Lead singer of seminal Canadian punk band Teenage Head dies
October 16, 2008 11:46 AM Subscribe
Frank Kerr died on Wednesday, October 15th of throat cancer. The 51-year-old was better known as Frankie Venom, the lead singer of Teenage Head, a punk band from Hamilton, Ontario that some have called Canada's version of The Ramones. The Glasgow native formed the band in 1975 with some high-school friends and they released several popular albums and played at least two shows that ended in riots. After splitting with the group in 1985 due in part to lifestyle issues, Venom later rejoined and began touring again. In 2003, Teenage Head recorded a special cover album with Ramones drummer Marky Ramone that was just released earlier this year. One fan got some video of one of Frankie's last shows in Hamilton.
Any band named after a Flamin' Groovies album is worthy of investigation.
posted by jonmc at 11:55 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 11:55 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
I remember a classic Teenage Head show at Seneca College in Toronto in the early 1980s, where my older brother was a student DJ and organized concerts. Frankie stumbled a lot, threw up behind the monitor onstage, and during the intermission disappeared for a considerable length of time. A student eventually found him in an upstairs classroom with a female fan, but managed to convince him to come back and finish the show.
posted by mathewi at 12:06 PM on October 16, 2008
posted by mathewi at 12:06 PM on October 16, 2008
♪
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:23 PM on October 16, 2008
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:23 PM on October 16, 2008
Teenage Head were the go-to party band of my youth.
RIP Frankie.
posted by rocket88 at 12:26 PM on October 16, 2008
RIP Frankie.
posted by rocket88 at 12:26 PM on October 16, 2008
Big bummer. I can't say I was huge Teenage Head fan, but "Picture My Face" is one of my favorite songs from the late 70's. I can't find a vintage version to post, but this reunion version gives you an idea, although it's missing quite a bit of the snottiness that I love so much in the original.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 12:28 PM on October 16, 2008
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 12:28 PM on October 16, 2008
I read the start of the fourth sentence as "After spitting with the group.....
Sorry I hadn't heard the band before this, but this post will help me delve in and find out more.
posted by Nick Verstayne at 12:37 PM on October 16, 2008
Sorry I hadn't heard the band before this, but this post will help me delve in and find out more.
posted by Nick Verstayne at 12:37 PM on October 16, 2008
Wow. The lead guitarist in the clip that Slack-a-gogo linked to looks *exactly* like David St. Hubbins from Spinal Tap.
posted by mathewi at 12:38 PM on October 16, 2008
posted by mathewi at 12:38 PM on October 16, 2008
Next time you have a house full of drunk middle-aged Torontonians, put on "Frantic City". You'll be glad you did.
posted by bonobothegreat at 1:02 PM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by bonobothegreat at 1:02 PM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
Holy shit that's too damn bad ! I was actually listening to Let's Shake earlier today, perhaps moved to do so by the spirit.
I got acquainted with Teenage Head and other Canadian punk bands of that time as I took my Undergrad at the University of Buffalo. Buffalo and Fort Erie share a bridge across the Niagara River, and back then the border was very, very porous; nothing like the military checkpoint it is now, with passports and lines and law enforcement. We regularly went back and forth, and frequently were just waved through.
Back then (not sure about now; I got my ass to New York in 1984 and have rarely returned to WNY since) Buffalo only had a couple good bars for live music - The Continental and McVans. As the US Dollar was relatively strong most weekends we'd head over the border - sometimes all the way up to Toronto, other times closer, Fort Erie or Hamilton - any place Canadian for our weekend hell raising.
The scene at most of those smaller Canadian clubs that Teenage Head regularly played was pretty wild; fortified by strong Canadian beer, squeaky clean undegrads mingled with greasy bikers and new wavers and shifty looking undergrounders. All sorts of schemes and deals and disputes leading to tussles leading to fights took place in the shadowy peripheries of the establishment while the band played on. Good times.
Maybe I was just lucky, but more than two of their shows ended up in riots. It seems that many of those clubs just weren't prepared for the mayhem that Teenage Head's music could precipitate. Or maybe it was the drugs. Or the combination.
You see, at one of their shows we met a trio of Canadian girls that we ended up spending a lot of time with over the next few years. These girls were crazy on the dance floor, insane when driving and wild in bed. These girls were on pills.
