#beautiful bert

[rustbeltjessie]

Off stage, Bert was a good guy with a heart of gold. Yes, he could be a dick sometimes, but he wasn't the first person whose stage persona bled into his real life. And I've never met an entertainer who wasn't a dick sometimes. But really, Bert could actually be sweet. And as proof of that, know that not only did he influence a whole scene of great punksters in SE Wisconsin, but he was downright loved by that scene. I know of two bands that wrote songs about Beautiful Bert, and I'm sure there's more. I would venture to guess there's a lot of people who picked up guitars because of Beautiful Bert. (What they did with them after they picked them up is a different story, I'm sure.)

[rustbeltjessie]

I always talked to Bert at shows. Nothing big, random small talk. Just to let him know he had my support, etc. I remember the time I was hanging out at Mystery Thrift talking to Leif about records and shit. Mystery Thrift was in the basement of the building by the post office. I was 18-19, I had a job at a pizzeria and spent most of my paycheck at Leif's store and pretty much hung out there almost every day. Anyway, one day I'm just talking to Leif, and we hear somebody strumming an out of tune toy guitar or something and singing. We were both like what the fuck. We go to the stairs to see who it was and it was Bert. It was the greatest sight ever, this big dude with this tiny ukulele or kid's guitar. He said he found it on the curb. I had a disposable camera for some reason I got that memory on film. I didn't know ten years later I would look at it and almost cry. We just all hung out in the hallway on the stairs talking. Bert had all these crazy ass stories. I think I remember hearing one about him getting kicked out of the old gay club. I don't remember the details. It was awesome though. Bert was basically my punk rock idol. I knew I'd never get to meet Joey Ramone or Johnny Rotten, let alone hang out with them and shoot the shit. I had Bert.

from "Memories of Bert" (Art Is Dead, volume two, issue one, summer 2013)

[kvltklvb]

beautiful bert with gg allin on drums performing ramones' love kills in 1989