Pope On Tour
To celebrate the arrival of Papa to these shores I bring you one of Cincinnati’s original punks…. SS-20 with Pope On Tour. I am glad to know they are still alive and well. I came of age at some of these shows in the eighties and the reunions of the early nineties.
The photos above are from the legendary Jockey Club in Newport, KY (right across the river from the ‘Nati, where they sell until 2 am) in 1985 and were taken by Elizabeth Stevens.
If you notice nobody looks of age. I think they used one of those amusement park height guides for roller coasters to let kids in. There was a party store near where I went to school called Dee’s, if you could see over the counter you could get served. Seriously, you used to be able to get in the JC with an adult library card.
The singer Jughead, who taught “socialist studies” at public schools, was always throwing out left-wing challenges to the crowd. This brought SS-20 into a rather direct confrontation with some of those more disposed to the Racial Holy War within the punk scene. I’ve seen Jughead, albeit in his younger days and juiced up on well drinks, kick Nazis in the face from the stage. And Pedro on guitar!
The ISO was the left group in town and at that time most of them were young and in the scene in Cincinnati. I probably still have a couple of old Socialist Workers I bought outside of shows on Short Vine in the 80’s. Those were my first introduction to Marxism.
Thanks to Jay out in the Bay for sending this to me. He and I, both now exiles from our hometown, saw a lot of shows together. We used to shout out at SS-20 for the song “Right Wing Death Squad” mainly because it rocked but also because the politics were good. I think Jughead thought we were fascists for a while and didn’t know that the song was against the death squads then running wild in Latin America.
I can still feel the square punches to my face; Jay do you still have a hangover?
SS-20 everyone.
April 18, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Oooooh. Cute punk leftie boys!!!!! Wish I was there!!!
April 19, 2008 at 8:13 pm
It’s all hard work and paying dues. The punk and hardcore bands paid plenty of them in many different ways. Some put in more than others and a few actually got a payback, others burned out, and then some just kept chugging along. I was always suspect of Jughead’s claim of being a teacher until i passed a public school ground and saw him wrangling some kids around on the playground. I may have actually taken more of an interest in my own classes if my teacher was a sweating ominous frontman for a righteous rock and roll band. While we were growing up under Reagan and having our heads filled with talk of ICBM’s, SS-20 and other bands were there to give us the education we didn’t get in school and confront all the propaganda.
SS-20 shows for me are all one fuzzy memory. I can’t say there is any particular SS-20 show I remember in part because of the booze but mainly because whether they were headlining their own gig or opening for some nationally touring punk band this hardworking band always seemed to be playing. If you were in a punk band on a national tour and you decided to bother to stop in the ‘Nati chances are SS-20 was going to open for you.
Countless local bands in many towns played the role SS-20 did of keeping us entertained during the droughts between the “big shows” coming through town and helping us to understand the world we were growing up in. Today we have Gulf War ii, more nuclear fear propaganda, and another pope touring in the latest model of the popemobile. Today while Henry Rollins tours with the USO supporting the troops for a war we spend billions on, I would imagine Jughead is teaching the youth in a school system that is getting funding cut while new prisons get built and maintaining his sanity by getting lit and jamming in the band with his friends in the garage. Thank you Jughead and all the local dues paying punk rockers.
April 22, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Jay:Thanks for your memories. JessieCat: I agree that young, drunk and bloody has a certain attraction, but cute?