It was 35 years ago, in a dirty, smoky, subterranean dive bar in Boston known as "The Rat." Located in the basement of a restaurant in Kenmore Square, The Rathskeller is where a lot of people say the punk music movement in this country was born. The venue, which is even featured in the videogame Guitar Hero, became famous for hosting acts such as the Talking Heads, the Dead Kennedys, and the Ramones.
But before them all was Mickey Clean and the Mezz. These days, Mickey spends most of his time drawing crayon caricatures in the bars along Fort Lauderdale Beach, as detailed in last week's New Times cover story. But back then, his group was one of the original garage punk bands.
"He would take hold of the microphone and just gyrate and totally let go
of everything onstage," he remembers. "And he was doing it before
anyone."
There aren't many recordings from those days (there was this TV appearance by Mickey in 1981), but about ten years ago, Brebner met back up with Mickey and recorded an album of a bunch of the songs they used to do. The album, fittingly titled Unsung Heroes, features Mickey on the cover in a pearlsnap shirt. Most of the songs are an interesting blend of punk, country, and some late-'90s acoustic movement.
This track is called "Clone": Mickey Clean - Clone by countygrind
