Fellow cyclists who grew up in the Punk/Hardcore scene?

[TimAZ]

Wondering what fellow lovers of two wheels grew up listening to Punk/Hardcore music like I did. Where did you grow up and which bands influenced you the most? Off the subject of cycling, but it would be cool to share stories of who you saw play and where.

Tim

[Hank Scorpio]

Our little skate crew were really into straightedge in the eighties. Minor Threat, YOT, Gorilla Biscuits, Bold, Judge, Side By Side a bunch of other garage HC bands no one has ever heard of. Most of the shows we went to were in rented VFW's or sometimes a really crummy club would have all ages shows on Saturday afternoons.

[TimAZ]

Hank, sounds similar to my entrance in to HXC. I also, grew up on a skateboard. Started skated mid 80's. I met a guy name Glen from Chula Vista (San Diego, CA) who had moved to Gilbert, AZ summer of 89'. He skated and we crossed paths, so we immediately became friends. He was already Straight Edge and I had friends who were getting in to drugs. I didn't want to go down that road, so when Glen introduced me to SXE I was all in. A new identity for a young kid and I lanched on hard. He started showing me videos of him stage diving at Uniform Choice shows in CA and playing me all the great NYHC stuff. I was hooked. I know and love all the bands you mentioned.
Did you ever get in to collecting records?

Tim

[Mr. Pink]

I saw the Ramones five times, once at CBGB. Does that count?

[TimAZ]

Mr. Pink that counts for a lot! What years? I was lucky enough to see a few CBGB's show before that legendary club went away.

[Vientomas]

The Clash at Red Rocks - 1984.

[TimAZ]

Vietomas, that's awesome. I'm a huge Clash fan. I often wish I would go back in time to different countries/cities to see all the bands I never got to see. I would have spent 3 years in England. 1977-80, so I could have seen The Clash in their hay day before they got too funky. I do like some of the dub step influence that they adopted, but it's not my favorite Clash material. I have a 9 week old baby at home. I named him Brixton. As in the Clash song Guns of Brixton. Not my favorite Clash song, but I don't think Death or Glory would have gone over well with mom. My mother is also from London near Brixton, so that helped convince my wife.

[makoti]

I can't honestly claim to be a punk guy, but I'll name drop for you. Good friend of mine was one of the original members of the Dead Kennedys. Went by 6025. Saw them play when no one knew who they were. In some small theater, I think. He quit before they went to the UK to make it big (too much drug use for his tastes), so was really just involved with the first record. I did spend an evening in Jello Biafra's apartment, once. He was, to be civil, an idiot.

[JAllen]

I can't honestly claim to be a punk guy, but I'll name drop for you. Good friend of mine was one of the original members of the Dead Kennedys. Went by 6025. Saw them play when no one knew who they were. In some small theater, I think. He quit before they went to the UK to make it big (too much drug use for his tastes), so was really just involved with the first record. I did spend an evening in Jello Biafra's apartment, once. He was, to be civil, an idiot.
I'm shaking my balled up fists with giddy excitement! I LOVE Dead Kennedys! Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables is one of my favorite albums. 6025 had a total prog feel with his writing style.

...what a great thread. Thank you OP.

[nighthawk]

As a teenager my punk scene was The Rat in Boston, and Club Babyhead, AS220 and Fort Thunder in Providence. Lots of shows in basements, houses and warehouses, too. My tastes are all over the place so I saw a lot of shows... Punk, metal, HC, sXe... Met the Ramones in an alley outside of their show at the Strand in Providence in the early 90s. I'll never forget that.

[TimAZ]

Nighthawk you ever see SSD?

[nighthawk]

Nighthawk you ever see SSD?

No, had "The Kids" LP, but never saw them, they were before my time.

[merckx]

was not a skater, but front 242, joy division, ministry, skinny puppy were in my wheelhouse. still are.

[CheshireCat]

younger, so didn't get to watch the truly formative good stuff, but for me
Fugazi, At the Drive-in, NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise, Stiff little fingers, Murder City Devils. Decidedly came into punk rock and skateboard culture in the early to mid 90's and it shaped my ethos.

add that with a good helping of industrial/hardcore NIN, KMFDM, Atari Teenage Riot

[wooly]

Does Kajagoogoo count?

