Teenage Head Lead Singer Frankie Venom Dies At 51
Posted October 15, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
He was a rock and roll icon, a Canadian original, a local legend and a punk rocker who loved to shock.
But fans of Frankie Venom, a member of the iconic band Teenage Head, couldn’t have been expecting this stunning news. The 51-year-old Scottish born lead singer died Wednesday after battling throat cancer and slipping into a coma on the holiday weekend.
Venom, born Frank Kerr, formed the band with some friends when attending Westdale High School back in 1975.
The heyday of the Head may have passed, but the band was still in demand. They played in Hamilton two months ago and had been slated to be one of the star attractions at this year’s Grey Cup festivities, scheduled for November 23rd in Montreal.
It would likely have been a memorable performance but nothing will ever eclipse Teenage Head’s most legendary moment, a June 1980 concert at Ontario Place that ended in a riot after thousands of fans found they couldn’t get in.
It was that incident that led to the cancellation of all rock shows at the venue and the resultant publicity only fueled the local band’s growing reputation and album sales.
Venom left the band for a time to form his own group but returned to his roots in 1996. CityNews.ca spent time with the icon last April, as he recalled the 2004 album “Teenage Head with Marky Ramone.” The band had often been compared to the Ramones and considered it a compliment.
“It was great,” Venom recalled of the recording process. “(Marky was a) professional. We did (vocal tracks) for 12 songs in two days. The record sounds great, we’re proud of it.”
Funeral arrangements are pending.
