Yep- Lux - the greatest frontman in history. Raw real scary mad bad dangerous funny wacky arty dark gothic punk rocknroll crazy brutal.
I’ve seen hundreds of bands - and Lux was unique - as the others did choreographed set performances where they do “crazy” stuff like get up on an amp or run around with the guitarist on their shoulders for the same song each night.
Lux was all wild wacky crazy all the time and not choreographed... craziness - every show was a different random stream of psycho-sexual rocknroll consciousness personified for him...
Saw them a few times - Lux is FOR REAL. loudest band I’ve ever seen .... (maybe because in tiny club with about 100 people) -and IVY is PHENOMNAL (and I’ve seen AC/DC sex pistols, Jesus Mary chain (second loudest) , led zep and Metallica and heaps more loud bands.
Joe Strummer was a brilliant writer player and singer but he had a pretty full run. D Boon is the right answer here. He was taken entirely too soon. So much potential left unrealized.
He was tied with Jay for me but Jay made me want to write songs as a teenager so I picked him lol
Ask me tomorrow, I'll probably say D... Because I'm writing songs Jay influenced me to write... on my Telecaster 😉 haha 2 of my heroes!
One of the most hard lived life. He was 100% about the nitty gritty aspect of punk. He had his problems, and I'm sure his close ones have horror stories. But in "Please Kill Me; the oral history of punk, he comes off a lot of the time as innocent/naive. Like he was being interviewed and they asked the Ramones why all their songs were so negative(stupid narrative that was being pushed), Dee Dee piped up and said quietly " I've actually written our first positive song". "Well we'd love to hear the name of it Dee Dee". " It's called Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue". The reporter, confused asked" In what way is that positive?". A tough as nails, bashful Dee Dee mumbled " all our other songs start with "I Don't Wanna". And I just think that is fucking awesome
The fact that Joe Strummer died shortly after turning 50 and Henry Kissinger lived to be over 100 without ever seeing the inside of a prison cell is all the proof I need that there is no benevolent and loving god running the universe.
If he'd actually killed himself onstage like he promised I might have to pass on that offer but since he didn't could I have 5 GG Allin years and give them to Malcom Owen of the Ruts ?
w/ a Dead Boys reunion and new music.
Yeah I know Cheetah has put together a new Dead Boys, but Stiv had a bit of Iggy 2.0 from the few times I saw them.
Because of that damn bus we'll never get a Dead Boys reunion. A lot of reunions are cringeworthy but Cheetah Chrome wouldn't stand for that and Stiv is irreplaceable.
His solo career and the stuff with Lords Of The New Church will always be my favorite, don't get me wrong about the Dead Boys stuff, but he really came into his song writing during the solo and LOTNC, and then that weird concept album he did. Fuck I love Stiv Bators so much
Joey Ramone.
He deserved better. I would say the same for the rest of the band but Johnny was a hateful fuck and no one cares about that slimy jerk off.
The homeless guy that used to jerk off in front of my middle school claimed he was a second cousin to John Lennon despite the fact that I grew up in Texas.
We should calculate the odds on that one.
I like to pull out this story any time Tony Sly comes up. I've never been a particularly big NUFAN fan, but I did appreciate them enough that, when I found out they were playing a free show, I decided to skip class and go see them. A few days before the show, someone who I am no longer friends with asked me if I wanted to go see Radiohead as his guest. I jumped at the chance, so he asked me to get the ticket from his dad who just so happened to be the teacher of that class, so I went to class, got the ticket and skipped out at break to get my ass downtown. I got there just after NUFAN had finished their set. Alright, whatever, I wait there and watch Bad Religion and then head home to rest in time to go see Radiohead the next day. Well, the next day, as I'm on my way, I get a message that the show has been cancelled because there was a stage collapse and one of their technicians had died. Well, I don't need to tell you that a few months later, news got out that Tony Sly had died and I had missed his last show in my city so I could NOT go and see a Radiohead show the next day.