[bcroslin]

Late 80's hardcore scene in central FL was my ground zero. Saw a lot of bands - social distortion, bad brains, pre-dookie green day, bad religion etc. but because I was a skateboarder we would hang out outside the shows because we were too cool to care. Unfortunately our scene was pretty thick with dickhole skinheads and every show meant fights and I just wasn't much for getting my face kicked in. One of my best memories of that time was a "Prison Bound" era Mike Ness spitting on the skinheads in the front row and daring them to get on stage. A few years later hot water music played my 24th birthday in Gainesville when I was at UF and got shut down after the first song. :(

[Chris]

Huge Social D fan here too. I don't know how many times I've seen them. I still catch a show when I can.

[wooly]

Grew up in So Cal. In the 70's and 80's. Social D, X, Adolescents, Seven Seconds, TSOL, Suicidal Tendencies, etc. Love the Descendants too. Have seen all of them too many times to count. Saw PIL in 1985. Knarliest show I've been to, especially when they kicked into some Sex Pistols songs. Recently saw Bad Religion and they pulled off a great show for a bunch of old guys playing for old guys. Me included.

[Mr. Pink]

Mr. Pink that counts for a lot! What years? I was lucky enough to see a few CBGB's show before that legendary club went away.

All a blur. Maybe 76 at CBs, but the best was maybe 78 at the Fast Line in Asbury Park, of all places. A place very much like that low ceiling bar in Mass. that all those people died in after the pyrotechnics went horribly wrong. Thank jeebus the Ramones weren't into that.

At the time I was a nighttime cab driver in NYC working punk and new wave and gay clubs. Most interesting job I could ever have. Just a few years after Travis Bickle roamed the streets.

[rzthomas]

I guess I'm a punk. I started going to basement shows when I was 15 in the mid-90's and started off seeing a bunch of no-name crust bands before going to see a "bigger" show. I'm not bragging ––·that's just how it worked out.

I still mostly listen to hardcore/punk, but I love other genres like industrial, folk, martial, noise, IDM.

Favorite bands/shows that I've seen include:

Subhumans, back in '00 when they reunited and then again back in '11 or so.
Ceremony in Reno in '13.
PIL in '11 on their reunion tour.
····ed Up. So many times. I LOVE FU.
Turbonegro back in '98 on the "Apocalypse Dudes" tour.
SWANS (almost every tour since they reunited, plus Michael Gira solo stuff)

I haven't been to a show in a while. I missed the Vaselines when they came through and I'm still pissed about that.

[ultraman6970]

Sorry... too shy :P

Does Kajagoogoo count?

[pinkshogun]

"A place very much like that low ceiling bar in Mass. that all those people died in after the pyrotechnics went horribly wrong".

That club was called The Station in West Warwick, Rhode Island. I saw Dave Davies there once or twice

[TimAZ]

So rad. All the responses and people seeing so many great bands all over the country and different time periods. Who still has a collection of records and old band shirts? I started actively collecting records in the late 80's and haven't stopped.

[JimmyTango]

Def came up in HC! ATDI, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Shai Hulud, Comeback Kid, Converge, not to mention all the brilliant local NorCal bands. Early '00s were dreamy ��

[rburnham13]

I grew up in Exeter/Portsmouth NH area. We had a pretty thriving Punk/Harcore Scene. The Bruisers (Al Barr the front man now in Dropkick Murphys), The Queers, Satans Teardrops, 13 Tons of Napalm, were the big local acts. We are an hour north of Boston, so naturally that scene was an influence as well. So much good local, Punk, Oi, and Hardcore. Too many to list in the late 80's/early 90's in the New England area. Punk was the thing. To me, it is still most of the music that drives me when I train.

[Mikej]

Oh yeah my kind of thread- still like all of the same stuff- Decendents GBH 999, Agent Orange, FEAR, Firehose, NAked Ray gun MIsfits, Specials- you know - the good stuff!! I got my time machine, got my 'lectronic dream

[nighthawk]

I grew up in Exeter/Portsmouth NH area. We had a pretty thriving Punk/Harcore Scene. The Bruisers (Al Barr the front man now in Dropkick Murphys), The Queers, Satans Teardrops, 13 Tons of Napalm, were the big local acts. We are an hour north of Boston, so naturally that scene was an influence as well. So much good local, Punk, Oi, and Hardcore. Too many to list in the late 80's/early 90's in the New England area. Punk was the thing. To me, it is still most of the music that drives me when I train.

The Bruisers and 13 tons... Used to come down to Boston for shows, I saw them both a few times. Back when the guys from The Unseen were booking a lot of shows at the Rat. Showcase Showdown was a really fun band to see back then.

