear mode. Who were these evil people who have come for your children? They would show outrageously dressed teenagers with crazy haircuts that were destroying everything on episodes of Quincy M.E. and CHiPs. But when you got past the media fearmongers, the major punk bands that played CBGB weren’t that scary. The Ramones were rather cartoony. The Talking Heads were art school nerds. Blondie were super cool. Patti Smith could be a bit scary if you had a fear of unshaved arm pits. Punk didn’t seem that frightening until your hands on a Dead Boys album. The Cleveland, Ohio band came to New York City and nailed their reputation as the most vile and violent when they crawled onto the stage at CBGB. Stiv Bators grabbed the microphone and didn’t let go. People hung against the back wall in case they needed to make an emergency exit. They were not cute band that a major label would rebrand as new wave. They were pure punk. They looked like the kind of guys who would mug you in the bowery outside CBGB. The band recorded two albums for Sire Records (later the home of Madonna) and broke up before the start of the ’80s. Stiv would form The Lords of the New Church. But on occasion, the Dead Boys would reunite with mixed results. Dead Boys’ Return of The Living Dead Boys Halloween Night 1986 has the original five on a great night at New York City’s The Ritz. Luckily they brought a video camera to capture the show.
The concert begins with a short introduction from the late great Joey Ramone. He wishes the crowd a happy Halloween and brings out the treats. The band gets into the opening notes as Stiv races onto the stage in black leather to spit out “Sonic Reducer.” The crowd goes nuts since this is their signature tune. There’s quite a bit of stage driving. Stiv is rude and crude on stage. He dedicates “Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth” to the memory of Cass Elliot.
While you might be expecting a multi-camera shoot, the Dead Boys probably didn’t have the money for such a production. While Stiv did date Martha Quinn around this time; there was no chance MTV was going to run a Dead Boy reunion as part of the Saturday Night Concert. There was no budget for a crew. It appears that someone is in the back of the room near the soundboard capturing the entire show on a camera in a single shot. He does a fine job zooming in at the right moments to let us see Stiv as he gets wicked on stage. The video quality is VHS shot at SP speed. This was good for 1986 when we didn’t have 4K video camera in our smart phones. This is punk rock at its finest. Why would you want the same slickness of a concert video from Barry Manilow?
The setlist includes: “Sonic Reducer,” “All This And More,” “Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth,” “Calling On You,” I Won’t Look Back,” “What Love Is,” “I Need Lunch,” “Ain’t Nothing To Do,” “Down In Flames,” “Son of Sam,” “Detention Home,” “3rd Generation Nation,” “Tell Me,” “Search And Destroy,” “Flamethrower Love,” “High Tension Wire” and “Sonic Reducer.”
That’s right, they started and ended the show with “Sonic Reducer.” And why not? It’s their big song and so a double take is worth it. The show is properly punk rock since the main part is barely over 30 minutes. They aren’t doing a three-hour Bruce Springsteen show. They do come back for encores that are nearly the length of the show. During the encore introductions Stiv is called Mr. Martha Quinn. They really did date for a while. The band breaks out Iggy and the Stooge’s “Search And Destroy” back when this was considered an obscure track. Stiv jumps into the crowd and the stage security has to fish him and the microphone out of the pit. Later, Stiv invites the crowd on the stage. There’s more stage diving action. The big finale has Stiv give the audience one last surprise. This video makes realize that I went to the wrong place for Halloween 1986. Dead Boys’ Return of The Living Dead Boys Halloween Night 1986 is rough and punk like Dead Boys.
The video is 1.33:1. The quality is pretty much like watching a home video from 1986. But the raw performance from the Dead Boys makes up for the lack of resolution. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. The mix sounds like it came straight off the soundboard since you aren’t distracted by the crowd screaming along unless they get in Stiv’s face. It’s just Stiv and the boys in the mix. It sounds solid. There are no subtitles.
Rare 1980 Interview (15:25) features Stiv, Musical Collaborator Frank Secich & host Gary Cubberley on “Good Morning Youngstown.” That’s right, Stiv is on a happy local morning show in Youngstown, Ohio. The host introduces the video for “Sonic Reducer.” Gary is down for hanging with Stiv. This is Stiv’s third visit to the show. The video is a bit jumpy, but so worth watching. The host shows off photos of John Belushi hanging with the Dead Boys. We also learn that at the time, Stiv was dating super model Bebe Buell (and mother of Liv Tyler). Gary is cool.
Super Rare “Sonic Reducer” Video (2:57) is just the video. They mix the Dead Boys on stage with reaction crowd shots from Triumph of the Will. This might be why you never saw Martha Quinn introduce the video on MTV’s Closet Classics.
Cleopatra presents Dead Boys’ Return of The Living Dead Boys Halloween Night 1986. Starring Stiv Bators, Cheeth Chrome, Jimmy Zero, Jeff Magnum, Johnny Blitz and Joey Ramone. Running Time: 64 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: August 9, 2024.
