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 many gigs in the city, and Phil being slightly overweight and not what you call a babe magnet was never going to get to a place where he could write such material! Listen to the songs and you can pretty much tell what Phil’s love life was like! Luke was the babe magnet and I pretty much had one girlfriend the entire life of the band until late in the end of it's history.

Shows were getting few and far between, Max's had closed down, CB's was merely a tourist attraction at that point. Nothing scene related was going on there as metal had taken over as far as a scene is concerned, and that was played out across the street at Great Gildersleeves. The only punk that could be found were shows put together by a tight knit hardcore crowd that would have 6 or 7 of usually the same hardcore bands playing Sunday afternoons at CBGB's. We were not entirely accepted by the hardcore crowd as we were really an old wave punk band. The harmonies we were known for also had a lot to do with that I'm guessing, and so we rarely ever played any of those shows and those were just about the only punk shows you could find. We had been playing in many of the same places these bands played and became fast friends with few bands like Ultra Violence. We would do some shows with them at a place called A7 which was nothing more than an apartment with two Fresnel lights, a PA system, a bar and drug dealers. It was originally located on Avenue A and 7th street but eventually moved to Second Avenue and 1st street in what I think is currently the building the Guardian Angels now call headquarters but I could be mistaken. We usually went on at 4AM when no one was around, I remember this because I would go there after work at CBGB's to do the show! Many times the staff outnumbered the patrons!

We even played an abandoned building that had a collapsed floor, no windows, and you needed a ladder to get into it because of all the rubble of the collapsed floor was below and there was nowhere to set up. It literally looked like the pictures you see of the buildings after the London Blitz’ of WWII! That's what it was like back in the days of punk, you would play anywhere, the opening of a clam shell, anyplace you could plug in and use as the club scene was really that limited. Getting gigs at places like the Mudd Club required payoffs and politics which we were never very good at, why should we be, we were punks!

We did one radio interview that I can remember in Jersey but I can't remember the station it was for, most definitely a college station. It was fun and we mostly just played all the bands we listened to. Like the Cramps, Ramones, the Clash, and the Buzzcocks. Of course we also played plenty of the Dolls and Heartbreakers we could find. We were playing a show somewhere that week and tried to give away tickets to it on the radio show but if I remember correctly no one bothered to call in. I think we also got the DJ who had us on in trouble because we were not exactly what you call FCC compliant in our language and subject matter. I’m sure mescaline came up at least 4 or 5 times as Phil loved the stuff when we were not playing music.

There was one local Fanzine that did two articles on us where they were the first one to describe us as the cross between the Heartbreakers and the Ramones. This actually went a long way to getting us the opening gig with the Heartbreakers, as the girl who was then booking the acts read the article and finally started to understand what we were about. Phil wound up dating the girl who wrote the article but as with everything in Phil’s love life it didn't last. Can't remember the name of the zine it's all so long ago.

The Recordings:

The Single that KBD9 has made something of a collectors item was recorded less than a month after I was in the band. By then I at least knew the song we were recording and had learned it enough to start singing backgrounds on the tunes. Actually I think we first did the backgrounds on the recording and I just started doing them live as well. My contributions to the songs and the style was minimal, if any, aside from the harmonies that became our signature at the time. No punk bands in the city were actually singing in their songs, mostly bad singing (which we had too) and shouting. Hardcore with harmonies became our mantra!

We recorded 3 songs, "Now your gonna leave me", "Big Doings" and "Corpsicles". "Corpsicles" was never released until we re-recorded it for the album. It was never going to be more than a demo tape and was mixed accordingly. Eventually it was decided that to get noticed you had to appear to have your own shit together or have a record deal. Sire Records had already been sold off to Warner Bros, Stiff Records was nothing much more than a good T=shirt ad at the time (If it ain't Stiff it Ain't worth a fuck!). So there was really very little prospect of being signed by anyone. No one was snapping up punk acts the way they used to so we decided it might be better to just release these songs as an independent and it might help us get more gigs if they saw we already had a record out. We remixed the songs to be more suitable for a record pressing and even went to Sterling Sound to have it mastered. We decided to make "NYGLM" the "A" side because that’s what everyone was looking for at the time, power pop. Funny how the "B" Side always seems to be what gets the band noticed as "Big Doings" is the "B" Side of the single. Only 1000 copies were made to my knowledge and most of those I am guessing were given away instead of sold. I don't think we ever re-released them when we ran out deciding instead to just use the money on the album which we figured would get us an even better shot at a gig at the time. Luke did all the artwork for the band. It made it into a few club jukeboxes most notably CBGB’s. The picture on the back was taken at Systems Two recording where we rehearsed and recorded it. Audie the engineer took the picture and I feel bad I can't at the moment remember his last name but for anyone who likes the band you should know that he was for all intents and purposes the fourth member of the band! He mixed and was the lead engineer on every recording ever made and even contributed to what we did on the songs.

I really must apologize to all these people whose last names I can't remember but you have to understand we RARELY ever called anyone by their REAL name back then. Phil used to call everyone "Floyd" just because he liked the name and if he didn't call you Floyd (as in conversations where you really had to know who he was talking about in reference) there was always some other name he would use such a
"Audible" for Audie. Hard to remember names you never used so my apologies to all those whose name I can't remember. It's a long time ago and 20 years and two bands later the names tend to get lost.

The Album was created simply because we were not getting any gigs of importance and largely due to boredom! The main mixer at CBGB's at the time, Tony, asked if he could produce the record and we said ok. In retrospect I feel bad now that we did, not because Tony did a bad job, in fact I think he did a great job, but I do think Audie, who as I have described before as the 4th Corpsicle, took it personally having to share the mixing duties with him. From the album you can tell that we had started to try and tailor our songs to be a bit more palatable to the hardcore crowd as songs like "Scene" and "Sex With You" will attest to. I personally think the Album shows a lot more of what we were about musically. And "Confusion" probably was our best song Phil ever wrote that we did.

A lot more time was spent on these recordings than I would guess was spent on the average punk recording, thanks to the fact that Audie rarely ever charged us for the full time we used. We would binge on coke and work until the light came out much the way we did when we rehearsed.

I'm a little hazy on how many copies of the Album we had printed. I believe it was only 1000 copies but it may have been 2000, again more copies were probably given away than were sold. Bleeker Bobs and a few of the 2nd avenue stores took 4 or 5 copies on consignment but there was never any major distribution of our records other than Phil going in and gabbing to the owner and convincing him to take a few copies and try to sell them. And I can’t remember any store calling us and saying we ran out come bring us more. The punk scene was pretty much gone by that time, metal and the hair bands was in full force, the Misfits had broken up and they were the kings of whatever NYC Punk scene remained at the time! They were pretty much the only punk event you could find.

The End:

As time went on and no gigs in sight, Corpsicles was relegated back to a band who rehearsed for a gig that was never going to happen. Zappa's had closed, CB's was it and it was not really a place that anyone went to unless there was a band there they wanted to see. Bands who were way beyond playing a place like CBs but merely played there because of it's history. Since we never ever truly had a following that was more than Phil's sister and a few of her friends plus the few friends we had made that were in other bands and likely would get comped into the club anyway. We really did nothing but rehearse and hang out as we always did. Even the rehearsals had turned into 30 minutes of set (which was all it took when you had songs that were not much longer than "Sex With You") and 3 hours of paper baseball in the studio lobby!

By then Systems Two had even closed down and we were rehearsing in a place that is still there to this day although has had many name changes since then. (On 1860 Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn. It's now run by a friend of mine named Mike) I even LIVED there for awhile as I moved in with the girl who ran the studio and lived there! This was where the band fell apart and I must admit I am the villain here in the demise of the Corpsicles.

At the time metal was starting to be big business, and I would say 90% of the bands rehearsing there were metal bands. As I was living there I became friends with just about all of them but one band in particular that seemed to me to have something that might take them somewhere. They were mostly doing cover tunes of bands I had been listening to at the time (there were no more good punk band records to buy anymore) they kicked out their singer one day and somehow or other they asked me to sing for them during a rehearsal. They asked me to join but never being one to want to play in a cover band I said only if you stick to the original stuff and get away from the covers. I sang with them and played drums for the Corpsicles for about another 6 months before I finally said to Phil that we were going nowhere and I was going to leave to become a singer. I needed to play for someone other than myself as selfish as that may be, but at the time music and playing it for a living was all I really wanted to do with my life. I was always willing to jam, record and do a show with them. I was even willing to continue rehearsing with them until they found a replacement. And I would have stayed a member but I just needed to know that something aside from just rehearsing was in the cards. They never took me up on my offer to keep rehearsing and I’m sure they were hurt by my decision but I was 26 at the time and at that stage where I needed to know my life was going to constructive as opposed to repetitive and stagnant.

I had heard from Phil on rare occasions since then trying to get the band back together. And my life had become so busy with the success of my metal career (Von Helsing) and job as a video engineer for Financial News Network that I declined. I told him I would play a gig if he booked one and rehearse for it as much as they wanted but he never did book one and eventually I had been in front of a mic and off a kit for so long that I wasn't really sure I could even play them anymore. Eventually I lost touch with Phil and hadn't heard from him again, this was in the late 90's

Last time I saw Phil and Luke was at the Sex Pistols reunion show at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC about 5 or 6 years ago I think. I gave them my number but they never called. I guess they had moved on as well. Phil had been married and divorced. Luke I believe married the same girl he was dating way back during the bands heyday. To my knowledge they never did bother to find another drummer despite the fact I though I was easily replaceable. I do miss them and the great times we had together but I suppose everything must come to an end.

I'm surprised and flattered that the band seems to have been re-discovered after all these years. Hard to fathom how something you did 20 years ago and gave up on could turn into a success. I'm just glad someone finds the music entertaining which is all we were trying to do in the first place.

If you or anyone else ever gets in touch with Phil or Luke please let them know I have been thinking about them and miss them. And I wouldn't mind jamming with them again, never was opposed to it. I am pretty much out of the music business now and design and install Television Studios for Networks with companies like Time Warner.

If there is anything anyone else needs to know about the Corpsicles I'm glad to oblige. Hopefully Phil will get wind of how his baby has taken off. He really deserves all of the credit for what the Corpsicles is and was. It all sprouted from his warped mind and if anyone has a box full of records that have been untouched it would be him. I tend to doubt that any exist but I wouldn't be surprised to find that one box of the album is hidden in his parents garage!

Thanks a lot Mike for the great information. Now I finally know a lot more about the band thanks to you.

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

Mike also added a little bit of Corpsicles trivia...

A round the label on I believe on the single (maybe both) is a date.I think it's actually part of the serial number ARO001-715 or something similar.

It is a holiday known as St Swithens Day.

We always celebrated St Swithens Day for no other reason than the fact we never heard of it and it was always in the log book the rehearsal studio (Systems Two) used to book the studio. Audie was the guy who took note of it originally. The pictures taken for the back of the album were also taken on St Swithens day. Shows you how warped we were to have little quirks like that! We had no idea who St Swithen was nor what the significance of his day is. It's another one of those things like calling everyone Floyd that we included into our rituals!

The SPCK is a reference to spring creek where we took a lot of pictures we used.

And I suppose it wouldn't hurt to say that at the time:

Phil worked in a Dime Savings Bank
Luke Delivered rented Tuxedos for Zellers
And I worked at CBGB's first as a bouncer and then as the guy who would collect the money at the door.

Selections from The Punk Vault [Adrenalin OD]

Adrenalin OD - The Wacky Hi Jinks of Adrenalin OD LP (1984 Buy Our Records)

The first thing I ever heard from this band was their cover of the Brady Bunch theme on the Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Volume 1 compilation. I thought that it not only kicked ass, but it was pretty funny to do a cover of that. I immediately made a mental note to buy anything else they were on. That led me to the now-classic We Got Power: Party or Go Home compilation where their song, "World War 4" (that ends with their rendition of "Pop Goes the Weasel") was a standout and also continued to show the bands sense of humor.

Shortly after that, my friend Gub (who back then was known simply as Scott Conway) brought the first AOD album to school and gave it to me to borrow. He never got it back! I convinced him that it needed to be mine and gave him something for it, like I bought him lunch or something. I instantly fell in love with the record and practically wore it out by playing it so much.

Adrenalin OD (or AOD for short) formed in fall of 1981 by Jack Steeples, Dave Scott, Paul Richard and Jim Foster. They played a bunch of shows and practiced for a year or so and saved up enough money to put out their first record, Let's BBQ, which also resulted in them starting a record label called Buy Our Records.

Around the time that 7" was released, Jim Foster left the band and was replaced by their friend Bruce Wingate. This lineup would remain for the rest of the band's career. A year or so after the release of their 7", the band recorded and released their first full-length LP, The Wacky Hi Jinks of Adrenalin OD. They also appeared on a handful of compilations including the now legendary New York Thrash compilation on ROIR records. It was originally a cassette only release, which has since been reissued on vinyl and CD.

The band toured plenty and also kept their label going until they were too busy to do both and handed the reigns over to their friends in Bedlam to continue with the label business so they could just worry about being a band. AOD released another 7" and then their second album, Humungousfungusamongus in 1986. They also were going to release a split live flexi disc with Bedlam, but the one company that was making flexi's back then, Evatone, refused to press them because they were offended by the foul language on the Bedlam side (Evatone, it turns out, were a religious company). The split was eventually released as a regular vinyl single with no picture sleeve that was sold at shows and through mail-order. It had numbered and stamped labels, and came with an insert with the song info on it.

After the second album, the band slowed down and started venturing off in a more musical direction. This resulted in the Cruising with Elvis in Bigfoot's UFO LP and the Theme from an Imaginary Midget Western EP. Both of them were pretty good records which I still enjoy today, though bared little resemblance to what came before it.

In 1989, with Buy Our Records closing shop (likely a result of being ripped off by countless distributors that went bankrupt at that time), the band found a new home on Restless/Enigma Records and their sound changed even further, however not for the better. Their final release, aptly titled Ishtar, was to put it kindly, a bad record. Even the band will tell you this. In fact, Bruce Wingate chimed in with this:

The first wave of hardcore was essentially killed off by metalheads and straight edge jocks in 1986. Not relating to either type was what got us into punk rock to begin with!

We made a conscious decision to bail on that whole scene, and started playing more '77 style punk. In retrospect, I think the Cruisn' with Elvis album sounds rather British (we all loved The Undertones, and Stiff Little Fingers.) Unfortunately we jumped the gun on declaring punk rock was "back". Everyone else was into double bass drums or unity!

By the time the last album was made, Ishtar, we were sick of; each other, our shitty manager, and "wacky suburban hardcore." We had been playing punk rock for ten tears by 1990, it was a thankless task before Nirvana and Green Day made it a potentially lucrative one.

Ishtar was our attempt to sell out and was made while we were breaking up. Shortly after it came out we were about to go onstage at Maxwells in Hoboken and decided to make it our final show.

A few weeks after its release, Restless/Enigma went out of business and the band decided they had enough and called it quits. The band reunited for the New York Thrash reunion show a few years ago at CBGB's as a sort of closing chapter to the AOD book.

Where are they now? Dave Scott resides in Florida and designs merchandise for bands and manages a band called Nutrajet. Paul and Jack were in a band called Sux and also The Kowalskis. And as for Bruce, aside from playing in Brunch Mummies...

As for me post-AOD, you might want to mention that I was the musical director for two tours by cult singer/songwriter Harvey Sid Fisher (of Astrology Songs fame!) ...and that I found Ben Weasel marrying my ex-girlfriend to be a little TOO derivitave!

Years ago, when CD's were just starting to catch on, Buy Our Records released the first two AOD albums on a CD. However the intro to the song, "Rah Jah" was shortened and altered in fear of a lawsuit for using such a large sample. This carried over to the reissue of the first LP and 7" (along with most of the compilation tracks) on Grand Theft Audio titled Sittin' Pretty.

Bruce had this to say about the song...

"Rah Jah" was one of the songs written before I joined AOD, so I can't be blamed that it was originally called "Mr Rogers is a Child Molester".

If anyone is wondering how to achieve that sludgy guitar sound and drums that sound like cardboard boxes, here is how to do it:
First, pick a studio that has never recorded punk rock, preferably one owned by a guy named Vito. Then, adjust your amp until your guitar sounds like a swarm of bees. Soon after, get the pot dealer who runs your record label to have buckets of fried foods and more cheap beer delivered. You are now ready to "roll tape."

I'm sure there was a logical explanation of why we changed the title to "Rah Jah", but frankly all I remember from twenty-one years ago is that we were really stoned and those buckets of food went quick!

Relapse Records has recently reissued Humungousfungusamongus and Munster Records a few years ago released the bands first demos along with some live material. The later stuff remains out of print and this version of Rah Jah, is forever lost with the exception of being found on the old vinyl.

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

Record nerd info:
There was 50 of these pressed on blue vinyl and given away to "punk VIPs".
There was two pressings of this record. The first had a small 7x7 insert, the second had a 12x12 insert.

Further reading:
Interview with Dave Scott on the Spontaneous Combustion site

Get yourself some AOD:
Humungousfungusamongus CD

Selections from The Punk Vault [Pariah]

Pariah - Not Satisfied 7" (1981 Disc Print Records)

My first exposure to Pariah came from the Rodney on the ROQ Volume 3 compilation on Posh Boy Records. It was the third and final in the series of great compilations. That song, and my habit of collecting labels as a whole led me to their album (which by the way, is excellent and has recently been reissued on vinyl on Get Back Records) as well as a pair of 7"s that came out around 1990 containing old material.

It wasn't until a few years ago that I discovered that before they recorded for Posh Boy, Pariah had put out a 7" on their own. I was unsuccessful in obtaining a copy for quite awhile until coming into contact with Mike from Pariah, who generously donated a spare copy of this record to the punk vault! Truly a selfless act on his part, and now I get to share this punk artifact with the visitors of this site.

I asked Mike for a little history and here is what he wrote...

Hi all,

MXV asked me to write a little history regarding the first Pariah 7” record which he so graciously accepted into the vault. I thought I’d also try and give you all a glimpse into the history of the band at the same time, so here it goes.

Tony (singer, bass player) and I had known each other since junior high school. Knew of each other I should say. We were both motocross rats (and skate rats and surf rats) and would see each other wearing our moto-jerseys to school. Also, the word around school was that Tony had a bitchin track in front of his house out in the valley (Alhambra valley in Martinez, CA). Some things never change and we are both still moto-rats and ride regularly to this day (Tony has switched to 4-stroke with the new Honda CR450F and I ride a 2-stroke Honda CR250). However, we traveled in different circles and never formally met until high school. In our junior year, we both ended up in a photography class. We became fast friends immediately and have remained friends ever since. Talking in the back of the class, we eventually got around to music and discovered that we each played an instrument – Tony played bass and I played guitar. How convenient, eh? By the way, how many times have you heard of a band formed by high school friends? Must be something in the water! Anyway, Tony and I eventually got together out at his place for a jam. His house had a really cool basement that had a concrete shelf that was perfect to use as a drum riser. It even had a PA. Cool stuff for a 17 year old kid, let me tell you. I soon found out that Tony was really into Punk. I was a total metalhead and had never even heard of punk at that time (this was only 1981, remember), but as soon as I heard those crankin’ guitars on the Dead Kennedys and Ramones records (yep, vinyl) Tony played for me I was hooked. I had been jamming for fun with this other kid from school who played drums and we soon had him out at Tony’s basement for a jam. With Greg Travers on drums, the earliest incarnation of Pariah had been formed. The first songs we attempted were all covers. I clearly remember struggling to play "California Uber Alles" and "Rockaway Beach". Greg and I both had trouble at first getting our chops up to punk tempo, but when you’re 17 it doesn’t take long and soon we were cranking ‘em out.

