Selections from The Punk Vault [United Mutation]

United Mutation - Fugitive Family 7" (1983 D.S.I./Dischord Records)

United Mutation was a band I hadn't heard of until their label, D.S.I., sent me one of their 7"s in the mail to review in Spontaneous Combustion. I liked it and eventually went backwards and found myself a copy of this record, partially because I liked them, and partially because it was a half-Dischord release and I am a fanatical Dischord collector.

This was a single that I had planned on doing a feature on, but didn't know much of the band's history. It was one of those bands that I was hoping I would find someone who was in the band to share their story. Luckily for me, someone in the band found me! Jay Fox, bassist for United Mutation, contacted me recently and was kind enough to share the United Mutation story with me.

United Mutation formed out of the foundations of a bedroom garage band called DARK SELF IMAGE (DSI). Dark Self Image was basically an outlet for us to play; our Singer (Noel Hollingshead) wrote a whole bunch of crazy poetry and we would get high and jam while he narrated. This outlet later got bigger with addition of real amps and drums. Our first drummer, Steve Kirkland, was a neighbor, but quickly quit to play more normal music. We then started the first real band which featured Mike Brown on drums, Noel on vocals, John Fox on guitar, Bob Otte on guitar and John Hardin on guitar/vocals. This line up lasted until fall 1981. At this point Noel moved away, John H. moved to New Mexico at the first of '82,and Bob quit, which left us with just Mike who didn't (and doesn't ) drive so he couldn't really commit to the band at that point.

We played our first gig Christmas '81 with Sean Sumner (later of Death Piggy) on drums. He was at the time playing in PBI, which featured Steve Hansgen (later in some DCHC bands of note). This was a typical NOVA (Northern Virginia for the uninitiated - ed) house party, but it did instill in the Fairfax scene that there was a real hardcore band in town.

At about the same time we met Mike Salkind (the Aborted) who later became our drummer. In early July we went into Inner Ear studio and recorded our first demo (featured on both Freaks Out and the Lost & Found CD). This featured Sean Sumner on drums as Mike wasn't ready to record at the time. We also continued playing parties in NOVA now using Mike Salkind on drums until John H. left. At this point Mike Brown re-entered the picture as our singer. This was the beginning of United Mutation.

We played our first party as UM Halloween of '82 with Media Disease (later Malefice, MFD, Mainline, etc.) We also recorded our next demo, featuring Mike B on vocals and Mike S on drums, recorded at Inner Ear and produced by Bert Quiroz (Double-O, Second Wind). The tracks on Mixed Nuts Don't Crack came from this session. We ended up the year by losing Mike S on drums; he went on to play drums in NO TREND. We ended up getting Bill Fox, a schoolmate of Mike's, on drums and later recorded the Fugitive Family EP, and also played the 9:30 club.

Billy left the band to join DSI brother band Malefice, as he was more into that style of punk. We then got Steve Kirkland back in the band as the rock scene was not too hip to having black drummers in white hair bands. Needless to say we were quite happy to have him back. We went back into Inner Ear and recorded our next demo with Steve and Mike B; this landed us a track on Fountain Of Youth records comp, Bouncing Babies ("Infinite Regression") as well as a couple of tracks that ended up on Freaks Out.

This was to become our most prolific period. We returned into Inner Ear to record the Rainbow Person EP, which was well received by the punk press. We also started playing out a bit more, landing gigs with bands such as Dead Kennedys, Butthole Surfers, MDC, Flipper, Meatmen as well as numerous slots opening for local acts and smaller national acts.

This went on up till about 1988, when John Fox left the band to work on DSI Records full time. Mike joined Second Wind, featuring Bert and Rich from Double O and Steve Hansgen. Steve and I started FLUFFY with John Cobbett from Malefice, which lasted about one gig, and then started Fat Louie, which featured Brian Malone on trombone and a guy named Mike (???) on guitar. This later fused into BULLHEAD after Mike quit.

At this point we got John Fox back on guitar and could have gone back into UM but decided to change the theme of our music to a more psychedelic hardcore then just the standard UM stuff. Bullhead started out as just myself, Steve, and John, and later incorporated Mike B on guitar/vocals and Brian M on Trombone. This format was somewhere between Hardcore and Hawkwind; it also generated a bunch of weird gigs around DC/VA region. We later lost Steve (again) due to work issues.

After we got longtime UM fan Ken Bidjje Cavanaugh (Bells Of) on drums, we later went into WGNS studios and recorded the only studio Bullhead tracks. This period found us doing more UM and less Hawkwind, and eventually we ended up doing some UM shows in the mid '90's. Bidjje left around '95 and Steve joined up again for some full blown UM reunions as well as a yet to be released demo recorded at Cue Studios in NOVA.

In 1998, Mike Clayberg (Malefice, MFD,) and I put together Mainline, which featured Kent Stax (Scream) on drums, Keith Campbell (BMB) on guitar, and Sean Epstein (Sisters of Morrissey) on vocals. This got us a few gigs and a demo from Inner Ear, which has yet to be released.

In 1999 Mike and I started a new group, the Wooleybacks, featuring Sean on Vocals, Alex Daniels (SWIZ), and Bob Craver (52 Pick-up, Slim Nickey etc.) on guitar. This line-up was working on an X style of drinking man's Punk. This landed us a handful of gigs. At the same time I was working with Bidjje and John Fox on an all-Hawkwind Cover band. This band featured John Stanton on lead guitar (Redeemers) and Bill Turney on synth, theremin, and keys.

Since the final demise of UM....

Mike Brown has been working on his own musical projects, and has release a couple of disc's under the name of Monkey Style. Mike is also spending a lot of his time doing artwork professionally. You can find him at UC Studios online.

John Fox has not been playing any music for the most part. Though has been helping with the launching of Living Nightengale Records.

Billy Fox is living and working in the NYC area, and is playing mainly jazz and Latin music.

Steve Kirkland has disappeared and no one knows where he is living or working.

Ken(Bidjje) Cavanaugh is living and working in the DC area, and is still playing drums, working on a series of different music projects.

Mike Salkind is living in Colorado Springs CO, and is still playing drums, mostly with the band Eggamuffin.

Currently I am playing with two different band projects in Denver CO, The Jane Wymans/Anesthesia, and Birdmanray. These bands are regularly playing shows in the Colorado area. As well as recording new music.

Anesthesia were included on the first release from LivingNightengale Records "White Cold Days" music from the Antarctic Music Scene, which is a compilation of bands from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This is available from www.livingnightengale.com or from www.antarcticconnection.com

Thank you Jay for the great information! I'm not sure the status of their old recordings, whether or not they are available somewhere. I'm pretty sure Lost and Found Records vanished so that stuff is likely out of print these days.

Listen to "Passout" from the record

Selections from The Punk Vault [Toxic Reasons]

Toxic Reasons - Ghost Town 7" (1981 Risky Records)

NOTE: Since this originally was posted, Ed Pittman contacted me and shared a little bit of history of how the band started, which will be at the end of this original post.

Toxic Reasons started in Dayton, OH in 1979. The founding members were Bruce Stuckey (bass & vocals); Joel Agne (guitar & vocals); Ed Pittman (lead vocals);Mark Patterson (drums).In 1981,Mark Patterson left the band and was replaced by James J. Pearson (J.J.) on drums,and Joel Agne was replaced by Rob Lucjak (Snott) on rhythm guitar,and Greg Stout on bass,Bruce switched to lead guitar.Though the band was from Dayton,J.J. was from Canada. They used this Can-Am Connection to make their logo which featured the Canadian and US flags combined. I think it made some unsuspecting folks think they were a foreign band.

They released the now sought-after War Hero 7" in 1980 and that is the only record featuring all the original founding members. One year later they did this record after singing to Risky Records during a tour. They ended up moving to San Francisco shortly after that. They recorded their first (and best) album in Indianapolis with Paul Mahern of the Zero Boys. Shortly after the album's release, lead singer Ed Pittman left the band, leaving the rest of the guys to carry on without him.

What happened next is a story that is all too familiar, they kept at it, and sounded more and more metal. I saw them once in 1987, and had it not been for the completely shitty and young White Zombie being the opening act, and thus blowing them offstage in the suck department, at the time it was one of the worst bands I had seen. It would be years before I would forgive them enough to actually give their records a chance and find out that early Toxic Reasons were a really good band who put out 3 damn good records. After a few lackluster releases, the band fell apart and packed it in.

Where are they now? That I do not know. I do know in 1999 they did a "20 year anniversary" reunion show. About two years ago or so, Beer City Records reissued the Independence album with all new cover art. The rest of their catalog remains out of print with the exception of a foreign release that compiles rare tracks called Dedication.

The song featured here would end up in a different version on their Independence album, but this is the superior version. I also happen to really like the cover to this one.

As always, if you have any additional information, or were in Toxic Reasons, please get in touch.

UPDATE: Ed Pittman, original vocalist for Toxic Reasons, had a little bit of history to share with my readers, which is:

Toxic Reasons got together approx. September of 1979. I was visiting friends at an apartment complex one evening when I decided to walk down and get a Pepsi at FHE Pool House. The acid id eaten was starting to kick in. I had only walked a few doors down when I heard two guitars blasting "God Save the Queen".

I walked up and knocked, Bruce Stuckey answered wearing his guitar. I asked are you guys playing the Pistols? The answer was yes. Bruce invited me in, I warned him I had just taken some acid. He said great, so had they. This is how I met Bruce Stuckey and Joel Agne. They were in a cover band called Exodus. I went to a couple of their practices and decided to steal them if I could. Before their next show, I talked them into going to see DOA in Dayton with me. DOA blew our heads off, and Randy Rampage invited us to an after hours where we drank many beers and got schooled on the coolness of punk rock.

Bruce and Joel had a show to do with Exodus the next week. It turned into hillbilly quaalude hell. Following that nightmare, the three of us got into my vega wagon and before we could leave the parking lot Bruce and Joel said "fuck this stupid shit we wanna play punk rock". They weren't sure about me as a singer until the first time we rehearsed and I just started jumping like a crazy man and singing Pistols songs they knew. The first drummer we tried out and kept was Mark Patterson, a recent graduate of the high school jazz band.
He was great. He was into punk and only 17, however when he showed up the first time he told us he thought we were playing psychedelic music because our name was Toxic Raisins. Once we got the name straight the music came naturally. I think we wrote "War Hero", Somebody Help Me" and "Ghost Town" that first week or two. We played these at our first show in November 1979 in Dayton along with Pistols and Clash covers. Bruce was the bass player then, with Joel Agne on guitar and Mark on drums.

