The 27 was formed when Mark Norton and Dave Hanna had an interest in continuing together in a band after their original collaboration in The Ramrods. The group would involve Steve McGuire, Craig Peters, and Terry Fox after The Traitors collapsed. The original four-piece version, featuring Hanna, Norton, McGuire, and Rick Morris on drums, didn’t last long. Hanna says Maguire basically took over the band when he was forced by his parents to take a family vacation. After Hanna was removed/left the band, he joined The Boners. The group also had a falling out with Norton, making The 27 a trio.
The 27 recorded a single for Tremor Records during its time in Detroit before the group moved to New York, changed its name to Pack 9, recorded an album and then disbanded in the early 1980s.
I was there, great show. The fight was real exciting. That place was on Gratiot. The Romantics’ rehearsal place was right up the street. They invited us to check it out, very together. I was a 27 fan, sadly never saw them with Dave. Weird connection with Dave through a girl I worked with at the restaurant. Saw the Ramrods at Grande(?).
I wasn’t old/hip enough to hang at the Grande.
The first rock show I ever saw was the Stooges at the Michigan Palace. I recorded the show.
Needless to say I was highly impressed.
Dave, was that the Metallic KO show?
15 yr old Dave Hanna and his 14 yr old cousin, the future M-50, got a ride to the Michigan Palace around 6:30 pm on a brisk Friday October 5, 1973 from Dave’s father, Roger. Dave told Roger that the (4 band) show would be over by 11 pm so his father decided to wait parked outside the venue. As the evening progressed, however, the time between sets ran longer and longer. Also, neither Dave nor his cousin were wearing a watch and, unbeknownst to them, the temperature outside plummeted to around freezing. Finally, at about 4 am on Saturday October 6, 1973, the show finished and Dave and his cousin went outside and found Roger, who was not too happy, sitting in the car with the heater on full blast. Later that day, Dave and his cousin went to a Michigan State University basketball game in East Lansing where both were thrilled that they could not hear the whistles or buzzers at the game because their ears were ringing so badly.
We loved this band, Saw most of the iterations, but missed the Hanna bum rush:( Last time we saw them Steve King was doing sound, we were friends with Steve and Mike Rushlow. I remember one time some where in Hamtramck, Steve had a big wet stain in his pants but it didn’t seem to phase him and played a great show. Mark was no longer in the band but I do remember seeing him in the band at Bookies being his obnoxious self:)
I saw these guys once at Bookie’s. Loved them! Is there by chance any bootleg audio available of any shows they played at Bookies?
The Legendary Hanna, with Panasonic cassette machine under his jacket, recorded the October 5, 1973 Michigan Palace Show with Teenage Lust, White Witch, Mahogany Rush, and Iggy and the Stooges . Years later, Hanna lent his Iggy and the Stooges set cassette to his cousin M-50 who incredibly and moronically recorded over at least a minute of the Raw Power set intro with “Maggot Brain” by Funkadelic.
The 27 recorded a song titled “Of the City” for Tremor Records in the early 80’s which is currently on YouTube (2023). Great tune features the late Craig Peters on guitar as well as Terry Fox, who was later in Vendetta with Nikki Buzz, on drums.
Dave Hanna was in a later Windsor based band named VaVoom with his then wife Angie Woman.
The 27/Catastrophe https://youtu.be/yXTpu_teNzs
Sorry to correct you Hellhammer, but I was the drummer for the 27 on the recording of “Of the City”. Terry had already left the band and I was his replacement. Shortly after, Mark Norton had left. It was at the very next rehearsal that “Of the City” was borne. Steve played Craig’s guitar and had accidently broken two strings, which is how the guitar riff came about, while Craig played the base. We were fucking around with song ideas and within 10 minutes the song was created.
Not long after we sought out Bob “Adrian” Janssens on keys, sax, and vocals to create the new sound of the 27, and soon after changed our name to Pack Nine.
-James Taylor aka “Jimmy Crash”.
PS that is my photo on the cover of White Noise magazine, with Craig on the left, Steve in the middle, and me.
PSS RIP Craig
James, my bad. I first heard the song when The 27 played a show at Wayne State in the early 80’s and never forgot the killer guitar riff. Unfortunately, I never bought the Tremor compilation which included the track and the album subsequently went out of print. I searched You Tube years later for the recording but the only videos of The 27 were of the early 45 single and the live cable show versions of Tori Ori O and Suburbia. (Is that you on drums?). I was very pleasantly surprised, however, when the recording eventually showed up on You Tube. It has aged well and still rocks hard!