Members of Blondie, The Replacements, MC5, and The Heartbreakers form punk supergroup
The supergroup that every long-haired, bespectacled record store clerk has been waiting for since they bought their first Television album is finally upon us. Blondie’s Clem Burke, The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, The Heartbreakers’ (as in Johnny Thunders, not Tom Petty) Walter Lure, and Wayne Kramer of the MC5 are going to kick out the jams for the motherfuckers at the Marlin Room at Webster Hall this November.
The band got together to help out writer and punk rocker Stephan Saban, who, according to Stereogum, was “diagnosed with cancer last year at the age of 69.” Last year, a GoFundMe page started by Saban’s daughter raised over $20,000 to help with Saban’s healthcare costs. “It’s really weird,” Saban told The New York Times. “I didn’t know anyone even liked me.”
Saban was known around New York City’s club scene throughout the ’80s for his snark and wry sense of humor. He was a founding editor of Details magazine, where he chronicled all the best parties around New York during the Reagan era.
The punk-rock supergroup will perform The Heartbreakers’ only studio record, 1977’s L.A.M.F., featuring Dee Dee Ramone and Richard Hell’s “Chinese Rocks,” “One Track Mind,” and the Heartbreakers’ anthem, “Born To Lose.” Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, Bush Tetras, and Mudd Club’s Marilyn will also join the band on stage.
The whole thing goes down on November 15 in New York City. Tickets for the event are a relatively inexpensive $50, and all proceeds go to Saban’s treatment.