Tim Kerr was the guitarist in one of my favorite punk bands of all time, The Big Boys. The Big Boys were hands down the coolest, most fun band ever and were very influential in the hardcore punk scene of the early 1980's. I have all their records along with a Big Boys skateboard and a couple t-shirts, etc. They were all skaters which made them easy to relate to, but they also just totally rocked out and had a great time being in a band. They hailed from Austin, TX and my band BIU played a very memorable show with them at the Greenfield Grange in Western Massachusetts many, many years ago. They inspired us to form our band. One of their phrases, among many, was "Now go start your own band!"I got to know a lot of great people from that time because as a teenager I would type letters to people from all over the world. Tim and I became great friends and we were pen pals for many years. We'd write letters back and forth and trade flyers and records and talk on the phone about records and music and skateboarding and other things that we thought were interesting. We lost touch after I went to college and moved to New York, but I've seen his name pop up over the years. He's a really great guy.
Tim did all the artwork for the Big Boys records and I always thought it was pretty terrific. Imagine my surprise when I was looking through some pictures I took last week and I found this one. This mural of Claudette Colvin appears on a wall on Elizabeth street and I was just sort of admiring it and noticed that my old friend Tim was the artist. You can see more of his art here. You can also watch a video of his studio here.
Here's one of there songs "We Got Your Money" from the 1980's time period. It reminds me of seeing them way back then, we had a really fun time. What a great show. Afterwards, the band gave us all a ride home in their tour van. It was pretty excellent.
5 comments:
I have bad vision, so I can't tell, but is the mural signed, "your name here"? If so, that's so awesomely punk rock! Also, if so, how did you know it was your friend's work? The mural rocks & the photo, too!!
An awesome poster. Too cool that you found it.
Yes, it is signed "your name here." I had to look twice too. I liked it as well. We think alike. But if you look closely underneath that signature there is a proper attribution for the mural and a link to his website. Plus I recognize his style.
I know, I was pleased when I saw it. I might have appreciated it even more if I wasn't across the street at the time, but I certainly liked it enough cause it definitely caught my eye and I took a picture, right? He's super talented. Watch the video if you have time, his studio is really great.
That's pretty cool. I think the last time I saw the Big Boys was in late 1983 or early 1984 when they played with Suicidal Tendencies and the Toy Dolls in Pasadena Ca. They used to be in Flipside magazine all the time back in those days. Sounds like we had similar fun punk times just on different coasts.
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