Listen to "Ghost Town" from the record

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Savages Are Loose]

Various Artists - The Savages Are Loose LP (1986 Mystic Records)

In the mid to late 1980s, Mystic Records, having already put out countless compilations, decided to start a series of compilations from different cities across the USA. The first one was a compilation of mostly obscure Washington DC bands. Aside from Madhouse who already had a record out, most of the bands were relatively new and this was their first, and in some cases only, release on vinyl.

The real standout for me was from a band that until I got this compilation, I had never heard of and that was the Platinum Slugs. It turns out they put out a couple of records and I am looking for them if anyone can hook me up. The rest of the compilation was pretty standard fare hardcore bands.

After this record, more followed in the "Sound of USA Cities" series including Portland, OR and New York City. It wasn't long after those that Mystic went quiet for a number of years. This record is slated to be reissued on CD in the future and the others will likely follow.

Listen to "Easy Mark" by the Platinum Slugs from the record.

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Next]

The Next - Make it Quick 7" (1979 Sharp Records)

Texas is famous for its great (and in many cases relatively unknown) punk bands. From the more popular ones such as The Dicks, Big Boys, Butthole Surfers, DRI, and The Offenders, to the more obscure (except to record collectors) like Hugh Beaumont Experience, The Huns, Vomit Pigs, and The Next, the state has an impressive track record for great bands.

It was when this single was included on the Deep in the Throat of Texas compilation LP that I first heard it and fell in love with it. The record has 3 songs, and all of them are amazing early punk tracks full of attitude.

According to the liner notes of said compilation, The Next were from Austin Texas and formed in the wake of the Sex Pistols playing a show in San Antonio. The Next became a regular band performing at Raul's (and are included on the Live at Raul's compilation) probably because their singer, Ty Gavin, was a bartender at the club. In their small time together the band went through a few lineup changes and put out only two 7"s, this one and their second one titled Kick Ass (which I am in need of if anyone can help me out). According to what I've read, their sound changed quite a bit on the second single and it wasn't nearly as good. Where the members are now is anyone's guess.

As always if you have any additional information, or were a member of The Next, please get in touch.

Listen to "Monotony" from the record

Selections from The Punk Vault [Poison Idea]

Poison Idea - Kings of Punk LP (1986 Pusmort Records)

I'm not sure where I first heard of Poison Idea. I think it was this actual record which opened my eyes to them, and only because it was on Pushead's label, and after buying the Septic Death record and the Cleanse the Bacteria compilation, it sold me on buying anything on the label.

Poison Idea formed in 1980 and were from Portland, Oregon. The initial lineup was Jerry A. (vocals), Pig Champion (guitar and single largest man in hardcore history), Chris Tense (bass) and Dean Johnson (drums). They put out their first 7", titled Pick Your King in 1983 on their own label, Fatal Erection Records. The following year they put out a great 12" EP titled Record Collectors are Pretentious Assholes. The cover art was a punk record collectors wet dream featuring stacks upon stacks of rare punk records strewn about on the floor and in stacks all over the room amongst their amps, etc. The title was rather ironic seeing as they were record collectors themselves.

Portland's greatest export found themselves a year later appearing on the aforementioned compilation on Pusmort Records and that led to Pushead wanting to release a record by his friends which brings us to this record. This is easily the bands finest moment. The music is blazing hardcore punk with a bit of rock mixed in there and it just knocks you on your ass from the first notes of the first song. The cover art was not a gimmick, singer Jerry A. actually carved that into his chest for the cover photo.

Shortly after this record's release, Johnson and Tense were both fired and replaced by Steve "Thee Slayer Hippy" Hanford (drums) and Tim Paul (ex-Final Warning, who put out a 7" on Fatal Erection, bass). They also added an additional guitarist named Vegetable. At this point they started going in a more metal direction and put out the War All the Time album on the long defunct Alchemy Records, which was the label started by David Portnoy of Dehumanizers. Poison Idea put out a few more singles and an album or two all while various members kept dropping out until Jerry A was the sole original member left.

This particular album was reissued on both Taang! and more recently on Reflex Records and is also available on CD through Taang still I believe.

As always if you have additional information or were a member of Poison Idea, by all means get in touch.

Listen to "Lifestyles" from the record.

Selections from The Punk Vault [Keats Rides a Harley]

Various Artists - Keats Rides a Harley LP (1981 Happy Squid Records)

This compilation is something I was aware of for a few years before I ever saw one. The first time I saw it was when I found a copy at a used record shop in CA a long time ago. I am pretty sure the store I got it from doesn't even exist anymore, as sadly a lot of records stores all across the land have closed their doors for good. I remember being really excited that not only did I find one, but I found it for cheap.

The record was released by Happy Squid Records, which was the label that was run by seminal art-punks, The Urinals. They started the label solely as a vehicle to put out their own records, but after a few 7"s, they decided to branch out, first putting out the Happy Squid Sampler 7", then doing a couple 7"s by other bands, this album, plus releases by The Leaving Trains and more.

The compilation featured some of the earliest recorded works from the likes of 100 Flowers, Meat Puppets, Gun Club, and The Leaving Trains. It also featured a few bands that until getting this comp, I had never heard of such as Earwigs, Toxic Shock, Tunneltones, Human Hands and S Squad (who is featured here). S Squad, to the best of my knowledge, never put out a record and its a shame because to me they were the real standout on this record.

As to where they are now? Happy Squid records is just a memory, however they have been starting to license their material for CD reissues and have a website. Hopefully someday someone will license this and give it a proper reissue.

Listen to "Scene of the Crime" by S Squad

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Future Looks Bright]

Various Artists - The Future Looks Bright LP (1981 Posh Boy Records)

When I was a teenager, I picked up a Posh Boy compilation called The Future Looks Brighter based solely on the fact that it had Social Distortion on it and I was a huge fan of that band. Upon reading the liner notes while proceeding to wear holes in my first copy of that record, I came to learn that there was originally a cassette compilation that preceded it called The Future Looks Bright and there was part of a photo of the cover on the cover of this compilation.

Not having been a big fan of tapes, even back then, the original came and went well under my radar. Hell, for all I know, it never made it as far as my area back then as there wasn't many stores stocking this new kind of music until closer to the mid-80s. In fact to this day, I've never gazed upon an originally cassette copy. At the same time, there was a promo-only vinyl version of this compilation sent to radio stations and there was only 500 of them pressed. Eventually, and way before there was an ebay to get anything you are looking for so long as you have deep pockets, I was able to secure a copy in a trade and it has remained in the vault ever since.

This comp was like a match made in heaven, or hell depending on your point of view, as two of the best CA punk labels of the time, SST and Posh Boy, teamed up on this comp. Each side featured artists from the respective label. These days its a who's-who of early Southern California punk rock. How did two labels, operating completely independent of each other come to join forces you ask? Well, why don't we let Posh Boy himself, Robbie Fields, answer that one.

Well, I wasn't thinking of making money. It was a cassette release, after all, selling at Music Plus for $3.99.

It was conceived of as a promotional vehicle for the groups on it and for punk rock availability on cassette, as up to that point, very little from the genre had been been released on cassette as opposed to vinyl.

It was a period - mid 1981 - that I was speaking with SST almost every day about various problems facing us. We were allies. There had been pitched battles at the Fleetwood between South Bay punks and O.C punks. TSOL were threatening to kill me ... TSOL were definitely a rival band/gang to Black Flag. I was basically crying on their shoulders.

For their part, SST were in awful financial condition after they had made a very poor business decision the previous year in going in with Unicorn. Black Flag were actually living on the premises at Unicorn Studio on Santa Monica Blvd. and had already arranged for me in the Autumn of 1980 to book an evening of studio time there to record (within a 3 hour block!) both the Circle Jerks and Adolescents.

At this time, my finances were marginally better than SST's and when they asked me to front the credit at the printers for the first 10,000 covers of Damaged, I obliged. I was to receive, I think 500, finished albums for sale. The deal went sour for them, as Unicorn obtained an injunction against their releasing it themselves and no albums were delivered to me.

I quite understood their position and I never put pressure on them to make good on the deal. In fact, once they got Daphne off their backs, SST did provide me with a significant quantity of product for me to sell and recoup the money I had fronted for the covers.

Meanwhile, I was doing these massive and expensive promotional mail outs of Posh Boy releases. I liked to put 6 releases in a mailer ... there was always something awesome among the releases. So I told SST, let's do this cassette only release, one side Posh Boy bands, the other SST bands and I will press up 500 vinyl copies with printed white labels for my next promotional mail out. This was heavy duty promotion that I was offering for free and so they jumped at it. Of course, I saw it as synergistic. We would all prosper together. At the same time, they decided they wanted to have a single out and "gave" me the Louie, Louie single. And that formed part of the 6 pack of singles that I released in late 1981.

It may have been a pretext, but the Louie, Louie single proved to be the strand that unraveled the relationship between SST and Posh Boy. Roadrunner Records had just started in Holland and they licensed separately from me and Unicorn, the Channel 3 Fear of Life LP and the Damaged LP for release in 1982.

Roadrunner then proceeded without my permission or Black Flag's to add the Louie, Louie single tracks to the Dutch release of the Damaged album. Greg and Chuck were furious and felt betrayed by me and there was nothing I could do to persuade them that I also had been ripped off by Roadrunner. Now it was Black Flag's turn to make my life very uncomfortable. Even though I owned the Louie, Louie single I gave back the rights to them in 1983 and decided to take off the SST bands and re-release The Future Looks Bright as the The Future Looks Brighter. A fantastic, co-operative relationship was in the toilet, with SST riding the crest of success while Posh Boy began its long decline.

An interesting thing about this record is the Descendents tracks seem to be either different mixes, or in the case with the track posted here, a different version than what appeared on their Fat EP. Since this was a split label release, it would be unfair to not represent the Posh Boy side, so you get the finest CH3 track ever committed to vinyl. Many thanks Posh Boy for the info and of course, the fine punk rock!

Listen to "Hey Hey" by the Descendents

Listen to "Manzanar" by Channel 3

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Defoliants]

The Defoliants - Hang Ten 7" (1987 Pravda Records)

I remember seeing The Defoliants name on plenty of flyers around the city, they would be one of the opening bands for various shows in town. I finally got to see them when they opened up for Naked Raygun sometime around 1987. I forget where, but I am pretty sure it was at the Riviera. I thought they were very entertaining and it was soon after that I picked up their 7", which had just come out and was their only record at the time.

