If you haven't read the first part of this, you can catch up here. But make sure you come back and read this afterwards.
That first part looked at the bands on the punk scene in California as the 1970s drew to a close; what their influences were and the start of the evolution of the sound. We focused on Pat Smear, as he is a musician that was there at the very start, with core L.A. punk band, the Germs - and he somehow made it through the excess and ended up 15 years later playing with Nirvana, who represented perhaps the final part of that west coast evolution.
This time, we see how the scene is doing at the dawn of the 1980s.....
1980:
***
Up in San Francisco, one of the most successful and recognisable of all the west coast punk bands, the Dead Kennedys, were getting ready to unleash their debut album in 1980. Their satire on Governor Jerry Brown, California Uber Alles, had come out the previous year, and now ahead of the album came the next single.
With the ominous low rumble of Klaus Fluoride's bass working with the rolling thunder of Ted's drums, joined by the screech and wail of East Bay Ray's surf rock guitar, before the maniacal Jello Biafra pitches in - Holiday In Cambodia is perhaps the finest song of the whole genre. The album, Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, was not necessarily received with rave reviews, but it sold well (even making UK number 33), but it has stood the test of time as a classic of US punk.
Dead Kennedys: Holiday In Cambodia (Official video - this version includes later drummer DH Peligro)
***
Down in L.A. Black Flag were having some issues in the singing department. Keith Morris had gone, and was now plying his trade with Circle Jerks. Ron Reyes came in next, and worked on their 1980 Jealous Again EP, and they embarked on a west coast tour. He didn't last long though, put off by the violence that plagued many of the gigs at the time. Dez Cadena joined them for the tour of US and England, but then decided he wanted to switch to just guitar - so the search for another vocalist was underway.
Black Flag: Jealous Again (Audio only)
***
Meanwhile, Morris's new outfit, Circle Jerks, had released their debut album, Group Sex on Frontier Records, which ultimately led to them getting a deal with I.R.S. (probably most famous for REM's first five albums). Wild In The Streets followed in 1982, before Lehrer left to study law, being replaced by John Ingram.
Circle Streets: Wild In The Streets (Official video - made later and splicing live footage of the band in 1982, coupled with skaters like Tony Hawk, in latter day L.A.)
***
Now we turn down the L.A. coast a few miles, half way between Black Flag's Hermosa Beach and Long Beach, to the suburb of San Pedro. Dennes 'D.' Boon (guitar) and Mike Watt (bass) had been playing music together from the age of thirteen, and through the 1970s had been in a number of different bands. When one of those outfits, The Reactionaries, finished in 1980, it left Watt and Boon looking for a band, and they brought in drummer George Hurley - the Minutemen were born.
They got their first gig supporting near neighbours Black Flag, and soon released a first EP, Paranoid Time produced by Greg Ginn and released on his SST Record label. While they could loosely be described as being part of the wider hardcore punk scene, they brought elements of funk and jazz to the table, making them a much different proposition to most of their peers.
Minutemen: Paranoid Chant (Audio only)
***
We had found Brian Tristan and Jeffrey Lee Pierce putting their punk fanzine writing behind, to form the band Creeping Ritual. By 1980, this had transformed to The Gun Club, following a suggestion by Pierce's room-mate, Keith Morris. Tristan had never played guitar before Pierce stuck one in his hands and taught him the basics, but their wild party lifestyle was now being matched by their frenetic blues-punk gigs, where Pierce seemed happiest antagonising the crowd - generally by repeatedly shouting "f*@! off" at the crowd during instrumental breaks, until they started to leave.
Tristan recalls those early days and The Gun Club's place in the scene: "[The Gun Club were] too arty for rock people, far too rock for arty people, too cuckoo for the blues crowd and too America for punk." In a sign of the frequent line-up changes ahead, by June 1980, Don Snowden and Brad Dunning were gone, replaced by Rob Ritter and Terry Graham (both formally of The Bags). And in November, Tristan was gone too - poached by quirky psychobilly rockers, The Cramps. He was replaced by Ward Dotson, and like all members of The Cramps, he was given a new nickname - Kid Congo Powers (which he still trades under to this day).
***
X had signed with Slash Records and saw their debut album, Los Angeles, also come out in 1980. It was produced by Ray Manzarek of The Doors, and featured a rockabilly style, with lyrics inspired by the likes of poet Charles Bukowski and novelist Raymond Chandler. It has since been included on many of the various top album lists that have been produced - and it also includes a cover of Soul Kitchen by The Doors.
X: Los Angeles (Music video - one of the rock n roll classics of punk)
***
1980 was to end in tragedy however. It had always seemed clear that Germs lead singer Darby Crash (Jan Paul Beahm) was on a crash course to self destruction.
The Germs had fallen apart that summer, mired in violence at their gigs and Crash's worsening heroin addiction. He had gone to the UK for a bit, become a fan of Adam Ant, changed his hairstyle to a mohawk as a result, and returned to L.A. The Darby Crash Band was formed, including Lucky Lehrer on drums (as a last minute replacement for the first drummer, who was fired as they were about to play their first gig) - and eventually enticing Pat Smear to join him on guitar. They weren't very good and it didn't last very long.
Still, by December, The Germs were back together again for a show at the Starwood nightclub in West Hollywood on the 3rd. But on the 7th, Crash was found dead of a heroin overdose at a house in the Fairfax district (just south of Hollywood). Not that it probably would have made any major news channels anyway, but the event was overshadowed by the murder of John Lennon the following day.
***
What's next for Pat?
