History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Brownsville Station

A Detroit-area rock & roll band formed in 1969 by guitarist Cub Koda. Original members also included Mike Lutz (guitar), T.J. Cronley (drums), and Tony Driggins (bass). Initially influenced by Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and other '50s rockers, their early albums included inspired covers and genre-faithful originals, all presented in Marshall stack, double-bass-drum bigness.

Far more effective as a live act (with Koda's onstage banter influencing everyone from J. Geils' Peter Wolf to Alice Cooper), the group finally hit paydirt in late 1973 with their number-three hit, the Koda-penned "Smokin' in the Boys' Room." Unfortunately, the band never was able to have any follow-up success after "Smokin' in the Boys' Room." After disbanding the group in 1979, Koda went on to a career as a solo recording artist and as a journalist for several music magazines.

Koda died of kidney failure in 2000.