[bcroslin]

One of the best books I've ever read is "Our Band Could Be Your Life" by Michael Azerrad. It's a look at the formation of bands like Black Flag, Minutemen, Minor Threat, Husker Du and other bands. The documentary American Hardcore is also awesome because it ties together all of the different hard core scenes from the 80's.

[TimAZ]

Glad to see there are some Dead Boys fans out there. Sonic Reducer rules. The Young, Loud, and Snotty album is a classic.

[daker13]

I honestly think getting into punk and hardcore got me through high school in a small town in the 80s. I started seeing shows in Boston in high school, then a lot more stuff around western Mass, where I went to school. I was heavily into anything on SST, but mostly the Minutemen and Husker Du. I saw DRI, TSOL, Corrosion of Conformity, Black Flag... too many to count. I still collect records and still have most of my originals from the 80s. Though not a hardcore band, the Minutemen are still THE band for me. My turntable cost more than a lot of those albums cost to record, but I still listen to them, and they still are amazing.

[daker13]

I grew up in Exeter/Portsmouth NH area. We had a pretty thriving Punk/Harcore Scene. The Bruisers (Al Barr the front man now in Dropkick Murphys), The Queers, Satans Teardrops, 13 Tons of Napalm, were the big local acts. We are an hour north of Boston, so naturally that scene was an influence as well. So much good local, Punk, Oi, and Hardcore. Too many to list in the late 80's/early 90's in the New England area. Punk was the thing. To me, it is still most of the music that drives me when I train.

I don't know if any Paceliner/record collectors have ever been to that Stele-Tone place that used to be in Portsmouth--run by a very cool old school punk, with some FANTASTIC records... he's since moved to Rochester, NH, and I haven't been to the new location, but I'm planning to visit soon. I picked up an original of Fun House there, among other tasties.

[pinkshogun]

Sunset Records in Somerset, Mass is/was a good source for collectors. The owner went to England every year to re-stock

[TimAZ]

Daker13 I never really got in to the Minutemen. I tried to like "Double Nikels On The Dime", but it was a struggle. Although, I love love love the Firehose "Ragin Full On" LP. Maybe it has something to do with Natas skating to Brave Captain in the classic Santa Cruz movie Streets Of Fire.

[xjoex]

I grew up in the straightedge hardcore scene. Still straightedge, if you can apply that moniker in your late 30s!

I went to a show at the Philly Unitarian Church and got really in to the music. As others mentioned Gorilla Biscuits, Into Another, Judge, Sick of it All, etc.

Being raised in an Irish-Catholic house it was easy to want to not be a drinker. Seeing all the trouble it caused, then seeing how everything in the teen years is based around trying to find alcohol it was cool to see a community of like minded people.

-Joe

[joosttx]

My first concert was Dead Kennedy's at the Rancho Loco in Dallas. I was in 8th grade.

[GRAVELBIKE]

Punk found me circa '76-'77. It started when I borrowed my older brother's copy of Never Mind The Bollocks, which lead to the Clash, Ramones, Buzzcocks, and SF/Bay Area bands (DKs, etc).

A million years later, I'm still discovering new music (mostly post-hardcore).

[wooly]

Oh yeah my kind of thread- still like all of the same stuff- Decendents GBH 999, Agent Orange, FEAR, Firehose, NAked Ray gun MIsfits, Specials- you know - the good stuff!! I got my time machine, got my 'lectronic dream


Yes! Fear. I totally forgot about them.

In 1983, I actually tore my ACL skateboarding down a long hill holding a baseball mitt and a ghetto blaster. All I remember is hitting a small rock and getting launched off my board. When I came to, I heard "Beef Baloney" planning on my blaster 40 yards away. Funny what sticks with you.

[wooly]

Any of you remember the album "Beach Boulevard"? It was a compilation with The Crowd, Rick L Rick and The Simpletones. Total classic.

OP thanks for reminding me of some great music.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eRjwQkF8L._SY300_.jpg

[beeatnik]

All a blur. Maybe 76 at CBs, but the best was maybe 78 at the Fast Line in Asbury Park, of all places. A place very much like that low ceiling bar in Mass. that all those people died in after the pyrotechnics went horribly wrong. Thank jeebus the Ramones weren't into that.

At the time I was a nighttime cab driver in NYC working punk and new wave and gay clubs. Most interesting job I could ever have. Just a few years after Travis Bickle roamed the streets.

