PETER LAUGHNER

I don't know a lot about Peter Laughner.  Like probably most everyone else (outside of those who did know him), I imagine, I first heard about him in connection with Cleveland's underground scene of the 70's, more specifically, in Lester Bang's obit for him, which can be found in Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung.  All that left me with was a tantalizing, yet also pathetic, picture of a talented guy with mostly superlative taste in music and a gift for Bukowksi-an prose, who couldn't handle his substances too well.  Oh, and he also led a band with one of the coolest names I'd ever heard (Rocket From the Tombs) and who I would've, at the time, given my eyeteeth to hear recordings of (I have since, and if they're not the holy grail I imagined them to be, they still have considerable merit). Clinton Heylin's From the Velvets to the Voidoids gave me some more info, as did a radio special on the Cleveland scene I heard c. 92.

This is a strange way to get to know a cult rocker icon, which Laughner has come to be, albeit only, I suppose, among music geeks like myself.  I've yet to see any video footage of him, nor do I know if any exists.  The photos I've come across are almost all small, hazy, grainy and usually b&w.  The only released recordings of him (there do seem to be a fair share of recordings) are similarly lo-fi, scratchy, and vague. Laughner is sort of a punk-rock answer to Robert Johnson - a mystery man with only some flawed artifacts left behind.

Basically, the guy spent a decade plus forming and shattering (or being kicked out of) various bands of varying promise, in all of which he seems to have shot himself in the foot, mainly due to an apparent lack of confidence about his own songs, a tendency to fall back on beloved covers, and a ADD-like approach to direction brought on by his own versatility - do I play "Route 66," or "Heroin," or Richard Thompsons's "Cavalry Cross" - cuz I can easily pull off any of them. Add in the fact that most of his comrades in music don't appear to have had near his range or reach or imagination. And mostly, his main problem - the guy just plain drank way too much (killing yourself at 24 with pancreatitis is an impressive feat that goes waaaaaaaaay beyond the normal, or even excessive, measure of teenage boy partying) and far too many drugs.

I don't mean to sound too harsh on Laughner, because, far from it, I see a lot, and I do mean a lot, of myself in his story.  I didn't and don't have anywhere near his musical talent, but, fortunately, never came anywhere near his substance issues, for which I am resentful (re: the first) and grateful (re: the latter).

The recordings are all basically of bootleg (i.e. rough sound quality) and mostly of very rough, even shaky, performance (some of the live Tombs stuff suffers from seriously sloppy drumming).  The songs are remarkable.  As Peter Scholtes wrote in City Pages a decade ago:

 Where Lou Reed was cool, and Iggy just crazy, Rockets were vulnerable and enraged, singing bluntly about feeling shut out or lost, but with the pride of losers who never had a chance.

If that sounds quite a bit like the kind of stuff that would emerge in the 80s'/90's - you'd be dead right.

The very raggedness of both recording and performance keeps Laughner's legacy from being truly appreciable.  But there's much here worth hearing if you're into this sort of thing (and if you're reading this, you probably are).

Links

Handsome Productions this is the best repository of Laughner info.  Scroll down the home page and you'll find the link.  "Words By Peter" is a selection of his writings, mostly about music but, being very Bukowski-an as I mentioned, also very much about himself.  The liner notes to the first Ubu single are a blast!  "Words About Peter" contains Bangs' obit (an excellent piece in and of itself), a typically terse and sarcastic but honest interview with David Thomas on Peter, the Rockets, and the early days, and "Those Were Different Times," Laughner ex-wife Charlotte Pressler's very moving reminiscence of the Cleveland underground scene of the seventies - essential stuff!
Rocket From the Tombs official website (the reformed Rockets, with much historical as well as up-to-date info, and you can get their records there)
ClePunk good site for all Cleveland underground bands.  Rockets and Pere Ubu are prominently featured there
Ain't It Fun nice article by Jason Gross, with some good notes on their limited discography
Tomb Raider short but insightful City Pages piece on the Rockets

Essential Listening

The Day the Earth Met Rocket From the Tombs flawed stuff but worth hearing for some very fine songs ("Amphetamime," "Seventeen").  Some other archival recordings as well as stuff by the reformed band can be acquired at the same link.

Take the Guitar Player For A Ride demos, live takes, etc from Laughner's short career.  There's some nice stuff here, including slower solo versions of "Amphetamine," a cover of Eno's "Baby's On Fire," "Dear Richard" and several others.  Out of print now, but can be tracked down.

The above-cited Handsome Productions had a host of Laughner archival recordings for sale:

Terry Hartman and Peter Laughner Notes On A Cocktail Napkin - demos (I think) of an early folk-rockish band formed by Laughner c. 1970
The Original Wolverines Do Re Mi - live folk/rock/blues c. 1972
Cinderella Backstreet's Last Show Laughner's Rock and Roll Animal-influenced early 70's band - c.1973
Peter Laughner How I Spent My Summer Vacation - live at Case University c. 1974
Cinderella's Revenge Last Show - another final gig, c. 1975
Peter Laughner Dear Richard - late 70's home demos
Peter Laughner Setting Son - home recordings, mostly covers
Friction Hideaway - live and demos of Laughner's post-Ubu band
Peter and the Wolves Time Tunnel - practice tapes of Laughner's final outfit
Peter Laughner Nocturnal Digressions - late-night home recordings, mostly covers, shortly before his death

I've not heard any of these (though individual songs from most of these are on Take the Guitar Player) and all are out of print as Handsome is no longer selling Laughner recordings.  I suspect availability, even second-hand, is very limited.  Another label, Smog Veil, was supposed to be putting a boxed set (or multiple boxed sets), but it's been six years since they were announced and no sign yet.

Essential Reading

From the Velvets to the Voidoids by Clinton Heylin
Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs

Plug this into your browser for a cool audio of Laughner and Lester Bangs doing one of Laughner's best songs.  Dunno why I can't link to the video - it ain't lettin' me!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&ved=0CFAQtwIwBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJW3pgFKnS28&ei=xP0fUbn1Ne7aigL_6oBo&usg=AFQjCNFTcmUCUV1SgqRTxHa66jlE7mpimw&bvm=bv.42661473,d.cGE

PS  there are several other Laughner audio's on Youtube, so check `em out.