And by that I don’t mean birth control, no, these girls were big partakers of Quaaludes, or ROER 714’s. And they liked to wash their pills down with alcohol, preferably copious quantities of vodka. It seemed as though most of people I met back then who were part of that scene were also partaking of the body numbing mix of 'Ludes and booze. Moshing under such circumstances could easily spiral totally out of control, as relatively numb bodies collided.
So a typical Friday night would see a lot of folks who followed that band at T minus 30 seconds from liftoff, even before they took to the stage.
I found this clip of Teenage Head playing Let's Shake. Band is most definitely a lot tighter, but moving slower than I remember.
GIVE ME THAT OPENER, PASS ME THAT BEER
C'MON MOVE YOUR ASS, ON OUT OF HERE
WELL I GUESS YOU KNOW, I NEED SOMEBODY
BUT YOU ARE JUST, TOO FAT AND UGLY
C'MON AND SHAKE
OHH- LET'S SHAKE
C'MON AND SHAKE
YEAH! BABY LET'S SHAKE
(MUSIC BRIDGE) X 4
WELL YOU CAN'T DANCE, CAN'T KEEP A BEAT
WELL THAT'S BECAUSE, YOU GOT SIZE 12 FEET
WELL DON'T MAKE ME RUN.WELL DON'T MAKE ME BLUSH
YOUR JUST THAT GIRL, I HATE TO TOUCH
C'MON AND SHAKE
OHH BABY LET'S SHAKE
YEAH! C'MON AND SHAKE
WELL LET'S SHAKE
Ah that video brings back some memories.
Later this evening when I'm having my wine I'll leave a glass out on the table for the missing drinker.
Thanks for all the good times pal.
posted by Mutant at 1:16 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
I got acquainted with Teenage Head and other Canadian punk bands of that time as I took my Undergrad at the University of Buffalo. Buffalo and Fort Erie share a bridge across the Niagara River, and back then the border was very, very porous; nothing like the military checkpoint it is now, with passports and lines and law enforcement. We regularly went back and forth, and frequently were just waved through.
Back then (not sure about now; I got my ass to New York in 1984 and have rarely returned to WNY since) Buffalo only had a couple good bars for live music - The Continental and McVans. As the US Dollar was relatively strong most weekends we'd head over the border - sometimes all the way up to Toronto, other times closer, Fort Erie or Hamilton - any place Canadian for our weekend hell raising.
The scene at most of those smaller Canadian clubs that Teenage Head regularly played was pretty wild; fortified by strong Canadian beer, squeaky clean undegrads mingled with greasy bikers and new wavers and shifty looking undergrounders. All sorts of schemes and deals and disputes leading to tussles leading to fights took place in the shadowy peripheries of the establishment while the band played on. Good times.
Maybe I was just lucky, but more than two of their shows ended up in riots. It seems that many of those clubs just weren't prepared for the mayhem that Teenage Head's music could precipitate. Or maybe it was the drugs. Or the combination.
You see, at one of their shows we met a trio of Canadian girls that we ended up spending a lot of time with over the next few years. These girls were crazy on the dance floor, insane when driving and wild in bed. These girls were on pills.
And by that I don’t mean birth control, no, these girls were big partakers of Quaaludes, or ROER 714’s. And they liked to wash their pills down with alcohol, preferably copious quantities of vodka. It seemed as though most of people I met back then who were part of that scene were also partaking of the body numbing mix of 'Ludes and booze. Moshing under such circumstances could easily spiral totally out of control, as relatively numb bodies collided.
So a typical Friday night would see a lot of folks who followed that band at T minus 30 seconds from liftoff, even before they took to the stage.
I found this clip of Teenage Head playing Let's Shake. Band is most definitely a lot tighter, but moving slower than I remember.
GIVE ME THAT OPENER, PASS ME THAT BEER
C'MON MOVE YOUR ASS, ON OUT OF HERE
WELL I GUESS YOU KNOW, I NEED SOMEBODY
BUT YOU ARE JUST, TOO FAT AND UGLY
C'MON AND SHAKE
OHH- LET'S SHAKE
C'MON AND SHAKE
YEAH! BABY LET'S SHAKE
(MUSIC BRIDGE) X 4
WELL YOU CAN'T DANCE, CAN'T KEEP A BEAT
WELL THAT'S BECAUSE, YOU GOT SIZE 12 FEET
WELL DON'T MAKE ME RUN.WELL DON'T MAKE ME BLUSH
YOUR JUST THAT GIRL, I HATE TO TOUCH
C'MON AND SHAKE
OHH BABY LET'S SHAKE
YEAH! C'MON AND SHAKE
WELL LET'S SHAKE
Ah that video brings back some memories.
