Calvin C. Rydbom - The Akron Sound: The Heyday of the Midwests Punk Capital

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2018 by Calvin Rydbom

All rights reserved

Cover images, clockwise: Courtesy of the Bizarros, Jimi Imij, Chris Butler and Buzz Clic. Back cover courtesy of James Carney.

First published 2018

e-book edition 2018

ISBN 978.1.43966.409.4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017960102

print edition ISBN 978.1.62585.863.4

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

To my parentseven though when I was four they brought me home a little sister instead of the pony I really wanted. Truthfully, over the years, I have realized that it was a good choice on their part, as Ive grown to appreciate her as well. Although a pony would have been nice.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

Lately Ive been asked an obvious question about why this book is going to exist by those outside our region and, oddly enough, by a lot within the Akron area. Why was I working on this book? Dont you write books about disasters? For that matter, why would anyone, not just me, want to read a book about Akron and its surrounding regions music history? My answer is incredibly simple. There is only one reason for anyone to write about music, whether it be an era, region, style or soundbecause some great rock, pop, punk, R&B, jazz and rap have been created that had a connection to that place. Its also the exact same reason you should be reading itor, at the least, seek out some of the music youll read about in these pages. And while, truthfully, the phrase the Akron Sound specifically refers to the punk/new wave sound that exploded here in the late 1970s and early 1980s, this region and this book cant just be about those few years. So, while that amazingly fertile period is really the subject of this book, you cant really talk about those years without spending a little time on what came before those years. And you certainly cant ignore the performers who came after and how they were influenced by those years. It hasnt just been the Black Keys over the past thirty years.

It would be very easy to start our story with Ruby and the Romantics scoring a number one single with Our Day Will Come in 1963 and then following it up with two more Top 40s singles on the Billboard charts and five more Top 20 singles on the R&B charts. They were the first group to do music geared toward young people and inspire others to form a band. But there was also some great music before them, specifically the jazz scene on Howard Street, although there isnt much linkage to the Akron Sound that came out of what was for decades the business district for Akrons ethnic and minority residents. It would be just as easy to act as if our story stops with chart-topping acts today such as the Black Keys and Red Sun Rising. But there are far too many young acts around town today to ever really end the story. So, while the book is about the Akron Sound, its also about the sounds that came before and after.

And it isnt really just Akron either. So much of what became known as the Akron Sound originated in Kent, just a few minutes down the road. It had a university full of students hungry for original music, as opposed to cover bands playing the current Top 40, just as Akron had and has. For whatever reason, though, a lot more of the musicians found themselves as students at Kent State rather than the University of Akron. Looking back to that time, Kent State had more of an aura of creativity around it. In fact, the show Village Voice critic Robert Christgau attended that resulted in him often getting credit for coining the phrase the Akron Sound was at JBs in Kent. Fun fact, though: he did not use the phrase Akron Sound in his article, nor in any reviews he did of the bands. And he argued that the Akron/Cleveland scene was the same. It has long been a regional sound, yet its oddly a little different from what youd get up north in Cleveland. Perhaps the activism at Kent Stateand, of course, the reverberation from Kent States May Day clash between students and the National Guard that left a handful of students deadhad something to do with it. There was a little more art school vibe to it as well, even if it wasnt created by art school students.

Chris Butler (of the Numbers Band/Tin Huey/the Waitresses/Half Cleveland) was and is a promoter, and a self-proclaimed one for that matter, of the regions music and culture. Butler is not only one of the originators of the Akron Sound but also even started and published a fanzine called Blank in the 1970s that attempted to document its earliest yearsthis means he used to promote his and his friends bands. More importantly, after reading a few Christgau articles in the Village Voice about the punk scene in England, Butler fired off a letter to him suggesting he ought to take a look in his backyard, as there was a lot of great music going on here in the United States. To Butlers surprise, he got a response from Christgau that he was coming to Akron and wanted to see some shows. Butlers cohorts in Tim Huey had to throw together a showcase event very quickly at JBs for the New York critic, but more on that later. Nick Nicholis, lead singer of the Bizarros and owner of Clone Records, had also sent Christgau a joint album his label had released with his band on one side and the Rubber City Rebels on the other. So the New York City journalist was at least intrigued by the sounds coming out of Akronespecially after he gave the album an A- in his review of it.

Because of his visit and article on the visit, as well as major label releases by Devo, Tin Huey, the Rubber City Rebels, the Bizarros and others, the idea of an Akron Sound came about, and the phrase stuck. Youll find people using it all the time these days, which is good, as it helps out curator Wayne Beck and archivist Calvin Rydbom (which is me) get people interested in the Akron Sound Museum.

From where I sit, I dont know that there was ever really an Akron Sound in the sense that any of these bands sounded the sameor even were punk bands. I think it was more of a case of a bunch of bands that simply sounded unique and original and didnt want to be cover bands or work in rubber factoriesthe latter part was a very important factor. Nobody would mistake the Rebels for Devo, the Bizarros for Chi-Pig, the Numbers Band for Unit 5, the Action for Hammer Damage or the Walking Clampets for Tin Huey. But most of them certainly sounded unique. If you want to make the argument, which I will at some point, that the swarm of talented originals bands created more originals bands, then we might have something. And they created an audience in the area that began to expect something different than what they heard on the radiothat Ill agree with you on. But an actual sound like Seattles grunge movement? Not so much. Not at all really.

As for them being punk? Maybe the sense of aggression was there. Maybe that feeling of rebellion was there. In certain cases, the anger was clearly thereDevo is the most deceptively angry band ever. But this wasnt the Sex Pistols or the Ramones sort of overt anger. No, Devo was far more clever than that but no less confrontational from the stage. New wave doesnt fit it either. Just different; it was just Akron. Just some really cool music by a bunch of young musicians who didnt want to follow their folks into the rubber factories. I mentioned that already, didnt I? The joke has been made many times that there was just something in the water. Most of the musicians in this story have been asked about it so many times that theyve given it a fair amount of thought, with no clear answer truthfully.