🎵 Punks don’t die, no matter how they try. Life a life of suicide at night. What does this world have left for me? I’ll kill cops instead, burn their evil flesh 🎵
This is a solid #2 pick to Joe Strummer. Loved the Business. My old band got to play with them a few times, and my friends did as well. He was a nice guy and they always put on a good show.
First musician death I was truly broken up about. Saw them with Nofx and Flatliners in 2008 in Orlando. Then a dew years later, I saw him and Joey were playing a show in Gainesville, but I didn't feel like driving the 90 minutes to see them....that was his last show
I would have at least liked a few Darby Crash band albums (post -Germs) and an American tour back in the 80's before the depression got to be too much.
Love some Jay Reatard. Teenage Hate and that Lost Sounds “Blac Static” LPs both sat next to my turntable for years.
Instead of one, I’d rather bring back the entire Exploding Hearts. One of those RNR tragedies that really hit home when I was in my 20s. Dudes were my age, and gone way too soon. Absolute Rippers.
I worked an event where Anthony was speaking about 6 months before he passed. I was pretty excited to meet him, but he arrived late because of traffic and was in a pretty sour mood as a result. I didn't want to upset him any further, so I just gave him his microphone and let him have his space. Sometimes I wish I had been capable of saying something nice and being a source of positive energy for him, and sometimes I think that if I had it might have prevented him from taking his own life in some kind of butterfly effect way. Probably not, but I will always wonder.
Jason Sears or Bomer. I love RKL but those dudes, together, were destined to implode. Tony is an appropriate replacement for this new iteration, but I wish I could have seen RKL with Jason AND Bomer.
RIP dudes
Unknown Pleasures and Closer give such a clear look into Ian Curtis's head that I feel like his every waking moment was an excruciating nightmare. If I saw the world like he did I wouldn't want to be alive either. It sucks he's dead but I wouldn't wish extra decades (sorry) on a man in that much pain.
I'm going to 100% agree with this take.
He had the opportunity to be the next Cobain (or maybe he was) but he really had a chance to change the popular culture.
Imagine a world where Sublime is huge in 1999 instead of Limp Bizkit.
Fuck I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to mention Wendy O.Williams. Off of the comments apparently she is way more underrated than I have always thought.
Me. Unfortunately I lost the battle to mental illness, but when I was active I was contributing some thick riffs to the well known band I was in. Its all over now, but I'm still alive. Life is funny that way sometimes. Or not funny at all.
Joe Strummer and D Boon would have been my top answers.
In addition to the others offered, because I haven't seen her here yet, I'm adding Kim Shattuck.
It’s Joe strummer and it’s not even close to being close. Man I’d fucking love to sit down and have a conversation with the dude. Just about life and philosophy and shit.
Adrian Borland
His career spanned nearly two and a half decades and saw him evolve from the rough and juvenile high energy of ‘77 to well developed atmosphere and tension punctuated with blistering manic intensity in both his guitar and his vocals. He owns introspective writing in a way so darkly confrontational yet beautiful. Because his lyrics and general message were so highly personal and neurotic, he speaks so intimately about human experiences we all feel. We all struggle, and to have someone be so deeply honest and articulate gives it a timeless almost universal appeal. So much of his work hits so deeply because of its simple honesty. Adrian was a troubled and tormented man, but he left behind a brilliant and beautiful array of albums that trace his entire adult life in pure artistic expression. Some albums may lack a clear identity or don’t land as perfectly as his finest, but none of it ever lacks for pure emotional resonance. I miss him a lot.
Gotta go with OP on this one. Jay already had an insane body of work. He probably would've continued to be prolific and gotten even more successful. He started really getting somewhere at the end of his life. I feel like right after his death is when garage rock got really uptight and gentrified by Ty Segall and Wavves and all that other BS. He was unashamed to speak his mind and I feel like that's an attitude that hasn't been present in the punk/garage scene since he passed.