Mr. Pink, I like your style.

I used to go to Al's Bar (CBGB's of LA) in its last years. Saw many horrible punk bands there, especially on No Talent Nite. The place was a dump but I think Beck, White Stripes and Nirvana all played their first LA shows at Al's.

Classic punk bands I've seen:
Wire
Buzzcocks
Sex Pistols
X
Mike Watt and George Hurley doing Minutemen tunes on the Queen Mary for All Tomorrow's Parties
Gang of Four

Not so classic somewhat punk bands
Bouncing Souls

$5 shows where parking was $15
Fugazi

Interestingly enough Jello Biafra was DJing at a hipster bar in LA a few weeks ago. He played zero punk rock.

[wpod]

Late teenage years at SF's Mabuhay Gardens( Fab Mab ), Deaf Club and Bimbo's 365. Frequently catching The Nuns, VCTMS, DK's, Flipper, Romeo Void, SVT, Iggy Pop, Ramones, Blondie, Television and many less renowned during the lated '70's. Caught last Pistols show at Winterland and Clash play Rock Against Racism show.

[rkhatibi]

I was late to the scene starting around '89 in Chicago. And poor making a $3.15 minimum wage. I did manage to catch some classics like Circle Jerks, Descendents, PIL, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, and Naked Raygun.

There was a documentary on the Chicago punk scene a few years ago that was pretty good. Hit the right chords of awesome, petty, and insane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Weren%27t_There

[martinez]

I got pretty excited when I saw the title of this thread !
(Warning: EXTREME name dropping to continue...)
I'm a younger fellow, but I Started off listening to punk like operation ivy, rancid, misfits, dead boys, dead kennedys, germs,
and got into the punk/hardcore scene because of bands like have heart, verse, kids like us, trash talk, guns up, outbreak, the mongoloids, nervous breakdown, the rival mob, no warning, down to nothing, rotting out, saber tooth zombie, ceremony,piece by piece.
And then it sprouted into powerviolence like extortion, iron lung, hatred surge, punch, infest, nails, despise you, spazz, scholastic deth, xfilesx.
Also had to respect the legends: gorilla biscuits, minor threat, descendents, black flag, bad brains, inside out (zack de la rocha' old band before RATM), adolescents, youth of today, war zone, ssd...and other straightedge hardcore bands like champion, the first step, righteous jams, blue monday, etc.

Used to love going to sound and fury, up until they called it quits.
Pretty bummed we don't have a legit hardcore fest anymore

[martinez]

I got way excited when this came out.
I'm sure you guys will appreciate this:

Hardcore Or Die
https://vimeo.com/26148875

[Wesley37]

Huh, like some others here, I was a teenager in the early/mid 1990s, in western Canada (Calgary). Was part of the all-ages part of the scene in particular, feel like it saved my life.

Had kind of a funny progression - from metal (Anthrax/Megedeth/etc) to The Clash. At that point the louder and faster the better, so that meant DRI was next. From there I got into all sorts of punk and HC, I was straightedge for a number of years. Somehow from there I also got into ska-punk, which led me into ska. I then became the oddest of creatures, the sXe ska kid (I was as close to a rude boy as you could be being sXe in suburban Calgary, I guess).

Saw many cool bands and hung with some pretty cool guys over the years. Like got to hang in DOA's tour van for a bit circa 1993, in the late 1990s I got to take Jello Biafra used record shopping in Calgary and he bought me a veggie burger afterwards as a thank you (incidentally, he also ordered one, with bacon on top lol). I have even gotten the chance to see The Specials (reunion tour 2013) and The Selector (back of a Camden Town pub 1996).

Punk will always be a part of who I am, but truth be told, I am now a Dad who mostly listens to hip hop and Motown, and I drink 4-8 beers weekly, which would have horrified me back in the day.

[clyde the point]

One word: Suburbia.

Lost most of my hearing at the Metroplex in ATL. Saw and worked tons of shows with most of the suspects listed above.

Still love the sound. Wife hates it though when I moved to LA in '89 and met her, we did visit the Bad Brains at the Country Club in Reseda.

Great stuff.

[bcroslin]

Daker13 I never really got in to the Minutemen. I tried to like "Double Nikels On The Dime", but it was a struggle. Although, I love love love the Firehose "Ragin Full On" LP. Maybe it has something to do with Natas skating to Brave Captain in the classic Santa Cruz movie Streets Of Fire.

