Moods For Moderns

This was the week in 1979 that, after hearing NewWave and Punk records for over a year, I finally saw live what all the fuss was about.  On Tuesday March 20th, I saw Elvis Costello at the Cleveland Agora.  (To date, I've now seen him twelve times.)  His Armed Forces LP had just come out, and we'd already devoured his previous two records.  I was on spring break (my last as an undergrad) and went with some friends up to the Cleve.  Amazing show.  Unlike a lot of new bands, Elvis and his always top-notch backing band The Attractions could actually play their instruments.  And people danced! It should be noted that this was just 5 days after the infamous incident that took place in Columbus OH with Elvis getting into a nasty drunken argument with Bonnie Bramlett and Steven Stills.  Here's Elvis and the boys later in the year with "Oliver's Army"

Two nights later, I had my first opportunity to dig into the Kent-Akron music scene.  The first wave was already over, with Devo and others breaking out.  Version 2.0 was even better with dozens of great young bands. On March 22nd, I went to see the then kings of the scene, Hammer Damage.  Made up of Donny Damage on vox and rhythm guitar, Mike Hammer on drums, both from the Rubber City Rebels (part of the first bunch out of Akron along with Devo) with Scott Winkler on bass and George Cabaniss on lead, they played LOUD, tight songs with blistering guitar breaks and hilariously juvenile lyrics. How loud were they?  After spending the night parked in front of George's Marshall stack, the pressure on my head was so great all the fluid drained from my sinuses.  My ears rang for three days.  It was the first time I'd ever danced, in the sense that I just got up and started jumping around.

Damage would own Kent and Akron that year, culminating with a sweet gig opening for the B-52s at the Agora that fall.  By the end of the year, George would leave to play with The Dead Boys. The others picked up some other players and stuck it out for a few years. But they were just one of many great bands in the area:  The Action, Trudee and the Trendsetters, Unit 5, The Nelsons, Wild Giraffes (from Mentor), Human Switchboard, The Adults, and on and on.  It was an amazing scene that's still celebrated today with various bands reuniting periodically.  I'll have more on Kent-Akron happenings later in the year, but for now here's Hammer Damage with one of their best: "Laugh".  Enjoy!