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The Pagans
Alternative Press - Editorial Intern on 1/28/09 @ 12:42 PM - altpress.comYEARS OF EXISTENCE: 1977-1979, 1982-1990
RECORD TO START WITH: Buried Alive (1986, Treehouse)
AFTER THAT, CHECK OUT: The Pagans aka The Pink Album (1983, Terminal; 2001, Crypt)
GO DOWNLOAD: "Street Where Nobody Lives," "Her Name Was Jane," "Wall Of Shame," "Cleveland Confidential," "Nowhere To Run," "What's This Shit Called Love?"
THE MUSIC, THE MESSAGE: A teenage Mike Hudson picked up a bass guitar in 1973, took lessons from local guitarist Denny Carleton, then started a band with brother Brian on drums and friend Lou Kolar on guitar. Originally called the Mad Staggers, their first gig came when Carleton asked the band to play with his own outfit at a YMCA. (The show concluded with both bands being barred from ever playing there again.) After a lineup shift and and a name change, the band dissolved in 1975, only to see Mike, Brian and Kolar start it up again with Tim Allee on bass. Along the way, they changed their name to the Pagans, lost Kolar, and invited Carleton to play guitar for a brief time. The band's first release, the "Six And Change" single, came in late 1977. Throughout their existence, the Pagans played mostly high-octane rock 'n' roll-heavy punk a la the Stooges and Slaughter And The Dogs with sometimes-obnoxious/controversial lyrics both funny and serious. During the hard-living band's first incarnation, they settled on the lineup of the two Hudsons, Allee and guitarist Mike Metoff, putting out three more singles before breaking up in 1979 due to disillusionment with the burgeoning new-wave scene. (Tracks recorded for a debut LP were eventually released as Buried Alive in '86.) In 1982, Mike and Metoff resurrected the band with new drummer Bob Richey, bassist Robert Conn and keyboardist Chas Smith, putting out their self-titled debut LP (aka the Pink Album) in '83.
PUNK-ROCK RELEVANCE: During their tenure, The Pagans played with such luminaries as Ramones, Dead Boys (also from Cleveland), the Cramps, Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers and Buzzcocks; and got to play NYC punk-rock meccas CBGB and Max's Kansas City. Over the years, they've been covered by bands the world over (most notably the Meatmen tackling "What's This Shit Called Love?"), plus Buried Alive was named on Mudhoney guitarist Steve Turner's "best albums of all time" list. After their original breakup in '79, Mike and Metoff started a label, Terminal, releasing important records like the Cleveland Confidential EP and LP.
CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: After calling it quits in 1990, the guys played in numerous acts, including the Cramps, the Pink Holes and the Murder Junkies (where Mike stepped in for the late G.G. Allin). Mike also collaborated with Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome. In 1991, Brian Hudson was killed in a car accident, which Mike touches on poignantly in his band memoir Diary Of A Punk, published this year. Also recently deceased is Chas Smith. The band posthumously released a live recording of a 1988 Wisconsin gig, The Blue Album, earlier this year on Smog Veil. -Janelle Jones
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