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L.A. Punk Legends X To Be Celebrated At Dodger Stadium Next Month
X. (Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection)
In 1980, X took Los Angeles by storm with the release of their debut album, Los Angeles, and its frenetic, eponymous single, "Los Angeles." Then-married couple John Doe and Exene Cervenka "sang about L.A. as a surreal nightmare full of psycho speed freaks and burned-out Hollywood directors," as Rolling Stone put it. The band had formed in 1977, but it was with the release of Los Angeles that they helped define California punk.
On August 16, Doe and Cervenka will once again storm the city—or at least Elysian Park. The pair will be celebrated at a Dodger game against the Chicago White Sox, with Doe singing the National Anthem and Cervenka throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, according to the L.A. Times. Guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake will also be interviewed during the pre-game show.
"Somebody in the Dodgers' back office deserves a raise. Go to any ballpark in the country and you won't see nearly the diversity in the stands that we have here at Dodger Stadium," longtime Dodgers fan and Silver Lake resident Ben Cooley told LAist. "But honoring X is kind of the coolest, smallest hat tip to a corner of L.A.'s cultural history that makes me love this team back. Go Dodgers!"
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