Sadly, many years ago, in what I like to refer to as "the great depression" I wasn't working for a long time, was broke, and ended up selling a bunch of records to make some much needed money. It stands as the biggest mistake of my life and it took me a long time to replace all those records a few years later, and a couple I still haven't been able to replace (The Misfits - Bullet 7" on black vinyl being the biggest culprit). This Defoliants 7" was something I always wanted to replace, and then had trouble finding again. It wasn't that the record is super rare, I passed up a few here and there, mostly because they were being pimped by scumbags like Zeroboys78 on ebay, who I wouldn't buy a record from just on principle.

Well, finally, thanks to my pal Greg Dunlap who located a copy for me, I am happy to report the record is back in The Punk Vault, and I am happy to have replaced it. Greg also happened to know someone who played in the band, a gentleman by the name of Rob Warmowski, who was kind enough to share The Defoliants history that he put together.

The Defoliants
"Not unlike Agent Orange crashing headlong into Naked Raygun" - MRR, 4/85

A trio formed in Chicago in 1984 by Mather high school chums Rob Warmowski (bass, vocals) and Jeff "BBQ" Cohn (drums), adding Chuck Uchida on guitar soon after. The Defoliants were influenced by hardcore punk, surf/garage music and pop culture. We were known for a strong live show and a nerdy sense of humor, belting out a speedy hybrid of alien punk-pop mated with surfy instrumentals. Appearing often with Chicago punk mainstays such as Naked Raygun and The Effigies, our songs and sound struck a (reverby) chord with disaffected loners, rock and roll essentialists, hardcore kids and others found in the under attended 1980s Chicago punk scene. Our finest moment may have been opening for Fugazi's Chicago debut at Club Dreamerz.

We released one cassette, one 7"("Hang Ten", Pravda, 1988) and one LP ("Grrr", 1989 Angry Fish) in five years together, making possibly 40 songs.

We appeared on a WNUR Northwestern University radio compilation. We recorded an LP with the legendary Iain Burgess (Black Box Studios) engineering. It was released by West Berlin record label Angry Fish.

We wrote a TV commercial soundtrack for a Schwinn BMX bicycle. We had a song in one movie "The Borrower" starring Rae Dawn Chong. We started recording a second LP in Chicago with Burgess in 1989. That year, we toured the toilets of Europe. We broke up in 1990 without completing the second LP.

Rob is now recording as the San Andreas Fault www.thesanandreasfault.com
Chuck Uchida is now in a group called The Sonnets. Jeff was in The Crown Royals (Estrus).

Defoliants Discography

Cassette: "NOW How Much Would You Pay For It?"
Recorded at SotoSound Studios - 2 track live, Evanston, IL 1985

Bad Day At The Beach
I Wish You Were Fiction
Cold Start 64738
Came/Saw/Conquered
Don't Eat The Dieffenbacchia
Rectal Inferno
Code White
Can't Lose
Speed Racer
Final Notice Prior To Disconnection
Wild, Wild World of Animals
Up Against The Mall
(and others, sorry I'm blanking)

Hang Ten 7" EP
Pravda, 1987
Recorded 8-track at Head Studios, Chicago 1986

Mass
Whitecap
The Guy Who Got Mad
Mr. Spy

Grrr LP
Angry Fish, 1989 (Germany)
Recorded 1988 24-track at Chicago Recording Company w/Iain Burgess

Bad Day At The Beach
Steakhouse
I Wish You Were Fiction
West Bank
Quinn Martin
Speed Racer
Safety Town
Rooked
Wild, Wild World Of Animals
The Guy Who Got Mad
Jack The Ripper
Rectal Inferno
Lake Effect

Hog Butcher To The World (Mad Queen / WNUR LP) 1988?

The End

I never owned the LP but it is something I'm in need of if anyone out there might have one. I actually wasn't aware they had released one until fairly recently!

Thanks Rob for the great info, and thanks Greg for your aid in replacing something in The Vault that was sorely missed.

Listen to "Mr. Spy" from the record

Selections from The Punk Vault [Negative Element]

Negative Element - Yes We Have No Bananas 7" (1983 Version Sound)

Note: I know what you are thinking, "Wait a minute, this is a rerun!" Well, it is really more of an update as I am appending this original post with new material and changing the date on it to be current. Since this was originally posted I have received new information which will be added at the end. Barry Stepe emailed me and contributed some Negative Element history to share with the readers of this site.

In the early 80's era of punk rock, while the "big" punk bands of Chicago like Naked Raygun, Articles of Faith, The Effigies, and Big Black were leaving their mark and getting noticed, there was also a slew of really good bands from the Chicago suburbs who were a part of the same scene and playing the same shows. Negative Element was among the first of the Du Page County punk bands.

Negative Element were one of the many bands that were formed by the infamous Steppe brothers. There was a bunch of those Steppe boys: Barry, Chopper, and another one who's name escapes me now. There was a really great story on them in an issue of Rocktober from a year or two ago that also included a CD full of their various bands music. They teamed up with a fellow named Tom, and a young punk from Downers Grove named Keith Lyons, who became their drummer. Keith is a friend of mine, we met in high school when he was in a band called Happy Toons (who will be featured in a future selection from the vault).

The band were pretty active, and played shows in the city with lots of bigger bands such as Articles of Faith (which I actually have footage of that Keith sent me and will be posted on the Spontaneous Combustion site someday in the near future). I'm sure they recorded a demo tape, but if so I have never seen one, and then they did this record.

Version Sound was a very short lived Midwest record label who only put out a few singles and a couple tape compilations, but whose catalog was spotless, and now considered classic. In 1983 they released this 7" EP by Negative Element that had 8 songs. The group played hardcore music with a good sense of humor and would also touch on some actual serious topics as well. The record is about half and half in the split between funny and serious songs, and all 8 of them are great. I think they pressed 1000 of them, but I'm not quite sure. I do remember late in my high school career being given the last 8 copies that anyone had, which I sold and traded away to the younger punks at my school. The record came with a lyric sheet and a Negative Element sticker.

As to where they are now? The Steppe brothers are still alive and kicking, though I'm not sure they are playing in any bands right now. They did form a band in the late 80s called Naked Hippy and released an album. Keith now lives in China, and I am not sure about Tom. If anyone from the band stumbles across this and wants to chime in with their own story about the band, please do (are you reading this Keith?).

And now here is Barry's submission of Negative Element history.

Negative Element’s first actual recording was one cut on the “Meathouse” compilation on Version Sound (from Ohio). They appeared with Battalion of Saints, JFA, Minutemen, Red Scare, Rights of the Accused and many others. Their song “National Socialism” featured original singer, Sparky and is a pretty good representation of their early sound.

Bob Moore, owner of Version Sound, claimed he put the song on the compilation only because he liked Chopper’s bass licks on the song so much. Their lyric sheet was censored by Moore’s dad who was a big Ronald Reagan fan during this very political time of labeling right-wingers with a swastika. The compilation is extremely rare to find but features many of the acts that would later release recordings on Version Sound.

Negative Element was very influenced by the hardcore beach scene like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, etc. but also were listening a lot to skinhead favorites like the Cockney Rejects, 4 Skins and Blitz. Keith Lyons, the drummer, was very influenced by ’77 era punk bands and the band struggled constantly with him to try play faster. During this time, they recorded a full-length video but it was recorded over by mistake by Keith showing him and his friends skating their half pipe. This historic tape was lost forever….

The success of “Meathouse” lead to a record deal with Version Sound and the replacement of Sparky with Tom Faulkner on vocals. The band only got goofier from here, keeping their skinhead look, but acting like a bunch of kids live on stage, which of course they were. Chopper was only about 14 and the rest weren’t much older.

The went to a studio in Elgin, Illinois to record their “Yes, We Have No Bananas” EP with Version Sound. They had recorded the whole single, when the hippy studio tech exclaimed, “Dude, I forgot to plug the cords in.” Keith’s drums were falling about and Steve Stepe (from Rights of the Accused) had to hold Keith’s snare during the entire recording. Barry AKA Rubberneck, played a cheap, pawn shop guitar which sucked and a amp which sucked even worse. The whole recording cost under a $100 dollars and didn’t really capture their sound that well. Of course, Barry had to go back in the studio and remix the tracks, which screwed up the sound every more. A couple of the original tracks recently appeared on the Rocktober Compilation CD.

There were only 1,000 copies of “Yes, We have no Bananas” printed and a couple hundred were distributed in Italy by a European distributor (probably Rough Trade). The record was picked up by some major distributors in the United States and sold pretty well. They began playing out a lot in Chicago with some major acts including the Dead Kennedys, Fang, Minor Threat, J.F.A. and many others. Fate played a part once again as their only PA recorded live full-length concert was recorded over, this time by Chopper by mistake. Articles of Faith invited them to Minneapolis to open for the Replacements but they refused on account of it being a “school night.“ .

During this time, Articles of Faith approached them to record several tracks to appear for a Chicago Hardcore compilation that was never released. They recorded “Shouts of Rebellion” and two other Negative Element classics. The group had a blast in the studio and the sound was probably the best representation of the group’s sound. The recording was never released and no one has it heard it since.

The group planned to release another single on their own label, “Negative Element’s Very Own Record Label and No One Else Can Be on Here Except Us, So There!, Inc,” but soon broke up when the half the band moved to Peoria, Illinois.

To be continued...

Listen to "Anti Pac Man" from the EP (right click and "save target as...")

Some Negative Element related links:
The story on the acquisition of the test pressing to this single

The story on the acquisition to the hand colored sleeve variant

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Execute]

The Execute - Criminal Flowers 7" (1984 Hit Parade Records)

I'm kind of breaking tradition here as I am not covering a band from North America, which is the main scope of my record collecting/punk rock love. This time we are going to the other side of the globe, to a place where giant monsters roam free and my hero Godzilla hangs out at. Japan.

Aside from some really cool electronics, Japan also produced a handful of great hardcore bands and it didn't matter if they weren't singing in English, they kicked ass all the same. The Execute is my favorite of all the limited amount of Japanese hardcore I've heard. I first came to hear of them thanks to Pushead including them on the amazing (and now classic and shamefully out of print) Cleanse the Bacteria compilation. They had a live song on there called "Slash" that blew me away. I put it on every mix tape I ever made for myself back then for walkman listening on the bus to school. I wanted to find more by them, but since they weren't from around here, and didn't have very good distribution over on these shores, it would be years, and trades before I ever accomplished that task. The only other US release they were on was the split 12" they had on Pushead's label with Inferno.