So awesome. Natas' part blew my mind.

[bikerboy337]

Similar story to a lot of folks here, high school in early/mid 90s in LA. Had a huge variety of music i listened to, from punk/ska (nofx, sublime, suicide machines/operation ivy), to shoegaze (slowdive, autumns, lush), to classic 80s (new order, cocteau twins, cure)... And on.

Saw some great shows, i actually was good friends and roadied with my high school xc teammated in a shoegaze band The Autumns and helped roadie for them as they were getting started, so spent lots of time at The Roxy, Whiskey a go go and all the other clubs in LA when i wasn't even able to drive, remember being propositioned several times by "ladies" as we were packing up to go home, was kinda strange as a 15/16 year old.

From a punk standpoint, huge NOFX, suicide machines, operation ivy, sex pistols fan, have seen most of them live through the years...seeing sublime is probably the coolest as Bradley was gone before they were big nationally, lucked out as they were huge in orange county and saw them a few times just before he died.

Happy to report my kids have a few songs in their playlist (3 and 6 years old) - they can sing some Rancid and Suicide Machines (ruby soho and time bomb, and high anxiety). Pretty fun to sing with them when most of their peers are singing kids bop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[velomonkey]

First show was when I was 14 - black flag. I was hooked. Saw some Exploited, Dead Kennedys and few other punk bands. Got into more hardcore, Jerry's Kids, Gang Green. Then NYC Hardcore and straight edge more when I was like 17. Tons of YOT, Verbal Assault, 7 Seconds, Uniform Choice, GB, Side by Side, Underdog. Went to the Anthrax a ton - like 100 times maybe - the living room in providence, the rat in Boston, 9:30 club in DC. Saw all the hardcore stuff. Some of my favorite shows though were ones off the beaten path - Fugazi, Melvins and Helmet in Burlington, VT. Slayer in the Burlington High School gym. Pantera at some small venue in Baltimore right after Vulgar Display of Power (man, they were tight). Metallica back in the Justice for All days and one of the best Public Enemy.

Judge the Storm - the pull out and it was also a poster - that blond guy on the left getting up on stage - that's me about 24 years ago.

[gomango]

I did national distribution for Twin Tone at the time the Replacements were on our label.

I always considered them to be a rock band, but they played punk clubs early on.

In addition, I was one of the check signers for Reflex Records, Hüsker Dü's label.

Got to watch them practice in the basement of a record store called Northern Lights in St.Paul. Greg managed the store and I was a clerk there when I started in the music business.

One of my favorite memories was watching the two bands run into each other on the road in New York. This was the Replacement's first east coast tour and the Hüskers were already getting praise from Robert Christgau at the Village Voice.

We were all broke, but managed to get into every show one way or another.

I likely saw every punk band of the day, but my favorite was the first time I saw Wire.

Fun times.

[TimAZ]

Velomonkey who was singing for Black Flag at the time you got to see them? I'd assume Henry, but maybe you got lucky. Also, seeing all the shows you did at the Anthrax did you grow up in CT? Were you seeing shows at both Anthrax locations? I'll pull out The Storm 7" and have a look at you. I started collected records in the late 80's and have never stopped. I'm stoked to read all these cool stories. Awe, I see you posted a pic of the insert. That show was at the Anthrax. Zebra walls can't be forgotten.
XJoeX I'm stoked you're still SXE. I still am myself. 89'-present day.

[velomonkey]

Velomonkey who was singing for Black Flag at the time you got to see them? Also, seeing all the shows you did at the Anthrax did you grow up in CT? Were you seeing shows at both Anthrax clubs. I'll pull out The Storm 7" and have a look at you. I started collected records in the late 80's and have never stopped. I'm stoked to read all these cool stories.
XJoeX I'm stoked you're still SXE. I still am myself. 89'-present day.

Yea, Hank was singing - it was a big into to punk. I went to both Anthrax locations, though the original one I was only there a handful of times.

I had a wicked good record collection of punk and hardcore and ton of sXe - but sold it in '96 over the old usenet. Stupid move. Grew up in CT and like others - that whole movement really saved me from being in a small town and not fitting in with the whole late 80s jock thing. I was lucky also that we had a decent record shop and the hippie owner was happy to sell punk and hardcore records.

Back in the day when spotify was invite only I got an invite from Kevin Seconds from 7 seconds. Mike Judge used to be on FB and had only a few friends and I got my kid a drum kit and played him when the Levy Breaks - Judge version and messaged Mike and he wrote back. I was practically a giddy school kid.

