That's Peter on the left, with Cinderella Backstreets...
Thanks to Rick Kalister for the great picture.
peter laughner:
a true cleveland original
If
you're reading this, you probably have some idea of who Peter
Laughner was. If by chance you don't, then you've somehow
managed to stumble across the legacy of a very interesting guy.
Either way, you're probably a rock & roll fan; if you know
Peter, you're probably a really BIG, and pretty selective, rock
& roll fan, in fact, who has trolled the internet in search of
information on him. We hope we'll provide it for you..
Why are we doing this? Why put
up a tribute to someone who has been dead for thirty years, and
who, with the exception of a couple of singles by a then-unknown
Cleveland band named Pere Ubu, never released a record during
his lifetime?
There
are several reasons. First and foremost, Peter was a friend of
some of the musicians who created Handsome Productions. He was a
treasured influence, and a brave and interesting soul. Far more
than the one-dimensional punk rock pioneer many imagine in
their heads, he was a bona fide roots musician in the mold of a
Woody Guthrie or a Bob Dylan, and he had the dynamic personality
(and problems, too) of a major "star." He had a strong impact
on those around him, some of whom were carried to fame on what
they absorbed from him. In fact, he catalyzed a scene in
Cleveland that, one could safely say, is the virtual blueprint
for the independent music scene, even today.
The information on these pages
has been lovingly assembled and slaved over by several
individuals. Among them are Derek DePrator, a current young lad
of a musician in Cleveland who has taken an interest in Peter
and done the bulk of the work in chasing down the music we offer
on this site, and Don Harvey, who played with Peter in his first
Rock & Roll Band, "Mr. Charlie," while Pete was in high school
in the late 1960s. We're grateful to them and to all the others
whose words are reproduced on these pages.
We hope you'll enjoy reading
about Peter, and we'd love your contributions, additions,
corrections, etc. All contributors are welcome and will be
credited. Please Contact us if you'd like to contribute.
We're not selling Peter's
music anymore, but there is big news coming on that front from
Smog Veil Records. If you're a Peter fan, be patient. Rumor has
it that 2011 is the year... Keep your eyes on Smog Veil - Click
the picture below to visit their site.