Now, at this time the San Francisco Bay Area punk scene was exploding. Clubs like the On Broadway, the Mabuhay Gardens and even The Stone were putting on amazing shows with bands like Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, TSOL and other great bands. What an amazing time it was and what amazing shows those were. We were salivating to get on some of those bills and decided our best shot was to start writing our own songs. I still remember a couple of the early songs with titles like "Hostage and Drivin’". Greg even attempted to sing backup on "Drivin’", but soon decided that he needed all his faculties to pound the skins. Ah, what could have been. Keep in mind that we were all 17 and these early songs reflected our youth. Undaunted, we kept at it and eventually had a few songs that we thought were pretty darn good at the time. In order to get booked at the clubs in the city, you needed to send in a tape so we decided to head to the local studio and record a few of the songs. Setting an early precedent, we went a little overboard and booked time at a studio in Concord, CA that was owned and operated by a former guitar player for the Steve Miller band. It was here that we recorded the first Pariah 7” single. This rare single had three songs including "Our Voice", "Not Satisfied" and "Dying in the Suburbs". I still remember recording that single. I remember how intimidated and uncomfortable I felt standing out in the studio with headphones on trying to stay in time with Greg without being able to see him very well through the glass of the drum iso-booth. Somehow, we pulled it off and for all it’s faults, the EP sounds really tight. As I listen to it now, it sounds really strange. I’m such a different person and different player now that it seems like someone else must have been playing on that EP. Time is a strange game indeed. Back to the story, after finishing the recording we had it mastered at the famed Fantasy Records Studios and did a small pressing. Tony did the artwork and a friend of his did the photography. I don’t remember if we even tried to distribute the thing. It was mainly used as a booking tool, which worked very well, by the way. After a few miserable gigs we were soon getting some respectable billings playing with the Dead Kennedys, TSOL, The Circle Jerks, UK Subs, Suicidal Tendencies, Bad Brains, Fear, etc. We even played with the Ramones in Sacramento. So, no matter how we feel listening to the EP now, we cannot deny its important place in the bands history. I hope you enjoyed this self-indulgent reminiscence. If you have any questions send me an email at mdsmith64[at]pariah-now[dot]com. Oh, and check out our new Posh Boy Records release and website at http://www.pariah-now.com. Thanks everyone and thanks MXV!

There where are they now is obvious if you just read the above, the band reformed and put out a new album. I believe Posh Boy might still be selling the 7"s from 1990 as well (which contain old recordings) through their website.

Listen to "Not Satisfied" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [F-Word]

F-Word - Shut Down 7" (1978 Posh Boy Records)

My first exposure to F-Word was on one of the Posh Boy Compilations, perhaps it was "Posh Hits Volume One" but I'm not quite sure. It would be awhile before I bought their one and only album, which was a live one. To me the band was an acquired taste, they eventually grew on me but the original purpose for buying the record is the fact that if I like a record label, I tend to collect that label as a whole and buy everything they release. In hindsight, I'm glad that I collect the way I do because I came to appreciate a lot of records purchased solely for what label they when I'd go and revisit them later, to which this is a prime example.

F-Word were part of that first wave of Los Angeles area punk from the late 70s. It was fronted by the late Rik L Rik. Since Posh Boy was not only their record label, but their manager, I went to the man himself, Robbie Fields, and asked him to share his version of the F-Word history as was there and here is what he wrote.

F Word! was very much part of the initial 1977 L.A. punk explosion, centered around the Masque, an underground (literally and figuratively) club off Hollywood Blvd. in then seedy Hollywood, California. One key difference: the group members were a little younger than the other groups making their mark: The Screamers, Weirdos, Dils, Alleycats, Nuns, Skulls, Germs, Controllers and Avengers. I came to meet F Word! when working the midweek door for Masque owner, Brendan Mullen, and I was soon asked to manage them.

Of course, I had no prior experience as an artist manager, but I did speak with an English accent and that must have seemed a plus at the time.

The group revolved around the songwriting axis of guitarist Kenny Sercu aka Dim Wanker and singer Richard Elerick aka Rick L Rick (later : Rik L Rik) who must have been 17 at the time. Even younger was the bass player. The drummer was the weak link and soon departed and was replaced by a much older professional drummer out of Chicago (ex City Boys) that I had found, an aspiring actor named David Schultz aka Dutch. Dutch proved the glue that held the group together during their short, incandescent career. He owned a never commissioned checker cab that was ultra reliable as band transportation; he provided some maturity in a very immature mix and he knew that both frontmen had something few had: charisma. So while Wanker played the most anarchic guitar, making you wonder he knew what song they were playing at that moment and Rik was doing his best Iggy impersonation of acting as though he was not supposed to be singing, drummer and bass player provided an awesome backbeat.

Rik became a favorite of all the Masque scenesters. Kenny and Steve the bass player were a little rough around the edges. It was inevitable that Dangerhouse would become interested in the group and everyone wanted to have a single released on Dangerhouse as
1977 folded into 1978. Unfortunately, F Word were a low priority at the Dangerhouse collective and it soon became apparent that the squabbling between Wanker and L Rick were torpedo the group before they went into the studio.

Meanwhile, their dutiful manager had been securing the group prime gigs: opening at the Whiskey for Screamers and The Weirdos and taking them to San Francisco frequently to play Mabuhay Gardens on weekends and playing with the top S.F. groups back then, the Nuns and Avengers. As it happened, the Mabuhay soundboard was always connected to a reel to reel deck and I took advantage by recording the many sets F Word! played at the club. Regrettably, we only had a mono mix from the board and not all the instruments were mic'd. So, at the point where it became apparent that the group was in its death throes I proposed that we give up on Dangerhouse and release the live material; this idea was met with hostility from both Wanker and L Rick who were not happy with people hearing their warts and all performances. But the other 2 members sided with me and felt we had to have something to memorialize the group and its impact. Much later on, Rik L Rik became reconciled to the F Word! recordings and he was extremely happy when top Swedish group Sator re-recorded "Government Official" for their Barbie Q Killers album and charted with it as a single, something that never would have happened but for the release of the F Word! live material.

Count me in as one of the people who is glad that the live recordings came out, as if it not for them, we'd have no document of F-Word. Thanks to Robbie Fields for the story.

The record orignally came with no picture sleeve on black, then later red and white vinyls. The white is the hardest to find and Robbie suspects they did some of those when they pressed the Rik L Rik 7". I actually need a copy of this on black vinyl without the sleeve if anyone has one for sale/trade. Around 1990 it was reissued with a picture sleeve that was numbered on the back and had the silver labels that became common on all Posh Boy releases. This also has the distinction of being the first release on the label.

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

Selections from The Punk Vault [Black Randy and the Metrosquad]

Black Randy and the Metrosquad - Trouble at the Cup 7" (1977 Dangerhouse Records)

Black Randy, if any of the stories in We Got the Neutron Bomb are true, was perhaps the most wild and crazy of all the punks from the early Los Angeles scene. He lived fast and died young and left a few records and a part of a legacy in his wake.

Black Randy was a "con and street hustler" who became part of the blossoming punk scene in the mid 70s. He helped start and run Dangerhouse Records along with Pat Garrett and David Brown. It was no surprise that the label released his own band's recordings of course, and those are perhaps the most "difficult" to listen to of all the label's output.

The band, which consisted of members of other well known, and now legendary, bands, played plenty of gigs and put out three singles and one album (which ended up being the final release on Dangerhouse). Musically they were like a punk rock soul-funk band. Not that the bands sounded alike anyway back then, but Black Randy sounded like nothing that came before, or since. They were perhaps a big joke band, and their lyrics were certainly full of satire, but somehow I found charm in such songs as "Loner with a Boner" with it's chorus of "I'm a loner with a boner and I'm going to telephone her". Incidentally, that happens to be a favorite of Lady Combustion who wondered why I didn't pick that song in favor of the title track of this single, which happens to be my favorite Black Randy song.

After the album was released, it spelled the end for Dangerhouse Records and it wasn't long after that it also spelled the end of Black Randy. Randy died from AIDS not too long after that, a result of his wild and care-free life riddled with drug use among other activities.

A few tracks can be found on the Dangerhouse Volume One and Volume Two on Frontier Records. Sympathy For the Record Industry had reissued the album for a short time, but it seems to be out of print again.

Listen to "Trouble at the Cup" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Avengers]

Avengers - S/T LP (1983 CD Presents)

In hindsight, I guess I could have included this as part of the feature from the other day, but since I like to keep those features as separate entities, you get two Avengers features in one week.

In their short time together, the Avengers made quite an impact and were very influential in the punk rock world. The band formed in 1977 when a 19 year old girl named Penelope Houston moved to San Francisco to go to art school. She met up with some like-minded punks and formed a band and immediately left their mark on the then-small punk scene.

The original lineup was
Penelope Houston - Vocals
Greg Westermark (aka Greg Scars) - Guitar
Jonathan Postal - Bass
Danny Furious - Drums

The band played its first show at the famed Mabuhay Gardens in June 1977. At a some point Jonathan left to be replaced by Jimmy Wilsey (aka Jimmy Blaze). I believe it was due to him not getting along with one of the other band members.

In their time together they put out exactly two records. Their first was the now-legendary "We are the One" 7" on Dangerhouse Records. That was followed up with a 4-song EP on White Noise Records. The band even opened up for the Sex Pistols last ever show at Winterland in San Francisco (well, their last show for nearly 20 years, after which they did a reunion tour).

The band basically fell apart and called it quits in 1979, but stuck together long enough to finish out a few show commitments they had at the time, one of which is now available on the Zero Hour LP that came out last year. After that, Penelope went solo and has continued to record and release music ever since.

This album came out in 1983 and contained a fair share of controversy, much of which is touched on in the "many flavors of" feature on this record. Suffice it to say the band never got paid for it, were sued over it, and their recordings are now sitting in some guys home somewhere in San Francisco being kept from the rest of the world with the exception of some inferior sounding bootleg copies that are floating around. I said it before and I'll say it again, this is one of the all time best punk rock albums and the fact that some kid or some old punk can't go to a record store and at least buy it on a real CD is a crime.

As always if you have any additional information you'd like to share, or were in the Avengers, please get in touch.

Listen to "Second to None" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Die Kreuzen]

Die Kreuzen - Cows and Beer 7" EP (1982 Version Sound)

Aside from cheese and beer, Milwaukee's other greatest export was a band called Die Kreuzen. Their name was German for "The Cross". The band consisted of:

Dan Kubinski - vocals
Keith Brammer - bass
Brian Egeness - guitar
Eric Tunison - drums

These same four gentlemen would be the members of the band all throughout their fairly lengthy career.

The band released this, their first record, in 1982 and then hit the road a toured the country, a lot. It would be two years before they would do another record, their self-titled album on Touch and Go Records. That would also end up being their last hardcore record as their sound would change shortly after its release.

One year after their first album, they released a follow up called October File. This album was well received by a lot of press back then, however with only a couple exceptions, nothing on it sounded like what came before it. They started playing longer, and slower songs that had more in common with rock than with punk, and they had this weird atmospheric sound to it. At the time it was pretty unique, and it was pretty good too. I actually liked all the Die Kreuzen records.

The records that followed (all of them on Touch and Go) were in the indie rock vein and were quite good for the genre. They never really seemed to catch on however and after a couple more albums and singles, they broke up.

As to where they are now, I have no idea. Most of their records can be found on CD through Touch and Go Records. This single was released as bonus tracks on the Gone Away CD.

This single had two distinct variations. There was a yellow sleeve version (the rarer one) and the more common white sleeve version. Both came with lyric sheets. A couple songs from this record ended up being re-recorded and were on the first LP.

As always, if you have any additional information or were a member of Die Kreuzen (or even were the guy who ran Version Sound) please get in touch.

Click to hear "Hate Me" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Doggy Style]

Doggy Style - Work as One 7" EP (1985 Mystic Records)

I believe I first heard of the band Doggy Style by reading the pages of Flipside fanzine. They were a bunch of hardcore kids from Southern California who were also into skateboarding, and since what I was into at the time were "both kinds of music" punk and hardcore, and I spent every free second not at school or a record store on my skateboard, it was a no-brainer to check this band out.

This would be their first release, which I picked up after I got their first album on Flipside Records. The record came out in 1985 and must have sold pretty well over the years back then as there were quite a few pressings. The first pressing had a hard glued sleeve and then would later be repressed with a xerox sleeve with either the mystic or Superseven logos on the front, and it also came on colored vinyl at one point too (500 pressed).

After this single, they put out a really good album, Side By Side, on Flipside Records. A couple of songs on this single were re-recorded on the album. Perhaps their most famous song is called "Donut Shop Rock" a song about, well, donuts.

A one-sided live album followed on Flipside a year later called Live at Sun City. It was a green silk screened record that came in a clear bag with a sticker on the bag with the record info on it. After that release the ugly happened. The band splintered into two separate factions and feuded over the name. At one point there was basically two Doggy Styles, similar to what happened with Life Sentence. One version put out a Doggy Style II album out on Flipside, and the other put out The Last Laugh on National Trust Records. The Flipside version must have lost out, and the remaining Doggy Style, by now a pretty bad rap-rock band, put out one more album on Triple X Records called Don't Hit Me Up then called it a day.

Brad X, founding member and his brother Spike were in another band in the mid 90s called Humble Gods with Doug Carrion who was in the Descendents. Brad X is now in the Kottonmouth Kings who seemed to have garnered a bit of a following but have absolutely nothing in common with punk rock. I do not know what became of the other members of the band.

To the best of my knowledge, none of the Doggy Style records are available in any format. It would be nice to see the Flipside releases compiled together on a CD someday.

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

Click here to hear "10 on 1" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Big Stick]

Big Stick - Drag Racing 7" (1985 Recess Records)

Big Stick were a two piece art-punk type band from New York. They formed in 1985 by John Gill and Yanna Trance, who have been the sole two members throughout their career to the best of my knowledge. They had a very unique sound, mixing drum machine beats with noisy guitars and samples that resulted in a demented sound not heard before.

Their first release was this 7" which came in two different versions. There was a 2 song version, and a 4 song version. Both versions has the exact same sleeve (made for the two song version), the only difference being they stamped the sleeves on the front for the 4 song version to indicate the number of songs on the record (see picture above, and click the link below to see the other version). Why they chose to release two different versions of the same record is a mystery to me, and one that hasn't been explained anywhere I've been able to find.

After the did this one, they put out a 12" EP on Buy Our Records (the label owned by members of AOD and Bedlam) and appeared on a couple of Blast First compilations. They did an occasional record or two during the 90s and also put out a couple records under the name Drag Racing Underground.

Where are they now? They appear to still be around in some capacity, and have a website. This record and the Crack Attack EP were compiled together on a LP/CD called Crack 'n Drag which is only available as an import.

As always, if you have any additional information or are a member of Big Stick, please get in touch.

And since this entry is for Presidents Day, what better track to have for today's feature than this (right click and "save target as...)

Sleeve for 2-song version

Selections from The Punk Vault [Mad Parade]

Mad Parade - Self Titled LP (1984 Important Records)

I first heard Mad Parade on the Barricaded Suspects compilation LP. Their song was one of the best cuts on that compilation. I, of course, scooped up everything they released at the time, which was this album, and a 7" on Toxic Shock Records (on which their cover of "Mother's Little Helpler" would get heavy play on my radio show in high school). Mad Parade were really ahead of their time and were one of the pioneers of the whole pop-punk sound, yet they received very little recognition, and sadly went largely overlooked.

I contaced Joey Kelly, founding member of Mad Parade and asked him to share a little history...

Mad Parade started out in 1982, all the bands from LA were playing hardcore and our influences were from NY and the UK - 999, Dead Boys, New York Dolls, Buzzcocks, Iggy. We wanted to be different instead of the circle jerk wardrobe, we loved Clockwork Orange so we wanted to dress like droogies, and we did for 3 shows...until the singer of the StepMothers showed me the Adicts 1st single so we dumped that idea but we still wore dock martins, leather jackets etc. We wanted our look to be interesting along with the music. We made a demo tape with "REAL Horror Show" and "Sex and Violence" that Rodney on the Roq played every week back in 82. The record finally came out in 1984 and it was on rotation on KROQ...and then the fan mail all over the states came, at least 20 letters a week. We were jazzed.

We started playing great shows with our heroes Social Distortion, 999, Toy Dolls, The Lords of the New Church, and getting paid well for a punk band touring all the time. Back in those days punk rock was rare, not like today but I would say there are way too many bands that sound like us that are making millions.

Back then Social Distortion was probally the only one that mixed pop and punk along with image. Which reminds me three times Mike Ness never had his Amp at shows with us and he used to borrow mine. They were getting 1500 for the show and we were getting 200, so finally I got pissed. I told him, "dude you never have your amp", So I told him he should pay me. He said, "Ahhhh how much?" I said, "200", that was the last time we played with Social Distortion. a year later I saw him and our relationship was never the same, along with their drummer Chris who fucked my girlfriend when I was on tour. That was the scoop with those guys, then GoldenVoice started not to book us anymore.

BYO did our next record, A Thousand Words and it sold pretty well. See back in those days, bands would help each other unless they started to take advantage, like Mike Ness. Great bands who we helped and helped us: MIA, UK Subs, Youth Brigade, Vandals, Red Kross, Stepmothers, CH3, Lower Class Brats.

We're doing a tour in April with The Undertones and going to Europe shortly with The Lurkers after that. We just want to hve fun, break even, and drink beer.

The band's second album, released on BYO, A Thousand Words, was a little more on the pop side than the first, a bit more polished but still a really good record. They still put out records from time to time and they still sound pretty much the same, which is a good thing. The band has a website. Their early recordings have been reissued by Dr. Strange Records which you can get direct from them, or you can get them here.

There were two pressings of this record. The original pressing was on Important Records and is pictured above. In 1987 Gutterwail Records reissued the record with a different cover (that looks like a disco record or something) which you can see below.

Click here to hear "Real Horror Show" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

2nd pressing cover

Selections from The Punk Vault [L-Seven]

L-Seven - 7" EP
(1982 Special Forces/Touch and Go Records)

No, this is not "that" L7, the girl grunge band from the West Coast. Long before they would recycle the name and spell it slightly different, there was a little band from MI who came first, and they put out only one record on a label that is still active and quite famous today.

When I was in my late teens, I came across this single in my record collecting exploits and got it simply for the fact it was a Touch and Go record. I had never heard the band before as I'd never seen the record at the time, and the band were not on any compilations, which as you all know is how I discovered more bands than I can count.

While searching the web for any information I could find on them to make for a far more interesting read, I stumbled across some message board and a post about the band by a fellow named Ken Waagner, who just so happened to be the band's manager back then. I emailed him and he responded and sent me the following stories that former band mates had written for Touch and Go.

Dave Rice, guitarist for the band wrote...

