RE: (TV) Laughner in Television?

["Brian Young" <raggedglory57@hotmail.com>]

Here's the piece:


Recalling a rocker whose time never came

07/07/02

John Petkovic
Plain Dealer Reporter

It was 25 years ago that booze, drugs and a rock 'n' roll myth took Peter 
Laughner to an early grave.

Peter who?

Don't feel bad. Peter Laughner isn't a household name; he never was. But to 
those who saw him play guitar and sing his guts out, Laughner might've been 
a household name - had he not died at 24.

In the 1970s, Laughner founded two of Cleveland's most important bands, punk 
pioneers Rocket From the Tombs and Pere Ubu. He co-wrote "Sonic Reducer," 
"Final Solution" and "Ain't It Fun" - songs covered by everyone from Pearl 
Jam to Guns 'N Roses.

More than that, he believed in himself and inspired others to do the same, 
says guitarist Rick Kalister.

"He was the most enthusiastic guy I ever met," he says. "He would light up a 
room."

Creative sparks definitely flew when Kalister met Laughner in 1973.

"I was jamming with some guys at this house on Superior and East 23rd," says 
Kalister. "We were just regular guys playing blues tunes."

"Not Peter. He walks in, dressed in black, wearing a leather jacket and 
sunglasses," he recalls. "We start jamming and he starts jumping around, 
doing Pete Townshend windmills, going absolutely nuts."

There was a method to his madness: Laughner was hell-bent on injecting some 
life into a stagnant music scene in Cleveland.

Within days, he and Kalister had formed Cinderella Backstreet, the first of 
many Laughner-led bands that hit the stage running.

"Back then, you basically had cover bands who played songs everybody wanted 
to hear," says Kalister. "Peter was hip to new music and was going to play 
it, regardless of who came."

Most shows were in front of a few people, in gritty bars like the now-closed 
Viking Saloon, which was near Cleveland State University.

But Laughner was on to something, says former Plain Dealer rock reporter 
Jane Scott.

"Peter was three steps ahead," says Scott. "He knew what was happening, and 
he became an advocate for it."

Scott recalls Laughner - who also wrote about music for Creem and The Plain 
Dealer, among other publications - dragging her to see Bruce Springsteen's 
first area show, in 1973.

"Bruce was totally unknown, except to Peter. He kept on saying, 'This guy is 
the next big thing,' " she says. "Peter was really a New Yorker trapped in 
Cleveland."

By 1976, Laughner almost was a New Yorker flat out. He often traveled to 
Manhattan to soak in its burgeoning punk scene and to hang out with its 
icons: Patti Smith, Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine of Television.

"He auditioned for Television," says Dead Boys guitarist Jimmy Zero. "The 
word was he got the gig but was afraid to move to New York. At heart, Peter 
was a well-to-do kid who couldn't leave his hometown."

Still, Laughner brought a bit of New York to Cleveland. He convinced 
Television and seminal punk band the Heartbreakers to play their first 
out-of-town gigs here. More importantly, he inspired Cleveland musicians to 
greatness.

"Peter was a dreamer who dreamt for everybody," says his father, Luke 
Laughner, from his home in Sarasota, Fla. "He'd tell people, 'You're as good 
as anybody. Now, go do it.' "

His confidence and leadership stemmed from his upbringing, says Anastasia 
Pantsios, who photographed Laughner often.

"He grew up in Bay Village in a well-off family that supported his every 
effort," she says. "He had self-confidence. He was a leader."

After co-founding Pere Ubu in 1975 with singer David Thomas, Laughner led 
the band into action. Within months, Ubu had released two singles, "30 
Seconds Over Tokyo" and "Final Solution," on the band's own label. An 
amalgam of brains and brawn, the little discs that could turned the punk 
world on its head.

"Back then, bands didn't dream of putting out their own records," says 
drummer Scott Krauss. "We did and, thanks to Peter's contacts, we started 
playing New York."

The only thing faster than Pere Ubu's rise was Laughner's fall.

"He worshipped Lou Reed," says Pantsios. "That meant doing every drug Lou 
did. One morning, he called me at 7 a.m. just to tell me that he had shot up 
[heroin] for the first time."

Within months, Laughner became so erratic that he was kicked out of Pere 
Ubu.

"He'd be totally out of his mind, waving his gun around like a madman," says 
Krauss. "We couldn't take it anymore."

Within months, Laughner was in and out of hospitals, suffering from liver 
problems. But he didn't let up. Even after he was told to stop drinking or 
die, Laughner made a beeline to the Flats club the Pirate's Cove. He drank 
until he passed out, according to Pantsios. Laughner also played on, but 
couldn't keep a band, says Kalister, who played with Laughner at the Eagle 
Street Saloon in May 1977.

"He was lying on the stage, screaming, 'I can't get no satisfaction,' " 
Kalister recalls.

It was Laughner's last show. On June 21 of that year, at his parents' house, 
he recorded a tape of originals and songs by Robert Johnson, Richard 
Thompson and Lou Reed. The following day, he died in his bed from acute 
pancreatitis.

For years, Laughner's death received more attention than his music. It was 
immortalized in stories and books, including a famous eulogy by legendary 
rock scribe Lester Bangs that celebrates his life, but also chronicles his 
downward spiral.

Then, in 1993, a collection of Laughner's songs, "Take the Guitar Player for 
a Ride," brought him notoriety as a poetic songwriter. His role as a rock 
'n' roller and a prime mover in America's punk scene was recognized earlier 
this year with the release of a CD of Rocket From the Tombs material.

"There's this outsider quality to his music that resonates with people, 
especially those familiar with his life," says Dave Sprague, a New York rock 
critic for Variety and the Village Voice.

"When most people do it, it's contrived. But Peter's songs take on a 
different meaning when you hear lyrics like, 'Ain't it fun when you're gonna 
die young.' "

"Here's a guy who romanticized about tragic heroes, and by doing so, became 
a tragic figure," says Sprague. "He didn't realize that Lou Reed exaggerated 
his drug use to create an image."

That, says Jimmy Zero, is what killed Laughner.

"He was so talented," Zero says, adding that he also wasted his talent. "If 
only Peter would've been content being himself, he might have achieved 
greatness."


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