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| Bomp
Record Store, Opening, April 9, 1977, page 1
Bomp: opening, Nerves,
X, etc, April 9, page 1 and 2
Bomp: Damned, Weirdos, Germs, Screamers, Black Randy, etc, April
16, page and 3 and 4
Bomp: Blondie, Weirdos, etc, April 23, page 5
Bomp: Rockpile with Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe, etc page 6 |
The
opening of the Bomp Record Store on Laurel Canyon, north of
Riverside, in North Hollywood, brought punks from the city into
the hot smoggy valley. It was the first public gathering of
the nascent punk/power pop/new wave new music emerging from
LA, NY and England. Relationships and shows were forged from
encounters at this amazing store. This record store was unlike
any other: a vast supply of hard-to-find established or underground
cult performers (the Yardbirds to Roky Erickson) to the Pistols
and the Clash without having to deal with extraneous records
or being relagated to a small part of a large record store.
Rhino was cool and gave birth to the best company for re-releases,
but they didn't have these gatherings.
My photos show a virtual who's who of those vital characters
who transformed rock as we knew it. These are just a small handful,
cropped and reduced, of those amazing gatherings. Thank you
Greg and sorry you are not around to see this tribute to your
vision, hard work and dedication.
The Screamers, Black Randy, Billy Zoom of X, Backstage Pass,
Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records (then writing for Bomp and
her own "Street Life" fanzine), Back Door Man writers:
Phast Phreddie [and Thee Precisions], Don Waller, Gregg Turner
[of the Angry Samoans] and so many others
showed up. Here's just a taste of who was there . . . |
[77-04-09 1-32 BompGregSuzy]
Greg Shaw and his first wife, Suzy on opening
day. |
[77-04-09 1-42 BompTurnerSca]
I freaked out when archivist David Jones
asked me when I shot rock writer Gene Sculatti I didn't know
I had ever shot him. He on the right of writer/performer [Angry
Samoans] and current college professor Gregg Turner. Gene is
holding the "Dictators Go Girl Crazy" album. |
[77-04-09 1-06 BompCarRorer]
OK readers, how many of you know what a
Rorer was? A potent muscle relaxer soon to be taken off the
market. But qualludes, or 'ludes, were a great fuck me drug.
Although it looks as if the car has solid areas of dark paint,
the words "Punk Rock" are painted in the middle of
the large dark area on the right. |
[77-04-09 1-09 BompCarStreet]
This car is an early homage to punk with basic but at that
time, rare graffiti. This shot is very LA, with its patched
street that has only gotten worse in the last 30 years.
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[77-04-09 1-10 BompWeirdosSt]
This might be the very first photo of
the Weirdos ever taken. I remember seeing them walking towards
Bomp and being blown away by their colorful clothes. From
left to right: John Denny, with his brother Dix behind him,
David Trout in the far back, and on the right, Cliff Roman,
displaying not only a Weirdo face, but hold his hand to his
heart, with the three finger salute, the "W" that
soon fans would emulate at their shows.
The dude with the long blonde hair is
wearing a home-made t-shirt embellished with the words Iggy
Pop, Punk Rock and Cheap Trick on the back and Sex Pistols
on the front.
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[77-04-09 1-11 BompWeirdos4]
The Weirdos, minus a drummer,
made perhaps their first public appearance at Bomp's opening.
Dix Denney, John Denney,
Cliff Roman and Dave Trout.
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[77-04-09 2-04 BompNerves]
The Nerves were one of the
first bands to put on alternative venue shows. They are true
pioneers and enlisted the Weirdos to debut with them.
Left to right:
Peter Case, Jack Lee and Paul Collins. Jack wrote the Blondie
hit/TV jingle, "Hanging on the telephone." |
[77-04-09 2-05 BompNerves]
Peter Case then formed the Plimsouls, considered
one of the truly great over-looked bands. He now is a successful
solo musician, gigging locally as well as around the world. |
[77-04-09 2-08 BompNervesGregRodney]
The Nerves with Rodney wearing a "Punk
Rock" t-shirt, Vickie of the Venus and the Razorblades,
a Kim Fowley band and Bomp's Greg Shaw.
We used to go the malls and buy t-shirts
with custom iron-on lettering. I made my first Ramones t-shirt
and I shot a lot of home-made tees at the opening. |
[77-04-09 2-13 BompCarRodney]
"Dedicated to Rodney KROQ" with
a car full of long-haired punk fans. Who says you have to
have short hair to be a punk? Not the kids who started it.
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[77-04-09 3-29 BompPhredEddie]
Wall of icons: Eddie Cochran, Johnny Rotten
and smiling Phast Phreddie.
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[77-04-09 3-40 BompRodneySue]
[77-04-09 3-01 BompGregSueSa]
I met Sue Sawyer when she was the Ramones
publicist at ABC Records, when they distributed Sire before
Warner Brothers. She later worked at Columbia/CBS/Epic. I
often think about her and wonder what she's doing. I would
love to hear from her! She was a lovely person, but I think
she often wondered about my sanity cos I was so crazy about
punk!
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