There was an address to write the band on the Cleanse the Bacteria compilation. I am pretty sure I sent them a letter, but since I was too dumb to know what an IRC was (no, not the internet chat gimmick, I mean International Reply Coupon), I never got a response. I would discover much later that they had a handful of singles, one flexi (which I STILL need!), and a 12" out during their hardcore era (the 12" is what ended up being their side of the aforementioned split 12", it was its own EP in Japan called Blunt Sleazy).

The band started around 1981 or so and lasted until around 1989. Somewhere along the line, two of the original members, Baki and Baby, left The Execute to start their own band, Gastunk. The legend has it they did not agree with founding member Lemmy Yamada about the direction of the band, and his desire to change the sound to be more like later TSOL or Samhain. Gastunk picked up right where The Execute had left off in regards to hardcore, but ironically they'd quickly change their sound too to be more rock, while The Execute had become more of a goth type band.

Lemmy forged on with new members and put out an album called The Antagonistic Shadow in 1988 which showed this new sound, and you'd be hard pressed to guess it was the same band that was responsible for such great hardcore records a few years prior. It wasn't long after that when he must have called it quits as it was the last anyone heard of The Execute.

All the early works at one time were collected onto a LP titled Save Your Money in 1988, but sadly that has been out of print for longer than the band has been defunct. That album was bootlegged recently, retitled Spend Your Money and sadly that is the only way anyone these days can hear any of their music.

As always if you have any additional information, or were a member of The Execute, please get in touch.

Listen to "Slash" from the record

Selections from The Punk Vault [Sorex]

Sorex - Portrait of a Prisoner 7" (1985 Rectal Tract Records)

This is a unique story as I had never heard of the band Sorex before until late last year when a regular reader of this site would comment from time to time and occasionally mention his band having played with some of the bands I was writing about. I emailed him to find out that his band was called Sorex, and they put out only one 7" in the mid 1980s. The man's name was Andy and sadly the only copy of the 7" he had was his own personal copy and he didn't have any to spare. He did, however, attempt to find one for me and gave me a short list of people he found that at one time had one for trade. It was one of thsoe people that pointed me to another fellow in Germany who had a copy for trade and a deal was struck and the record arrived today as a matter of fact.

Awhile back, Andy sent me the Sorex story that he penned for the Kill From the Heart site. It is as follows.

Sorex forged its way into the world of hardcore music in the summer of 1984 in drummer Dave Benson's Redondo Beach (California) garage. The foursome hammered out a ball of noise at first, but the boys would end up penning some pretty decent songs along the way.

First came the band's debut gig at the infamous Cathay De Grande in Hollywood in the fall of '84, and then Benson -- along with singer Andy Nystrom, bassist John Dieter and guitarist John Hacker -- soon recorded a 10-song demo tape in a garage studio in Redondo. (Jerry Urczek was the original guitarist and would return to the band about a year later).

In early 1985, another guitar player, Tom Cornejo, stepped into the fold and handled the axe duties on the band's only vinyl offering, the three-song Portrait of a Prisoner EP. Only 200 of the records were pressed, and in the year 2000 Nystrom received word that someone in the Portland, Oregon area paid $50 for a copy. The lead-off song, "Tell Me the Rules," is included on the prestigious Hyped 2 Death #2 compilation, which was repressed in 2004.

During the band's 1 1/2-year existence, the boys played a few shows in the L.A. area and a pair of biggies in Berkeley (with Broken Bones and Special Forces) and Reno, Nevada (alongside the Circle Jerks and 7 Seconds). The Reno show was actually in nearby Sparks and took place in a former church with the bands playing on the "altar" ... Sorex opened the show and blessed the crowd with its jarring Adolescents-meets-The Germs aural attack.

The Reno gig would prove to be the band's high point and, unfortunately, one of its last gigs. Sorex's time was brief, but the boys kicked up a racket every step of the way.

DISCOGRAPHY
Releases:
NEVER FORGET demo tape (E.B.S., 1984)
PORTRAIT OF A PRISONER 7" EP (Rectal Tract Records, 1985)
Compilations:
ILLUSIONS OF BEAUTY tape (Bullsheet Fanzine, 1985)

Thanks Andy for the story, and for introducing me to your band.

Listen to "End Result" from the record.

Selections from The Punk Vault [Salvation Army]

Salvation Army - Mind Garden 7" (1981 New Alliance Records)

This record is another example of a record I bought not because I had read a review or heard the music before, but for the simple reason that it was on New Alliance Records. I have said this before but often times I would buy records just because they were on a label who put out other records that I liked and would figure it would be a safe gamble to buy something without hearing it if I like a lot of stuff the label had put out. More often than not it was a pretty good system, and one I will occasionally subscribe to even today (though not nearly as often).

Salvation Army started in 1980 and were from Los Angeles, CA. The members were:
John: Guitar
Troy: Drums
Ricky Start: Vocals/Bass

The band was a sort of psychedelic punk band and probably had a lot more in common with The Seeds than The Germs. They were together for about a year before they recorded and released this single on New Alliance. A year or so later, and a lineup change, they did an album for Frontier Records, after which they were threatened by the Salvation Army (you know, the people you send your old clothes too) for using their name, and the band changed their name to The Three O'Clock. They put out a few more records and even ended up signed to IRS Records after their second album.

The band broke up in 1988. One of the members went on to form Permanent Green Light, I do not know what happened to the others.

As always, if you have any additional information, or were in Salvation Army / The Three O'Clock, please get in touch.

Listen to "Mind Garden" from the record

Selections from The Punk Vault [Tooth and Nail]

Various Artists - Tooth and Nail LP (1979 Upsetter Records)

In the mid to late 70s, punk rock was exploding in California, especially in Southern California. A young punk rocker by the name of Chris D. was playing in a band called The Flesheaters and he put out a couple of their records on the label he started for that purpose, Upsetter Records.

In 1979, he decided to put out a compilation documenting some of the Los Angeles punk scene that was happening at the time. He produced all the tracks on this compilation, that was recorded at various studios across the LA area. An interesting tidbit was the inclusion of Negative Trend, who were a San Francisco band. The band was pretty much done at that point and Rik L. Rik was about to embark on his solo career with Posh Boy Records. Chris D. wanted the recordings for his compilation to be Negative Trend, even though the tracks were recorded as part of Rik's solo sessions.

The lineup of this compilation is Controllers, Middle Class, UXA, Negative Trend, Flesheaters and The Germs. All the tracks were exclusive to this compilation, and many to this day have not been reissued. Each band had between 2-3 songs each.

Around 1989, Chris D, likely in need of some cash, did a second pressing of this record that omitted the inner lyric sleeve. Since then, the record has remained out of print and has not yet seen the light of day as a CD. I hope that gets remedied in the near future as Chris D has reissued much of the early Flesheaters material, so perhaps this will follow someday. Hell, I'd put it out on my label in a heartbeat given the chance!

As always, if you have any additional information please get in touch.

Listen to "Manimal" from the Germs from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Listen to "Mercenaries" from Negative Trend from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Painted Willie]

Painted Willie - 7" (1984 Spinhead Records)

Painted Willie was a band whose records I would see around all the time at places like Wax Trax, but always put off buying. I always vowed to get around to picking them up and checking them out someday but something always happened that prevented me from doing so. After doing the feature on Sin 34 and realizing that Dave Markey was also a member of Painted Willie, I finally ended my procrastination and sought out the first two Painted Willie Records (a 7" and a 12", both on Spinhead). Well, I am glad I did because I was missing out on a pretty good band.

I once again asked Dave Markey if he'd be so kind as to share some history of his other band, since he was receptive to doing the Sin 34 history when I asked (and produced a wonderful history, much more than I could have hoped). I'm happy to say that Dave once again was willing to participate so without further adieu, I present to you The Painted Willie Story.

The Painted Willie Experience

I will keep the focus of this on the first year and a half of the band. I do not care to talk about the SST era, or the subsequent tour w/ Black Flag, and the film that I made Reality 86'd that Greg Ginn does not want anyone to see. Believe me when I say I do not like to talk about it.You can all write Ginn at SSTSuperstore.com and let him know what you think.

In early 1984 I was living in the back of a storefront on Burbank Blvd. in North Hollywood, that I had helped construct an 8 track recording studio in. The place was dubbed Spinhead, by, I believe yours truly. It was owned by Phil Newman, the bassist of Sin 34. He also was living there and attempting to run the studio as a business, but having a difficult time. Sin 34 would also rehearse there, in addition to a few other bands like Americas Hardcore and Bad Religion. I recall Phil had a side band going for a while with Greg Graffin of Bad Religion, called Glacier. I think much of that
material ended up being BR material later on.

We had no shower or hot water. Bathing was done in the industrial backyard with a garden hose. The only kitchen facility was a hot plate. I was working as a punk rock extra in movies while I was making my own movie Desperate Teenage Lovedolls during this time. From all my extra work, I can be seen most clearly in the frame with Helen Hunt in the 1980s instantly forgettable comedy Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Sin 34 was having a difficult time during this period. We were on the verge of breaking up, and the tensions between the band members was high. Julie had gotten into speed, and then heroin during this time. She would be trying to find a vein in the bathroom during half the time of our rehearsal set. Mike was also getting into hard drugs too. Phil and I were just into psychedelics at the time, so we related through that experience.

We had grown tired of the restrictions of the hardcore scene, which was crashing and burning all around us anyhow. We thought we could do more with music. I remember we were listening a lot to The Fall at this time. And Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd. Rolling Stones "Satanic Majesties Request". Jimi Hendrix Experience "Axis Bold As Love". Blue Cheer "Vincebus Erruptus". This was the shit that was moving us at the time.

Phil and I wanted to do a side project somewhere along the lines of this kind of music, fused with the hardcore we had previously covered with Sin 34. We had been playing for a few years now, and had grown leaps and bounds musically. Part of it was having the studio to play in 24/7. It was great, I really miss that, even although the times were real lean and very dark.

We were friends with Vic Makauskas of the band SVDB, and he had been over a few times to jam with us. His band was also on the verge of disintegration, as were a lot of the hardcore bands of Southern California that year. SVDB were a lot more poppy/catchy/crunchy type
so-cal punk, than hardcore. I remember they were a pretty tight live band, with a definite Damned bent.

