A year ago it was thought that the Dead Boys were finished. Lead singer Stiv Bators was moving to L.A. to sing pop and the rest of the band sort of faded into oblivion.

Watching the newly re-formed Dead Boys climb out of their car in front of the Warfield, it wasn't hard to see that the original band was gone forever, having been replaced by nice looking rock and roll boys. Even Stiv, the only original member left, looked clean! And even after rolling around in slime for an hour, Stiv proved to be a real swell guy , quick with rude answers to innocent questions. (Lindsey: Do you have a lot of spare time? Stiv: Why , whatcha got in mind? )

These days the future certainly looks brighter for the Boys. Doing pretty much the same songs and with pretty much the same sleazy attitude as the original band, they live up to a reputation that draws new fans and early fans alike to see them.

Life wasn't always this easy, though. When the Dead Boys first formed, back around 1975, it was tough to find work in Cleveland. "The Ramones weren't around then, or anything," says Stiv." It was like pre-punk. Back then you had to dress like an 'English Fag Glitter Band' and play Aerosmith songs."

So, determined to get a gig the Dead Boys did just that. Calling themselves Frankenstein, the Boys dressed up like the New York Dolls and played on Halloween for a goof. With hair to their waists , wearing leopard print bodysuits and perched on platform boots, they were hardly recognizable in the photo Stiv sent to Rock Scene' s "New Bands" section.

But the glitter play paid off. "We did 'Sonic Reducer' and 'Down In Flames' ( from their first album) and some people liked the music, so after that we got to play certain places." After 2 gigs as Frankenstein the band got frustrated and broke up, with Stiv and Cheetah Chrome going to New York . Being the loudmouths they are, they had soon talked their way into a gig at CBGB's and had to put in a quick call to Johnny and Jeff to reform the band. The rest, as they say, is history.

With new haircuts and scruffy clothes, the Dead Boys hit the New York scene with a vengeance. Unfortunately they found themselves getting lost among the emerging English and New York punk scene and the press couldn't decide whether the Dead Boys were an imitation of the Ramones or an American version of the Sex pistols.

"We weren't copying the Pistols or the Ramones," says Stiv. "What we did was cut our hair short and started dressing up instead of wearing ripped jeans and leather jackets (which they were doing before the Ramones) . Then the Pistols came out right after that and they hit the press before we did. That's always been our problem, we always hit the press too late."

A combination of bad timing, two confused albums and a near fatal stabbing all led to the breakup of the band in 1979. Then, a few months later , it was announced that Stiv was moving to L.A. "to sing pop" .

"I went to L.A. with Cynthia from the B-Girls", he says."We were hanging around with Greg Shaw (from Bomp Magazine), he heard the tape of 'It's Cold Outside' and wanted to put it out. I've always liked 'It's Cold Outside', it's one of my favorite songs (and a surprise addition to their new song list).

"In Bomp, it said I was moving to L.A. to sing pop as a joke. It pissed a lot of people off and that's what I like to do most!"

With renewed confidence and flair Stiv is now working at pissing people off even more . A solo album of pop-ish tunes ("Like the single") , co-written with Frankie Farre ("He wrote all the lyrics and I stole them") is being recorded for Bomp Records and Stiv is set to star in two upcoming B-grade movies .

The first film is a new John Waters movie with Divine (lots of gasps and gee-whiz ' s) in which Stiv plays Bo Bo Bellzinger , leader of a teenage gang. The second is a "Sci-Fi rock 'n' roll flick", which Stiv describes as being "a lot different than my real life. We get drunk a lot and get in fights onstage!"

Stiv's real life style? "I sit home and drink warm milk at night while watching 'Father Knows Best' reruns."