[JAllen]

Dude, reading this thread has been a total treat! I'm younger than a lot of you (1988) so I missed out on the prime of must punk and hardcore movements. But I will say that punk and hardcore really shaped who I am. I was young (maybe in 6th or 7th grade) when a friend and neighbor (going to his wedding soon) showed me punk rock. I think it was screeching weasels, dead Kennedys, vandals and NOFX. I can't remember the rest, but I remember him saying "I give you 6 months before you're way into this). He was right. I was also heavy into skateboarding which they tend to go hand in hand. I ended up listening to more and more metal and progressive stuff, but punk is such a huge part of me. I love the camaraderie that all of us can have. Not very many genres can boast that. Due to an old coworker and good friend I started listening again. I've had a lot of fun exploring the late 70s (other eras too) stuff like the misfits static age, even punk influenced joy division. I've worked a lot dri, black flag, fear, and who ever else into my playlists. I guess my point is that I love this. Music and bicycles!

[fuzzalow]

This was the Replacement's first east coast tour and the Hüskers were already getting praise from Robert Christgau at the Village Voice.

Gotta admire the cross currents of tumult of the times and as counterbalance to the rising tide of disco just coming into pop culture. HaHa such is the onslaught of nature to dissipate all things of worthwhile intensity! But still evident during that time were good writers that wrote for erstwhile respectable and serious publications, like the Village Voice. Quoted from a NYTimes book review on Sonic Youth Kim Gordon's memoir "Girl in a Band: A Memoir" one of Christgau's recollections:
As he writes after one particular internal conflict, in words that surely apply outside of this book,

“All of us were fighting to get paid for doing the things that we wanted to, and headed somewhere we wanted to go even though we were smart enough to know that by its very nature it likely wasn’t somewhere we’d be able to stay.”

Robert Christgau on writing for The Village Voice in the 70's

Indeed to be true. All too fast. The time and relevance cascade past and is gone. Burn twice as brightly for half as long.

[ptourkin]

Late 80's hardcore scene in central FL was my ground zero. Saw a lot of bands - social distortion, bad brains, pre-dookie green day, bad religion etc. but because I was a skateboarder we would hang out outside the shows because we were too cool to care. Unfortunately our scene was pretty thick with dickhole skinheads and every show meant fights and I just wasn't much for getting my face kicked in. One of my best memories of that time was a "Prison Bound" era Mike Ness spitting on the skinheads in the front row and daring them to get on stage. A few years later hot water music played my 24th birthday in Gainesville when I was at UF and got shut down after the first song. :(

Saw their first show in the bottom of a pool in Marina Skatepark at Darby Crash's fake punk wedding, 1980 or 79. Nobody paid much attention at the time but later, I read that Mike says it was their first show and we were there.

Grew up a skater in the early punk scene in the South Bay (Black Flag) and Hollywood (the Starwood.) Later, in the military and college was in DC for DC HarDCore and revolution summer. Many, many Fugazi shows and was around when Minor Threat came to California before that.

Saw all the iterations of Black Flag - definitely a bigger fan of pre-Henry stuff. They practiced in my hometown of El Segundo. I have a soft spot for Ron (Chavo) and all the Decline era bands. We used to go to the Fleetwood in Redondo Beach, where the Fear show was filmed but the Starwood on Upper Santa Monica was my epicenter.

[ptourkin]

Any of you remember the album "Beach Boulevard"? It was a compilation with The Crowd, Rick L Rick and The Simpletones. Total classic.

OP thanks for reminding me of some great music.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eRjwQkF8L._SY300_.jpg

This gave me chills. Jimmy Trash and the Crowd were the origins of the gnarlier beach punk which eventually became modern hardcore. Slam dancing originated in the Huntington Beach scene they started. There was huge conflict when the surfers from HB came up to Hollywood and got aggressive. You can see some of it when Pat of the Germs is complaining in the Decline. I saw the Crowd with DOA around '81 when they were transitioning to more of a ska sound.

[TimAZ]

The Pacelines Alright If You Like Saxophones.

[JAllen]

The Pacelines Alright If You Like Saxophones.
Haha! :)

[malcolm]

A little too old to have grown up in the punk scene, but always been a music fan so I went to see a lot of bands. I was in Honolulu in the late '70s and early '80s and we used to go to a bar called lava lava initially then changed to the wave. They hosted lots of punk bands especially west coast. I saw X several times and Black Flag both with and without Henry Rollins. Saw many others I can't recall, many were outstanding live although not music I bought.