Wow, trying to remember what happened twenty-odd years ago; this ought to be good...I guess we started L-Seven around '80. Me and Mike Smith were in a band called the Blind that was really great but rubbed all the promoters in town the wrong way every chance we got. We met Larissa and started recording stuff in our rehearsal space and were lucky enough to get Frank, who we really admired, involved. We also had a guy named Chuck on clavinet at the beginning. We were trying to combine, I dunno, Rick James and PIL, I guess. Something like that. Oh yeah, and the Yardbirds, who Frank turned us on to (we actually covered "Heart Full of Soul" and "Over Under Sideways Down"). Then Hardcore happened, which polarized the scene and the band. Larissa met the Necros around then and me and Frank thought they were swell, while Mike and Chuck left, appalled. I have no idea what Chuck went on to do, but Mike joined Figures on a Beach, who eventually signed to Sire records, released a cover of "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" (b-b-b-b baby...) and promptly disappeared into some kind of major label limbo, never to be heard from again (okay, that's not entirely true; Mike contacted me a couple years ago and we talked about me producing a CD for his new band, Fireking, that he had started with Tony from FOAB. He sent me their CD "Live a Little, Love a Little", which sounded just like you would expect something called "Live a Little, Love a Little" to sound. I haven't spoken to him since. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, I like him just fine, but...). We then stole Scott Schuer and Kory Clarke from a band called the Attitudes. If the Attitudes were around today they’d be like Blink 182 or something, but those guys could play their asses off and wanted to do something more challenging. Good for them. Somehow, two of the big promoters in Detroit thought we could make them some money and sort of took us under their wing. They got us on some big-deal bills, with Iggy and U2 and whatnot and there was a weird feeling that we might “take off” in some way, which made us pretty uncomfortable, as we were, for the most part, pretty dedicated to the whole punk rock thing. I forget when, exactly, we recorded the EP, but it was towards the end. Corey was concerned that we weren’t a hardcore band, so he created a division called “Special Forces” to release it on, which you probably know. Did anything else come out on Special Forces? Just curious. Corey should start a separate hardcore label now, just to be funny. Anyway, Larissa decided to quit, so that was that.

Me and Scott formed the Linkletters with Scott on drums, Ken Waagner, who managed L-Seven, singing, and Bill Methner (R.I.P.) on bass. We played slow, fucked up psychedelic music while tripping our brains out at dozens of hardcore shows. The audience of mostly bald teenage skaters with two-liter Cokes didn’t know what the hell was going on, but it was a lot of fun anyway. Then I went to L.A. and formed Sandy Duncan’s Eye, which released an album on Flipside and, after I left, a 45 on Sub Pop. I’m in Oakland CA now, playing, implausibly enough, in a two piece electronic/hardcore combo called the Gentlemen’s Club. It’ll never catch on, but fuck it all anyway. I’m also doing some crazy improv stuff out here and I’ve gotten together with Scott a few times in the last couple years and recorded some pretty cool stuff with him. If you’re interested, you can find mp3s of it at www.dave-rice.net. Scott stayed in Detroit and played in a band called Sleep and then Turkish Delight and is now teaching English, which I happen to know he speaks beautifully. Kory, inspired by being soundly ridiculed by the entire hardcore scene (nationwide, thanks to the Meatmen!) went full on megalomaniac rock god on everyone and started the Trial, who used lots of echo, and then Warrior Soul, who are evidently the biggest, most important band in the world, according to the website. We can only hope that Kory is one day recognized as the comic genius he undoubtedly is. Frank had the good sense to settle down and be a responsible human being (or so he says).

and Frank Callis, the bass player added:

Dave is right that we started L-Seven in early 1980. I had been playing in a new wave band called Retro, which had one independent release: a 7" with the songs "U-Boat" and "Picture Plane". The original incarnation of L-Seven consisted of Dave Rice and Mike Smith from the Blind (guitar and drums), myself on bass, and Larissa Stolarchuk, who later played guitar as Larissa Strickland in the Laughing Hyenas. After a few months we added Chuck McEvoy on clavinet and sax. We played a couple of gigs with that line-up in Detroit and Lansing. Chuck left first, for personal reasons. (He formed a British-style funk band called "What Jane Shared" that made a small splash then disappeared.) Mike left shortly afterward because he felt that Larissa wasn't a strong enough singer. I imagine that her personality rubbed him the wrong way too. This was in late spring of 1980.

We obtained Kory (drums) and Scott (second guitar) from the Attitudes right away, and the band took on a more focused and harder edge. We played around Detroit, Lansing, and Kalamazoo, with Ken Waagner as our manager and roadie, along with Bill Methner (R.I.P. indeed) as our second roadie. I had made a good connection with Vince Bannon (who was booking the legendary Bookies Club in Detroit) while I was with Retro, and he did help us get some high profile gigs, some of which we weren't ready for (most notably with U2 at Royal Oak Theatre). There was some interest from an associate of his who did become a major figure as a promoter in Detroit, but our attitude didn't coincide with his ideas, and that relationship really didn't get very far.

There was a scene in Detroit at that time, and we did pretty well on our own, with a hard post-punk sound with some funk influence. Larissa called it jazz, as compared to the hardcore punk she was getting into by then. Dave and Kory were the best musicians, and we all could play (and were interested in) more than just straight ahead punk. Larissa really couldn't sing very well, but she projected plenty of attitude up front while the rest of us were basically guys who like to play a show, then get high, drink, and hang out (hoping for a little sexual reward later in the night too). Larissa was heavily in to English punk when we met her (we were all more or less Anglophiles musically), and started a fanzine of her own. She gradually became interested in American hardcore punk, and introduced the rest of the band to that music. At some point, probably through her fanzine, she got to know the Necros, which is how we got to know Corey, long before Touch and Go became a real label. We saw the release of the Necros first EP, along with the other early bands (Meatmen, etc.) associated with that scene. We didn't fit in musically (or politically) with that axis, but they liked our attitude and accepted us pretty much. We were mostly a bit older than most of the kids associated with that scene (I being a good 5 to 7 years older than the rest of the band, who were mostly in their very early 20's at the time. We did shows with some of those bands, and our music gradually became louder, faster, and shorter as a result. We continued playing in Detroit, Lansing, and Kalamazoo for the rest of the year. We had a practice space in Detroit's Cass Corridor at the time, and we opened it up and promoted a few shows (with local and out-of-town bands) there ourselves.

We were ready to record, and Larissa got Corey to agree to release our EP, but I understand that he and Larissa were uneasy with putting it on Touch and Go because it didn't really fit in stylistically with the other stuff he was releasing at the time, so they came up with the idea of "Special Forces", implying some connection, but acknowledging the differences between us and the rest of the bands on the label. We recorded the EP in early spring of 1982 (I can't remember the name of the studio, but it was in Detroit), and I remember driving down to Corey's parent's house in Maumee in early summer to pick up about 50 of the 1000 that were pressed. With the single, we were able to promote the group a little better (myself and Ken Waagner), and we were able to get to Chicago a few times, including a swing through Milwaukee and Madison with the Gun Club, who we rescued after their vehicle died in Detroit. (We made them an offer they couldn't refuse: free travel if they let us open for them.) We also played in New York at least once. By the summer of 1982, there was a lot of tension between Kory and Larissa especially, as Larissa was losing interest in the band musically, especially as she was seeing John Brannon of Negative Approach by then. Kory quit and came back once, but I dealt the final blow to the band when I announced that I was quitting due to personal reasons really unrelated to the band, but the band seemed to be heading toward a dead end anyway. This was probably in January or February of 1983.

Ken chimed in with...

L-Seven changed my life literally, I was hanging out with Kory and Scott and the Attitudes, who I met when they opened for Echo & The Bunnymen in 1980. We went and saw L-Seven play a club one night and began going to every one of their shows, then when Chuck and Mike left, they asked Kory and Scott to join the band, and I followed as manager, soundman, promoter, etc.

We were based in downtown Detroit out of a storefront at 406 W. Willis that was know as the Clubhouse, which was originally Larissa’s living space and the band’s rehearsal space, but, after the closure of the Freezer Theatre, which was a storefront theatre just around the corner from us on Cass Avenue where there were a ton of shows; Larissa moved to an apartment, and we knocked down the walls in the clubhouse and used the materials to construct a stage, and put on all ages shows in that space for about a year. Mind you this was very much in the ghetto.

They toured a fair amount in the Midwest and on the east coast, playing shows with U2, Iggy Pop, The Gun Club, The Birthday Party, The Crucifucks, The Effigies, X, Bauhaus, Siouxsie & The Banshees and The Bush Tetras as well as countless underground shows and headline shows at different clubs around Detroit.

As we were all fairly young: 19-22 except Frank who was 27, and had a fair amount of success and ambition, we also had all the struggles of being poor kids in Detroit in 1980. Near the end, half the band had developed pretty serious substance abuse problems, our gear was stolen for a second time and the band began to really split over artistic differences as there was just so much going on musically and culturally and they were all absorbed in it, which was both the band’s blessing and it’s curse.

I managed L-Seven from the time Kory and Scott joined the band until the end, and managed Negative Approach until the “album” lineup split up, and also managed the Necros, from after Corey left the band and began to concentrate on Touch & Go full time; I then went on to promote punk rock shows from 1981 through 1985 including dates for Discharge, GBH, Circle Jerks, SSD, Government Issue, The Misfits, Bad Brains, etc. as well as loads of other bands including The Replacements, Soul Asylum The Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, The Cult, Sonic Youth, White Zombie, etc.

According to Ken, the record was recorded at a studio called Multi-Track in Detroit, where several of the early Touch & Go Records were recorded such as Necros Conquest for Death and the Negative Approach album. Ken also adds "Oh, and I’m not “out of the business” as Frank mentions, but, he and I hadn’t connected in years. I own a company called Smartley-Dunn and we provide web services for a number of clients including: The Billions Corporation, Thrill Jockey Records and the band Wilco."

There was 1000 pressed of this single and while it doesn't get the attention and hype that a lot of the other old Touch and Go singles does, it is a fine piece of punk rock history and well worth owning. Hopefully someday Touch and Go will do a long overdue singles collection on CD so these old records can be heard and enjoyed again by the masses.

As to where they are now, Ken filled me in on that...

Dave Rice - Guitar
Lives in San Francisco and manages a transient hotel, where he lives rent free and has a studio/workshop in the basement. He is still making music in a group called The Gentleman’s Club <> and has his own website.

Scott Schuer – Guitar
Lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan and is a writer and English teacher.

Frank Callis – Bass
Lives in Detroit and is an architect.

Kory Clarke – Drums
Was last seen in New York pursuing his vision of rock stardom via his star vehicle Warriorsoul.

Larissa – Vocals
Was last seen riding a southbound Damen bus in Chicago 5 or 6 years ago, I haven’t seen or heard from her since.

Thank you Ken for the great information, and for getting the stories from the guys.

Click here to hear "Secrets from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Ill Repute]

Ill Repute - Omelette LP (1985 Mystic Records)

I first heard Ill Repute on either Mystic Sampler #1 or We Got Power: Party or Go Home, I forget which, but I do know I was instantly taken with the song I heard and of course went out and got all the records they had at the time or would put out for awhile. They put out a few 7"s on Mystic, and three LPs before some lineup changes and a label change would occur and after a hiatus, the band put out an album on Dr. Strange Records in the early 90s. Throughout their career they went from hardcore, to rock, and back again.

Ill Repute was from the Oxnard, CA and along with a few other bands such as Dr. Know, RKL and Stalag 13, they coined the term Nardcore to describe their scene and music. All of those bands formed within a couple years of each other and they were all friends.

Thanks to the Nardcore board, I was able to get in touch with John Phaneuf of the band and he was kind enough to put together a band history for me to use for this entry. It was very nice that after all the heat I got on the Nardcore board, that someone was willing to open up and share their stories with me and I appreciate it. So here is the history according to John...

Ill Repute were all high school friends. Jim, Carl and Tony were a grade ahead of me(John), and we all discovered punk rock the summer before my senior year.(1980) They were out of school and I remember I had to be a bit more creative to go to the Starwood in LA on a "school night". We would go and see Black Flag, Fear, Circle Jerks..etc and eventually decided to start our own thing.

I came back from a year in San Diego to find Tony and Jim had the name "Ill Repute" and I think 2 or 3 songs. We had our first practice in my mom's mobile home(she was out of town) in Lemonwood in central Oxnard. Tony on guitar, and Jim on vocals. I played bass, and Carl on drums. I sucked on the bass, so Jim and I switched and the line up was set. It was fall of 1981. Tony and Jim wrote the tunes for the most part..the good ones anyway.

We would practice every night, every song. Always in Carl's garage. Looking back his parents were super cool about the noise we made. Our first paying gig was a new years eve party at the local Alcoholics Anonymous club. They hated us.

I don't remember how I met the guys in Dr. Know and Aggression, but soon we had a full on group of close friends. I remember the early scene to be so fun. Kyle, Ismael, Jamie, Ronnie Baird, to name a few, were hilarious. I remember laughing my ass off on a regular basis at gigs, parties, PEACE Missions..etc. We would all get together and play punk rock soccer in the park. It was probably the only way you would see white, Mexican, and black (Vaughn) and every other race getting along with a common interest. It was definitely one of the best times of my life. Way too many crazy, funny things to remember right now. It would take a month. We had our first "real" gig at the Hueneme Community Center with Circle One, Aggression, Beirgutz and Us. We were so fucking nervous.

As the scene grew, we met folks from Ventura. I remember Brent Beasley, Nutt (RIP) and all the Pierpont guys, (the band MIA) would have great parties and gigs. (There were also punk girls from Ventura which was nice) Then things spread to Santa Barbara with the Goleta Valley Community Center where Gary Tovar threw some of the funniest gigs I ever remember. No violence, great bands..all the big touring punk bands, and we would open up for them. It was a fucking great time.

We recorded a demo and a friend got it to a popular LA DJ, Rodney on the ROQ. He would play punk, along with some bad 60's and 70's shit every Sunday night. He heard our demo and picked our song "Clean Cut American Kid" for his Rodney on the ROQ Vol III. This was a big deal. He had bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Adolescents..etc, and he wanted us, We were stoked.

It was cool to be on the comp. It was cool to hear the song on Rodney’s radio show on Sunday nights, and it was cool that people knew one of our songs. There was zero interest in us as a “marketable” band, to be honest, we didn’t even think of it. Those who are old enough to remember the early 80’s, pop music was Michael Jackson and Kaja Goo Goo. We were playing in garages.

A friend of ours from high School, Mike Terry, had some money and said he would help us put out a record. We had done a couple demos at Goldmine records in Ventura, 8pm-8am $100. We would come out with like 15 songs mixed and everything. That deal ended, so we were forced to go to the big city and found a real cheap recording studio in Hollywood called Mystic Records. We just booked a day to record there, met Philco and Doug Moody, and he offered to put out the record.

I don’t know, or care about what people think about Doug Moody. The only part I feel he didn’t follow thru on with Ill Repute is that he did not give us any of the newly released CDs. He did reject our cover art once and just put out the “Omlette” record without us knowing, but he gave us a box when we toured. Back in the 80s he would arm us with boxes of records when we left on tour. We would sell them and t-shirts for gas money. That was the agreement.

I remember Doug would live part time in a room at Mystic. I never got the image that this guy is rolling in cash from his record sales like Shug Knight or something. He would scuff out in his slippers and see what we were up to in the studio. He gave us full access to the studio, where we would record covers and experiment with all kinds of stuff. (He put some of that out too.) Doug, probably in his 50’s then, would come out and would “analyze” the punk movement and compare it to the early black bands in the south.

He would let us hang there, sleep there. He let us record a couple live records in the studio.(where I once saw El Duce puke and saw still wrapped candy in his vomit). The best benefit I would say is having access to the bathroom which means you didn’t have to crap in the shitter at the Cathay De Grande across the street during gigs. I think about the vomit, beer bottles and shit he was left with after we left.

His plan was to just record a shit load of punk bands, which he did. I think over 500 bands. My take is he spent a lot of money on recording all the bands, putting out comps with hideous quality, but hell, it was punk rock.

On our first EP the bass drum track somehow “disappeared” and Carl had to go back and record each kick drum track. He did it by using a spoon hitting the top of a Folgers coffee can. Now that’s punk.

Anyway, Mystic's early “successful” bands were from Oxnard, (with of course the exception of NOFX) were the place that he sold some records. That is where I think the “rip off” part stems from. I just know that no labels would have touched us at the time. The Circle Jerks and Black Flag and DKs were still under the radar at that time. If it was a major label we would be owing them money.

They had some good shows at the Olympic Auditorium, Goleta Valley, Stardust Ballroom..etc. We got to hang and play with a lot of cool bands. We did a couple shows with the Misfits and Black Flag. We became buddies with the Necros who were real nice to us when we were in Ohio.

Anyway, we had a blast. We toured, broke down and toured and broke down. One “Disat-tour” after another. Got our car and trailer stolen in Pittsburgh. That took a lot of steam out of the band for sure. The punk scene got very violent and we would be playing and fights breaking out everywhere. Stabbings, shooting at that place in Long Beach..I forget the name..

We were over it.

We got together in 90 or so and recorded Big Rusty Balls on Dr. Strange records. That was produced in part by the great Jerry Finn, a good friend and now producer of many great punk bands, Pennywise, Green Day, Rancid, Suicide Machines, and Blink's 2 #1 albums. Great guy. We paid him $150 for it and he was Stoked! He’s now a multi millionaire. We laugh about those days.

Anyway, Big Rusty Balls was a post punk type of thing that I thought turned out well. That’s where I left/got kicked out of the band due to a surf trip I had scheduled to France that didn’t correspond well with a last minute gig in Oregon. I got an ultimatum and went to France. (you know the girls are topless there, right?).

Tony kept the band alive with new guitarist and drummers and even after he was the only original member. He took on the vocals and they had some good tunes. I think if they would have dropped the Ill Repute name and went from scratch they could have went somewhere.

Then in 2002 we got back together with all original members for a couple practices to play a Mark Hickey RIP gig. Carl, the drummer was a busy guy and it didn’t pan out with him, so we got Chuck on drums and played a handful of great shows until our official retirement last year.

The more "experimental" record John refers to did come out on Mystic and was called Transition. I don't think they made more than 1000 of those, as it seems to be the hardest Ill Repute record to come by from back then. A lot of their early Mystic material is collected on the What Happened Then CD on Mystic Records that came out a year or two ago.

John also sent over a scan of the flyer for their first show, which you can click below to see.

As always if you have any additional information please get in touch and thanks again John for the great story!

Click here to hear "Count the Odds" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Insane War Tomatoes]

Insane War Tomatoes - I Rock You Suck 7" (1989 IWT)

You may remember awhile back my covering some Du Page County (a Chicago suburb where I grew up and still reside today) punk bands such as Dead Fink and Happy Toons. There was another one I didn't cover because not only did they not put out a record, but I don't have a copy of their demo tape in the vault, and that was Dangling Units.

When all the above bands broke up, some key members merged and formed Insane War Tomatoes. The Tomatoes were the punk rock Kiss. They were Gwar before there ever was a Gwar. I kid you not, the Insane War Tomatoes had over the top toilet humor laced theatrics long before a bunch of art students from VA decided to play some heavy metal and put together some crazy stage shows. Gwar simply added blood, and claimed they were from outer space. IWT had a singer in a giant tomato costume, a crazy stage show, and a Elvis from beyond the grave who would come out, dance for the people, and proceed to shit all over the stage.

A tomatoes show was guaranteed to be a spectacle and a good time. And the Insane War Tomatoes is the closest thing I ever had to being in a band. Part of the stage show was they had "henchmen" dressed up in all black with a name on their shirt in a direct ripoff from the villains on the old Batman TV show. For a good handful of shows, I was one of those. Our task was to act as Tomato security, and to pelt the crowd with tomatoes, toilet paper and to shoot them with water pistols. I can tell you those shows were a hell of a lot of fun for this then-young punk to be involved in.

