Plasmatics

At a time (the late '70s and early '80s) and a place (the New York punk scene) where shocking the audience was often the order of the day, few bands had a greater gift for cultivating outrage than the Plasmatics. During the group's heyday, a Plasmatics show could include anything from lead singer Wendy O. Williams covered in shaving cream and electrical tape while brandishing a chain saw as blue-haired Richie Stotts attacked his guitar in drag, to the destruction of televisions, electric guitars, automobiles, and other consumer goods. Plenty of punk bands of the time courted controversy, but the Plasmatics took it a step further; they were banned in several major cities (most notably London) and Williams stood trial for obscenity in a celebrated 1981 court case in Milwaukee, but the band also helped bring punk to the heartland through their crazed stage shows, frequent television appearances, and a prescient fusion of punk velocity with heavy metal guitar power. The Plasmatics were formed in 1977 by Williams and Rod Swenson, a self-described "anti-artist" who met her when she answered a casting call for Captain Kink, an experimental theater for adults Swenson ran in the middle of the Times Square district. Fascinated by New York's burgeoning punk scene and enamored of Wendy's fearless stage presence, Swenson assembled a band around Williams, featuring lead guitarist Stotts, rhythm guitarist Wes Beech, bassist Chosei Funahara, and drummer Stu Deutsch. The Plasmatics made their live debut on-stage at CBGB in 1978, and their wildly destructive stage show soon made them the talk of the town. By 1979, the band was headlining shows along the East Coast and they sold out the New York Palladium, the first band to do so without the benefit of a major record deal. (The...