Photo of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion‘s touring van (as immortalised in the song ’78 Style) posted online by the Cheater Slicks with the following caption:
“Our infamous van parked in Columbus mid nineties. We bought this van from Jon Spencer and had a flame job painted. Then when we got to Columbus people started tagging it. It eventually was completely covered with graffiti. It eventually was given to Gene Mullett where it met it final fate when his garage was set on fire and the city came in and towed off, probably crushing it. Bands that toured in it: Pussy Galore, Blues Explosion, Boss Hog, Honeymoon Killers, Gibson Bros, Cheater Slicks. Legendary!
Photo: Wendy Hatchling
Photo / Caption via https://www.instagram.com/cheater_slicks/)
*”COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Emergency crews were called to put out a fire out in downtown Columbus Tuesday afternoon after a commercial utility vault underground caught flames, per the Columbus Division of Fire.” – June 28, 2022
*Chevy van crushed – November 24, 2022
“’78 Style’ is about my van. Pussy Galore bought a 1978 Chevy 10, a cargo van, the smallest they made. And as the song describes, the licence plate was ATD-408, it came with wood panelling in the back and with Bugs Bunny mudflaps. I used to park it in a lot in Williamsburg, at a time when Williamsburg was a very rough spot, so it was incredibly cheap. Pussy Galore, Boss Hog, the Gibson Brothers and the Blues Explosion toured in that van. I don’t have any notalgic feelings for the old New York of that time. I don’t want to go back. I don’t wish it was like that now. But playing with Judah (Bauer) and Russell (Simins) in the early days of the Blues Explosion was tremendously exciting; it was completely wild and just seemed like a wide open vista of possibility musically, but grounded in rock & roll, R&B, soul and yet we had the freedom to fuck around and do some crazy shit. There was just this tremendous energy built up. It was like The Big Bang.” – Jon Spencer / The Quietus (25 June 2025)
Photo from Jukebox Explosion Rockin’ Mid-90s Punkers:
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