The band had a knack for promotion and I played a part in that as well. They had the ingenious idea to print their flyers on stickers and plaster them everywhere they went. I can't tell you how many times Dan (singer) and I would drive all over the western suburbs and stick those thing anywhere we thought people might see them, which often time included schools and parking lots of shopping malls. It worked too, because the band drew good sized crowds of not just punks, but just about everyone in their teenage years.

They lasted a few years and always had some scheme brewing but unfortunately they didn't follow through on half of them or instead of Gwar getting all the recognition, the Tomatoes would be in that position today. In their wake, the band left this 7" pressed on red (tomato) vinyl that in some really great packaging, and also a tape that contained a few songs and a ouji board. All the remaining copies of the 7" were rescued from the basement of the Clown Ranch and are safely stored in Combustion Manor and are available for sale. Sadly, there wasn't enough parts to make more of the Spirit of Elvis tapes.

I contacted former band members, and old local punk friends Kevin Folta and Mike Byrne for their versions of the Insane War Tomatoes history and their stories are as follows.

Mike Byrne:

Like the mythical phoenix, the Insane War Tomatoes arose out of the ashes of Dangling Units, the greatest punk band that only about 12 people ever saw or heard. It was in this darkest hour that the vegetable consciousness awakened in us. I don't mean a peaceful, tie-dye wearing, unbathed vegetarian consciousness, I mean a vengeful, Old-Testament-God, slake-my-thirst-in-the-blood-of-your-swinelike-flesh sentiment.

I have to tell you, the anger felt good, the resentment of countless millenia. Garden warriors simmering to a boil, spilling over the soup cauldron, and leaking over the decaying landscape that was Reagan's America.

That we are remembered primarily for launching a variety of substances at our audiences is not accidental. When you think about it, we were merely trying to jar a vapid and complacent audience out of its stupor. Whether you were being pelted with silly string, tomatoes, or toilet paper, it was a wake-up call.

The message was clear: "Listen up, bub, the vegetable revolution is on it way, and if you don't bow down and agree to be his slave, pronto, the Insane War Tomato will wipe his ass with your pathetic mug. If he has an ass, that is."

And there was music, too. Blending the mysticism of Elvis, the majesty of Kiss, and the piss-poor production qualities of Peace Corpse, we recorded some gem dandies, yes sirree, Bob.

"I Rock, You Suck" is pretty self-explanatory. It was true then, it's true now. "I Live in an Asshole," however, is much more subtle. Its message - that the government was hiding the fact that the world is a piece of crap by spraying the air with Chanel #666, which destroyed the ozone - was eerily prescient of the Clinton era, don't you think? A smile, a wink, a little sex-on-the-side, and everything is A-OK, isn't it America?

Well now it's the Bush era again, and it wouldn't surprise me if the vegetables are steaming once more. Death and destruction hang over us like twin clouds of evil and despair, and nothing expresses that like some power chords, plus maybe a nifty fill between the verse and chorus.

King Bono Juan Jovi Lee Roth Tomato sings very loud. Shrub rocks a kickin' drum. Zook plays the guitar like it was his first time, every time. And I tried not to get too drunk before the sessions, like I did between the all-ages and 21-and-over shows in Green Bay.

The only conclusion that can be drawn is that we were way ahead of our time. And probably still are. But the music still sends chills down my spine, as I relive the fear of watching an unlicensed, untested, gasoline-powered flamethrower almost set Club Odyssey on fire, and I think to myself: "We coulda been Great White."

And now for Kevin's

On a summer’s day of 1985 the surviving members of the plane crash that spared 75% of Downers Grove, IL’s most unsuccessful band (Dangling Units) gathered together at Keith Garage. They contemplated the events that brought them together in Dangling Units and the event that almost ended their reign as Chicago’s least known favorite perpetual opening act, never a headliner. They picked up their instruments and moved forward to create a new sound, a ghoulish evil sound borne from the painful disfiguring events of the previous year.

King Bono Juan Jovi Lee Roth Tomato was walking down Rosyln Avenue past Keith Garage and the sound grabbed him like a noose around the neck. Little did he know that he would swing from that same noose as the lead vocalist for Insane War Tomatoes for the next 8 years. The band was a four-piece power trio. Mike “the Indian” Burn (named so from his experience as the body double for Village People impostor Native American Filipe Rose) played lead bass. Zook brought his delinquent mashed-potato guitar stylings to the table, flanked by Shrub on the skins.

The band assembled under the moniker “Insane War Tomatoes” and quickly found audience in local clubs. The show was 50% music, 50% theatrics, 50% booze and 50% fire. The result was a 400-proof explosion of rock ‘n roll mayhem. The music stood as an iron backdrop to the costumery, pyrotechnics and choreography that defined IWT as one of Chicago’s most bankrupt bands. The cost of production could not be quantified in dollars alone as it consisted of many drunken nights of set assembly and costume design in a local sweatshop. The air was saturated with the vapors of adhesives, beer, and the smelly residues of human metabolism.

IWT later would be joined by guitar player J. “the Nun” Martini and released “I Rock, You Suck” / “I Live in an Asshole” on a 7” red-vinyl record. This collector’s edition is a rare find, as all available copies have been systematically purchased and destroyed under provisions of the Patriot Act.

The band was most recognized as the band that never played a venue more than twice. The first show would draw a hearty crowd to witness the homemade pyro, the water cannons, the confetti explosions and frequent nudity. Word would spread, bringing a second show and more people, typically intoxicated teens and sleazy metal chicks, all admitted to clubs with fake ID’s supplied by the band. The eventual destruction of the club with water, paper, food and goo, coupled to the threats of lawsuits from families of endangered youth, typically led to eternal banishment of the band from every place they played. In the 1980’s IWT was irrevocably banned from at least 5 venues in the Chicago area as well as a permanent banishment from DeKalb, IL where NIU’s Duke Ellington Ballroom and Otto’s were sequentially destroyed in 1989.

The band has been accused of being significantly before its time. Before there was a GWAR, before their was a Marilyn Manson or some fat-ass blobbed on grease paint there was Insane War Tomatoes. The legend lives on in oral tradition, passed from mohawked punk dude to mohawked punk dude. IWT paved the way for a future generation of bands to have one guy that wore fuzzy slippers or a pirate hat. IWT was one band that once had the sack to challenge the boundaries of modern music and stage antics, push sound out of its stale box, and the world raised a lighter, yawned and asked for more Winger.

It has been 20 years since that summer day in Keith Garage. Lesser rock gods would assemble for reunions and a fresh tour. However, IWT did it before it was done and treated a generation to an alternative they desperately needed and didn’t recognize. The stage show, the costumes, the mayhem have not been recapitulated since that time with such reckless abandon and disregard for life and limb. IWT was a magnificent institution, a band swirling around the toilet bowl of American music culture, that proceeded, unappreciated, down the shitter, gone forever, leaving only a minor skid mark and a funny smell in its wake.

Where are they now? Dan (Cheddar Nines) now sings in Destroy Everything, Kevin is a scientist in FL and Mike has a family and still lives around Chicago. The band, along with some others from that time, are ordered to do a reunion show in 2007 for the Otto's Soup Kitchen 20 year anniversary reunion show.

Click here to hear "I Live in an Asshole" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Identity Crisis]

Identity Crisis - EP (1980 Cirkle Records)

Unless you live in a cave, you probably heard of the band Soundgarden. What you may not know, is their ties to Chicago, and early punk/new wave music. That is where this single comes in.

In 1980 a group of suburban Chicago high school students formed a band called Identity Crisis. They played a grand total of 5 shows, none of them in the city proper. Before disbanding, they managed to record this lone 7" and get their friends who did Cirkle Records to release it. I think the label was the product of the guys in Epicycle, but I'm not certain. There was 500 of these pressed.

One of the members of Identity Crisis was a fellow named Kim Thayil, who would later move to Seattle, form Soundgarden, and help put "grunge" music on the map, not to mention put out some fine records. And where did Soundgarden get their start? On Sub Pop, which was the label started by Bruce Pavitt, brother of John Pavitt from Identity Crisis! I don't know what happened to the other members of this band.

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

Click here to hear "Pretty Feet" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

UPDATE: Thanks to my fellow record collector Justin F who passed along the email address for John of Identity Crisis, I got the following response from him...

The write up is pretty much on. I often forget that we played out so seldom. As I recall it was Andrew and Robert from Epicyle that recorded us in Kim's basement. It was done very quickly - probably on a four track reel to reel. It was a very exciting time. I'll try to find and dig through old clippings etc. to see if I can come up with any additional tidbits. We did record five songs for a second record that never materialized. It was recorded by a fellow named Tom Staples. I'm much happier with the tracks from this second recording (I actually sing on key and the "British accent" isn't quite so pronounced). Kim's song "Dinosaur Beach" has some very tasty bits and gave me a chance to do some fun (if excessive) background vocals. Perhaps one day these recordings will eventually see the light of day? I haven't seen or talked to Kim in quite some time. I hope to touch base with him eventually. The last time I saw him was when Soundgarden was playing at a large venue down the street from where my group (at the time) was playing a small venue. He stopped by to check us out and say hello - I was quite touched. The last I knew Joe was still playing drums in a variety of Chicago based bands. I also haven't seen him for a while. I've been in a number of bands over the years. The last band - Autoliner - put out two CDs on the Parasol Label.

Selections from The Punk Vault [Mystic Sampler #3]

Various Artists - Mystic Sampler #3 (1986 Mystic Records)

This is the third and what turned out to be the final record in the Mystic Sampler series. By this time a lot of the old Mystic mainstays had either broken up, left, gone metal, or some combination thereof. A few appear on this and there was a handful of newer bands to the label. This was the weakest in the series but still had some good standouts such as The Faction and Government Issue (both who, some 15+ years later, I'd end up doing records with!).

This one seemed like it was slapped together in a hurry. Many of the song titles on the cover are completely wrong, most notably the Government Issue and Ill Repute tracks. There was 1000 pressed on white vinyl, and then another pressing on black vinyl (probably another 1000). I am in need of a black vinyl copy if anyone has one for sale or trade.

There was a plan to do a fourth sampler with a black cover but it never saw the light of day.

Click here to hear "Having Sickie's Baby" by The Mentors from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Mystic Sampler #2]

Various Artists - Mystic Sampler #2 (1985 Mystic Records)

In continuing looking back at a time when the compilation was king, we have the second in the Mystic Sampler series. While Mystic Records and Doug Moody has its share of detractors, one thing that can't be argued is the label and man put out some great hardcore records.

One year after the first label sampler, Mystic released the second one, and it was every bit as good as the first. Once again, this record exposed me to even more bands, most importantly the Flower Leperds, whose song "Preachers Confession" made me an instant fan of the band and made me seek out any and everything they did. Another band that I heard for the first time because of this compilation was RKL, whose track is featured here, and remains my favorite song of theirs. For some odd reason, it was not included on the RKL CD Mystic released in recent past. I would attribute that most likely to Doug being old, and not remembering everything these days.

There was three pressings of this record. The first pressing was 1000 on blue vinyl. The second pressing was on black vinyl (probably another 500 or 1000) and the third pressing was on purple marbled vinyl (around 500 pressed).

I am sure eventually there will be a proper CD reissue of these sampler comps, I know I'd certainly like to see one.

Click here to hear "Evil in You" by RKL from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Mystic Sampler #1]

Various Artists - Mystic Sampler #1 (1984 Mystic Records)

Doug Moody once told me a story about how he invented the compilation. According to him, way back in the 50s or 60s, he owned a record label called Herald, and he was friendly with a particular DJ who has the unfortunate problem of having to go to the bathroom quite often. The guy wished he had a way to not have to sit there playing single after single and always changing records every 3 minutes. Doug decided to press up an album of all of his hit records at the time that were getting airplay, this way the guy could put on the LP, then go drop a deuce and not have to worry about getting back in 3 minutes. This album was titled Herald the Beat and according to Doug, was the first compilation.

Now whether or not he did in fact invent the compilation could be open to debate. What is not open for debate is that his Mystic Records label put out a lot of really good compilations back in the heyday of hardcore. One of his ideas back then was to make a sampler of records on his label, in an effort to promote the label as a whole, thus the Mystic Sampler series was born.

I bought this particular record I think solely for the reason The Minutemen and Suicidal Tendencies were on it. Suicidal's particular track was the first thing they recorded, before they ended up doing their now classic LP. Their song, "I Saw Your Mommy" is a different version than what ended up on that album, and to this day is exclusive to this compilation. Allegedly they were supposed to record a full album for Mystic but then blew it off.

The compilation ended up exposing me to a lot of great bands, many of which had other records on the label, and thus Doug's plan succeeded, I bought those records, and so did many others. Vox Pop was one band I had never heard of until getting this compilation, same with Ill Repute, The Mentors, and a band called Noise God, whose track is featured here. To the best of my knowledge, Noise God never released anything else, and I don't know anything else about them. I would love to find out if they at least had any demos or perhaps a record I never was aware of. If anyone has any information on this band, please get in touch.

Two more Mystic Samplers would follow this one, one of them was great, the other one was just alright. They do rank rather high on my list of compilations however.

The first 1000 of these were pressed on red vinyl. There was then a second pressing on black vinyl. I actually am in need of a black vinyl copy of anyone has one for sale or trade.

Click here to hear "She Had No Shadow" by Noise God from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Beaver]

Beaver - 7" EP (1981 Choice Cuts)

Many years ago, my immense love for Government Issue would lead me to discover a little known 7" that featured Tom Lyle in his pre-GI punk days. I didn't know a thing about the band. They on the Bouncing Babies compilation, but I didn't even notice it until after I took possession of a copy of this record. I'll admit to owning that compilation since I was a kid in high school, yet not playing it much (as an aside, does anyone know what band it is that is the unlisted final track on the record?).

Beaver started out as a solo project of Tom Lyle's. Then it became a real band, albeit short lived. Here's a brief story Tom shared with me.

I was in a DC progressive/new waver band, but became VERY bored with the whole scene. After seeing the Dead Kennedys in April 81 at the 9:30, and then the Government Issue/Youth Brigade/Minor Threat show in June 81 at the 9:30 I started making home demo tapes of me playing all the instruments in the most hardcore style I could come up with. I wanted to get a band together to play out live and used they rhythm section from Square One, the awful band I was in at the time. Then we got asked to record a record for Choice Cuts.

Choice Cuts was a record store in DC back then that started a label and I'm pretty sure this was the only thing they released.

It wasn't long before Beaver disbanded and Tom Lyle joined Government Issue. GI is a story for another day of course. I do not know what became of the other two guys.

As always if you have any additional information or were one of the other members of Beaver please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Trendy" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [White Pigs]

This one is a unique entry as it is featuring two records by the same band, which covers different eras of the band's existence.

Stop me if you've heard this before. It all started with a compilation....

While not an overly original way to start one of these features, it is a testament to just how important compilations were back then. For awhile I'd discover more bands through compilations than I would through fanzines and simple word of mouth. Of course these days the compilation is all but useless. This particular compilations was called Let's Die and it was one of the many Mystic Records comps. It was here that I discovered the White Pigs. I liked the song so much that I'd seek out their other recordings, which at the time was a pair of 7"s and a demo tape (which I still have).

I contacted Keith Grave, founding member and bass player for the White Pigs story and he chimed in with some info regarding these particular releases. He also penned the White Pigs history on the Kill From The Heart website, which I lifted part of for this band history.

The White Pigs formed in CT in 1980 out of the ashes of Zak and the Soda Boys. Lead singer Dave Death came up with the name as a goof on a neighborhood dog that used to shit all over the place. That line up did one Shamrock Pub show, then because of inner band problems disbanded.

In 1982 singer Brian Ripthroat and original founding member bassist Keith Grave agreed to reform the band, but it took until the summer of 1983 to locate drummer George Butterrick (formerly of the Separates) and guitarist Chuck Duncan, to get the band rolling again.
They then released their self-titled 7" EP on Switch Kwilson Productions.

They released a second 7" in 1984 called Evil Stalks the Innocent on their Songs Of Sin label. It was recorded live and they came on red vinyl. At the end of that year is when they appeared on the aforementioned compilation and had recorded the demo tape.

That leads us to their final release as a band, an EP on Combat Records that featured a different lineup than on the earlier works. After this came out, the band called it quits. It would be a few years before the posthumous 7" on Mystic Records and the LP on Walkthrufyre would be released.

Keith had the following to say about these particular records chosen for this entry.

White Pigs - Combat Boot Camp 12" EP (1987 Combat Records)

The poor bastards, I get them a full Metal Blade LP. deal, which included an appearance also on an upcoming Metal Massacre compilation LP. What do they do? They go with the bootcamp series that only offered them a 12" EP. release. On top of that, the jacket is all camouflaged that didn't even print the members names or contact addresses etc.

I was booted out of my own band by then because of personal differences, mostly with guitarist Steve Bertrand, so I had no say on which deal to go with. My replacement on bass, Dave Flannery, couldn't play my bass lines on most of the recordings that made up the 1987 bootcamp release, so Steve played both guitar and bass on this record.

The remake of "Deathway" is lifeless and sterile. The Munsters Theme remake is slightly better then the original demo recording I played on, but boy that no fills allowed bass playing on the record grades on my nerves. Some new tunes were added in "Body Parts", "Unholy Trinity" that sucked and a studio version of "Blood Sucking Freaks" that was good, but for my money, buy 1990's Songs of Sin on Walkthrufyre Records. It has the full 1985 demo plus a few cuts from the Combat EP.

In their full bootcamp reissue, Century Media Records ,that owns the Combat catalog now, failed to include the White Pigs bootcamp EP with this reissued box set. Singer Brian Ripthroat told me years later he almost cried when he saw the finished release of the bootcamp record, it was so cheaply packaged and cheesy looking.

Click here to hear "Deathway from the record (right click and "save target as...")

White Pigs - Hit Bonanza 7" (1989 Mystic Records)

Doug Moody by now was running out of money and on the run. I used to call him to inquire on when this record was coming out and he used to disguise his voice as his mother and say "Doug isn't in" but the bastard took pity on me and actually sent me the 100 copy payoff he promised me of this record.

In a nut shell Mystic went through Bill Smith pressing plant, first mistake, colored vinyl copies sounded horrible. Mistake number two, Doug strays from the original master I sent him and deletes some unreleased songs that are listed on the cover of the record. Nice packaging though, I like this record the best out of all the White Pigs releases.

This single came on both blue and purple vinyls. I believe there was 500 of each color.

Click here to hear "A.P.O.W." from the record (right click and "save target as...)

As always, if you have any information you'd like to share or were one of the other members of White Pigs, please get in touch.

Selections from The Punk Vault [Sin 34]

Sin 34 - Die Laughing 7" (1982 Spinhead Records)

You'll never guess where my first exposure to Sin 34 came from? If you guessed a compilation, you'd be correct. They were one of the bands on what I feel to be one of the greatest hardcore compilations of all time, We Got Power: Party Or Go Home released on Mystic Records. This featured 40 bands on it and it was an all star lineup of early hardcore. Sin 34 stood out as the only band on that comp to have female vocals. At the time I thought it was alright, but over time I'd grow to appreciate female fronted punk rock a lot more and go back and get what I was missing.

I contacted Dave Markey of We Got Power Films, and drummer of Sin 34 and asked him if he could give me a little band history. I have never spoken to Dave before, so I was just hoping that he'd write back and give me even just a few sentences. What he sent follows, and was far above what I could have hoped for. Thanks to him for taking the time to do it and send it over.