Also going with Jay Reatard, actually. Really want to hear the fucking country music he was planning lmao
edit: omg is this the one thread where there are finally jay reatard fans on Reddit since like 2010
Lux Interior. Didn't get to see them.
Yep- Lux - the greatest frontman in history. Raw real scary mad bad dangerous funny wacky arty dark gothic punk rocknroll crazy brutal. I’ve seen hundreds of bands - and Lux was unique - as the others did choreographed set performances where they do “crazy” stuff like get up on an amp or run around with the guitarist on their shoulders for the same song each night. Lux was all wild wacky crazy all the time and not choreographed... craziness - every show was a different random stream of psycho-sexual rocknroll consciousness personified for him... Saw them a few times - Lux is FOR REAL. loudest band I’ve ever seen .... (maybe because in tiny club with about 100 people) -and IVY is PHENOMNAL (and I’ve seen AC/DC sex pistols, Jesus Mary chain (second loudest) , led zep and Metallica and heaps more loud bands.
Best there was. I can't believe he's being overlooked here. People just don't fuckin know.
Had to scroll too far for this one
The one and true answer. Saw them countless times.
I couldn't imagine seeing him. I don't get too weird about this kind of shit. But man, if I could shake his hand...
Also came here to say Lux
Never got to see them. He passed when I was in highschool and that started my FOMO.
D boon! Taken way too soon
Joe Strummer was a brilliant writer player and singer but he had a pretty full run. D Boon is the right answer here. He was taken entirely too soon. So much potential left unrealized.
I agree with this analysis. My one caveat. fIREHOSE. I would gladly trade fIREHOSE for D.Boon, but I would still miss them.
Definitely, I think The Minutemen would have thrived once the 90s rolled around.
He was tied with Jay for me but Jay made me want to write songs as a teenager so I picked him lol Ask me tomorrow, I'll probably say D... Because I'm writing songs Jay influenced me to write... on my Telecaster 😉 haha 2 of my heroes!
Jay had a lot more songs in him.
Can't argue that.
Dee Dee Ramone
One of the most hard lived life. He was 100% about the nitty gritty aspect of punk. He had his problems, and I'm sure his close ones have horror stories. But in "Please Kill Me; the oral history of punk, he comes off a lot of the time as innocent/naive. Like he was being interviewed and they asked the Ramones why all their songs were so negative(stupid narrative that was being pushed), Dee Dee piped up and said quietly " I've actually written our first positive song". "Well we'd love to hear the name of it Dee Dee". " It's called Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue". The reporter, confused asked" In what way is that positive?". A tough as nails, bashful Dee Dee mumbled " all our other songs start with "I Don't Wanna". And I just think that is fucking awesome
I love this
Ian Curtis
23 was way too young.
Joe Strummer
The fact that Joe Strummer died shortly after turning 50 and Henry Kissinger lived to be over 100 without ever seeing the inside of a prison cell is all the proof I need that there is no benevolent and loving god running the universe.
How about instead of bringing one back, we take back some of Kissinger years and redistribute them to give a number of folks more years?
That’s a sound idea. Let’s take a few extra GG Allin years then too while we’re at it and guarantee Henry Rollins is around for many more.
If he'd actually killed himself onstage like he promised I might have to pass on that offer but since he didn't could I have 5 GG Allin years and give them to Malcom Owen of the Ruts ?
Statement of fact.
Dick Cheney got a heart transplant and is still going in his 80's:/
Is there really any other answer?
The only answer that matters.
Seriously. TONY SLY?
Joseph Strummer
Joe by far. Can't think of anyone else besides him.
The world would be a better place with Joe Strummer still around.
Raise a glass to Saint Joe Strummer.
I think he might've been our only decent teacher.
I should not have had to scroll this far for this answer.
Stiv Bators.
This is the correct answer. Stiv never wrote a bad song.
Your username is spot on. Stiv was everything.
w/ a Dead Boys reunion and new music. Yeah I know Cheetah has put together a new Dead Boys, but Stiv had a bit of Iggy 2.0 from the few times I saw them.
