Music
John Brannon
born 1961 · singer
Pontiac-born singer of Negative Approach, the Detroit band that pioneered Midwest hardcore punk in 1981, and later of the Ann Arbor noise-rock band Laughing Hyenas.
- Born
Pontiac, Michigan
age 65- Birth name
- John Lamar Brannon
- Detroit years
- 1961–present
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
The son of a minister who moved often, Brannon settled with his mother on Detroit's east side and was discovered in 1975 by a paperboy who heard him singing Alice Cooper through a window. His teenage band Fallout packed east side high schools and the Grosse Pointe War Memorial and held nightly shows in his mother's black-painted basement. Drawn from glam to punk, he formed Negative Approach in August 1981; the band's brutal, Stooges-rooted hardcore, played at spots like the Cass Corridor's Freezer Theatre and St. Andrew's Hall, made it a legend of the early Midwest scene despite breaking up in 1984. With guitarist Larissa Strickland he then formed Laughing Hyenas in Ann Arbor, recording three albums for Touch and Go, later reissued by Third Man Records. He went on to front Easy Action, and Negative Approach has reunited and toured since 2006.
Highlights
- Formed Negative Approach in Detroit (August 1981)
- Fronted Laughing Hyenas (1985–1995) on Touch and Go Records
- Later singer of Easy Action
- Negative Approach reunited in 2006
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1975–1976
Grosse Pointe War Memorial
Lakeside community center where his teenage band Fallout played to packed houses and twice won the Grosse Pointe battle of the bands.
Performed here · 1982
Freezer Theater
Closed
Cass Corridor punk space where Negative Approach played frequently in 1982.
Performed here · early 1980s
Saint Andrew’s Hall
Downtown hall, built for the St. Andrew's Society, where Negative Approach played early hardcore bills with other Midwest bands.