The Dead Boys were a early punk band that formed in Cleveland, Ohio about 1975, evolving out of the band Rocket From The Tombs.

Moving to New York City in 1976, they frequently played at the "CBGB" and released a punk album titled "Young, Loud and Snotty", produced by Genya Ravan. Their song "Sonic Reducer" is often regarded as one of the classic songs from the genre, with the All Music Guide calling it "one of punk's great anthems."

Their record company pressured the group to change their look and sound to appeal more to the US mainstream (which had yet to embrace punk on the level seen in the UK) and this contributed to Dead Boys breaking up in 1979. A few months after the breakup the band had to reunite to record a live album and thus fulfill their contractual obligations. To exact revenge on Sire Records Bators purposely sang off mic and the resulting recording was unusable. When the material eventually surfaced on Bomp! Records, Bators had re-recorded the vocals in a studio.

Singer Stiv Bators later formed Lords of the New Church with Brian James from The Damned and Dave Tregunna from Sham 69.

Discography

The Dead Boys only had two official full lengths, however many labels have released rough material and outtakes in the years following their breakup.

• LPs
  • Young, Loud and Snotty - Sire Records 1977
  • We Have Come For Your Children - Sire Records 1978

• Later Releases
  • Night of the Living Dead Boys - Bomp! 1981
  • The Return of the Living Dead Boys - Revenge 1987 (Import/France)
  • Liver Than You'll Ever Be - Various Labels 1988 (Import/Various)
  • Younger, Louder and Snottier - Bomp! 1997
  • Twistin' on the Devil's Fork - Hell Yeah / Bacchus 1998
  • All This and More - Bomp! 1998
  • 3rd Generation Nation - Bad Boy Production 1999

• 7" Singles
  • Sonic Reducer - Sire Records 1977
  • Tell Me - Sire Records 1977
  • Search and Destroy - Revenge 1977 (Import/France)
  • Buried Gems - Cold Front 2000

External resources

• Stiv Bators Discography
• Official Lords of the New Church Site