The Orange County Hardcore scene was growing. As well as Social Distortion, we also saw the start of The Adolescents, based around Rikk Agnew (guitar), Casey Royer (drums), Steve Soto (bass), Rikk's brother Frank Agnew (guitar) and singer Tony Brandenberg (also known at various time as Tony Cadena, Tony Montana, Tony Adolescent and Tony Reflex).
They were signed to Frontier Records, who put out their first self-titled album (known as the 'Blue album') in 1981. It was produced by Mike Patton (not to be confused with the Mike Patton from Faith No More) and in shifting more than 10,000 copies, it became the second biggest selling of the California hardcore records at the time (behind Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables). AllMusic would later describe it as, "super-catchy, heavy-riffing rock and roll, proving again that punk was the true heir to the likes of Chuck Berry, Larry Williams, Bo Diddley and Eddie Cochran."
They were part of a scene that had seemingly had a constant backdrop of violence at gigs. The song Rip It Up on that first record was all about that hostile environment surrounding the L.A. punk scene - with the lyrics:
"We're not the background for your stupid fights
Get out of the darkness it's time to unite
Do you think you're tough when you rip it up?"
Adolescents: Rip It Up (Audio only)
The album had not been long out when tensions in the band led to Rikk Agnew quitting (actually throwing his guitar and following it off stage, mid-gig). Pat Smear was brought in to cover, but didn't fancy the long major tour that was being lined up, and so only lasted a few months. Steve Roberts was the next in, and the Welcome To Reality EP was recorded, but the band had their first break up that August before the tour ever happened.
***
Also in Orange County, Social Distortion were now also ready to release their first single. Mainliner was released in 1981 on Hollywood's Posh Boy record label, which was where many of the records from the Orange County scene were put out. They became a popular choice of Rodney Bingenheimer, from K-ROQ radio, who was one of the few DJs playing punk records on the radio. The exposure led to them being able to go out on their first national tour in 1982.
Social Distortion: Mainliner (Audio only)
***
Back up to the Bay we go. January 1981 saw the departure of Dead Kennedys drummer Ted, to be replaced by Darren Henley, a.k.a. DH Peligro. Ray Watts was pushing for the band to sign with Polydor, but frontman Jello Biafra said he would leave if the band went down that road. In the end, the decision becomes irrelevant, as the label lose interest when they realise that the next single is to be called Too Drunk To F*!@ - a satire of the college party scene. It did get them a Top40 entry in the UK (the first ever to feature the F-word) and see them banned from BBC Radio 1, because of the sweary title.
Later in 1981, Peligro's first recording was on the In God We Trust EP, which saw the band adopt a much more aggressive sound, and even more of their socio-political commentaries. That sound would then mellow out slightly for 1982s Plastic Surgery Disasters, with some jazz structures, and influences of goth and blues.
Dead Kennedys: Moon Over Marin (Live version of song from Plastic Surgery Disasters - great riff and one of my favourite DK songs)
***
Black Flag were busy too in 1981. With vocalist Dez Cadena having decided to switch to just playing guitar, Henry Rollins (born Henry Garfield) came in as the singer, bringing with him a much more serious and intense presence. The Damaged LP coming out that year, later described by AllMusic as, "perhaps the best album to emerge from the quagmire that was early 80s California punk... the visceral, intensely physical presence of Damaged has yet to be equalled, although many bands have tried."
They embarked on a tour of the UK with Minutemen at the end of the year, including a chance to play with Television legend Richard Hell. But then their Colombian drummer Robo was detained at UK Customs on the way home because of visa issues - he was late returning home and never ended up rejoining the band.
Then, a legal dispute ensured with MCA Records, because the subsidiary they were signed to (Unicorn) had gone bankrupt, apparently as a result of poor management. MCA didn't want to distribute Damaged, although it did go out on SST (with a warning sticker on it), and they were left unable to record using their name for several years.
Black Flag: TV Party (Official music video)
***
It had come full circle for The Gun Club's Jeffrey Lee Pierce, former head of the west coast Blondie fan club, when the band signed to Blondie guitarist Chris Stein's Animal Records in 1982 (part of Chrysalis, who Blondie were with). They recorded their next LP, Miami, with Stein in the producers chair - and Debbie Harry also popping in to add some backing vocals.
Bassist Rob Ritter followed this up by leaving the band, but not before he had taught his parts to ex-Bag Patricia Morrison. Then, as part of the constant turmoil that the band endured under Pierce's leadership, Terry Graham and Ward Dotson were both fired that December. Now, Jim Duckworth and Dee Pop were in, and a spur of the moment recording session (that somehow didn't include Morrison) resulted in The Death Party EP.
Gun Club: Fire Of Love (Live in Madrid, 1984)
Chaos continued - Graham came back on drums at the expense of Pop - but then both he and Duckworth refused to board the plane for the October 1983 tour of Australia. Morrison did go, and Pierce had to recruit Billy Pommer Jr and Spencer P. Jones from the support band, The Johnny's - and he also persuaded his old buddy, Kid Congo Powers, to jump on a plane at a days notice and join them.
***
The sound spreads
We now find ourselves unveiling another crucial cog, as the punk scene started to shift towards what we would come to know as grunge (although many of the bands on the scene hated that label).
Up at Montesano High School in Washington state, in 1983, Buzz Osborne (vocals and guitar), Matt Lukin (bass) and Mike Dillard (drums) had formed a band. Their name, Melvins, came from a much disliked supervisor at the Thriftway store where Osborne worked. They started out doing covers of Hendrix and The Who, and then added in some fast hardcore punk to the mix.
When Dillard left in 84, he was replaced by Dale Crover, which enabled them to rehearse at Crover's parents house in Aberdeen.
***
The next (and final) part will take us through the rest of the 1980s and pivot into the Washington scene
Comments