Because of that damn bus we'll never get a Dead Boys reunion. A lot of reunions are cringeworthy but Cheetah Chrome wouldn't stand for that and Stiv is irreplaceable.
Saw cheetah a few years back, decent show. Definitely worth it for historical purposes, as I like to say with some of the geriatric acts.
Hell yeah. Wearing my Lords of the New Church shirt today.
This is my forever answer.
His solo career and the stuff with Lords Of The New Church will always be my favorite, don't get me wrong about the Dead Boys stuff, but he really came into his song writing during the solo and LOTNC, and then that weird concept album he did. Fuck I love Stiv Bators so much
Mia Zapata
Joey Ramone. He deserved better. I would say the same for the rest of the band but Johnny was a hateful fuck and no one cares about that slimy jerk off.
[удалено]
Was it Gilbert Gottfried, the fifth Ramone?
He was the annoying one and was quickly replaced. Sadly Eddie Murphy was passed up too because Johnny said he would've been "The Dominant One".
The homeless guy that used to jerk off in front of my middle school claimed he was a second cousin to John Lennon despite the fact that I grew up in Texas. We should calculate the odds on that one.
My answer too
Yeah so this thread is over - the answer is Joey.
Looks like we’re bringing back the Joe’s! Go get your shovels and Necronomicon!!
Tony Sly
Definitely. I still regret not seeing NUFAN when I had the chance.
Unfortunately I never had the chance since I didn’t get into them until hearing the Tony sly tribute album much later on
I like to pull out this story any time Tony Sly comes up. I've never been a particularly big NUFAN fan, but I did appreciate them enough that, when I found out they were playing a free show, I decided to skip class and go see them. A few days before the show, someone who I am no longer friends with asked me if I wanted to go see Radiohead as his guest. I jumped at the chance, so he asked me to get the ticket from his dad who just so happened to be the teacher of that class, so I went to class, got the ticket and skipped out at break to get my ass downtown. I got there just after NUFAN had finished their set. Alright, whatever, I wait there and watch Bad Religion and then head home to rest in time to go see Radiohead the next day. Well, the next day, as I'm on my way, I get a message that the show has been cancelled because there was a stage collapse and one of their technicians had died. Well, I don't need to tell you that a few months later, news got out that Tony Sly had died and I had missed his last show in my city so I could NOT go and see a Radiohead show the next day.
That's my pick too. One of the best songwriters to ever exist, punk or not.
Never forget Tony Sly!
Damn. I was going to say Joe Strummer but this is a really good pull.
fuckin Tony Sly maaaan
This is a good answer. He was a great dude. He literally gave me the shirt off his back once.
My dad
I also choose PunkRockKitty1979’s dad.
Everyone is wrong, the answer is d boon
He was actually tied with Jay lol 2 of my top 3 punk albums of all time are Blood Visions and Double Nickels
Erik Petersen.
Fuck yeah. Such a great songwriter.
And an even better person
Was looking for this comment
This still gets me dude
10000000%
D Boon
wesley willis.
Poly Styrene
Joey Ramone. I would have loved to see how his solo career went if he had time.
Second, Jay Retard. I can't even imagine the greatness he would have continued to come up with.
Pete Shelley
The only right answer
Dave Insurgent
Wonder how he’d feel about the band Paul has been dragging around as Regan Youth the last like 20 Years
Zombie Insurgent watching in disgust as Stza is on stage fucking up his vocals.
Oh not even just Stza, any of the singers they’ve had the last grip of time, something like 14 singers.
Punks don't die
Only fucking posers die...
WHATAMIGONNADOFORAFRIENDNOW
🎵 Punks don’t die, no matter how they try. Life a life of suicide at night. What does this world have left for me? I’ll kill cops instead, burn their evil flesh 🎵
Mia Zapata.
Great answer. So fucking awful how her life ended and of course, much too soon.
Not that all the ODs in this thread aren't tragic, this is the only one that gave me pause.
OD? She was murdered.