[buldogge]

Man...Don't check the forum for a day and look what pops up!

I'm a product of the mid-late 80's Boston hardcore scene...SXE thru and thru...I went away to school here in the STL and continued on, eventually booking shows/running sound/"producing" tapes/etc. here.

Fond memories at The Rat, The Channel, Bunratty's, TT's, Babyhead/Rocket...a lot of great shows...a lot of NYC bands coming up, as well. I was basically part of The Slapshot era...

Here in the STL we had Bernard's Pub, Turner's Hall, 1227 (The Alley), and LOTS of hall shows. Put on lots of local/regional shows (Saturday Matinees especially) and did Fugazi and Bosstones several times to large crowds.

I also road-tripped to Chicago often for shows.

The late 80's and early 90's propelled us into the anti-Nazi movement and we waged a (successful) war here in the STL...as Hammerskins encroached all around us but never could gain a foothold here. We fought in Springfield...We fought in Carbondale...We fought in Little Rock even (what was the name of that pizza place with shows?). Broke my tattooing hand, breaking the eye socket on some fat Nazi.

As I got older the bands got more metallic and I became a "classic hardcore" listener...if it was HC made after 1992 there isn't much I like(d). The kids also got more and more ambivalent to the politics.

I still have my album/7"/tape collection...

Those were the days...

-Mark in St. Louis

[TimAZ]

Mark, My first show expeirences in the Phoenix area involved a lot of Hammerskins as well. Shows at the Silver Dollar Club in Central PHX were really scary for a 15/16 year old kid. Total riot when Sick Of It All came to the Mason Jar in the early 90's. All these Nazi's were calling out SOIA during their set. I suppose when you are from the NYHC scene you can only take so much verbal abuse before all hell breaks loose. I was pressed up against the stage when Pete Koller of SOIA jumps into the crowd and starts bashing in a nazis face. Then the rest of the band was in the crowd fighting the nazi's. Turns in to a full on club brawl in no time. People were getting hit with pool sticks, beer pitchers, all the sound system PA equipment got tipped over in to the crowd. The entire street got shut down and the police riot squad showed up and started to clean up the mess. I'd imagine thats how every Punk/Hardcore show ended in LA in the early 80's. When all you guy's decide to sell of the collections. Hit me up.

[ptourkin]

My PHX skatepunk tribute 508 crew from last year http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/cecilhayduke/10698525_748381075197029_1114290361943826860_n.jpg

[buldogge]

Hahaha...I saw Youth of Today OPEN for JFA in, um...'87 I think (in Boston). Was never a JFA fan...but...love the kit!

-Mark

My PHX skatepunk tribute 508 crew from last year http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/cecilhayduke/10698525_748381075197029_1114290361943826860_n.jpg

[TimAZ]

Glad to see some PHX JFA love happening. Got to see them at the Silver Dollar Club and there was a skate demo happening as well. Go figure. They were/are the local skate punk legends.

[velomonkey]

Hahaha...I saw Youth of Today OPEN for JFA in, um...'87 I think (in Boston). Was never a JFA fan...but...love the kit!

-Mark

So funny -I saw JFA open for Token Entry summer of '88. Was never a big JFA fan either, but they made the show fun.

[velomonkey]

I guess some people might like this - my buddy shot this a few months ago. That tattoo is from 1988 - when no one had any tattoos - was a big ordeal in college having to explain a tat and that, no, I didn't drink in college. Now everyone has a tat and pot is legal in a bunch of states.

And yea, those or Belgium + wheels with king hubs.

[buldogge]

I've got all the Token Entry stuff of course...really love their cuts on the Hawker Live EP.

"When there is darkness, and the lights are dim, I have no fear, cuz I know we'll win!"

-Mark

So funny -I saw JFA open for Token Entry summer of '88. Was never a big JFA fan either, but they made the show fun.

[TimAZ]

Velomonkey The Smorgasborg Records fist, good style. CT born and bred label. Were you buddies with John Daley? I still have a Smorgasborg crew neck sweater. My tattoos didn't start until the early 90's, but I have the GB trumpet playing caveman as seen on the back of the Start Today album.