We had also met this kooky Canadian named Nick Delaney, who had just come to LA in search of the Punk Rock N Roll (yikes) dream. He was an eccentric, and very awkward socially, but his guitar playing and song
writing was extremely unique. He was in a few bands from his native Vancouver, Canada, namely No Exit and East Van Halen.

Nick was out of his mind, and never touched a drug in his life. He took to calling himself Will at this time (after the name of the band, of course). I remember he shaved his head, except for a small circle on the top, which he died blue, with, a black center. He would
later explain, this was the island on his head. He would affix a cocktail umbrella to the center of it, and claim to take naps there in the late afternoon.

Somewhere around this time, Sin 34 breaks up. We would regroup a few months later with the offer of a "big gig" at the Olympic Auditorium opening for Fear and the Circle Jerks. I think we played once more at the Cathay De Grande before the band finally rested, once and for all. NOFX would open that show for us, I believe it was one of their first gigs.

So Phil and I start Painted Willie as 4 piece. 2 guitars (Vic and Nick), and Phil and I on bass and drums respectively. Phil had dubbed the band Painted Willie from a 1950's thesaurus he had found in a thrift store. Apparently it was an old English acronym for homosexual, or more approximately transvestite.

Right before our first show, at the Cathay De Grande dollar punk night, Vic dropped out of the band. Apparently his straight forward rock guitar playing didn't jibe with the wild/avant garde stylings of Willie (Nick). Willie was getting more and more out there, with so much energy and ideas constantly exuding from him. It grew hard to tell if he was a genius or a complete freak. I guess we found our own Syd.

So we debuted as a three piece, and quickly recorded a three song (one song each from each member) 7" EP simply titled "Painted Willie" (Spinhead 03), at our own home/rehearsal/recording studio Spinhead. "Ragged Army" (Will, er Nick's) best song by far, "Paper Tiger" (my tune, with a definitive Meat Puppet II influenced mid-section), and Phil's stunning "Kill It" as the B side. It's a gritty and unique record, with odd time signatures and quirky arrangements. Still sounds great today, if I don't say so myself.

The band had a hard time getting gigs, and it seems the Sin 34 fans were mixed on this decidedly different musical outing. There was a fair amount of airplay on KROQ's Rodney On The Roq show of the single. But the music scene in LA in 1984 was just a little whack. All of the clubs had closed, and punk rock, post-punk, post-hardcore, whatever you wanted to call it- had no venues after the Cathay shut it's doors. It was in that time I first heard the word "alternative", and it was used in a review in Option magazine, to describe our debut single. I mean, it may have been used previously somewhere. But I had never seen it.

It only took a month or two of "Will" Nick's living with us in that crammed back room of Spinhead, for tensions to come to a boiling point. It was kinda like the Jim Jarmusch movie Down By Law.

In July of '84 my Lovedolls movie was screened for the first time ever (before the premier proper) in Spinhead Studios. It was around this time that Phil and I had given Nick his notice. As much as I liked the guy, and his songs, he was just too much to live with. I think Phil was adamant about booting him, and I was more or less in agreement.

So Nick was out, and it was just back to basics. We recorded a 12" EP at this point, as a two piece. Phil played the guitar parts, and quite amazingly at that. I took the photograph that graces the simple black & white cover. It was a homeless man in downtown LA's skid row, covered in an American flag. We titled the EP My Fellow Americans. The Los Angeles 1984 Olympics were underway. Ronald Reagan was reigning supreme in the White House. This would be Painted
Willie's decidedly most political record in the band's brief 3 year history.

"My Fellow Americans" opens the EP with a dirgey but catchy instrumental with a political discourse layered over the top of it. The left wing discussion is mixed to the left channel, and is spoken by the Dutch band BGK. The right wing claptrap is on the right channel, and is spoken by various girlfriends of the band, one notably Jennifer Finch, future of L7. They were not speaking seriously of their political leanings, Phil and I had told them to be as conservative as they could imagine being. It's an interesting track, and it was the one that got the most airplay on this disc.

That is followed by "Part Two", a Phil composition originally performed by Sin 34, but never recorded. The song was inspired by the gloomy nuclear nightmare movie "On The Beach" and tells the story of an atomic bomb survivor in his last moments of life.

"Crossed Fingers" opens side 2 of disc, which yours truly warbling my lyrics of genuine hope vs. direct action. It's one of my favorite songs I have ever recorded. Phil wrote the music, and it was created
during the early years of Sin 34. I remember Julie's version of that song, it was called; "It's The Great Punk In, Charlie Brown". Too bad that was never recorded.

It's followed by a punk/funky anti-Ronny Reagan song I wrote and sang called "Republican Suntan (Sunburn)". It's decidedly light hearted and comic relief on this collection. The side closes with a psychedelic instrumental of the title track "My Fellow Americans".

Vic Makauskas would then rejoin the band and at this point the music transforms pretty much into a neo-metal band, a little less interesting but not without it's moments. The band would go on another year and a half before permanently disbanding in late
1987.

Those first two EPs and other demo recordings of that era also comprise the last release ever from the band titled "Relics". I believe this to be the bands strongest material.

-Dave Markey

Thanks once more Dave for the great history. The Painted Willie records on Spinhead are long out of print, however due to the fact they went largely overlooked, they aren't terribly difficult to find for a fair price and are well worth grabbing if you come across them.

Listen to "Kill It" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Husker Du]

Husker Du - Eight Miles High 7" (1984 SST Records)

It is probably a pretty safe bet that if you are a fan of punk rock from the 1980s, then you probably have at least heard of Husker Du. My first exposure to the band came via a radio show a couple of not-yet-friends of mine had at our High School radio station. Their names were Kathy and Robert (aka: Shrub). The song they played was a cover of The Birds' "Eight Miles High" and I was an instant fan. I used to tape their shows when I was a freshman in school because my access to money and records was limited by where I could walk and what I could buy on my allowance until I got a part time job when I was a little older. I used to rewind the tape and play that song over and over and every trip to a record store I'd look for any of their records.

Husker Du formed in 1979 in Minneapolis, MN. Grant Hart and Greg Norton were working at a local record store and met a man by the name of Bob Mould who was a frequent visitor to the store. They became friends and decided to form a band. Their name was taken from an old children' board game which translates as "Do You Remember". In 1981 they released their first 7", Amusement/Statues on their own Reflex Records label.

The band hit the road and pretty much toured non-stop for years, pausing only to record more records. Their next release was the live Land Speed Record on New Alliance Records. The band recorded it at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis. The title was pretty accurate as they blazed thru their set without ever stopping for air. Even though that material was speedy fast hardcore, they still showed hints of the melody that would become their trademark throughout their career. Shortly after that, they put out another 7", In a Free Land also on New Alliance Records. At the time this was the best thing they did and now stands as one of the rarest pieces of Husker Du vinyl there is, especially if it has an insert with it as not all of them did.

The band returned to putting out their own records again for their first full-length studio album, Everything Falls Apart. This is where they really got a chance to show off their now famous buzz saw guitar sound along with their brand of melodic hardcore. At the time they really were a unique band and all their stuff certainly stands the test of time.

The band found a new home in SST Records for their next record, a 12" EP called Metal Circus. It really was sort of a co-release of sorts between SST and Reflex Records in theory, but SST was the ones who actually manufactured, sold, and distributed it. More touring followed and when the band made it out to CA, they recorded what in my opinion is one of the best punk rock records of all time.

In 1984 the band released Zen Arcade, a double concept album about a boy who leaves home to go out in the world on his own. At the time, no other band had done something like that and really no one has since. The sound was a bit more refined than the stuff on Metal Circus and the sound a bit more melodic, but it still packed one hell of a punch while at the same time showing a new side to the band. It was embraced by such things as college radio and Rolling Stone magazine at the time and really got the band noticed.

A year later, another great album followed up, New Day Rising, along with more touring of course. All that touring and sadly I never got to see the band play due to either lack of funds, and more importantly lack of transportation! The next release, and their last for SST was Flip Your Wig which showed the band going more into the "post punk" or "college rock" direction. The songs were more accessible and didn't have as much bite to them, but still remained quite good.

Following the release of that album, the band did something that was a really big deal at the time. They signed to a major label. They were being courted by a couple different ones but ended up signing to Warner Bros. I remember what a huge deal that was to the punk rock community at the time and it was talked and written about everywhere. Candy Apple Gray was their first major label release, and while a pretty good record, it wasn't nearly as good as the previous ones.

After a couple singles the band released what turned out to be their final album, Warehouse: Songs and Stories which was another double album. At this point the band were splintering apart and not getting along. Their long time manager had passed away and after one last tour, which no one knew would be their last, the band gave up. The biggest rift was between Grant Hart and Bob Mould, who were likely wrestling for control of the band as both men were the songwriters. They had a unique setup, as whoever wrote the song would also be the one to sing it, they didn't have a "lead singer", they all would sing depending on what song it was and who wrote it, though as time went on, it was pretty much just Grant and Bob writing all the songs and singing them.

Upon their split, Bob Mould started did some solo records and formed the band Sugar. Grant Hart put out a couple of solo records and formed the band Nova Mob. Greg Norton ended up becoming a chef I believe. The band never reunited upon their split and I think there still is bad blood between Grant and Bob to this day.

Picking just one Husker Du record to feature, and one song was a tough one because I love everything they have done. Sure not every record is a masterpiece, but even the weaker stuff was better than most bands and they never put out something that flat out sucked. I decided to go with the song that got me into them in the first place.

As always, if you have any additional information, or were in Husker Du and want to share some stories, please get in touch.

Listen to "Eight Miles High" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [That was Then, This is Now]

Various Artists - That was Then, This is Now 7" (1986 Plus Records)

This one flew under my radar when it was first released and I didn't acquire one for about 2 years or so after it was released, when my friend Vince traded me his copy. While he liked Ruin, he hated the FOD song with a passion. That worked to my favor I guess because he ended up giving up this thing to me. I on the other hand, loved the FOD track. While to him it was just "noise", to me it was hardcore gold!

This record was the first release on Plus Records, who also brought us records from The Serial Killers, Legitimate Reason, and a couple others. Pretty much everything on the label was good and they certainly got off on the right foot with this compilation. This comp features Ruin, Scram, Electric Love Muffin, and FOD, all of them were from Philadelphia, PA, as was the label.

