10/16/2008

This is just sad .. Frankie Venom, lead singer of Teenage Head has passed away from cancer.

Canadian punk band lead singer dies of cancer
The Canadian Press

October 16, 2008

Hamilton -- Frank Kerr, lead singer of the iconic Hamilton punk band Teenage Head, has died of cancer at age 52.

Gord Lewis, his bandmate and close friend since childhood, said Mr. Kerr died yesterday at a Hamilton hospital. He had been diagnosed less than a month ago with throat cancer.

To his fans, Mr. Kerr was known as Frankie Venom, a wildly unpredictable stage persona seemingly capable of anything when standing in front of a microphone.

"Frankie was the true punk rocker. He really was," said Mr. Lewis, who founded the band in 1975 with Mr. Kerr while they were students in high school. "But that's what made him interesting. I thrived off his abilities and his energy."

Mr. Kerr and the band had their biggest hits with their first two albums, Teenage Head (1979) and Frantic City (1980).


This is just a shame. I remember slam danceing and pogoing to the Head at the Roxy in Barrie, I must have seen this band at least 20 times. The last time was in Vancouver in the 80's. Great songs, lots of energy, lots of fun.

Bye Frankie.

3 comments:

Dale said...

That is a shame, and so young too. Such a fun band.

Call me Paul said...

That is too bad. Weren't they working recently with someone from The Ramones?

ib said...

Sad news. Cancer, eh... As an inveterate smoker and certified old punk myself, news like this is always all the worse.

Great voice, too. I followed your link over to Teenage Head's website and grabbed a taste. I confess I wasn't familiar with the group, but I'm assuming they must have been fans of the Flamin' Groovies to carve out that name. We have that in common.