Peter Laughner (August 22, 1952 – June 22, 1977) was an American
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
,
songwriter and
singer.
A native of
Bay Village, Ohio
Bay Village is a city in western Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, the city is a western suburb of Cleveland and a part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 16,163 at the 2020 ce ...
, Laughner was described by
Richie Unterberger as "probably the single biggest catalyst in the birth of Cleveland's
alternative rock scene in the mid 1970s."
Music career
Laughner led a variety of groups. Among them were Mr. Charlie, Cinderella Backstreet, Peter & The Wolves, The Blue Drivers and Friction. However, his most enduring contributions were to
Rocket From The Tombs and the early work of
Pere Ubu. In addition to all this, he wrote for
Creem magazine.
Laughner was a voracious rock fan and writer, and was heavily influenced by the writings of
Lester Bangs. Like Bangs, Laughner admired
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
, but also drew inspiration from folk and blues figures such as
Robert Johnson and
Woody Guthrie.
Tom Verlaine was also one of Laughner's idols.
[''Peter Laughner is dead'', Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic'', collected writings, Greil Marcus, ed. Anchor Press, 1988. ()]
There have been suggestions that Laughner was briefly considered as a replacement for