The Sin 34 Story
I had the name Sin 34 for a punk rock band in my head at age 15 in 1979. I even created a logo for it centered around a crucifix with S on the left side of the top center of the cross, the center being the "I" and N on the right, same with the 3 and 4 on the bottom of cross. It sounded real cryptic, but in actuality it was just a UHF television station based in Los Angeles (Spanish International Network -channel- 34) . In addition to making up fake punk rock bands (some of the names were hilarious), I would also make up fake punk-rock clubs just to entertain myself. Long before I ever ventured out into the actual punk scene in Hollywood, or beyond, I had an alternate universe in my mind of what "the punk scene" actually was. In some ways it was more interesting than the reality of the scene at the time. It would be a couple years before I would finally decide I was going to be a drummer at the age of 17, as a senior at (Santa Monica) High School, and make "Sin 34" a REAL band.

I had met Julie Lanfeld at a Middle Class show at the Starwood that year (in 1981), and she promised she would steal a drum kit from a neighbors garage. It was a kick drum with a tom-tom, probably hadn't been used since the 60's. I didn't have any hardware so I used a metal lamp shade as a cymbal, and I bought a floor tom from a friend. I used to kick the kick drum (literally) WITH MY FOOT!

Julie and I bonded over our love of Devo and Black Flag. There were a only a handful of punks at my high school, and even less at her school (Beverly Hills High). But she managed to talk 11th grader and bassist Phil Newman into joining our band. They were both somewhat uptight about being known as Bevery Hills Punks, so I recall when asked where we were from (not unlike a gang, right?) it was always "Santa Monica".

I remember, without a snare drum at first, I relied on very tribal-like beats to keep time. My drums sounded more like (early) Adam and the Ants or Bow Wow Wow than alot of the punk we were into and surrounded by. That soon fell by the wayside, as Julie turned me onto her friends band,

The Necros (she was selling their first EP herself, for the band to the two or three local record shops that would carry them at the time.) Soon after, we got the first Minor Threat EP from Ian himself (who was selling them at Oki-Dogs one night.) Sin 34's material quickly evolved into pretty-much straight ahead hardcore at that point. Julie's singing was very aggro, and not at all what you would have expected from a 16 year old Beverly Hills High School 10th grader. The envirornment in So Cal at the time was decidedly very anti-punk rock. You would constantly being yelled at from passing cars, just because you had short (or colored) hair, and Salvation

Army (thrift store) clothing. The jocks and surfers at school gave us a ton of shit, but this just fueled us. It's hard to imagine that now, I know. I often try and imagine now how the geeks and misfits in the high school social structure nowadays find ways to rebel now that "punk rock" is normal and accepted. We rehearsed in Julie's basement in the spring of that year as a three piece sans guitar, and came up with a set of four or five songs. The early material sounded like a scraggily version of Sousxie and the Banshees meets local LA band Mad Society.

At a Black Flag show at the Santa Monica civic in June of '81, the day I graduated high school, we met some skater punks from Palm Springs. One being Mike Bates and Shawn (now of the current band Throw Rag). They were throwing a party and invited us to come and play. We jumped on the gig excitedly, but one small problem. We had no guitar player. So on our way to the party we picked up our friend Mike Vallejo of the band Circle One, and taught him the songs in the car on the way to the party.

Mike Vallejo played a few more shows with us, but he was committed to Circle One. We went through a couple other guitarists before meeting Mike "Geek" Glass, a fellow Santa Monica high schooler who was a surfer, who was just discovering punk rock, tho he was much more into Led Zeppelin at the time. He was learning guitar, but he clicked with Phil, Julie and I, who were more-or-less in the same boat. We didn't waste time in writing songs and aggressively getting as many gigs as possible. It wasn't long before we were playing shows with many of the area's "big" bands like Social Distortion, TSOL, CH3, Circle Jerks, Fear, and even the Dead Kennedys had us play with them just on the strength of our first couple demos. The first demo was an extremely lo-fi 4 track, which a few songs would soon appear on the Charred Remains and Meathouse compilations.

By spring of 1982 we recorded our debut EP Die Laughing at an 8 track studio in the Hollywood Blvd. at Western building (as in Cheifs 'Hollywest Crisis'). Phil had put up the (meager) funds to record it, and press 1500 7" EP's (which sold quickly and effortlessly, I recall). We also recorded for a couple other local compilations done by various friends in bands (like Gary Kail from Anti & Mood Of Defiance New Underground Label) and the Life Is... ( So Ugly, So Boring, So Beautiful) series.

The band continued to play many shows locally, and even made a couple trips north (San Francisco, to play with Frightwig and Flipper), Fresno (to play with the Faction and DRI) and South-east (Phoenix, to play with JFA and Red Cross). This was the extent of touring this band would ever do. We were much too young and green to take it any further.

In early 1983 we began work on our first (and only) LP Do You Feel Safe. Recorded at the 16 track Mystic Studios (before they would start releasing hardcore records.) They offered to put our LP out, but Phil had wanted to do it on Spinhead, since the experience with the EP went so well. He did do all the work for the label, and he did a great job. 3000 copies were sold, and the band enjoyed a bit of local radio airplay. We continued to play alot of shows throughout the year, and the into next. We had built up a great momentum locally, and we began headline shows at The Vex and The Cathey De Grande.

But 1984 would prove to be a dark year for the band. The scene around us was changing, and so were we. Internal pressures soon dissolved Sin 34 sometime in mid 1984, just as the band was poised for bigger things. We all felt it, and I think that's what did us in. I remember feeling really let down after all the hard work we did as a band. Like being in love for the first time, and having your heart broken, it was a painful - yet learning experience. Phil and I managed to keep playing together and we formed Painted Willie even before the final "official" break-up of the band.

By the end of 1985 Painted Willie was signed to SST records and hitting the road with my all-time heroes Black Flag for what turned out to be their final 6 month US tour. As a footnote, Painted Willie's Spinhead and SST releases have remained out of print since the late 80's.

In 1995 Grand Theft Audio released a Sin 34 CD entitled "Die Listening" which contained all the early demos, compilation tracks, and live recordings from the Olympic Auditorium in Downtown LA. This is the only recording which remains in print unfortunately. Phil withdrew from music and was stringent about never re-releasing the Sin 34 EP and LP. Last I heard he was running a sound-stage studio (where they shot the Jack Rabbit Slims scene in Quintin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction). He has since viewed the band as an embarrassment, I think. I never did. I will always have good memories of that period. It was a whole lot of fun for me, and set up the rest of my life in a profound way.

Once in a while I will be asked about the band. Most people want to know what happened to Julie. I always reply with "I have no idea." I do have some info on her, I did see her briefly upon the release of Die Listening in '95 (now ten years ago). And I know she had just had a kid. I heard she had a couple more, and is a housewife somewhere in the wilds of the San Fernando valley. The only member I've kept in contact with all these years is Mike "Geek" Glass. Or as he likes to be refereed to these days, Michael F. Glass. He is a gifted graphic artist, and I've hired him when I can on various projects I've worked on. Recently, he has done the design for my Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and Lovedolls Superstar Fully Realized DVDs.

For more info on what I've been up to, check www.wegotpowerfilms.com

There were two different inserts for this EP. Some had typed lyrics and some had handwritten ones. The Sin 34 CD mentioned can still be purchased from Grand Theft Audio (mailorder through Bomp Records), and the Party Or Go Home compilation has been re-released on the Superseven Presents: Sixty Bands CD on Mystic Records. There is also some footage of them in Dave's film, The Slog Movie, which you can buy here. It is a great old punk documentary that is a great history lesson for those curious about the past, or a great reminder of the old days for us old punks.

Thanks Dave for the great info, I really appreciate it and I know the people reading this will as well.

Click here to hear "American America" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Dave also sent along a picture of the band...

Here's pictures of the two different insert variations for the 7"

Selections from The Punk Vault [Underground Hits 2]

Various Artists - Underground Hits 2 LP (1983 Aggressive Rock Produktionen)
Since so many of my stories start with how I discovered a band through compilations, I figure I should probably start featuring some.

In the early to mid 1980s, hardcore punk was on the rise and in some cases the records were selling in the thousands, especially the LPs. There was a whole slew of independent record distributors stocking this new exciting music and the records were finding their way into more and more stores. These distributors would all eventually fold and owing most labels tons of money but that is another story.

During this time, a German label called Aggressive Rock Produktionen had the idea to start licensing some US hardcore records for release overseas in their home country in an effort to have the records available locally, and not as pricey imports. They had great taste in hardcore and released some of the best records from The Necros, Meatmen, Misfits, Husker Du, Black Flag and more. Many of their releases ended up getting imported back into the states and found their way to record shops, especially The Misfits Evilive 12" which was originally released domestically at a 7" but would be out of print and unavailable until the German 12" came out on this label.

The label also did a pair of compilations called Underground Hits. Volume One had a pretty equal mix of US and German bands while this one, Volume Two, featured mostly US bands. What was unique about this one was that some of the tracks on here were exclusive to this comp and would be that way for years. These days most of them have finally been reissued on CD or vinyl, but the one Youth Brigade track that I picked for this entry for some reason was left off their Out of Print CD collection of rare tracks, and its a crime if you ask me as its one of their best songs.

While the cover art was kind of cheesy and looked like a metal record, this ranks quite high on my list of great compilations. Incidentally, it was this comp that turned me on to The Meatmen and The FU's. As for the label, they folded sometime in the late 80s/early 90s.

As always if you have any additional information, or were the owner of the label, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Full Force" by Youth Brigade from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Bags]

The Bags - Survive 7" (1978 Dangerhouse Records)

When I was a young teenage punk, I had a bias against bands with female vocals. I am not sure why I did, but the fact was that I did. The only band I really liked back then with a female singer was The Avengers. My like for that band would lead me to a purchase that would start the ball rolling in changing my opinion on female-led punk rock.

I was at a record convention way back when I was a young angry teen fresh out of high school when a fellow there would approach me and tell me he had some Dangerhouse Records to sell. He had a few unplayed copies of both The Avengers and The Bags 7" and he was selling them only as a set, and for what at the time seemed like a very fair price (which by todays standards would seem like the steal of a century). Really wanting The Avengers 7" and also wanting to advance my goal of having every Dangerhouse record, I forked over the cash to the gentleman and got my records.

Upon playing that Bags single it was like a light went on in my head. The thing kicked a whole lot of ass, and I liked it a lot more than the "Alice Bag Band" songs on The Decline of Western Civilization soundtrack that I had and practically worn out back then. Unfortunately, the only recorded output of The Bags was limited to this single and one song on the Yes LA compilation.

Having not been there at the time, and not having much in the way of a written history to go off of, I went straight to the source and emailed Alice Bag to tell her of my intentions of featuring this record as a Vault Selection and asked if she'd like to contribute a band history. She promptly responded and not only gave her blessing for posting the track, but sent this band history as well...

Originally, The Bags was supposed to be an all-girl band. Patricia and I started it and tried to find other female musicians to play with us, but that's not how it ended up. The whole idea for The Bags started out as a joke. We were going to play with paper bags on our heads and never reveal our identities, but at our first show (at the Masque) Bobby Pyn, (Darby Crash), ripped my bag off and ruined my plan. The first lineup had Janet Koontz on guitar, Pat Bag on bass, Alice Bag on vocals, Joe Nanini on drums and Geza X on guitar. Other musicians after that included Mark Moreland, Nicky Beat, Don Bolles, DJ Bonebrake, Ricky Stix, Johnny Guitar...I could be forgetting some others. The Bags and The Germs, respectively, had reputations for the most anarchic live shows of the early Hollywood bands and I suppose we had a harder edge than most. We were pretty aggressive on stage as well and were banned from our share of clubs (like the Germs).

Eventually, the musicians solidified as the lineup that recorded the Dangerhouse sessions: Alice, Pat, Craig Lee on guitar, Rob Ritter on lead guitar and Terry Graham on drums. Once the line up was set the band really tightened up and was able to move forward. It was at that point that Dangerhouse asked us to do a record. We had to record in the middle of the night to get cheap studio time. Geza X (who was no longer in the band) produced the single, 'Survive' and 'Babylonian Gorgon', and there were four songs recorded at that same session. Geza played a dirty trick on me. He asked me to lay down a practice take and then insisted that we keep that first take. Of course, it made it very difficult to double track my vocals because I hadn't planned on singing the songs the same way twice. If you listen carefully, you can hear some parts where my tracks didn't exactly match.

The Bags played up the West Coast as far north as Seattle and south to San Diego, but no further. By the late 1970's we had started to pull in different directions musically and the band had a messy, ugly parting of the ways with Pat, who subsequently claimed to own the name "The Bags", which is why the remaining four members appear in The Decline of Western Civilization as the "Alice Bag Band". The band split up for good shortly thereafter without ever releasing another studio recording.

This record has just been reissued on vinyl by Artifix Records. Frontier Records released 3 of the 4 studio tracks mentioned by Alice on the Dangerhouse Volume One and Dangerhouse Volume Two collections that are available on CD.

Alice is still active playing music and now has a new band called Stay At Home Bomb. Pat Bag (Patricia Morrison) is now married to Dave Vanian and was playing bass in The Damned until she gave birth to her and Dave's child last year. Geza X is still producing and recording bands. Craig Lee and Rob Ritter are now deceased. Terry played with Rob in the Gun Club for a couple of years and now lives in Texas, still surfaces from time to time.

Thanks a lot Alice for the history!

As always if anyone has any additional information or information please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Survive" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Shattered Faith]

Shattered Faith - I Love America/Reagan Country 7" (1981 Posh Boy Records)

Shattered Faith were a Southern California punk band that started in 1978. It would be 3 years before they put out their first record, which is this single. They had appeared on a few compilations around this time as well. They signed a contract with Posh Boy Records and were to do an album after this 7" but they had a falling out when the band found someone to back them and wanted out of their contract with Posh Boy. I asked Posh himself for his recollections and here is what he wrote...

They were very heavy pot smokers and they did not hide it so I was a fool for getting involved with them knowing it, But I was always thinking of the music and I was taken with the songs as I heard them performed. They just continued to get high and come up with career plans that did not account for reality. There was no real animosity between us, at first. They simply found a financial backer after going into the studio with me and they wanted out of their contract and for the sake of $1200 or so which I wanted them to re-imburse me for, they gave me the finger. They wanted out probably right after the single when I was advertising their forthcoming. Their contract called for a minimum of 12 sides, similar to TSOL's.
It's a pretty straightforward scenario: I get them on the radio before the record is released to create demand, now other people take them seriously. That's 1981, by 1982, all I had to do was give a group a contract to go over and other people would swoop in. The worst part of it was that they agreed to a buy out then balked. But in those days, there were plenty of people around who would just say "F Robbie, he won't do anything". People like Greenworld that became Enigma and Bug Music.

So after this, they released their first album titled Shattered Faith Live that had both live and studio tracks on it. Sometime after that, they put out Shattered Faith Volume Two and then I believe they broke up.

A couple years ago, they resurfaced and started playing some shows around southern California. Grand Theft Audio put out a collection of old works on CD and Posh Boy reissued the studio recordings they owned (6 songs, including this 7") on a CD, which incidentally, I did the layout for. The band has a website. Sadly, one of the original members, Paul Jamie, who played bass (but not on this record) passed away this past New Years Eve. Remaining members seem to be playing in a band called Firecracker 500. Shattered Faith also seem to still be together in some capacity. I emailed the address on their website to ask if they'd like to chime in with any stories or history and the person who seems to answer their mail and probably does the site said they were practicing and that he'd ask. I never heard back from him though.

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

Click here to hear "Reagan Country" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Stains/MDC]

The Stains - John Wayne Was a Nazi 7" (1981 Radical Records)

You might be more familiar with them as MDC (an acronym that would constantly change), but they got their start as The Stains.

In 1981 Dave Dictor, Al Schvitz, and Ron Posner, all residents of Austin, TX, formed a punk band called The Stains. They put out this 7" before they realized there already was a band called The Stains (who put out one album on SST Records). They had to change their name because while there could be two Subhumans and two Youth Brigades, there could not be two Stains. A member of The Dicks (also a fellow Austin band) suggested the name and MDC they became.

Along with the name change came a change of residence. They moved to San Francisco and became pretty well known with the city's peace punk movement. They moved into the "Vats" where another band, Condemned to Death resided and rehearsed. It wouldn't be long before The Dicks would also relocate to San Francisco (well, half of them anyway).

Upon the name change and move, they put out their first album, which is a hardcore classic by today's standards. They had their own label (Radical Records, later R Radical) and put out not only their own records, but by those of their friends Reagan Youth, Condemned to Death, The Offenders, and The Dicks.

The band toured the country plenty of times and put out a steady stream of records throughout the 80s, each one with a different theme and acronym. Over the years, members would slowly leave until Dave fond himself the only original member left. In the early 90s, the band (or at least Dave) relocated to Portland for a number of years. Dave also had a well documented (by him in his MRR columns) drug problem. Today MDC is still kicking with Dave and a crop of new members and Dave was residing in New York the last I heard. He was writing columns for Maximumrocknroll for a couple years but seemed to have stopped doing that. There is a MDC website that has a bunch of information on what the band is up to these days.

This particular record had two pressings. The first only had "The Stains" name on the sleeve, the second (pictured here) added the MDC name to reflect them having changed the name. The label art was different on the second pressing as well. I am actually in need of a picture sleeve for the first pressing as I have a copy of the vinyl that is missing the sleeve if anyone can help me out, please contact me.
As always, if you have any additional information or were in MDC, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "John Wayne Was A Nazi" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Kraut]

Kraut - Unemployed 7" (1982 Cabbage Records)

In 1981 The Clash played a string of sold out shows in New York City. They were sold out to the point of being way over-sold and to remedy the problem, the band decided to double up the number of shows they would play. This required them to find a small batch of opening acts, which caught the attention of the just-formed New York City punk band, Kraut. The lineup consisted of:

Don Cowan - Bass
Dave Gunner - Vocals
Doug Holland - Guitar
Johnny Feedback - Drums

They literally had just formed and recorded a 3 song demo to give to the powers that be in order to secure one of the opening slots, which they were granted on the strength of said tape. They played the show and then immediately got to work on forging ahead. They re-recorded the songs again for real this time and released it on their first single, Kill For Cash. They pressed up 1000 of them and sold through them all.

The following year they went in and recorded some new songs for this release, and for the New York Thrash compilation tape on Roir Records. This time out, they pressed 5000 copies of the record and were playing lots of shows around the city. They had secured an opening slot for The Professionals, who were Steve Jones and Paul Cook's band after The Sex Pistols broke up and Steve Jones took a liking to them. He ended up playing on a few songs that they recorded for their first album, An Adjustment to Society which came out in the same year as this single. He even played a show or two with them.

The album was released on their own label (Cabbage Records) again and was manufactured and distributed by Faulty Products. It sold pretty well but at one point Faulty went under and thus the record would be out of print for quite a few years before getting reissued by New Red Archives. A couple tracks from the singles ended up being re-recorded and were on this album. When this album was reissued on CD, they never bothered to put either 7" on there, and these songs remain unavailable.

With Faulty products gone and them on their own, they did a tour of the US and played a bunch of local shows and started recording new material. This material showed them changing a little in sound, growing a bit, but still was quite good. They eventually hooked up with Enigma for a P&D deal and released their second and final album, Whetting the Scythe. Upon its release, they played some shows on the West Coast, after which Doug Holland left Kraut to join The Cro-Mags. They replaced him with a former member of Battalion of Saints and recorded a few songs which wouldn't get released until the CD of the first album came out (the liner notes to this is where I got a lot of this information).