This particular FOD song was recorded live. The studio version can be found on their Love Songs 7". It is raw, fast and loud, and far more "hardcore" than the version on the aforementioned 7". There was two pressings of this record. The first had a thin, glued sleeve and came with an insert and stickers. The second had a hard, folded sleeve, different back cover, and did not come with stickers. The labels were different colors as well and the second press adds "vol.2" on the label to indicate it is the second pressing.

As always, if you have any additional information, or were the person responsible for Plus Records, please get in touch.

Listen to "Meat Factory" by FOD from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Cyanamid]

Cyanamid - Stop the World, I Want to Get Off 7" (1984 Mutha Records)

This band is somewhat of a mystery to me. I first heard them on the New Jersey's Got It? Compilation on the long-defunct Buy Our Records. It was a lot of years before I ever ran into a copy of their one and only 7" which was released on Mutha Records. They also released a demo tape prior to this (which I'd appreciate a copy of if anyone has it)

Aside from knowing the band hailed from New Jersey, I know nothing else about them or what became of them.

The band consisted of:
Dan Mulleavey - vocals
Sparky - bass
Chris - drums
Jim - guitar

As always if you have any additional information, or were a member of Cyanamid, please get in touch.

Listen to "I Love PBJ's" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [F]

F- Mess You Up 7" (1988 Mystic/Superseven Records)

I first heard about the band F on the Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Volume 1 compilation and was interested enough to check them out. Problem was finding any of their records, which at the time was limited to the You are an EP 12". They appeared on a couple other comps and then a couple years later, this 7" was released as well as a split LP with their friends, White Flag.

It would be many years before I finally tracked down a copy of the first 12", and it was only after finding David Camp, the man responsible for recording that record, that I acquired one from him. A funny story about that was when I called him up and talked to him about wanting to buy one from him, his response was "well, I have a bunch of copies that the band peed on and I have to check but I think I have one mint copy left as well". I obviously had no interest in the urine-damaged copies and worked out a deal for the mint one and finally had my F completion.

F were from Florida and much like AOD, were like a bunch of punk comedians. To F, nearly everything was a joke. I remember all kinds of hate mail in Maximumrocknroll about F, most of which were likely written by the band themselves! Some members of F also had another band called Gay Cowboys in Bondage, who released a 7" back then at the same time.

When Sound Idea Records reissued the You are an EP record as a 7", there was a bit of band history contained inside written by Phil Blumel. It is as follows.

The band F - no one seems to have a credible justification for the name - was formed in 1982 and released their first 12-inch record You Are An E.P. a year later. Prior to its release, the band broke up into two bands - one punk rock and the other '70s-style heavy metal - with the same name and performing the same songs in their respective styles.

This minuscule controversy - as well as a number of childish and unfriendly pranks - brought the band to the attention of the South Florida scene. For an effect probably not half as comical as they thought at the time, the band adopted the newly minted straight edge pose, complete with Xs etc., while drinking heavily and behaving like spoiled, self-destructive, carnivorous swine.

Upon the pressing of 1,500 copies of this record in 1983, no less than 200 of the records were smashed with hammers and against walls by the band and attendees at the practice/show. Such was their idea of a punk rock record release party. Calling the police on their own shows was another party favorite, and they delighted in their last show in Fort Lauderdale where the police actually made arrests instead of the usual simple harassment.

The band toured twice outside of Florida, both times with White Flag - although their t-shirts and interviews indicated they had toured with the Ramones. The band consisted of U.S. Ken "The Duke" Decter, John "John Galt" Golf Jr., Eddie Nothing and alternating drummers Ravenous "Mike Hasson" Gangrene and Pete Moss. Tim Swingle also played bass early on. The Duke moved to California and played solo under that moniker and as guitar-man for the Ex-Idols. John is a financial planner in South Florida and Eddie (who also played for the Gay Cowboys in Bondage) is now a bill collector in Tampa. Rav has not been heard of in some time, and Pete won't ever be again, as he died in mid-1997 while abusing some straight-edge heroin. (Rest in peace, Pete.) [Note: It appears that this is incorrect; Pete Moss committed suicide in 1997]

In the early 1990s, the F-Boys appeared in South Florida, having no other connection with the band than their name. And then, following their example, F, The Band Formerly Known as the John Birch Society were born in Gainesville in 1994 and released a fine e.p. "Die You Stupid Hippies."

So the band split in half, and there was two F's. One of them, presumably the heavy metal version, is still playing around Florida and has a website. I contacted them and asked if they had any affiliation to the punk band of the same name and they responded with a yes. When I wrote back to ask for some more history about F, I received no response.

Sadly, I lost David Camp's phone number a few years ago, else I would have tried to get back in touch for some more info and stories. When I talked to him on the phone, he had a lot of great old punk stories and still was in contact with a few people from the old days. David, if you happen to read this, please get back in touch.

This particular record was pressed on both black vinyl and later colored vinyl and had two different colored sleeves (yellow and white). It has been out of print for a hell of a long time. I'm sure someday it'll eventually get reissued on a Superseven singles collection.

As always if you have any additional information or were a member of the band F, please get in touch.

Listen to "Shoot it Down" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Misfits]

The Misfits - Cough/Cool 7" (1977 Blank Records)

If there is one band that probably doesn't need an introduction it is The Misfits. Over the years they garnered quite a following, in no small part thanks to Metallica always wearing their shirts and talking about them in interviews as well as covering one of their songs. In their wake, The Misfits became more and more popular reaching legendary status in the eyes of both punks and metalheads around the world. One has to wonder had Metallica not been shilling for them in the late 80s, if they'd be as popular as they are now.

The band formed in 1977 in Lodi, New Jersey by Glenn Danzig and Jerry Caiafa. They quickly added a drummer by the name of Manny and recorded and released this, their first two song single. The band had bass, drums, and piano, there was no guitars. The music was rather unique and had a bit of a spooky dark aura about it, even before they took on their horror image. They pressed a mere 500 copies and released it on their own label, Blank Records. This single sounded nothing like what would follow it.

In 1978, they added Frank "Franché Coma" LiCata on guitar and Manny left the band and was replace by "Mr. Jim" Catania. Some major label wanted to use the name Blank Records but Glenn owned the name so he traded it to the label in exchange for a bunch of studio time. They recorded a bunch of tracks that they planned to release as a LP titled Static Age however finding a label at the time to release it proved fruitless so some of the tracks were used and put out on a 7" titled Bullet that Glenn released on his new label, Plan 9 Records. This was the start of what became the trademark "Misfits sound" that they'd carry on for the rest of their existence.

Soon after, Franche Coma was out, and replaced by Bobby Steele. They put out a few more 7"s and played a bunch of shows. The releases that followed were the Horror Business and Night of the Living Dead 7"s. There was also a 12" released on Cherry Red Records titled Beware that compiled the Bullet and Horror Business 7"s with "Children in Heat" being replace by "Last Caress", the song made famous years later by Metallica doing a cover of it.

The band played in the UK and Glenn and Bobby ended up in jail which was the catalyst behind "London Dungeon" being written. When they got back to the states, they kicked out Bobby Steele in favor of Jerry's younger brother Doyle (Paul Caiafa). Doyle couldn't play guitar nearly as good as his predecessor, but had "the look" that the band wanted. Bobby Steele immediately started The Undead and The Misfits continued on.

Three Hits From Hell and Halloween 7"s followed. Sometime during this, Arthur Googy became their new drummer. Following the singles, the band found themselves with a record deal and released their first LP, the now-classic Walk Among Us on Ruby/Slash Records. They made like 10 or 20 thousand of the things and it sold pretty well. It ranks high on my list of all time great punk albums.

While the band's recorded output maintained their high quality, their live shows were become more sloppy and violent. The band would play faster and faster and reports of violence at their shows had increased. It seemed to come to a head out in CA when Doyle hit someone in the crowd over the head with his guitar which sent the guy to the hospital. I don't think the band played in CA ever again after that.

Googy was out and replaced by Robo (formerly of Black Flag) and they released their last two records while still an active band. They were the Die Die My Darling EP and the Earth AD LP, both released on Plan 9 Records. There also was a live 7" EP released titled Evilive that was initially given to members of their fan club (the Fiend Club) then later released to the public, and even later still reissued as a 12" EP in Germany.

The band called it quits in late 1983. Glenn decided he didn't want to do The Misfits anymore and wanted to go off in a different musical direction. This direction was Samhain. This left Jerry and Doyle out in the cold, and they went back to work for their family business.

Throughout the band's career, Glenn was an astute businessman. He owned his own record label, and silkscreened all the bands t-shirts and sold them through the mail, as well as having the Fiend Club. He copyrighted everything and kept a tight grip on everything, in short he was a control freak. He also had an interest in record collecting as there were many Misfits records pressed on various limited colors of vinyl.

After the big Misfits explosion, Jerry and Doyle started a metal band called Kryst the Conqueror, that was pretty lousy and they had hoped to cash in on The Misfits newfound success. When that failed they eventually went to court to sue for The Misfits rights and won to some degree and bought the logo from Glenn and reformed "The Misfits" with a new singer and yet another drummer. They released a record and duped tons of kids to come see them do covers of Misfits songs. In my opinion it was pretty terrible and has only gotten worse over the years. These days the name Jerry Only is pretty fitting, as he is the only original member left in the band and he tours every year under "The Misfits" name, playing lousy shows in every sitting yet still drawing a big crowd of clueless kids or people like me who were stuck seeing them because I went to see The Damned open for them.

The songs from this single were collected on The Misfits Box Set">The Misfits box set, however they don't sound quite the same to me as they do on this original vinyl. There was also a remixed version of "Cough/Cool" on the Collection 2 LP.

Listen to "Cough/Cool" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Ruin]

Ruin - Fiat Lux LP (1986 Meta Meta Records)

In 1986 some friends and I took the train to the city to see a punk rock show at Cabaret Metro. The lineup was 7 Seconds, Verbal Assault, Ruin, and SS20. We went solely for the need to see 7 Seconds and never heard the other bands. While I can't speak for my friends, I became a fan of the 3 opening acts that nite, and the one that really stole the show in my opinion was Ruin.

These guys had the stage full of lit candles and they came out wearing white lab coats and they tore up the stage. I was totally impressed with them and immediately looked for any records I could find of theirs. The first one I'd find was this one, their second and final record. It had just come out at the time. I wasn't able to find their first album for a couple years, when my friend, Eric, gave me some records from his collection in exchange for taking care of his cats when he went out of town. I was pretty happy that he gave that to me.

