Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse and maybe someone someday will do a tribute to you.

Twenty years ago Cleveland's hard-living, punk rocking Pagans would've never imagined that they would ever become "legendary," let alone have their songs covered by bands as far away as Japan and Spain. Now they're even having a concert thrown in their honor.

Coinciding with the release of "What's this Shit Called Love," a Pagans tribute 7-inch release on the Cleveland-based Sonic Swirl label, Quazimodo, Solid State Ignition, Slak and the Aggravators will pay homage to the '70s group by covering their songs live. To retired Pagans guitarist Mike Metoff, who was reached by telephone from his home in Monroe Falls in Summit County, a tribute to one of Cleveland most notorious bands seems "preposterous."

"We used to get stuff thrown at us when we'd play and the local press would go out of their way not to mention our shows because they hated us," said Metoff. "But we fed off it because it was us against the world."

Or at least against the rest of Cleveland.

From 1977-79, the Pagans ruled the Cleveland scene with the anger of a punk band and the spirit of a '60s garage group.

The Dead Boys had just abdicated the throne in favor of a move to New York City, while Ubu had abandoned rock altogether to dabble in the avant-garde.

Formed by singer Mike Hudson, a local journalist who had been looking for a musical vehicle for his confrontational writing style, the Pagans evolved from a bar band doing '60s covers in Euclid to new wave rockers to a punk ode to hedonism. The shift in direction resulted in the departure of guitarist Denny Carleton, formerly of the Choir.

Enter Metoff, a musical novice who passed audition without having to play a note.

Metoff didn't need to know how to play: He had spiky hair, a leather jacket and a "good" attitude.

Attitude, the bratty and beligerent kind, was what the quartet, which also featured Tim Allee on bass and Hudson's younger brother Brian on drums, was all about.

After releasing "Six and Change," a 45 that now commands over $100 on the record collector market, the band hooked up with John Thompson (aka Johnny Dromette), manager of Drome Records, a record store that was the nerve center of Cleveland's punk community.

Drome Records released three more Pagans classics: "What's This Shit Called Love," "Street Where Nobody Lives" and "Dead End America," all three-chord anthems to nowheresville. But it was the band's wild shows and Thompson's flamboyant productions that made heads and stomachs turn.

And none lives on in Cleveland memory like a show at the WHK Auditorium (now the Agora) in December 1978, when singer Mike Hudson did as much vomiting as vocalizing on stage. But it was his insults to the audience that incited a riot.

"We rented out the place because no clubs would book us, and then when Mike started vomiting, they started throwing seats around." said Metoff.

Though the band grew in notoriety, playing an unfriendly local scene wore them down. Breaking up in 1979, the Pagans took a stab at reforming on two occasions, 1982 and 1986. The second time around, the band's legendary status grew, resulting in a worldwide revival and a sold-out American club tour. After quitting for good in 1987, most of the members retired from music and have since rejected offers to reform--including one for this show.

But a couple of the Pagans may make it down to watch the new generation pay tribute to their "live fast, die young" punk ethic.

That's if the wild forefathers can stay up that late.

"Now that we're all turning 40, we don't go out much anymore," said Metoff.

"We're not looking so good and anyway--it's past my bedtime." This story originally appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.