In 1986, Chris Smith died in a freak accident one week before the band were slated to record their third album. The other two original members decided to call it quits after this happened and started a new band, The Gutter Boys.

A few years ago, the surviving members of Kraut played a reunion show for the 20 year anniversary at CBGB's of the New York Thrash compilation along with A.O.D. and a ton of other bands who were on the comp. There was also a live CD of an old show that New Red Archives put out.

Here's hoping that they'll get around to reissuing the 7" recordings in some format.

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

Click here to hear "Unemployed" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Plugz]

The Plugz - Achin'/La Bamba 7" (1980 Fatima Records)

Aside from being from the first wave of Los Angeles punk, The Plugz also might have the distinction of being the first Latino punk band. They formed in 1978 by Tito Larriva. They put out their first single on Slash Records, which is now considered a classic, and rightfully so.

After that single, instead of finding another label to put out their records, they decided to do it themselves and found a record pressing plant to make some records and started their own label, Fatima Records. The first release on the label would be this two song single. The picture above I believe to be the second pressing. The one that I believe to be the first pressing has a white sleeve and they omit the band name from one side of the record. I imagine they corrected this error when they printed up more records/sleeves and went with the yellow paper for the cover instead. Both of these songs would later be re-recorded and one appeared on each album.

After this, they self-released two full albums. Their sound would change and evolve over time, and by the time the second album came out, they were much more of a Latino sounding rock band than they were a punk band, but they were still very unique and enjoyable. The band called it quits after that.

The two albums were reissued for a time by Restless Records and even had a limited life on CD. Restless then was part of Enigma, which folded and it is unknown to me who currently holds the rights to them. I do know that this band is LONG overdue for a reissue and there in new generations of punk and music fans in general missing out on some great tunes.

After The Plugz broke up, Tito had a fairly successful run in the 80s doing music for various movies. I do not know what the other members of the band did or what any of them are doing now. I do know Tito was in a band called Tito and the Tarantulas in the not too distant past.

Click here to hear "La Bamba" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

I also included a picture of the first press sleeve...

Note the band name is not listed on this side of the sleeve.

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Fix]

The Fix - Jan's Room 7" (1982 Touch and Go Records)

The Fix were one of the earliest midwest hardcore bands. They started in 1980 and didn't waste any time in getting around. In 1981 their friends at Touch and Go Records (then run by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson) put out their first single titled Vengeance. They pressed a mere 200 copies of it. The band toured the states taking the single with them and selling it at shows and giving it to college radio stations and it didn't take long for them to go through them all. For some strange reason they never bothered to press up any more and now it is a sought-after collectors item. In fact, I have been wanting a copy of this record for so long it hurts.

Near the end of 1981 the band recorded a handful of songs, four of which ended up on this record, their second and final release. They toured the states one more time and when they got back home, the band parted ways after their drummer quit the band. The original members were:

Craig Calvert - guitar
Steve Miller - vocals
Mike Achtenberg - bass
Jeff - drums

They made 1000 of this single and early copies came with a spray-painted lyric sheet, and the rest came with a regular one. They were also on the Process of Elimination compilation 7" that came out right about the same time as this record.

About a decade ago, Lost and Found Records from Germany reissued their material on an LP/CD titled Cold Days. The legitimacy of this release is in question, and is widely regarded as a bootleg. They also remixed the two songs from the first single, much to the chagrin of hardcore Fix fans.

After the band broke up, some members played in other bands. One played in a version of The Meatmen, and later Just Say No. I don't know where they are now, or what any of the members are up to. I do know that they are well overdue for a proper, and legal reissue of this stuff. Someone bootlegged the first single a couple years ago.

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

Click here to hear "Off to War" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Geza X]

Geza X - We Need More Power 7" (1981 Alternative Tentacles Records)

Like a lot of tales, this one for me started with a compilation. It was the compilation called Let Them Eat Jellybeans on Alternative Tentacles Records (which for some reason remains out of print and never was reissued on CD) where I'd first hear the quirky art-punk sounds of Geza X. I'd seen his name in the credits of other records as being the person who recorded/produced them.

Geza X was around since the start of Los Angeles punk rock. His real first name is Geza, though I don't know what his last name is. He took the X after Malcom X and he referred to his off-kilter art damaged punk as "X Music". He played in The Deadbeats who were one of the earliest L.A. punk bands and put out a classic punk single on Dangerhouse Records. He was the resident sound man (and a resident) at the Masque, a club/punk flop house run by Brendan Mullen.

After the Deadbeats ceased to be, Geza went on his own and released a couple of singles and one LP. He, like many punks from back then, acquired a bit of a drug problem and dropped out of the scene and public eye. He managed to get it in check though and in the 80s started recording bands again, this time it would be rap music and he was involved with laying down to tape a lot of west coast rap artists at a time when the stuff was just starting to get noticed.

These days, Geza X still has a recording studio, this time in Malibu, CA and has evolved with the times and it is a state of the art digital setup. He was behind the knobs of Meredith Brooks hit "Bitch" among other things. A little while back Dionysus Records reissued the You Goddamn Kids album as well.

As always if you have any additional information, or are Geza X, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "We Need More Power" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Reagan Youth]

Reagan Youth - Youth Anthems for a New Order 12" EP (1984 Freeway Enterprises)

Along with a ton of other bands, my first exposure to Reagan Youth was on the mighty P.E.A.C.E. compilation. I bought that comp because it had a bunch of bands I had only heard the names of at the time and not heard the music of. Reagan Youth was one of the many standouts on there that found its way onto countless mix tapes I'd make for myself back in high school. It wasn't long after that I'd find and buy the only record they would release during their brief time as a band. I also had the luck of seeing them play in 1987 at the "new" Igloo in Chicago. At this point singer Dave Insurgent looked like a rastafarian and not a punk, but they still put on a hell of a show.

Dave Insurgent (real name: David Rubinstein) was born in 1964. He formed Reagan Youth with guitarist Paul Bakija when both were in high school. While they were still in high school, the band played the punk clubs of Manhattan. In fact, David's science teacher became a roadie for the band (That high school teacher was so into the punk scene that he shaved his head and as a result almost go fired by the school administration).

The band toured across the country a couple times in their career and put out this lone 12" EP. It was self-released but they had something to do with R Radical Records at some point as R Radical was selling it at a time when they were only selling their own releases. I don't know if they helped released it or were just helping their friends distribute a record. The record did not come in a standard LP type jacket, it was housed in a big folded poster sleeve that was full of all kinds of information plus the lyrics.

Weathered and worn in the late 1980s from touring and drug abuse, the band packed it in when Reagan left office in the late 1980s. It made sense seeing as naming your band after a president gives you a pretty short shelf life. I guess when I saw them it was their final tour.

After the bands demise, New Red Archives reissued this record with a few bonus tracks. However, they made the mistake that some other labels have made in the past, they wouldn't leave well enough alone! Instead of giving the people the original recording with the bonus tracks, they remixed the thing, and watered it down to the point of embarrassment. If you play the original side by side with the reissue (which is the only version you can purchase these days) your response will like be "what the fuck were they thinking?!" While it is nice that the music is still available in some format, they should have not messed with perfection. They later released a second collection of unreleased songs that the band recorded after they had broken up, but wrote and played while they were an active band. It wasn't as good but still is worth having. Both are collected now on a single CD.

What happened to Dave Insurgent after Reagan Youth called it quits is a tragic tale. By this time Dave had developed a serious heroin addiction. He was also dealing drugs, although he was not very shrewd at it. Dave had the bad habit of consuming the drugs he was supposed to be selling.

In a drug deal gone bad, another drug dealer violently beat up Dave with a baseball bat. He was hospitalized for weeks. When he got out, he returned to his parents' home. There, he continued to use drugs as his parents tried to help him recover. Eventually Dave left his parents' home and moved back to the lower East Side. By now, between the violent assault and his continued drug use, he was no longer an energetic anarchist. He had become a bit disheveled, and many of his friends from the punk scene no longer associated with him.

Dave began dating Tiffany B., a prostitute who worked on Houston Street. Dave had told his parents that she was a dancer. Tiffany supported the couple and their drug habit by turning tricks. Dave would often hang out on the street with Tiffany, waiting while she serviced a customer, and then going with her to score drugs.

Around this time, Dave's mother died in a freak car accident. One night shortly after, Dave and Tiffany were waiting on Houston Street when a familiar customer pulled up in a pick-up truck. Tiffany got in, telling Dave that she would return in twenty minutes. She never came back. Dave called the police with a description of the truck and went to all the hospital emergency rooms in the city searching for Tiffany. A few days later, on Long Island, the police pulled over a truck and found Tiffany's body in the bank. They arrested the driver, Joel Rifkin, Long Island's most famous serial killer, who was later linked to killing numerous prostitutes.

Depressed and alone, after the unexpected losses of his girlfriend and his mother, Dave headed into a downward spiral. One month later, he committed suicide.

As to the rest of the band, I have no idea what they are up to now.

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

Click here to hear "Degenerated" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Blatant Dissent]

Blatant Dissent - Is There a Fear 7" (1985 Landmind Records)

My first exposure to Blatant Dissent was when my friends who did Landmind Records (this is when we were all in high school) put out their 7" and they gave me a copy. I took it home and played it to death, I loved it! It was in the same vein as Naked Raygun at the time and at that time NR were the biggest thing in Chicago. I would get my local punk friends hooked on the record as well as playing it regularly on my radio show at the time.

I ended up writing to the address on the records and struck up a correspondence with singer John Mohr. He even put an ad in an early issue of Spontaneous Combustion. Years later, I'd go see a band called Tar, who, as it turned out, John was the guitar player/singer in. I'd come to realize that Tar had members that were in Blatant Dissent. I'd reintroduce myself to him and I ended up seeing Tar 11 times while they were still a band including their farewell show when John moved to Seattle.

A year or so ago, another former member of Blatant Dissent, Thomas Clark, found my website, and the Landmind page specifically, and got in touch with me. When I decided I was going to feature this single in an entry, I figured I'd hit him up for a story. I had lost touch with John Mohr after he moved to Seattle quite a few years ago. Not only did Thomas happily oblige, but he put me back in touch with John! So as Koga would say, "read their stories after the jump" which is where you'll also find the song.

John Mohr's story:

Blatant Dissent started in the fall of 1983, as a cover band. We formed in Dekalb, IL where all of the members went to school (NIU). We did the basic covers of the day ("stepping stone", "walk, don't run", "sex machine", and some others as well).

The original members were:

Jeff Burka - Bass
Dave Fishman - drums
Tim Fowler - Guitar, vocals
John Mohr - Guitar, vocals
Jim Wohlever - lead vocals

That lineup lasted about 6 months, before the musical differences came in and scooted out Jeff Burka, who was replaced by the amazing Tom Clark, who ended up on the cover of "Is there a Fear?" EP. Jim Wohlever left the band in the spring of 84, and I took over vocals, and pretty much stopped playing guitar.

The lineup of Fishman, Fowler, Clark, and Mohr gelled. We started writing our own songs, ditched the covers, and began playing shows Dekalb, Chicago, and other midwestern towns.

I was a huge fan of Naked Raygun, with their records "throb, throb" and "Basement Screams" being favorites of mine. Iain Burgess was also doing production on a lot of the local releases, especially those released on Ruthless Records. We ended up getting Jeff Pezzati and Iain to help us record too many songs in one day at Chicago Recording Company. We recorded in February of '85, as I recall. This was the second time the band was in studio. Our previous effort was a demo tape that we recorded in the summer of '84.

That's Tom Clark on the cover of it, hanging off of the roof of the house that we lived in in Dekalb, IL. On the back is a photo of the main street in Sycamore, IL. The idea was that the main street was empty, and scary! Anyway, we co-released this with Landmind records, which resulted in a co-distribution or a sharing of the manufacturing costs, or something like that. We pressed 1000 of these records, and about 850 were distributed with the "Tom Clark" sleeve. We did a very brief tour in the summer of '86 and packaged up the remaining 7"-ers with the Tour sleeve that Mike V has shown here http://www.spontaneous.com/landmind.html.

Somewhere in late 85 / early 86, Tim Fowler and Dave Fishman left the band, as their musical desires led them "in another direction". Mike Greenlees joined the band on drums (Mike designed the "tour sleeve" as well the cover for "dreams 7", not to mention every other record cover that I've ever been involved in). We also had Tom Clark switching to guitar, and Tim Mescher joining on bass guitar.

This was the version of Blatant Dissent that recorded the dreams 7", and also the "Hold the Fat" lp that ended up getting released on Glitterhouse records several years later. For those of you good at math will note that by adding Mark Zablocki to the mix, and removing Tom Clark, you essentially have TAR.

Well, we figured that out in the spring of '88 or so.

-John 12/29/04

and now for Tom Clark's story:

Here's my memory, and how it all came about.....let's see......

Well, I hadn't been in the band all that long...I was just a friend of theirs that was attending NIU, in my hometown of Dekalb, Illinois. They (John Mohr, Tim Fowler, and Dave Fishman) were living in the dorms. One day I went over to play some music with Tim Fowler and Matt Parker (who, with Dave Fishman, formed Happy Hunting...great band!) They liked my bass playing, even though I wasn't really a bass player. Tim mentioned it to John Mohr. They were looking to replace their current bass player who was somewhat of a spoiled brat-mod-wanna-be. They asked and I said "sure!"

I remember our first Chicago gig, which I have on video somewhere, was with Out of Order (and the Dead Milkmen!! If it was the same gig) at the Cubby Bear in Chicago. I remember Jeff Pezzatti of Naked Raygun coming down, whom John was friends with. I guess the next natural thing to do was make a record. Now, I was 19, I think, and this was exciting. It was really all John's get up and go that got it done. We'd all been in High School rock bands, playing tons of covers...been doing it since I was 13, and here comes John, never ever being in a band before, and he's putting together a pretty good band AND getting shows in Chicago, Milwaukee, etc., and now he's saying "let's make a record!" Around this time we'd moved into student houses, John and I were in one with about 7 other guys on College Ave.

We cut the Is There A Fear? EP on a very snowy day in February. I remember picking the boys up in my station wagon at some ungodly hour (I have all the pics...they call me the Archivist) As we got into Chicago, we nearly had an accident on a snowy hill that somehow I'd managed to swerve JUST ENOUGH around a line of cars and avoided a smash up that would have broken my spirits, if not more, on that big day. We arrived at CRC Studios where Jeff Pezzatti and Ian Burgess met us and recorded the record (and possibly mixed it ) in one day.
Tim Fowler was a one-take wonder...truly gifted guitar player, still is. I think, also, he was hung over! I think I did one or two punch-ins...it was quick. We thought "wow, that was easy!" You know, you hear of these bands taking three years to record a record..they should just ask us how it's done! Then we needed a cover, and John was taking the picture...he needed someone to hang off the balcony on College Avenue, and I again said "sure!"

John was up in a tree, taking his time while taking the picture...I was literally hanging there, saying "come on...take the picture...." I had red marks on my arms for days....young and stupid. It was only a second floor balcony....so John cropped the ground out of the photo to make it look like I was way up there! It was really great to get them, too. I still get excited to get a new record out, but not as excited as that first one! I'm still in touch with all of that, and the later, line-ups of BD. Still all great guys! Now I'm gonna go put it on....maybe I should apologize to the neighbors beforehand.....Tom Clark

And finally, John got Mike Greenlees to chime in with a little more info:

Also, even though there was no recording involved, BD had two more guitarists before turning into Tar. We had the Bruin, Bruce Halverson for awhile, Late 86 to sometime in 87, I think. Halloween, or thereabouts. Then we got Zablocki in there after he responded to that crazy flyer we put up in Wax Trax. He was in BD for however many months until we changed the name. I actually don't remember when that happened. Were we still BD when we recorded those songs at Albini's? Because those were all BD songs until we wrote Static. It seems like we booked a show at Cubby Bear as BD, played the show as TAR, then recorded that same weekend, but I could be wrong...

Remember that tour with Joe Tech, who had been relieved of his wisdom teeth the day before we left? Great tour. Fun. What the fuck were we thinking? That poor crazy fucker at Yale...or Princeton, whatever it was, with the White Russians? Telling the Christ on Parade dude that he skated like a girl? HOO!

Tom Clark is still playing music and has a website. John currently is not playing music. I'm not sure about what the other guys are up to but perhaps Tom or John will comment on this and fill us in.

"Click here to hear "Hands Are Tied" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Undead]

The Undead - 9 Toes Later (1982 Stiff Records)

I think at this point everyone on planet earth has heard of The Misfits. I guess you can thank Metallica for that. They became so popular that former band member would sue each other just so they can reform a "new" version of the band and tour and put out records in an effort to milk that cow for every last drop.

But let's set the Wabac machine for 1981 when The Misfits were a real band and not Jerry Only's exploitation machine. They put out a couple of very good 7"s and were playing shows regularly and starting to get known and they were preparing to record an album. The lineup at the time was Glenn Danzig, Arthur Googy, Jerry Only, and Bobby Steele. Bobby was their guitar player and was quite a talented one at that. The problem was that the band never got along and they eventually kicked Bobby out of the band and hired Jerry's brother, Doyle, in his place.

Bobby didn't waste any time upon receiving his walking papers, he was already playing in a band on the side called The Scabs with Natz (who years later would form CopShootCop). They changed the name to The Undead (not taking into account there was a band from San Francisco of the same name) and starting playing gigs around new York City. It didn't take long before they got noticed and released this 7" on Stiff Records (who is most famous for putting out records from The Damned among others). They pressed 2000 of them and then Bobby decided to reissue it on his own label that he started called Post Mortem Records. There was 1000 pressed on his label, and they had thicker covers and a different shade of green on the front.

The band put out a couple more singles, then all three of them were compiled into a mini-LP, titled Never Say Die, on an overseas label. A couple years later a full-length LP was released on a plethora of vinyl colors, titled Act Your Rage. It was a little more polished and a bit more metal/rock than the 70s punk stylings of the 7"s but it still was a solid effort.

A few years ago, there was another full length album released on a Canadian label that had to be one of the shortest runs ever for a band. Bobby got upset with them and terminated his contract with the label. As of this writing, nearly everything is out of print including the CDs that compiled their early material.

The Undead had a pretty solid fan-base but never seemed to capture the audience The Misfits had, or a lot of their peers despite the music being quite good. Over the years, Bobby has blamed this on Glenn Danzig holding him back, club owners screwing him over, labels ripping him off, etc. I can't tell you how many times they were supposed to play in Chicago but never did for one reason or another. There has also been a ton of different lineups of the band throughout the years, including one where it was just Bobby and a drum machine! I don't know how much of Bobby's allegations is true and how much is paranoia, but I do know that the man is responsible for some quality punk rock.

These days Bobby Steele still resides in New Jersey/New York and still has some version of The Undead kicking around the area. There has been a couple of recent 7" releases but since they were on a foreign label and had rather lousy US distribution, I haven't heard them and didn't feel like paying 10 bucks to order them from the label overseas. There is an Undead website as well.

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

Click here to hear "A Life of Our Own" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Four Bands That Could Change the World]

Various Artists - Four Bands That Could Change the World (1987 Gasatanka Records)

This here was a collection of four pretty well known punk bands from different parts of the US who were all still very active in the mid to late 1980s. While all the band's respective labels had their stamp on this record, it was Gasatanka (White Flag lead man Bill Bartell's label) who did all the work and actually released it (through their blood pact at the time with Dutch East India.

