Rocket from the Tombs

Not to be confused with San Diego-based alternarockers Rocket from the Crypt, Rocket from the Tombs was a mid-'70s Cleveland ur-punk outfit best known as the band that split into two better-known Cleveland punk bands, Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys. Rocket was formed by a reporter for the weekly Cleveland entertainment newspaper The Scene who went by the name of Crocus Behemoth. A portly man with a mound of wild hair, Behemoth had the perfect name, and a reputation as a wild, completely unpredictable stage performer, which in the early days of the group consisted of wrapping his considerable girth in aluminum foil, wearing Kiss-style makeup, and spray-painting his hair. After numerous musicians came and went, Behemoth met Peter Laughner, a guitarist/songwriter who played at many of the same clubs as RFTT as a member of the band Cinderella Backstreet, a now-infamous Cleveland band of which Pretender Chrissie Hynde was briefly a member. Laughner became a fan of Rocket and occasionally joined the band for a song or two. Before long, Laughner and Behemoth became partners, and with the addition of guitarist Gene O'Connor, bassist Craig Bell, and drummer Johnny "Madman" Madansky, Rocket from the Tombs became a fairly stable unit. Playing high-energy rock influenced by the Stooges and Lou Reed (Laughner's hero), RFTT made a name for itself in the Cleveland club scene, as well as opening for touring thud-rock has-beens like Iron Butterfly. The songs were sharp and acerbic, a worm's-eye view of an entropic Cleveland, an urban area that was then a dying industrial city. Songs like "Life Stinks" and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (both later recorded by Pere Ubu) were indicative of the boredom, anomie, and restlessness felt by the city's pre-punk punks. A mercurial band given to constant...