Growing up in and around Cleveland, John Morton played in bands during school while simultaneously getting into
Beat Generation authors such as
William S. Burroughs,
Jack Kerouac and others as well as art thru films like
Lust For Life,
A Bucket of Blood, and other avenues. "Being an artist seemed like a way-viable means to get away with a whole lot of societal misbehaving." Morton wore a
jean jacket held together by
safety pins as early as 1971, years before the use of safety pins became a widespread part of
punk fashion. The use of safety pins in clothing and piercings was later popularized by artists such as
Richard Hell, the
Sex Pistols and others during the punk rock explosion of the late 70's. It was a jacket that Morton had admired a few years prior on his friend and mentor, Royce Dendler, an assistant professor at
Oberlin College, whom Morton met when he was 14 years of age. Morton later visited Dendler while he was attending
SVA and Dendler was also living in New York at the time. Upon inquiring as to the jacket's current whereabouts, Dendler answered by pointing to the doormat below them. Morton offered to replace the doormat and asked if he could have the jacket even though it was now tattered, in need of much repair. Morton subsequently repaired the jacket using safety pins to make it wearable and liked the look so much that he gleefully added even more safety pins. It's also been said that Morton wrote the lyrics to one of his earliest songs,
Mr. Crab, after Dendler "walked him around New York and told him to write them." He recorded the song a few weeks later in September 1972 and it was eventually released in 1997 on the
Those Were Different Times 3x10" vinyl set on
Scat Records credited to
The Styrenes. Also around that time, he met
Peter Laughner at Disc Records'
Westgate store, where Laughner clerked after school, when Morton ordered about half of the
ESP-Disk jazz catalogue from him. Laughner's interest was piqued by this esoteric taste in music, as well as by Morton's hulking appearance and peroxide blonde long hair, both at that time in Cleveland (especially) being quite unique, so he struck up a conversation. A few years later the two would both perform at the Special Extermination Night shows at the Viking Saloon. Morton appeared with electric eels, Laughner as a member of
Rocket From The Tombs.
Mirrors completed the bills which took place in December 1974 and January 1975. ==Electric Eels==