Cheetah Chrome

Cheetah Chrome
Cheetah Chrome, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Gene O'Connor
Born	February 18, 1955 (1955-02-18) (age 56)
Origin	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Genres	Punk rock, garage rock
Associated acts	Rocket from the Tombs The Dead Boys
Website	http://www.cheetahchrome.net/newtabsrs.html

Cheetah Chrome (born Eugene O'Connor, February 18, 1955, Cleveland, Ohio) is an American musician who achieved fame as a guitarist for Rocket From the Tombs and the punk rock band, The Dead Boys.

After the Dead Boys break-up, Chrome played around New York (mostly at Max's Kansas City) doing shows with the Stilettos, as well as his own band Cheetah Chrome and the Casualties. He recorded a single for ORK Records, "Still Wanna Die" / "Take Me Home", recorded by Atlantic Records co-founder Herb Abramson. Shortly thereafter, he played on Ronnie Spector's debut solo album Siren. He appeared on several recordings during the 1980s, most notably his own "Cheetah Chrome and the Ghetto Dogs" (Get Hip) and Jeff Dahl's "I Kill Me" (Sympathy For The Record Industry). He also rejoined the Dead Boys for the ill fated reunions of the late 1980s.

In the 1990s, Chrome moved to Nashville, Tennessee and recorded a live album Alive in Detroit (DUI) at Lili's in Hamtramck, Michigan. In the 2000s, he played guitar on several tracks for False Alarm's Fuck ‘Em All We've All Ready (Now) Won!.

In 2003, after the release of The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs, he reformed Rocket From The Tombs with David Thomas, Craig Bell, with Steve Mehlman (Pere Ubu) on drums and Richard Lloyd (Television) replacing the late Peter Laughner.^[1] The reincarnation of the group toured in 2003 and 2006. In 2004 it entered the studio to record some of the band's old material for the first time. The recordings were released as Rocket Redux (SmogVeil).

Chrome continues to play live shows both in the United States and Europe.

Sylvain Sylvain and Cheetah Chrome, two founding fathers of punk rock, have formed Batusis. The project marks the first-ever collaboration of two longtime friends, both of whom happen to have profoundly influenced the direction of punk rock and its aftermath: Cheetah Chrome, hard-charging guitarist of Cleveland icons Rocket From The Tombs and Dead Boys and celebrated solo rocker, and Sylvain Sylvain, wildly charismatic New York Dolls axeman and adventurous solo artist.^[2]

In the fall of 2010, Chrome released his autobiography "Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy's Tale from the Front Lines of Punk Rock" through Voyageur Press. The book received critical praise and helped launch the "Cleveland Confidential" book tour with fellow Cleveland punk legends Mike Hudson (The Pagans) and Bob Pfeifer (Human Switchboard) in 2011.

References

1. ^ http://www.3ammagazine.com/musicarchives/2003/feb/interview_cheetah_chrome.html
2. ^ http://www.myspace.com/batusis

Persondata
Name	Gene O'Connor
Alternative names	Cheetah Chrome
Short description	Guitarist
Date of birth	February 18, 1955
Place of birth	Cleveland, Ohio
Date of death
Place of death