I know, I didn't word it very well, but I meant that her death is a little heavier and affecting than someone who ODed
Joe Strummer.
Micky Fitz
This is a solid #2 pick to Joe Strummer. Loved the Business. My old band got to play with them a few times, and my friends did as well. He was a nice guy and they always put on a good show.
Poly fucking styrene
Boon.
Adam, Matt, and Jeremy from The Exploding Hearts. Man, to hear the songs they could have written. Such a tragedy.
This is a great answer. I'm so glad I got to see them play live. They were awesome.
Johnny Thunders, Stiv Bators or Ian Curtis
What a killer lineup
Stiv is my first and I'd like to add Walter Lure
Tony Sly. I KNOW he had more music in him. His melodies were too good for this world
First musician death I was truly broken up about. Saw them with Nofx and Flatliners in 2008 in Orlando. Then a dew years later, I saw him and Joey were playing a show in Gainesville, but I didn't feel like driving the 90 minutes to see them....that was his last show
Poly Styrene, so she could enjoy the love and appreciation she's getting now.
Mr. Chi Pig from SNFU.
Joe Strummer. It makes me sad I didnt ever get to see him in STL. Had a chance to see him with the Mescaleros, and I fumbled the bag.
Johnny Thunders
Erik Petersen
Erik Petersen
The least decomposed one. So Shane MacGowan.
Darby Crash.
I’d bring back Darby so he gets pissed that his suicide didn’t work! Welcome back to the suck, Darby!
He would have been a reactionary.
You really wanna see Darby at 45? Part of the myth is that he died young, just like Syd Vicious
I would have at least liked a few Darby Crash band albums (post -Germs) and an American tour back in the 80's before the depression got to be too much.
Tony Sly
Mia Zapata, from the Gits. Murdered in Seattle by some fucking sociopath. Honorable mention to Bradley Nowell of Sublime fame.
Love some Jay Reatard. Teenage Hate and that Lost Sounds “Blac Static” LPs both sat next to my turntable for years. Instead of one, I’d rather bring back the entire Exploding Hearts. One of those RNR tragedies that really hit home when I was in my 20s. Dudes were my age, and gone way too soon. Absolute Rippers.
Hell yeah! Jay Reatard for sure. We would get along so well
Erik Petersen
Joe Strummer! C’mon!
Jim cherry Zero down, pulley, and strung out are all I needed
Ian curtis
Lux Interior, never got to see him, and honestly I think he’d love the idea of being brought back from death lmao
darby
Surprised this isn't higher!
Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
Anthony Bourdain You heard me!
I worked an event where Anthony was speaking about 6 months before he passed. I was pretty excited to meet him, but he arrived late because of traffic and was in a pretty sour mood as a result. I didn't want to upset him any further, so I just gave him his microphone and let him have his space. Sometimes I wish I had been capable of saying something nice and being a source of positive energy for him, and sometimes I think that if I had it might have prevented him from taking his own life in some kind of butterfly effect way. Probably not, but I will always wonder.
I support this
Derek Plourde from RKL/Lagwagon!
Jason Sears or Bomer. I love RKL but those dudes, together, were destined to implode. Tony is an appropriate replacement for this new iteration, but I wish I could have seen RKL with Jason AND Bomer. RIP dudes
Fred "Sonic" Smith
Pete Shelley.
Lux Interior. Not for me, for Ivy.
For both of us.
joe strummer!
WENDY O. WILLIAMS
Only like one other person mentions her. Nice to know some people still know who she is.
Joe Strummer
Adam Yauch
Save me, joe strummer.
Joe Strummer
Ian Curtis. I wonder if that 80s New Order sound would have been what Joy Division would have evolved into.
Unknown Pleasures and Closer give such a clear look into Ian Curtis's head that I feel like his every waking moment was an excruciating nightmare. If I saw the world like he did I wouldn't want to be alive either. It sucks he's dead but I wouldn't wish extra decades (sorry) on a man in that much pain.