Later this evening when I'm having my wine I'll leave a glass out on the table for the missing drinker.
Thanks for all the good times pal.
posted by Mutant at 1:16 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
Saw them many times during their prime. When Frankie was into it, they were everything you could ever want from live rock and roll.
One cold winter night in the mid 80's, I finished my 3 to 11 shift at the local paper mill and walked downtown to a small club to catch the last set by Long John Baldry. I'm hnaging out near the bar, halfway through my first beer, when I turn and realize Frankie Venom is standing next to me. He's by himself, beer in hand. I have no idea why he's there, alone at a dive in my tiny southern Ontario town, watching Baldry. I say hello and tell him how much of a Teenage Head fan I am. He shakes my hand and promptly asks "Got any drugs?" I didn't, and he moved onward, looking elsewhere for medication.
Bye, Frank. Thanks for some kinda fun. I enjoyed it all.
posted by davebush at 1:58 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
One cold winter night in the mid 80's, I finished my 3 to 11 shift at the local paper mill and walked downtown to a small club to catch the last set by Long John Baldry. I'm hnaging out near the bar, halfway through my first beer, when I turn and realize Frankie Venom is standing next to me. He's by himself, beer in hand. I have no idea why he's there, alone at a dive in my tiny southern Ontario town, watching Baldry. I say hello and tell him how much of a Teenage Head fan I am. He shakes my hand and promptly asks "Got any drugs?" I didn't, and he moved onward, looking elsewhere for medication.
Bye, Frank. Thanks for some kinda fun. I enjoyed it all.
posted by davebush at 1:58 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
'Natural causes'¿ More like from too much drink over the years.
Loved the energy of the band, waaay back when I saw then in this dump in Toronto called 'Larry's Hideaway'. It was a basement with low ceilings. The 'stage' was a little riser not 1 foot off the floor. I remember during the show at one point when Frankie was hanging upside down from the sprinkler pipes by his feet singing his lungs out. What a laugh. Crazy shows, indeed.
Peace Frankie.
posted by alicesshoe at 2:09 PM on October 16, 2008
Loved the energy of the band, waaay back when I saw then in this dump in Toronto called 'Larry's Hideaway'. It was a basement with low ceilings. The 'stage' was a little riser not 1 foot off the floor. I remember during the show at one point when Frankie was hanging upside down from the sprinkler pipes by his feet singing his lungs out. What a laugh. Crazy shows, indeed.
Peace Frankie.
posted by alicesshoe at 2:09 PM on October 16, 2008
I always found him a little surly in person, but he had a very distinctive classic rock'n'roll voice. I've been trying to think of who to compare it to and all I can come up with Buddy Holly, sorta kinda. Anyways, I thought he was the best part of Teenage Head. RIP Frankie.
posted by stinkycheese at 2:58 PM on October 16, 2008
posted by stinkycheese at 2:58 PM on October 16, 2008
Next time you have a house full of drunk middle-aged Torontonians, put on "Frantic City". You'll be glad you did.
So you've been to a lot of my parents' house parties? ;)
'Natural causes'¿ More like from too much drink over the years.
He had throat cancer, but yah, it's surprising he lasted 51 years considering how hard he lived.
Bye, Frank. Thanks for some kinda fun. I enjoyed it all.
Linked that for you.
posted by zarah at 3:32 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
So you've been to a lot of my parents' house parties? ;)
'Natural causes'¿ More like from too much drink over the years.
He had throat cancer, but yah, it's surprising he lasted 51 years considering how hard he lived.
Bye, Frank. Thanks for some kinda fun. I enjoyed it all.
Linked that for you.
posted by zarah at 3:32 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
I was too young to see him during his prime, but I saw them do a reunion show at Lee's Palace for the Vazaleen night back in 2002 or 2003. Good times.
posted by LMGM at 4:14 PM on October 16, 2008
posted by LMGM at 4:14 PM on October 16, 2008
Thanks for the correction, zarah, news aren't what they used to be.... I was misinformed.
posted by alicesshoe at 7:57 PM on October 16, 2008
posted by alicesshoe at 7:57 PM on October 16, 2008
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posted by Senator at 11:55 AM on October 16, 2008