The compilation featured 7 Seconds (Reno, NV), White Flag (Hollywood, CA), Adrenalin OD (New Jersey) and F (Florida). Most of the songs on here were unreleased at the time, and to this day a good portion of the material found in these grooves is still exclusive to this slab of wax. Each and had half of one side of the record, about 5 songs each.

The record was also licensed to Weird System Records in Germany and they added the band, FOD to the lineup and dubbed it Five Bands that Changed the World. They removed tracks from each of the Four bands to make room for the 5th.

All the bands on this compilation with the exception of AOD are still around today. There is some version of F still playing and they have a website. I emailed them and asked if they had any affiliation to the punk band F and they claim that they do. When I responded and asked for any further information however, my email went unanswered. Some members of AOD are in various bands, 7 Seconds still tours and puts out records and White Flag are a big hit in Spain and overseas and still put out records. All the bands will eventually get their own features here with their own records.

As always, if you have any additional information or were in one of the bands on this record, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Hanging Up My Youth" by White Flag from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Xmas edition]

I figure for xmas I'd change it up for once and not only give you a double entry, but give you a double entry of xmas themed songs!

Fear - Fuck Christmas 7" (1982 Slash Records)

Fear formed in 1977 and a year later put out their first 7" (which I still need a copy of by the way). A few years later they'd finally release an album and this 7" on Slash Records. Fear would insult their audience, they were great at playing the heels and getting a rise out of the crowd, as evidenced by their performance in the movie The Decline of Western Civilization. They also once played on Saturday Night Live which caused quite a ruckus and for years they refused to rerun that episode, though now that punk has become accepted, I notice it will be on every now and then. They got that gig because John Belushi, who was a cast member on the show at the time was a huge Fear fan and somehow conned Lorne Michaels into booking the band as the musical guest. The late Donald Pleasence was the host of that particular episode.

This 7" features two versions of the song, both clean and dirty. It was never issued in a picture sleeve, though many copies had a rubber stamped image on the paper sleeve.

In the mid to late 1980s Fear put out a second album on Enigma titled More Beer though it wasn't nearly as good. Members came and went and eventually the band called it quits. Their retirement wasn't permanent though, well at least not for Lee Ving. On top of a fairly respectable acting career, Lee resurrected the Fear name and enlisted a new crop of youngsters as his backup band and still plays shows from time to time. To the best of my knowledge, it has been years since any original members other than himself played/toured with him as Fear.

Click here to hear "Fuck Christmas" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Saccharine Trust - A Christmas Cry 7" (1981 SST Records)

Saccharine Trust was founded in 1980 by Joe Baiza and Jack Brewer. They put out one really good and original record called Pagan Icons on SST Records. After that, they got way into the avant-garde experimental side of things and started putting out records that bared little resemblance to that first record. The band hung it up in the late 80s for awhile but in 1996 the original co-founders got back together and reformed Saccharine Trust with a couple new members. They are still around in some form and have a website up with tons of information.

This single was some sort of promo-only thing that SST made. The track was also available on the Chunks Compilation on New Alliance Records (later reissued by SST). It was not issued in a picture sleeve.

As always if you have any additional information or were in the above bands, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "A Christmas Cry" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Merry Xmas everyone.

Selections from The Punk Vault [Bad Religion]

For this xmas eve, I thought I'd give everyone a special treat!

Bad Religion - Into The Unknown LP (1983 Epitaph Records)

I think everyone is familiar with Bad Religion, they are still alive and kicking as I type this, and put out an album every couple years and still tour constantly. At one point they were even on a major label for awhile.

But this story is of a once great hardcore band, who after one album, decided that a change was in order. Not wanting to play the simple hardcore tunes that garnered them a good sized fan base even back then, they felt it necessary to add some keyboards and make a prog-rock album.

Yes, you read that right, they put out what can be best described as a prog-rock album. Aside from the vocals sounding similar to their first album, this record bared little resemblance to the Bad Religion who gave us a great 7" and a great first album. The songs were cheesy and often long and it reeked of wanting to be 80s radio hits. I don't know if they were all doing acid or what but it has to stand as one of the worst decisions a band ever made. They'd eventually realize it too as if you may have noticed, not only is this record out of print, but it is seldom ever mentioned by the band, and completely ignored in their retrospective collections.

They pressed around 10,000 of these but shelved a good portion of the pressing when they probably realized what a bad idea it was. Rumor has it that the records were being stored at Bomp's warehouse and someone there decided to slowly keep selling them until they were almost all gone. The thing fetches a hefty sum these days and it is pretty certain that a reissue will never see the light of day ever. Really to curb bootleggers they ought to include it on something but I guess they are so ashamed of it that it isn't even worth it to them.

Every now and then I'll play this record to someone who likes the band these days but never heard of it and their reactions are always shock and disbelief. That alone is reason to always have this record in one's collection.

Click here to hear "It's Only Over When" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Extremes]

Extremes - 7" EP (1979 Test Tube Records)

People likely have heard of the CA Youth Brigade featuring the 3 Stern Brothers (originally from Canada), but most probably don't know that before Youth Brigade, before Godzilla's and certainly before the BYO, that two of them were in another band.

The Extremes were formed in the late 70s by Mark and Shawn Stern along with two others whose names escape me. They started off as Raw Option but then changed their name to The Extremes. Their sole musical output was this 7" that I'm pretty sure they self-released. After that they called it quits and the Stern brothers would discover hardcore, run their own punk club and start a record label. This single would go overlooked and forgotten ever since while Youth Brigade still play shows and BYO is a fairly successful record label.

As always if your last name is Stern or you were one of the other members of this band, or have any additional information, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Ephemeral Living" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Authorities]

Authorities - Soundtrack for Trouble 7" (1982 Selecta Records)

I first heard this band on one of the best hardcore compilations of all time, We Got Power: Party or Go Home. Nearly every song on that compilation ruled and it started off with this song. I wouldn't even know for years after getting that compilation that they had put out a record as it didn't seem to get very good distribution in the Midwest and its doubtful that they made many of them, especially judging by how often I see it on people's want lists these days.

The Authorities were from Stockton, CA and during their time together they released only one record, this 7" EP. They were also on a few compilations. The band broke up shortly after that. They had recorded some additional material that didn't see the light of day for over a decade when a record collector named Ryan Richardson from Texas would release it on an LP along with the 7" tracks on one of his two record labels. Of course that record too is now out of print so these recordings are once again not easily available to the masses.

As to where they are now, I have no clue. I never saw much information about them throughout the years of reading fanzines, etc. As always if you have any additional information or were a member of the band, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "I Hate Cops" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Chuck Wagon]

Chuck Wagon - Rock and Roll Won't Go Away 7" (1979 A&M Records)

Every punk fan has heard of The Dickies and likely own at least one of their albums and/or their multi-colored vinyl 7"s. They were the first Los Angeles punk band to get signed to a major label and they lasted longer than any of the other bands from their time. In fact, they are still at it today with 2 of the original members (Stan Lee and Leonard Graves).

One of the other founding members was keyboardist/saxophonist/guitarist Chuck Wagon (real name Bob Davis). He released this solo record, his only record done outside of The Dickies, while he was still in the band. On the cover it has a sticker stating that "Chuck Wagon is a Dickie" in an effort I'm sure to help sell the single. Musically it was a lot more mellow and more new-wavey than the material The Dickies were known for. The record came on both purple and black vinyl. For completion sake, I actually need a copy on black vinyl if anyone can point me in the direction of anyone selling one.

In 1981, a volatile and unhappy Chuck Wagon shot and killed himself. This shocked the other band members and the band came to a screeching halt for some time afterwords. Later on, Stan and Leonard resurrected the band adding 3 new members and carrying on. They've been at it off and on ever since despite battles with "inner demons" (read: drugs), labels ripping them off, etc. They are currently signed to Fat Wreckchords and have put out a couple records on that label.

As always if you have any additional or are a member of The Dickies, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Rock and Roll Won't Go Away" from the record (right click and "save target as..."

Selections from The Punk Vault [Bonemen of Barumba]

Bonemen of Barumba - Driving the Bats Through Jerusalem 12" EP (1982 Fever Records)

The Bonemen of Barumba were another great Chicago area band you probably never heard of. They originally were from the suburbs (Lisle or Lombard to be exact) but then relocated to Chicago proper later on. The band was founded by Tom Jonusaitis and Mark Panick, a couple of guys into super8 film, around 1980 or 1981. They put out a self-titled/self released 10" that had four songs on it. Musically they were a gothic punk band. Back then, the umbrella of punk covered a lot more varieties of musical styles than it would later on.

The band even made a float and participated in some Villa Park, IL parade with it. How/why this came to be I have no idea. They also made a video which I never got to see but saw a few stills from it on the web. I'd love to see it if anyone has a copy. This record was their second release and also featured 4 songs. It was released on the Fever Records label who would also co-release a Big Black record as well as some other artist. I guess Fever had high hopes that this band would hit it big but it never happened for them.

Their third and final release was a full-length album titled Icons that was a joint release on Fever/Enigma. The album didn't sell well despite it being a good and diverse record and the band called it quits. I have no idea what happened to the members after that. Years ago I had a friend who worked at a record store that said he would see one of the members around sometimes and that he'd get contact info for me but that never happened. I'd love to know more about them seeing as they are from my area and I seem to be one of their only longtime fans, let alone someone who actually has heard of them.

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

Click here to hear "Pity it Ain't" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Rik L Rik]

Rik L Rik - Meathouse 7" (1979 Posh Boy Records)

Rik L Rik (real name Richard Brian Elerick) was around in the beginning of the Los Angeles punk scene and was in a band called F-Word. He was mentioned quite a bit in The Germs biography that came out a couple years ago. After F-Word called it quits in late 1978 Rik would leave for San Francisco and join Negative Trend. That band's sole recorded output would be one 7" and a couple tracks on the Tooth and Nail compilation (which will be featured here one of these days).

After he quit Negative Trend, he went solo and put out a this really great 7" on Posh Boy Records, and was also on the Beach Blvd compilation. It was at the recording session for this single that those Negative Trend tracks were recorded for the Tooth and Nail compilation and were remixed by Chris D (of Flesheaters fame, who released the comp on his label, Upsetter Records).

I asked Posh Boy himself for a little recollection of this and here is what he said:

Owing to shortage of funds I had to choose between printing the picture sleeve for Rik single and that of Simpletones. In fact, when the artwork for the Rik single was done, it was a Negative Trend single. Rik left the band between the recording and the record's release. So that played a big factor. The Tooth and Nail tracks are from the same session as the Posh Boy single... the only difference being that Chris Desjardins wanted to remix. He, of course, used the band name "Negative Trend" whereas I wanted to promote Rik and the remaining members of Negative Trend wanted to disassociate themselves from him. So we pressed 1000 of the PBS 4, the Rik L Rik single and it just did not sell. That's why I offered them free to anyone guessing what the letters TSOL stood for. It would have been a beautiful black and red pic sleeve, we adapted the artwork for the 1990 re-issue. Artwork by Ginger Canzoneri

Years later, Posh Boy would release The Lost Album by Rik L Rik which was a collection of songs he recorded in the early 1980s. Sadly, Rik passed away of cancer in June of 2000. He was in the process of recording a record with The Celestials before he died but it never got finished before his untimely passing. There is a tribute page for Rik up on the Posh Boy Records website.

Click here to hear "Meathouse" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Mighty Sphincter]

Mighty Sphincter - In the Kingdom of Heaven 12" EP (1987 Placebo Records)

Is it any surprise that after the last two selections that I'd follow it up with this band?

Mighty Sphincter are, in my eyes, one of the most under-appreciated bands to come out of the Phoenix sands. Formed in 1981 by Greg Hynes (Teds) and Doug Clark (The Brainz), they'd release a handful of records, none of which would sound like the one that came before it, but all of which were quite good. The band's releases all have the distinction of practically having no to singers the same!

Their first singer was a man named Ron Reckless who dressed up like Satan in drag. He had a penchant for consuming large quantities of narcotics and that would be his undoing. This fellow was the singer on their first single, Heathouse. They eventually kicked him out, then told stories about how he died. These stories were told in the advertisements for their records. Before ousting him, they recorded an EP with him that became half of the Ghost Walking album. Guitarist/songwriter Doug Clark (or Dominic Royale as he sometimes referred to himself as) would take over the vocal duties for the second side of Ghost Walking and also sing on most of their first "real" full-length titled The New Manson Family. Ghost Walking was billed as a double EP because the plan was to actually have released those as their own records.

The album had the distinction of being "produced by Alice Cooper". It was Sphincter most angry sounding album but it con a few real gems. This would also mark the end of the sheer demented sound of the band as they were evolving into a more serious act by this point.

This leads us to this record. In the ads they were running, they made up a story that said that Doug Clark had died of AIDS and now they had a new singer! Bill Yanok would be the singer on this one and musically the band was going in a more gothic direction. Bill sang 4 of the 6 songs on here, with Greg Hynes singing the other two (the featured track being one of them). After this record, the band played a handful of shows and then called it quits for a bit. Bill ended up starting a new band but I can't recall the name, nor have I heard them. This was easily my favorite Sphincter record and I still listen to it all the time.

They resurrected in the early 90s and put out a self-released 7" and then vanished again until a few years ago when they'd reform yet again and self-release a CD titled The Holy Unholy. These days they kept the goth feel but mixed it with a more metal like sound that is really quite good. Greg handles all the vocals now for the most part, with Doug handing them here and there. They are still at it as I type this and I believe are planning a new recording soon.

There is a somewhat dated small interview with Greg Hynes on the Spontaneous Combustion site and you can check it out here.

As always if you have any information or were in the band, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Secret Ceremony" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Brainz]

The Brainz - Elementary Monster/Terra 7" (1979 self-released)

Even before Teds, The Brainz would be the first band in what spawned that whole Placebo Records Phoenix punk scene. 3/5 of this band would eventually be in Mighty Sphincter and be a contributing force of that scene at the time.

The Brainz sole musical output, to the best of my knowledge, is this 7". They released it themselves but Placebo Records would end up selling it through their catalog well into the mid-80s. The band consisted of Wayne Frost, Doug Clark, Clark Stokes, Joe Albanese, and John Stewart. Wayne, Doug and Joe would all end up in Mighty Sphincter at some point, with Doug being the founding memeber of Mighty Sphincter along with Greg Hynes of Teds.

Where are they now? Doug Clark is sill in Mighty Sphincter and they still play occasional shows and are recording a new record soon. He is actually clinically insane or something to that effect, and the state pays him to stay home! He is quite a talented musician though. I beleive Wayne and Joe are still around and one of them might still be playing music, if not both of them. I am not sure about the other fellows who were in the band.

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

Click here to hear "Elementary Monster" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Teds]

Teds - The Eighties Are Over... 7" (1981 Placebo Records)

This has got to be one of the most obscure 7"s to come from the deserts of Phoenix, AZ. My first exposure to this band was on the This is Phoenix Not the Circle Jerks compilation and this band was one of the standouts. I was always a fan of Placebo Records and I had never seen or heard of this single before until I was reading the insert to said compilation and they made a reference to it. In fact, throughout all the 80s, not once was this ever listed in any Placebo catalogs.

Teds were a 3-piece band consisting of Bob Peterson on Guitar/Vocals, Greg Hynes on Drums/Vocals, and Mark Bycroft on Bass/Vocals. Greg Hynes was half-owner of Placebo Records and is most known for later being in Mighty Sphincter. Teds put out this one single and were on that compilation mentioned above and that was it, then they called it a day.

My quest for this single would come to an end a few years ago thanks to a band member having a spare copy and being generous enough to pass it along to me. For that, I'm forever grateful. There was a mere 500 of these pressed. As to where they are now, Greg Hynes still resides in Phoenix and is still in Mighty Sphincter who play the occasional show and have some plans on recording some new material soon. Bob Peterson unfortunately passed away and I'm not sure what happened to Mark.

As always if you have any information about the band or were in it, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "It's My Crisis" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Lost Cause (CA)]

Lost Cause (CA) - 7" (1981 High Velocity Records)

Before there ever was a Lost Cause from Chicago, there was one from California who formed in the early 1980s. They put out one 7" and one LP before they disbanded. Quite awhile back, original guitarist Steve Young contacted me and ended up sending me a history of the band. I fell out of touch with him since though, and never got the rest of the story. Here is what he sent me.

Feb. 1981. Orange, California. The Big O skatepark.
Five young punks, two age 14 two age 16 one age 18, decide to form a punk band. Upon hearing this, local skate pro Duane Peters, now of U.S. Bombs fame, says "You should call yourselves Lost Cause", obviously meaning it as a jab or put-down. They love the name and a band is born.

May 19 1981. Costa Mesa, California. The Cuckoos Nest.
Lost Cause play their first show, a mere three months after forming. The band is well-received by audience and club management. They are asked to return on the 29th of May to open for TSOL. The show is a tremendous success and Lost Cause is booked every other Saturday night at the Cuckoos Nest playing with such names as FEAR, The Circle Jerks, Agent Orange, etc.

July 1981. Anaheim, California. Chateau East Recording
Lost Cause record six songs on 8-track. Four of these songs, Born Dead, No Justice, American Hero, and Senior Citizen are released on a 7" EP by High Velocity Records. The band goes the extra mile and pays twice the cost to have ALL pressings done in RED VINYL. The records sell quickly, prompting interest from numerous industry snakes.

New Year's Eve 1981. Santa Ana, CA. Broadway Theater
Verbal Abuse, Lost Cause, China White, Social Distortion, TSOL. The fury of the event peaks during Social Distortion's set and the riot police storm the building. Violence and Anarchy. The venue is destroyed.

March 1982. San Francisco, CA
Lost Cause singer Johnny Ernst is replaced by Ron McCamey (a story in itself). Lost Cause and Social Distortion combine forces and tour to San Francisco. They play the Broadway Theater with The Lewd. Upon returning home to Orange, Lost Cause immediately enters the studio and records the album Forgotten Corners.

Next time......
the Return of Johnny Ernst
More Violence and Mayhem
Drugs, Booze, Gray Bar Hotel

Unfortunately, the email address I have for him is no longer valid as I recently tried to contact him to get the rest of the story.

As always, if you have any information to add or you were in the band please get in touch.

Click here to hear "No Justice" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [JFA]

JFA - Mad Garden 12" EP (1984 Placebo Records)

JFA (short for Jody Fosters Army) formed in the deserts of Phoenix Arizona in 1981. Four skateboarders got together and decided they wanted to form a band after being inspired by seeing DOA play a show that same year. The band's goal was to play fast and skate, and that is what they did. They didn't even bother releasing a demo, the first thing they went and recorded was their now legendary Blatant Localism 7" on Placebo Records.

They were very active back then always playing shows, touring and releasing records. They followed up the 7" with the amazing Valley of the Yakes LP that saw them become more polished and mixed hardcore with surf sounds. Another self-titled LP followed up a year or so later and that leads us to this EP.

Mad Garden is an homage to Madison Square Garden. Not the one in New York where they have huge events, this one was in Phoenix, and much like its larger cousin, they would hold wrestling events at the venue regularly. Someone started booking hardcore shows there on the off-nights (it may have been Tony Victor but I'm not quite sure) and a legendary Phoenix punk venue was born. The bands would actually play inside the wresting ring! There is a great picture of Mighty Sphincter playing at Mad Garden on the cover of the This is Phoenix Not the Circle Jerks compilation. Eventually the place was shut down and sold. It became a flower warehouse and if I had to fathom a guess, today it is likely a strip mall or a Home Depot.