The band's total output consisted of the two aforementioned albums, and a track on the That Was Then This is Now compilation 7" on Plus Records (which will be covered here eventually) as well as being on the Get Off My Back compilation.

The band consisted of:
Damon "SouthPaw" Wallis - Guitar
Bloody Rich Hutchins - Drums
Cordy Swope - Bass/Vocals
Vosco Thomas Adams - Vocals
Glenn Wallis - Guitar/Founder/Vocals

After He Ho Rich Hutchins left the band and Paul Della Pelle became their new drummer

I was able to get some history of Ruin on their website, which is run by their singer, Tom.

Ruin was more than music, or at least aspired to be more. Initially, it was a propaganda project . Students of the arts, philosophy and religion, doing lab work with music. Experimenting with a way to be activists for social and individual evolution.

Founded in 1980 by Dr. Glenn Wallis, (then a religious studies' undergrad), Ruin was ostensibly a model "old school" hardcore "punk" rock musical group. This model was characterized by hyper speed rhythms, banshee lead guitar, raging vocals and ideological lyrics. Countless dime a dozen bands exemplified this style but few were distinguished masters such as Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains or Minor Threat.

During the time this style was in its infancy, Glenn heard the call and joined the mutual evolution. He began scrawling poems to be roared with thrash tempo rhythms; songs that wanted to transcend entertainment.

Glenn was nurtured on artists such as the STOOGES, LEONARD COHEN, the Ramones, Sex Pistols, Stiff Little Fingers, SHAM69, and the CLASH. While he was shaping his vision, he was listening to Crass, (anarchist art punk band), and Motorhead, (seminal speed metal band). Glenn became convinced that rock could be a vehicle to help stimulate the transformation of one's being to a higher stage of development, resulting in positive social behavior.

Ruin achieved headliner status locally in Philadelphia's mid sized music halls. Live, they experimented with noise, genre bending, pamphleteering, theatrics, and audience participation. They toured across the States a couple of times, and in their small way, helped to promote Buddhism as a means to enrich one's life.

Their last recording featured their flirting with mainstream rock. Theoretically, they were hoping to reach a wider audience to spread Buddhist ideas further, but basically they were becoming serious about pursuing a career as a rock band. This was frustrating as Ruin eventually found that rock as a business was overwhelming their creative efforts.

During their last year as a group, the band members evaluated their vocation and decided to pursue other courses, assuming they had done as much as they could as punk rockers on a mission.

Over a thousand dollars in debt, they disbanded before punk got pop and missed capitalizing on the growing market for old school punk in new boots.

Glenn is currently a college professor teaching courses in Buddhism. His third book is due to be published by the end of 2004. He used to have a mission.

Awhile back, Blackhole Records reissued both Ruin albums on a CD, but sadly it is out of print. The one thing they did though was remix the album when it was reissued on the CD, which is something I'm almost always against. In this case, I think the vinyl version sounds superior, the remixed version sounded a little too watered down.

In the late 90s, Ruin did a reunion show and they are currently putting together a documentary DVD of the band. You can visit there website here.

Listen to "You" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Ism]

Ism - Attack 7" (1981 S.I.N. Records)

Ism were pretty well covered here when I wrote about The Big Apple Rotten to the Core I'll repost the full story that was sent to me "after the jump".

This was the first Ism single that came out in 1981. Apparently, the b-side, "Queen Jap" was a hit on the Dr. Demento radio show. The song was a spoof of the Steve Martin song, "King Tut". The A-side, featured here, showed hints of what Ism would become. It was more new-wavey than what followed. After this single, they did their infamous cover of "I Think I Love You" and then their equally great A Diet for the Worms LP.

After that, the singer, Jism, must have gotten bored of hardcore because the Ism records that followed were all pretty much standard fare rock records. While not at all bad, they never captured the greatness of the early stuff. The band came and went over the years and now Jism is serving time in a New York State prison. I actually want to look into contacting him as I'd love to see if I could reissue the early material as it is all out of print and has been for many years.

About a dozen or so years ago, Ism put out a retrospective CD that contained some early material and some unreleased newer stuff. This single was not included on it.

Listen to "Attack" from the 7" (right click and "save target as"...)

The Ism & Bob Sallese Story
I spent years trying to write a book about the punk rock group Ism but came to a dead end when I was unable to find lead singer Jism and former manager and co-creator Bob Sallese.

This is what I did find out and the following info was gathered over the years after much painstaking research and interviews.

Josef Ismach aka Jism and Bob Sallese were childhood buddies. Both were attending Queens College in the late 70s during the punk explosion. They used to hang out at Max's Kansas City, CBGBs and A7. Sallese was a huge Dead Boys and Ramones fanatic. Jism was some kind of musical genius who was classicly trained and Sallese was a some kind of marketing genius.

There was a period in the early 80s when punk rock was dying because corporate radio was totally in the dark ages as they still are.
Jism and Sallese wanted to keep the movement alive and began booking local bands like "The Mob" and "Butch Lust and the Hypocrites". They managed to promote a huge show at a local Queens club with "the Mob". The club was a mainstream "new wave" club in Bayside Queens where Jism and Sallese resided. It was at this time that Sallese coined the term "Hardcore Punk" during the promotion of "The Mob". It was a term he released to the press and it stuck and spread like wildfire. Others later would try to take credit but this is how it went down.

At the same time, Jism and Sallese decided to start a record lable. It was just something for them to do in a time when things were getting very boring. The first realease was an Ism single "Queen J.A.P./Attack" on S.I.N. Reocrds.

"Queen J.A.P" was a clever spoof on Steve Martin's "King Tut" which poked fun of the Jewish American Princesses and Guidos in New York.("born in Brooklyn NY, moved to Great Neck L.I." ... "she's a Jew and He's an Italiano...a marriage made in Leonards") It became a cult classic with the likes of Dr. Demento whose superiors banned him from playing the song. A DJ from WLIR radio said that when they played it, the phones lit up and was one of the most requested songs ever but management quickly stepped in and banned the song. It was all tongue and cheek and not meant to offend anyone. Afterall, Jism was a Jew and Sallese was Italian. The flip side was "Attack" in which Jism played all the instruments. It went on to become a popular favorite in England and on BBC radio.

Jism quickly put together a band and teamed up with Sallese to write the songs on "The Big Apple Rotten To The Core" The album went on to become a hardcore and punk classic. "John Hinckley Jr., What Has Jodie Done To You" by Ism started getting commercial airplay and was probably the first "hardcore" song to get commercial airplay in NY. It opened the door for groups like "Black Flag" (who were long established on the West Coast) into getting commercial airplay in NY as well. Amy Carter, daughter of former President Carter, became a big Ism fan after the release of "Rotten To The Core".

WLIR nominated "John Hinckley Jr." as "screamer of the week" for two weeks straight but then DJ, John Debello, who hosted the show refused to let it officially win despite receiving 3 times the vote of the pop tune "MICKEY". He was quoted as saying, "I will never let that song win on my show" to other employees.

While the song was getting critical acclaim and much airplay, Jism and Sallese could not get the records to fill the demand by distributors because the record pressing plant was printing them up illegally and selling them themselves and keeping the masters out of the hands of Jism and Sallese. The owner eventually got busted by the FBI for bootlegging Beatles records.

The rest of the "Rotten to the Core" album quickly became a favorite among the punk community. "The Beastie Boys" and Cheetah Chrome of the "Dead Boys" were slated to be on it but couldn't come up with a tape in time.

Ism was now on a roll but the band from "Rotten To The Core" had moved to Georgia and were playing venues where groups like REM were playing. Sallese told Jism to get his ass back to NYC and get ready to record an album. Sallese gathered up the best local musicians from Queens who they knew from the neighborhood.

They pounded out the "I Think I Love You/A7" single with a wild cover photo of two apes doing it doggy style with David Cassidy's head on one and Shirley Jones on the other. David Cassidy went nuts and was publicly saying he was going to sue them because of the cover photo so only a limited number were printed but enough to top all the college charts. The song was another cult classic. Once again, WLIR in NY had entered it in their "screamer of the week" contest after being nominated by veteren DJ Ben Manilla and Steve Jones. Once again Ism was a winner which should have landed them a contract with a major lable but once again, DJ John Debello refused to let it win on his show.

"A7" became a favorite on the NYC punk scene. A7 was a dingy illegal after hours club that was trying to keep the punk scene alive. Jism and Sallese used to hang out there into the "wee hours of the morning".

Faulty records approached Sallese and wanted to sign Ism but before a deal was cut, Faulty filed for bankruptcy and screwed over Jism and Sallese for a chunk of distribution money.

Jism and Sallese brainstormed and swiftly followed up the "I Think I Love You" single with the now very rare album "A Diet For The Worms" LP which many consider to be the best hardcore/punk record to come out of NYC in the early 80s.

Ism was on a roll. They were doing gigs with groups like the Ramones, Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, The Smithereens. Sylvester Stallone even popped in to see them one night at CBGBs.

"A Diet For the Worms" became an instant hit on college radio and topped the CMJ radio charts. Everything was going great but Jism and Sallese had different opinions about the direction of the band. Sallese was also upset that the records came back from the plant without crediting him with the majority of the songs which he co-wrote the lyrics or penned the theme. From what I understand, Jism's girlfriend at the time and Sallese had different ideas about the band's next move so Jism and Sallese parted ways.

Jism then released the "Constantinople" EP on Broken Records which did well on the CMJ radio charts. In 1987, Bob Sallese started a new record label. Jism had already recorded some punk/psychedelic tunes in the studio and Sallese released some of these tunes on a "Nightmare At Noon" EP on yellow vinyl on "Raw Power Records". Sallese began managing the band again and they started doing more shows. Raw Power Records then released "The Big Apple Rotten To The Core Vol 2" which featured many of the bands from the first album plus Omer Travers known for breaking into Yoko Ono's apartment and leaving love notes. Jism and Sallese got him in the studio and co-produced the now infamous "New York Cat" by the UFOmer Band which Howard Stern would eventually play on his show. Jism and Travers appeared on the Stern show to promote the album. It turned out that Stern was an Ism fan from their earlier releases.

The "Big Apple Rotten To The Core Vol 2" became another rare punk rock cult classic sort by record collectors. While the music industry was becoming more and more corporate again and there was becoming less and less independent record outlets, clubs and radio, Sallese became disgruntled with the industry. Then in 1989 Scott Eisner, who was a close friend of Sallese and Jism, jumped off the Throgs Neck Bridge which links Queens to the Bronx. Eisner had done the cover photos for "Rotten To The Core" and also did some publicity work for Ism. Sallese needed to get the hell out of New York City and out of the music industry. He took off for the West Coast a few months later and joined the Screen Actors Guild. This time Jism and Sallese parted on friendly terms.

