This year will be remembered as the year when pop icons of every generation seemed to suddenly die off with, so far, Amy Winehouse and Elizabeth Taylor heading the pack. Two icons who didn't get the headlines managed to die on the same day ( Aug. 22 ) and the irony—that without composers Jerry Lieber or Nick Ashford, rock and soul music would have been vastly different—is impossible to miss. Even if you don't know the names, you know the songs.
Lieber and his songwriting/producing partner, Mike Stoller, started writing together in the early '50s and became the first independent producers in the business. They also had a big hand in kicking off rock 'n' roll. Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" may have been the first rock record ever while Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" got the recognition but the team's " ( You Ain't Nothin' but a ) Hound Dog," first recorded by Big Mama Thornton and then by one Elvis Presley, is what ignited the world's biggest cultural wave.
However, that's far from all: "Stand By Me ( Ben E. King ) ," "On Broadway ( The Drifters ) ," "Kansas City ( Will Harrison ) ," "Love Potion #9 ( a huge hit for the Clovers which Cyndi Lauper had the wit to lampoon on her "I'll Kiss You" ) ," "Poison Ivy ( The Coasters ) ," "L'Homme a la Moto ( Edith Piaf ) ," "Spanish Harlem ( one of Aretha Franklin's most glorious moments ) ," "Is That All There Is ( Peggy Lee's defining ballad ) " and "Stuck In the Middle with You ( Stealer's Wheel ) " followed.
What Lieber and Stoller did with Elvis made the three of them legends, with "Jailhouse Rock," "Loving You," "Santa Claus is Back in Town," "King Creole" and "Trouble ( considered the first proto-punk song ever ) . A revue of L. & S. songs, Smokey Joe's Cafe, became the longest running revue on Broadway and ran for 2,036 performances.
Ashford started his writing career with future wife Valerie Simpson a decade later and their first big hit, Ray Charles' "Let's Go Get Stoned ( 1966 ) ," landed them a contract at Motown Records as house writers. Although they seemed to specialize in duets for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in the mid-'60s, what made their music last were the reworkings and covers done by other artists.
There were "You're All I Need to Get By ( Aretha again ) ," "Didn't You Know You'd Have to Cry Sometime? ( Gladys Knight and the Pips ) ," "Shoe, Shoe Shine ( The Dynamic Superiors who were fronted by out vocalist Tony Washington who would occasionally perform in drag ) ," "Ain't Nothing but a Maybe ( Rufus ) ," "Over and Over ( queer icon Sylvester ) ," "Is It Still Good to You? ( Teddy Pendergrass ) " and three career-defining anthems; "The Boss" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" for Diana Ross and "I'm Every Woman" for Chaka Kahn. After leaving Motown in the '70s Ashford and Simpson had their own career as headliners and had hits with "Solid," "One More Try," "Don't Cost You Nothing" and "Found A Cure."
Lieber died at the age of 78 of cardiopulmonary failure, Ashford at 70 from throat cancer.
On a far less reverential note, the queercentric "girl group" Hunx and His Punx is exactly what we need right now. Front man Seth "Hunx" Bogart, a one time zine-ster, hairdresser and mouthpiece for power pop band Gravy Train!!! has done the only sane thing for this cynical age by slapping together an all-girl punk band and diving into '50s/'60s doo-wop/surf rock/girl-group cliches while wedding them to the DIY attitude of punk rock. Hx & Px have managed to create something jokey, familiar, edgy and new by boiling rock 'n' roll right back to its roots, emotions and innocence while infusing it with a naughty humor.
"Lover's Lane," from the band's brand-new Too Young To Be In Love ( Hardly Art Records ) is the perfect crystallization of what this stew is about. With a ton of echo worthy of Phil Specter and a wall of ooo-waaahs, Hunx relates a tale of lust, innocence, gay pride and tragedy ( think of "Leader of the Pack" with cock rings ) while simultaneously winking furiously and keeping a straight face.
However, if the record seems like one joke, the act's SRO show last week at the Double Door made them anything but. Hunx—squeezed into a full body spandex suit reminiscent of Freddie Mercury, his cheeks smeared with rouge, and his spontaneous smile that showed baby teeth and the most punctuated dimples on the planet—is the ultimate femme boy. This really was hilarious since the Punx let loose like a big booming punk rock band should, while replacing angst and anger with unrestrained joy. In short, the show was off the rails. Without the confines of the studio Too Young had a much starker punch while Hunx got saucier by the moment. Hitting on the gay and straight boys in the room while urging the girls to go for it ( "Girl, he's cute, I'd jump all over that..." ) , Hunx made nancy boys downright adorable while "Bad Boy," "CRUISING," "You Don't Like Rock and Roll" and "Don't'cha Want Me Babe?" morphed into queer anthems of lust and mayhem. Obviously, this is just what the world needs right now.