After this EP, JFA put out another full-length album that showed a drastic change in sound. Brian and Don moved to CA and the band halted for awhile as they had only half a band, and the record label they were on since their inception had ceased operations (Placebo). In 1991 they got a new bass player and drummer and self-released the Lightning Storm 7". A couple years and a couple drummers later, they released another 7" on my label. A couple more years and drummers would pass and they'd do an album on a label started by someone from around here who used to work for Rotz. The band took another hiatus after that until I released a split 7" with them and The Faction. This year, with another new bass player and drummer on board, they have resumed playing shows again. I hope they'll record some new stuff and if they do, I'm always open to do another 7" of theirs.

Alternative Tentacles last year reissued their earliest stuff on a collection called We Know You Suck and yours truly contributed to the liner notes of that CD. A full vinyl discography for the band can be found on the Spontaneous Combustion site.

Click hear to hear "Mad Garden" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Defnics]

Defnics - 51% 7" (1981 Terminal Records)
My first exposure to this band was on the Cleveland Confidential LP. All it took for me to buy a compilation back when compilations were good and not the watered down worthless things they are today, was for there to be either one band I liked on there, be on a label I owned a record on, or at least contain a band or two I've heard of. I discovered a lot of great bands this way, and this is further proof.

I don't know much about them, other than that compilation, and this single was all they did in their two years together. This single was released on Mike Hudson's label, Terminal Records. Mike Hudson is in The Pagans, who were the most famous band from the old Cleveland punk days, and perhaps also the best. Later upon Defnics breaking up, one member would join The Pagans in their later years. The best place for Defnics info is the story about the band written by one of its members found here on the excellent Cleveland Punk Site.

The "picture sleeve" for this record is pretty crude and low budget. They printed up the picture and glued it onto plain white record sleeves. Now that if that isn't DIY then I don't know what is!

Where are they now? A year or two ago they reformed and put out a new 7" and it was a pretty good record. I believe it was on Smog Veil Records. I think they still do the occasional show around the Cleveland area too.

Click here to hear "51%" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Political Justice?]

Political Justice? - Stating the Truths and Healing the Wounds 7" (1985 Landmind Records)

I wrote this one up on 11/14/04 but set it to "draft" and never realized that I never published it! I correct that mistake now and the intent was to have this come out at the same time as all the other local punk. Not that there won't be more local punk in the future, but the opening sentence below makes a lot more sense if you keep this in mind.

I figure I may as well blast through some other selections from the local punk scene from back in the day since I seem to have that theme going this past handful of entries.

At the same time as bands like Dead Fink and Happy Toons, over in Glen Ellyn, a batch of fellow punks put together a band of their own and were in theme, a lot more serious. Political Justice were a four piece, and featured a young Brian St. Clair on drums, and Wesley Kidd on guitar. Brian would later go on to play in the Thrill Kill Kult for a short time and he and Wes would also play in a later lineup of Rights of the Accused, and later were in some band called Triple Fast Action that garnered some success. I think one of those guys might have been in a lineup of really lousy but popular band, Local H.

They'd gig around the city, record a demo that didn't get much circulation, then they put out this single and called it quits. The demo is on my "things to burn to cd" list, and they were also featured on the Immense Decay compilation that I released in 1987. After Political Justice called it a day, Wes quickly joined Rights of the Accused, at a time that they were still good and had put out their 7" (to be an upcoming selection very soon). As you could guess by their name, the band was a political hardcore band. Had they stuck together longer and done a couple more records, they probably would have had a pretty good following, but alas they didn't and are sadly mostly unknown in the world of punk.

Click here to hear "One Moment of Empathy" from the 7" (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Young and the Useless]

The Young and the Useless - Real Men Don't Floss 7" (1982 Ratcage Records)

The Young and the Useless were a very short lived band from New York City circa 1982. The stayed together long enough to put out this lone 7" and then fell apart and called it quits in 1984. The band consisted of Adam Horovitz, Adam Trese, Arthur Africano, and David Scilken. You will likely recognize that first person's name as being a member of Beastie Boys. Adam didn't join the Beasties until 1983 when their original guitarist, John Berry, quit the band.

Until recently, this was the only recorded works available, however in the past couple years Ratcage Records was resurrected and they released a Live at CBGB CD featuring recordings of a bunch of old punk bands from that era. I am not sure if it is still available as I recall reading that the Ratcage Records person had died last year I believe. This record still remains out of print. You'd think the Beastie Boys would have reissued it themselves but I guess it isn't that important to them. Aside from knowing what Adam is doing (still kicking with the Beasties), I don't know what became of the other members.

A funny story about acquiring this record. It was easily more than 12 years ago when I was at a local record store shopping and I saw a guy holding this record in his hand and showing it to his girlfriend trying to explain it to her. She didn't seem too impressed and seemed to also scoff at the 10 dollar price tag. I was witnessing this getting sick to my stomach that had I shown up a few minutes earlier, the record would be in my hands. I started mentally willing the guy to change his mind and put it back, like trying to do the jedi mind trick. I had almost given up hope when the guy walks back, and puts the record back on the shelf! He didn't even finish turning back around to walk away again when I grabbed the thing and sat there shocked that Yoda's tricks actually worked! Whoever you are, thanks for not buying it. The record has had a happy home in The Punk Vault ever since.

As always, if you have further information or was in the band, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Young and Useless" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Mentors]

Mentors - Get Up and Die 12" EP (1982 Mystic Records)

I'd be surprised if any fan of punk rock has not heard of the infamous Mentors. They were the kings of what they called "rape rock" which translated means goofy songs with misogynist lyrics and cheap shock value. Anyone who took the band seriously was a complete and utter fool. The Mentors loved to shock, and they found a gimmick that gained them quite a reputation, and got their name out there.

The band was formed in the very early 80s by El Duce (Eldon Wayne Hoek) whose trade was working at a porno shop. He played drums and used giant dildos as drumsticks and had drunken howl vocals and would sing about peeping on woman, screwing woman, drugs, and all things debauchery. He was joined by Sickie Wifebeater and Dr Heathen Scum on guitar and bass. The three men wore executioner hoods on stage and El Duce would never fail to get a rise out of the crowd.

Musically they were one of the first bands of the era to cross punk and metal. Well, not metal so much as rock. It was later that they'd go more metal, and of course that meant they also stopped being as good as they were in the early days. This was their first record, and the first pressing of it came packaged in a clear bag with just a single double sided printed 12"x12" insert. They referred to this as the "trash bag". The same packaging was also used in the De De Troit 12". It was later issued as seen above, in a real sleeve and contained a bonus live 7".

In the later 1980s the band signed to Metal Blade Records and put out a couple albums then they'd later resort to (probably by having no other choice) putting out their own records (usually only on cassette). They once did a tour with Revolting Cocks, which was my one and only time I got to see the band play live. I was the only one in the audience who clapped for the band and liked them. All those Wax Trax kids just wanted to see Revco play and couldn't be bothered by anything else.

El Duce even made it on a couple of those daytime talk shows like Geraldo where he'd stay in character the entire time, never breaking Kayfabe for even a second to let anyone in on the joke, and it got quite a rise out of the toothless audience, let me tell you! Sure El Duce was a drunken pervert, but from the stories I have heard from Doug Moody, he was a genuinely nice guy in real life once you got through the shield of his gimmick.

Sadly, El Duce died in 1997 when he allegedly stumbled onto some train tracks and was killed by a train. Rumors were abound of him being killed by someone hired by Courtney Love as further conspiracy in the death of her husband Kurt Cobain. Apparently El Duce was going around shortly before his death telling anyone who would listen that Courtney tried to hire him to kill Kurt. Nothing was ever proven though and the stories remain speculation and rumor.

Sadder yet, the remaining members of the band still tour as The Mentors, even though the guy who created the band and the gimmick is dead. Here I thought nothing would be more pathetic than Jerry Only's version of "The Misfits" but those two remaining band members went and proved me wrong. I'd provide a URL for a website they put together, but that might be viewed as condoning what they are doing, and I don't want some naive sucker to wander over there and buy something from them, thus legitimizing their exploiting and soiling of The Mentors name (if soiling it is even possible).

Click here to hear "Get Up and Die" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Christ on Parade]

Christ On Parade - Sounds of Nature LP (1985 Pusmort Records)

I was in high school when a girl I was friends with told me about this band called Christ on Parade who played at a show she saw at Metro. They opened for a bigger punk band, but I forget which. I remember not going because I didn't have a ride to the city. Anyway, she bought their record and told me she thought I'd really like it so she loaned it to me. I took it home and played it and was blown away. I was an instant fan and thus started kicking myself for not having gone to that show. I somehow talked the girl into letting me keep the record and I played it to death.

Christ on Parade were from San Francisco, CA and formed in the mid 1980s. To the best of my knowledge, they toured the US once opening for some bigger band like 7 Seconds or someone like that. This was their first record and it was released on Pushead's label. After this record, they would part ways with their original singer and Noah, who played guitar, would handle the lead vocal duties. I do not know why the original guy left. The band put out a pair of 7"s and one more LP before disbanding.

After they broke up, Noah started a band called Blister who put out a 7" and a LP and then broke up. He now plays in Neurosis, who were friends of Christ on Parade and played a a bunch of shows together with them. He joined sometime before their Through Silver in Blood album, which was easily the best thing they ever did. I don't know what happened to the other guys who were in the band. A few years ago, everything except this record was reissued on a CD titled Insanity is a Sane Reaction on the now defunct F.O.A.D. Records, and unfortunately that means the CD is out of print (is also came out as a double green vinyl LP). This first album has never been reissued. There was a rumor years ago that Pushead was going to reissue it again but that never happened I'm afraid and thus a lot of people are missing out on a great record that deserves to be heard.

As always, if you were in the band or have any additional information to share please get in touch.

Click here to hear "No Truth" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Group of Individuals]

Group of Individuals - Destroyer of Fun 7" (1984 Single Records)

In all my participation in the older punk scene, I don't think I ever ran into anyone nicer, or more active than Mike Lazuka of Group of Individuals. He was always supporting some thing, partaking of putting on shows, handing out flyers, and of course, playing in his band. To prove just what a nice guy he was, once after seeing them play Mike gave me a handfull of Group of Individuals singles for my mailorder, and when I asked what he wanted for them he told me he didn't want anything for them, it was to help me out. This was totally unsolicited and stood out to me as a really nice gesture from one member of the punk scene to another.

The band started in the early 80s and lasted until somewhere around 1990. They put out three 7" singles in that time, and also gave me a track for the Immense Decay compilation. I'm sure they were on a couple other cassette comps during that time too. The first two singles were on their own label and the third was on the now defunct Underdog Records. All the copies of this record had had written generic sleeves. With all the time Mike must have taken to hand write them all, and to use two colored markers to boot, he probably would have been better off making real picture sleeves but oh well.

A few years later, in the early 1990s, Mike put together a CD retrospective of all the recorded works of Group of Individuals and sent me a copy. What was odd, was that one or two of the songs were different versions than that of the vinyl. After that, the band, and him, seemed to have vanished, at least off my radar as its been years since I have heard from him. I'd like to know what he's up to these days.

As always, if you were in the band or have further information, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Destroyer of Fun" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [S.N.O.T.]

S.N.O.T. - Slaughterhouse 7" (1986 KML Records)

Back when I was doing my fanzine (Spontaneous Combustion) there was a little label called KML Records that started sending me records to review. The label was run by one of the guy in Maggot Sandwich, and of course I was sent their records to review, along with this one.

S.N.O.T. stands for Slime from the Nose Of Texas. They were from Texas yet were on this Florida label. I imagine the guys in Maggot Sandwich must have played a show with them and became friends with them or something. S.N.O.T. only put out this one single, which was a pretty good hardcore record that came out at a time that a lot of hardcore bands were starting down the path of metal (which in most cases was the same road as the path of suck). After this single, they vanished, never to release another record again. This single came on both blue and black vinyl. I think somewhere I still have a sticker with the sleeve art on it too.

I have no idea what happened to them or what they are doing now. As always if you were in the band, or have any information, please get in touch. Unfortunately I lost touch with the KML fellow a million years ago so I can't get in touch for any stories.

Click here to hear "Safe Gray Lights" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Eddie and the Subtitles]

Eddie and the Subtitles - Fuck You Eddie 7" (1980 No Label Records)

Eddie and the Subtitles were a band that got their start in the late 70s in Southern California. They would last a few years and play lots of shows around CA but as far as I know, never ventured out past there. I first heard of them by seeing their name on show flyers playing with bands like Black Flag and I'd eventually come across their records, but that in itself was not an easy thing to do since they didn't seem to make a whole lot of them.

There is very little information available about the band, doing Google searches only provided me with people either looking for, or trading, their records. Aside from that I only found a show review that was a reprint from an old Flipside fanzine. Even the book I bought at the Forming exhibit years ago only briefly mentions when their single was released and nothign else, not even a picture. The band recorded this one single, then they did two albums. The first album is about half good punk tunes and half band rock songs. The second album, which is a lot easier to find and was released on the 13th Story Records label, was actually not very good at all but had some nice cover art.

Sadly not every one of these Vault entries are going to be as chock full of good stories as I'd like, but at least you'll get to check out some cool bands.

As to where they are now, I have no clue. I beleive lead singer Eddie died a number of years ago. As always if you were in the band or have any additional information, please get in touch. Maybe someone will collect all 3 records onto a CD someday.

Click here to hear "American Society" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Hates]

Hates - No Talk in the Eighties 7" (1979 Faceless Records)

Hates were one of the first punk bands to come out of Houston Texas. They put out 3 singles and a 12" EP during their heyday. Later when they went out of print they'd sell them on cassettes that they made themselves. My first exposure of them was when their singer/guitar player Christian Arnheiter started writing to my fanzine and he sent me a tape of the band. They'd later give me a couple songs for the Immense Decay compilation.

Eventually the original lineup of the band woudl dissolve, and Christian would keep it alive with new members and new recordings. In fact they are still at it today, playing shows and occasionally recording new music. Admittedly I haven't heard anything they've done since around 1990 though, but Christian has a huge mohawk and hasn't given up on the punk rock. They even have a webpage, though it looks like it hasn't been updated in about 6 months.

I'm actually in dire need of their 3rd 7" titled "So What" if anyone has one for sale or trade please get in touch!

This particual record came in two pressings, each having a totally different sleeve. Pictured is the first pressing. The second pressing had a band photo sleeve (which i actually could use a copy of as well for completion sake).

Click here to hear "Last Hymn" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Stiff Legged Sheep]

Stiff Legged Sheep - 7" (1985 Smudged Records)

The year was, I believe, 1985 and I would ride my skateboard over to my friend Keith Lyons' place for a punk show they put on at Keith Garage. It would be The Faction, The Drab, God (formerly Dead Fink) and some other band I'm forgettting at the moment, and there was a band who also played called Stiff Legged Sheep. I don't remember much about them except they were from Iowa, which they announced before they played. I envisioned them living on a farm somewhere and being the only punks in the entire state. I don't know what caused me to think that, but keep in mind I was like 15 years old. They were a really entertaining hardcore band and the crowd seemed really into them. Being the wide-eyed young punker that I was back then, I put their name in the memory banks as a band to seek out recordings by.

Not too long after that, on a trip to Wax Trax records I found a copy of their one and only release, this 7" record, and I quickly snapped it up and showed all my friends that "hey, this is that band I saw at Keith Garage with The Faction". Somehow none of them were really that impressed as a lot of my friends weren't such marks for all things punk back then like I was.

After that record, the band vanished into thin air almost as if they never happened. I don't recall reading anything about them before or since so what happened to them is a mystery and whether or not they recorded a demo before or after this record I don't know either.

Upon doing a search on them, I came across the lineups for the band from the Iowa Underground Archives and they listed them as being:

1st line-up Members:
Ralph Johnson - Vocals
Matt Hall- bass
Dave Murray - Guitar
Paul Mc'Cue - Drums

2nd line-up Members:
Paul Neff
Matt Hall
Dave Murray - Guitar
Paul Mc'Cue - Drums

While a lot of old hardcore records sell for stupid cash on ebay, this one pretty much went unnoticed by the record hoarding masses and can be had for cheap.

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

Click here to hear "Garden full of Secret Graves" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Sacred Denial]

Sacred Denial - North of the Order LP (1987 Forefront Records)

Sacred Denial were another one of the bands around for the heyday of NJ punk/hardcore. My first exposure to them was on the New Jersey's Got It compilation on Buy Our Records. Those tracks were raw and powerful and I immediately made a point to buy everything I could find by the band.

In their time as a band, they put out 4 albums, and then a 5th one of early material would come out after they called it quits. All their records were on the Forefront Records label, which was either run by a band member, or the band's manager/friend. I can't recall which as it has been a long time. I do remember the guy who ran the label being a really nice guy and he'd distribute other labels and sent me lots of records to review in the pages of Spontaneous Combustion.

For some reason, Sacred Denial never got a whole lot of attention. Though the records have been out of print for years, they can be had cheap, which I think people should take advantage of because they are some good records. Over the course of time the band would evolve from straight up hardcore to include a bit of metal and melodic punk as well over the later releases, and they pulled it off quite well. In fact, I often find myself listening to this album over a lot of their other ones.

As to where they are now, I have no clue. I also don't know what became of the Forefront Records guy as I lost touch with him more than 15 years ago. As always if you were in the band, or have any information you'd like to share, please get in touch.

Click here to hear "Where's My Mom?" from the record (right click and "save target as...")

Selections from The Punk Vault [Necros]

Necros - IQ32 7" (1981 Touch and Go Records)

The Necros were a Midwest punk band that I believe started in OH and moved up to MI somewhere in their career. They were responsible for Touch and Go becoming a record label and they put out some of the best Midwest hardcore records in their day, and toured the country, befriending bands everywhere they went. Among those friends were the Dischord folks, who would co-release this particular single with Touch and Go. There were 3 pressings of this with 1000 made of each. The first pressing had green labels, the second pressing had tan labels and the third had white labels. They would also do a limited edition of 100 with special sleeves for a show at the Endless Summer Skatepark. These sleeves were hand numbered. One of these days I'll post a picture of mine.

Among the people in the band, the two that would be the most well known are Barry Hennsler and Corey Rusk, and they'd end up hating each other. During their time together as a hardcore band, the Necros put out 3 7"s and one LP. It was after that when Corey left the band. Barry would carry on the Necros to do one more 7", a second LP and a split LP with White Flag, but by this time, they were turning into a metal band and really were not very good. The band would call it quits after that.

Today Barry lives somewhere in Chicago. I wonder if he still has a huge record collection. After the Necros disbanded he formed Big Chief during the grunge era and put out a bunch of records. Corey Rusk still owns and runs Touch and Go Records which has become quite successful and put out tons of records to this day, none of them really being punk rock but they have put out a lot of really great indie rock records in the past decade or so and the occasional punk reissues like The Effigies and Negative Approach. I'm not sure what happened to Todd S or the other guy.

Sadly, due to all the infighting amongst band members, the Necros catalog remains out of print except for some shitty bootleg collections. You'd think they'd bury the hatchet just enough for a retrospective CD to come out. I mean c'mon guys, you were a piece of hardcore history and the people deserve to be able to hear this stuff, and you all co