Dead Boys

A crucially important band in the early years of American punk rock, the Dead Boys titled their classic debut album Young Loud and Snotty, and they devoted their career to living up to that slogan. Following the example of the Raw Power-era Iggy & the Stooges, the Dead Boys had an unapologetically raw and ferocious attack, though they delivered their sonic blows with taut precision, and they eagerly challenged their audience with obnoxious lyrics, a bad attitude, and the self-destructive theatrics of lead singer Stiv Bators. Young Loud and Snotty was too extreme for mainstream audiences in 1977, but it would become an enduring cult classic, and their reputation as an incendiary live act was documented on Return of the Living Dead Boys 1986, taken from a mid-'80s reunion show.