Jism went on to independently release "The Hits That Missed" CD which featured many of the band's songs from the Jism/Sallese era and thereafter. After that he released a limited edition album called "Journey Down Your Drain" CD which included a controversial song called "Love Yer President" and a fantastic punk remake of "Tip Toe Through The Tulips" which Tiny Tim did with Jism shortly before Tiny Tim's death. Tiny Tim and Jism also made a music video together. "The Hits That Missed", "Journey Down Your Drain" and "Tip Toe Through The Tulips" video were released in limited editions mostly for promotional use.

Jism was keeping the band together in 2000 while also playing drums with Dee Dee Ramone on and off. In 2000, Bob Sallese, became worth multi-millions of dollars in other investments and was planning the launch of an all new record lable. However, after stumbling upon certain truths that he shouldn't have stumbled upon, he lost every penny and was having his life threatened from some very powerful forces. He has since been impossible to track down. Jism shortly thereafter was sentenced to 5-10 years in prison for unknown reasons. He now resides in an upstate NY prison and it is believed that he was set up because of the release of "Love Yer President".

The rest is history. Ism records are very rare and a must have for any true collector of rare punk rock.
"A Diet For The Worms" LP recently went for $240 on an internet auction. "I Think I Love You/A7" & the two "Rotten To The Core" Albums run up to $100 and the "Queen J.A.P./Attack" single is almost impossible to find and very sought after (especially in Europe). Every now and then, you can find an Ism release at a great price on the net. Some people come across these releases and do not realize what they are worth.

Al Lestell
President
Rare Record Investor Club

Selections from The Punk Vault [Peer Pressure]

Peer Pressure - Sound of the '80s 7" (1980 Peer Pressure/Resistance Records)

This is another one of those records that was so obscure that it wasn't until it was put on one of those Killed By Death compilations (bootlegs) that anyone took notice. In fact, it was because of that leading Ryan Richardson to go on a nationwide hunt and document his adventure, that I came to hear of this band and their one and only release.

I ended up getting a copy of this in a trade I did, and I gave up a fair amount of stuff for it. Not too long after that, someone tracked down a friend of the band who had a small stack of them and sold them on ebay for less than the value of the stuff I gave up for it. There's some timing for you, had I put off trading awhile, I would have been able to get one cheaper in essence, but either way I'm glad I have the record.

Ryan did a thorough writeup on the band and his quest for this single over on his site and its well worth a read. I really do miss his MRR columns. Here's a few highlights.

The band was a two-piece band consisting of J Paine and B Estes. They were around 30 years old at the time of this recording but if you didn't know better, you'd swear it was a group of high school kids. J Paine played ALL the instruments on the record while B Estes contributed the vocals. The two were long time friends. They put out this single which they only pressed a couple hundred copies of. One of the members hopped on a greyhound bus and tried to hand-distribute the single to stores in other states (they were from CT). The "band" called it quits shortly after and never played any shows since it would have required them finding more musicians to play all the instruments that J played on the record.

A few years ago, there was a 7" that came out of a few unreleased songs that were recorded before this single. I believe it was Ryan who put it out. One of the members lives in the UK now and the other one lives in San Francisco.

Listen to "Sound of the '80s" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Corpsicles]

Corpsicles - Now You're Gonna Leave Me/Big Doings 7" (1982 Arrow Records)

I honestly can't recall where I first heard of this band. I think I saw the name on someone's trade or want list a bunch of years ago and thought it was a cool name for a band and wanted to check them out if I could ever come across their records. I eventually did, all two of them. The band only put out one 7" and one LP before disbanding and few people have probably heard their records. It was the really the fact that they were bootlegged on one of the Killed By Death compilations that a crop of record collectors base their collecting habits off, which got some people to take notice.

When I pulled this single out of The Vault to feature it, I knew it was going to be a very short writeup as aside from knowing they released two records and were from New York, I knew nothing else about them. I never saw an interview in a fanzine with them and I don't remember if I even read a record review of either of their records. Luckily my posting a list of former band members I was looking for led their drummer, Mike, to contact me and he was more than willing to share the Corpsicles story with me to share with the visitors of this site. This is a long one so grab a cup of coffee and have at it. Here's the story from Mike...

Well I'm not really the person to give the best history of how the Corpsicles got started, since in effect I wasn't the original drummer of the band. There was a guy who they played with before me but he never made it out of the rehearsal studio from what I understand.

The band was started by Phil "Freeze" Falcone and his cousin Luke "WARM" Palladino sometime around 1977 maybe even as far back as 1976. They lived around the corner from each other in Brooklyn and they were inseparable. Phil wrote and sang all the songs and played guitar, Luke played bass and sang a few verses (he is the guy singing on the second verse of "Big Doings"). He is also the creator of the pissed tombstone popsicle logo we used. I answered an ad in the Voice (maybe it was the Aquarian) looking for a drummer influenced by the Ramones and the New York Dolls. I had worked with the Ramones on occasion and had been playing in early punk scene bands like Wade Barker (hardly punk but Punk was so undefined at the time).

We talked for a few hours that first phone conversation and that seemed to be an omen that we would make a good fit. Phil most definitely had the gift for gab, always had. He could make friends and talk for hours with anyone! Even a dead guy!

Well we got together that first rehearsal sometime around 1978 (maybe late 1977) and you could hardly tell anyone was a punk at all! I had hair down to my ass, Phill had long hair and Luke had what could be best described as an afro! We came to realize that we were all really Sabbath heads looking for a way to get out all the anger in us! We even played some Sabbath that first night if I remember correctly, not your typical punk warm up repertoire if you ask me...We played about 4 or 5 Ramones tunes just to get warmed up and then started right onto the songs. The first Corpsicle song I ever played as a Corpsicle was "Now Your Gonna Leave Me". They had pretty much invited me to be their drummer before the rehearsal was done.

As I remember it, we didn't even bother to go over any song twice that night, just played the next one without any discussion of how the song went or what was expected of me to play. It was at least two months, two gigs and one recording session later before I even could put the name of the song to the song we were about to play! Such is the way of being in a punk band I suppose! That's the way it was back then!

We did our first show at CBGB's largely because I worked there and had the ins to get us in. It was a miserable show from what all my friends there would say and they wouldn't have said that if it wasn't true! Truth was I had a set list that could have been a Chinese menu for all I knew. I was in the band for roughly two weeks when we did the show! I could see the names of the songs but had no clue as to which song I was about to play! It amounted to a bunch of noise in the end.

At the time there were really only two “punk” clubs to play in the city that would book a punk band. Max's Kansas City and CBGB's. The hardcore punk scene was really just in its infancy at the time and none of the little hole in the wall places had opened up yet. Mudd Club was more of an after hours place at the time and it was impossible to get in there unless you were well known by the regulars there. Punk was giving way to New Wave and Power Pop as early as 1978 and it was getting increasingly difficult for Punk bands, even old wave punk bands like us, to get any bookings in NYC. And being a three piece was sort of frowned on back then for some reason. Everyone wanted you to have a front man for some dumb reason. I think the reason the band lasted as long as it did was because there were only three of us and we became very close because of it.

We basically played in the three clubs there were at the time, Max's, CB's and a place in Brooklyn called Zappas. Zappas was kind of a mish mosh of styles as one day there would be a metal band (Pete Steele was the big act at the time there I forget the name of the band at the time it was just before Carnivore and WAY before Typo), the next a pop band and then the next day a punk band. Mitch Karduna was a friend of mine that I met with my work with the Ramones and he took pity on me and gave us gigs! God bless you Mitch wherever you are! I would have to say most of our shows were played in Zappas. Mitch even let us headline a show there and our opening act was none other than Cyndi Lauper! Named Blue something I forget... We did two shows at Max's if I remember correctly before it died and went to punk heaven. I used to hang there regularly before I started working at CBGB's and I must say of all the places I miss Max's is the place I miss the most!

We actually went on a tour once to Boston where we played two clubs whose names I can't for the life of me remember. Oh wait one was a place called the Channel. I think it was where the Cars made their start but I'm not sure. It was much better than the average club we had been playing at, much larger nice paint job. We played some other small club there whose name I most definitely can't remember... maybe something like Pastels or something poppy like that. All I do remember is I practically got pneumonia packing the car as it was the dead of winter and it was freezing and I was dripping in sweat cause they wanted us out of there! I also remember we did the show mostly on mescaline which probably has a lot to do with why I can't remember the name of the place to save my life!

The trip was fun, the only downside was Phil’s incessant need to fart in a car with closed windows (because it was cold). Phil had this mad evil laugh that you can hear in the song "Confusion" off the album. Every time he would cut one loose you would get the Devil's Laugh out of him!

The only other thing I remember from that tour was the fact that we didn't have a room to stay at on one occasion and wound up staying at some girl's house we met at the show that took a liking to Luke. We didn't ever tour after that I think simply because it cost us more to do than we made! And who was going to give some band they never heard of a guarantee to cover their costs? The funniest moment of the tour was me and Luke looking at each other trying to figure out why some woman asked us if we wanted a "bear" and what we would do with a "bear" if she were to give one to us. We at first thought it was the stuffed variety they were giving away as some sort of promotion and not the draft kind she was offering. It took us a good 5 minutes to figure out what she meant and the confused look on our faces was only surpassed by the curious look she was giving us for not understanding what she said!

Our biggest show was one at CBGB's opening for Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers reunion. Everyone was there including Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan and even Killer Kane! They used all of our equipment and I still have the kit Jerry Nolan played on in storage. Lots of famous drummers played on that kit thanks to my working for CBGB's as anytime they needed a drum kit they asked me! This show with The Heartbreakers was probably our proudest moment since they were a major inspiration of what we did. Whenever anyone described us they used to always say a cross between The Heartbreakers and the Ramones which we took as very much a compliment. We got some write ups for that show and it was one of our best played shows I can remember. It went a long way to erasing the past "just a bunch of noise" remarks my friends had given me from the first show and started people thinking that maybe we weren't as bad as they first thought. Fat lot of good it was by then as the punk scene was really on the way out due to the power pop and new wave genre that had taken over the club scene. Unless you wore orange sherbet colored pants and sang happy tunes about your girlfriend you were not going to get man