If you’re still snotty at 40, people might look at you askance. They might tell you to grow up already. In the case of the revamped Dead Boys’ rerecording of the stone-cold classic, Young Loud And Snotty, unyielding snottiness is an achievement. Original members Cheetah Chrome (lead guitar) and Johnny Blitz (drums) head a new lineup that is currently on the road in support of Still Snotty: Young Loud and Snotty at 40. The record hits stores and streaming sites today; the band pulls into New Orleans Sunday, September 10, playing Santos Bar on Decatur Street with The Pallbearers and Medically Separated.
As the 40th anniversary of Young Loud and Snotty loomed, the band found that Warner Brothers (who retains the rights to the Dead Boys’ Sire Records catalog) had no interest in working with the band to give the record a proper reissue, instead promoting a green vinyl reissue released on Rhino without the band’s input.
“We were supposed to work with another label to get the masters back from Warner Brothers to do a box set. Warner Brothers, from what I can tell, decided they wanted to put out what I call ‘the green thing.’ The cover is shoddy; it could’ve been a lot better,” said Chrome.
In fact, Chrome says, the original album from 1977 never really got a proper recording. Instead, that release was actually a demo.
“We heard the record and we liked it OK. We were looking forward to going back in the studio, but we were so busy and they didn’t want to pull us off the road, so they decided to just put the demo out. Genya [Ravan, the album’s producer] did a great job with the demo. It’s stood up all the years; I still love the record.”
This time around, the band decided to subvert the label’s intransigence. They re-cut the record and released it on Plowboy Records, a label co-owned by Chrome.
“We decided to try and see what would happen if we rerecorded with the sounds we’d had in our heads. We know a lot more about the recording studio now. None of us had ever been in a studio before [when the original album was recorded].”
Original singer, the incomparable Stiv Bators, died in 1990 after being hit by a taxi in Paris. According to Chrome, Jimmy Zero, the original rhythm guitarist, can’t tour due to health issues and was uninterested in doing the rerecording; Jeff Magnum, the original bassist, “just isn’t the right guy for this band.” The new lineup has been together since February and features Ricky Rat on bass and Jason Kottwitz on rhythm guitar. Behind the mic is Jake Hout, who came to Chrome’s attention as frontman for the Dead Boys tribute act, Undead Boys.
“My girlfriend turned me onto them. I saw some videos and thought it was pretty good.
He does a great freakin’ Stiv. He studied his vocals, he’s got it down. On stage, he’s a real performer, doesn’t just stand there. But, he doesn’t rip Stiv off, either; he has his own thing going on.”
The band plans to tour again in December and is eyeing a UK tour next year. Chrome is hopeful that the Dead Boys’ second record, 1978’s We Have Come for Your Children, will get the reissue treatment next year. Or, the band might possibly go back and rerecord that one, too.
“Hopefully, we’ll do a box set,” Chrome said. “If ever there was a record that needed rerecording, it’s that one. I hated the sound on that record. Would definitely be all-in in redoing that fucking thing.”
Forty years removed from its origins, the Dead Boys’ music endures, and the audience for that wildly vibrant era of music continues to grow. Over the last decade or so during his solo tours and reunion tours with Dead Boys precursor, Rocket From the Tombs, Chrome has seen his audiences get considerably younger.
“My audience is pretty much all kids now. This is the closest they’re going to get to the real thing, so why not give it to them?”
Tickets for Dead Boys are available here for $12. Santos is located at 1135 Decatur St, and doors for the 21+ event open at 6p.m.