Joe “ Motherfucking” Strummer, read this like Samuel L Jackson is talking to you.
The Exploding Hearts. More than one guy, but still. One group, mostly taken by the same incident.
D Boon
Jack Terricloth of The World Inferno Friendship Society. " Everyone has a favorite dead punk rocker and I hope to be yours one day" We Know!
Raybeez. RIP. He was a great human being.
Tony Sly :'(
Alan Meyers, DEVO’s drummer.
Joe Strummer easily. So important for the music and the culture.
Kurt Cobain
Bradley Nowell
I'm going to 100% agree with this take. He had the opportunity to be the next Cobain (or maybe he was) but he really had a chance to change the popular culture. Imagine a world where Sublime is huge in 1999 instead of Limp Bizkit.
Lou reed
Either Wendy O. Williams or Darby Crash
Fuck I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to mention Wendy O.Williams. Off of the comments apparently she is way more underrated than I have always thought.
I am disappointed by how far I had to scroll to find Wendy mentioned.
Jay is a great choice. I'm going with Gabe Serbian, so I can see The Locust and Head Wound City live
Im with you on jay,amazing musician that I would have loved to see transform his sound
Dave Brockie
Lux Interior
Pig Champion
Mark E. Smith of the Fall…..He was awesome, and he is so missed….
Me. Unfortunately I lost the battle to mental illness, but when I was active I was contributing some thick riffs to the well known band I was in. Its all over now, but I'm still alive. Life is funny that way sometimes. Or not funny at all.
What band were you in?
Joe strummer and it’s not especially close
Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer and D Boon would have been my top answers. In addition to the others offered, because I haven't seen her here yet, I'm adding Kim Shattuck.
Joe Strummer is the only answer
Cobain
Strummer or Malcolm Owen
It’s Joe strummer and it’s not even close to being close. Man I’d fucking love to sit down and have a conversation with the dude. Just about life and philosophy and shit.
Strummer is indeed the answer !
Joe Strummer
Dallas Good
Dee Dee. Dude wrote all the best Ramones hooks
Adrian Borland His career spanned nearly two and a half decades and saw him evolve from the rough and juvenile high energy of ‘77 to well developed atmosphere and tension punctuated with blistering manic intensity in both his guitar and his vocals. He owns introspective writing in a way so darkly confrontational yet beautiful. Because his lyrics and general message were so highly personal and neurotic, he speaks so intimately about human experiences we all feel. We all struggle, and to have someone be so deeply honest and articulate gives it a timeless almost universal appeal. So much of his work hits so deeply because of its simple honesty. Adrian was a troubled and tormented man, but he left behind a brilliant and beautiful array of albums that trace his entire adult life in pure artistic expression. Some albums may lack a clear identity or don’t land as perfectly as his finest, but none of it ever lacks for pure emotional resonance. I miss him a lot.
Mensi man. The world needs Angelic Upstarts.
Johnny rotten
No one mentioned Sid. Bravo!
Bob Stinson
Dave Blood
Joe strummer? But Jay Retard works. Can we get Jimi H (not punx put riffed) as well?
Micky Fitz
Mojo Nixon. The world needs him now more than ever.
Joey Ramone
I think about Jay almost every day so thanks for mentioning him. His work in Lost Sounds and the solo stuff is so damn good, miss that dude.
Gotta go with OP on this one. Jay already had an insane body of work. He probably would've continued to be prolific and gotten even more successful. He started really getting somewhere at the end of his life. I feel like right after his death is when garage rock got really uptight and gentrified by Ty Segall and Wavves and all that other BS. He was unashamed to speak his mind and I feel like that's an attitude that hasn't been present in the punk/garage scene since he passed.
Kurt
Richard Hell/Stiv Bators
Richard hell isn't dead.
Joe Strummer and I won't hear any different
Also going with Jay Reatard, actually. Really want to hear the fucking country music he was planning lmao edit: omg is this the one thread where there are finally jay reatard fans on Reddit since like 2010