[beeatnik]

Saw all the iterations of Black Flag - definitely a bigger fan of pre-Henry stuff. They practiced in my hometown of El Segundo. I have a soft spot for Ron (Chavo) and all the Decline era bands. We used to go to the Fleetwood in Redondo Beach, where the Fear show was filmed but the Starwood on Upper Santa Monica was my epicenter.

Paul, you were in the audience for the Fear show that's in Decline of Western Civilization? And speaking of Chavo, I think he had the best nom de guerre in punk. Chavo Pederast...haha.

JFA...that takes me back to being a little kid trying to stay up late to listen to Andrea Enthal's 12 O'Clock Rock. It was my only direct connection to the underground rock scene as no one in my high school of 1100 was into "weird" music.

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-02-25/entertainment/ca-27288_1_o-clock-rock

Finally, seeing the juxtaposition of hardcore imagery and Assos, SPY and $10,000 bikes is tripping me out. I guess I still need to grow up a little.

[GonaSovereign]

This post is beyond amazing.

I did national distribution for Twin Tone at the time the Replacements were on our label.

I always considered them to be a rock band, but they played punk clubs early on.

In addition, I was one of the check signers for Reflex Records, Hüsker Dü's label.

Got to watch them practice in the basement of a record store called Northern Lights in St.Paul. Greg managed the store and I was a clerk there when I started in the music business.

One of my favorite memories was watching the two bands run into each other on the road in New York. This was the Replacement's first east coast tour and the Hüskers were already getting praise from Robert Christgau at the Village Voice.

We were all broke, but managed to get into every show one way or another.

I likely saw every punk band of the day, but my favorite was the first time I saw Wire.

Fun times.

[carpediemracing]

I was one degree removed from the punk/hardcore scene. I selectively listened to music my two brothers played, meaning records/tapes or their band/s. Some of the music in my Youtube clips (under sprinterdellacasa) are actually recordings from the mid-late 80s and early 90s of their bands or even of just my brother and his 4 track (he would record all 4 tracks himself). I listened to stuff closer to what's in my clips, not as much the "hardcore" as much as the stuff that was more mainstream. So like Dead Kennedy's Moon Over Marin. Only ever went to see my brothers play, never saw any band that I considered "hardcore". Well maybe I'll count Marilyn Manson, before he was super big, when he played the tiny 7 Willow St in Port Chester, NY.

My brothers both played both Anthraxes in CT, Shovel Full of Dirt played a number of times for sure. One also played CBGBs but he doesn't seem as proud of that, not sure if it was a pay-to-play kind of thing.

They rehearsed in the house basement. Let's put it this way - when I went to UCONN and there was a week of solid partying before classes started, and everyone and everyone was blasting music super loud, I couldn't sleep because it seemed sooooo quiet compared to my brother and his band practicing until 1-2-3 AM in the basement. Initially they did a lot of Agent Orange covers, DK, others, I don't remember. One bro was more guitar, the other more bass, but both were pretty fluent with both plus the drums.

The older brother (2 years younger than me) got into more regular alternative rock, if you will. Probably his best band was URT. Chicago based so I only went to one show, their last. I've made two clips from their gig, I hope to piece together one or two more. Bro was sort of the front man, if you will, but he claims him and the other guitarist were both equal.
"Deepest Knife"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTEhBqPNiNA

"Green Wine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCprDWhO58U

The younger of the two (7 years younger than me) until recently was still pretty into the whole thing - their band Tunnel of Love aka TOL got flown to Europe to play some gigs, also played around the US.

Hard to find clips of them on YouTube because the name comes up with other stuff. Here they are in some random clip, my bro is the drummer. The horizontal stripe pantyhose is their signature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyQktSmRnt8

My mom and I went to a TOL show at Wesleyan. Or maybe it was in Boston area, we went to a few. Someone went up to my mom while a different band was playing, one with an Asian drummer. "Is that your daughter (on the drums)?". My mom just smiled and said, "No". The person walked away a bit baffled as my mom was enjoying the shows. She would comment on the music theory and such. "I found it interesting that they all did xyz with their chord progression." Or whatever, I never knew music theory.

Their band site is tunneloflove666 but it's 10000% not safe for work.

Sort of tangentially I came home from work one day, probably mid-year 2002, when my mom was there (she lived at my house for about 2.5 years while she was dealing with cancer/chemo). My sister was staying there for a bit. I got out of the car and I could hear Metallica shaking the house. I knew my sister had some of their CDs so I went in a bit mad, it was so loud, my mom's sick, etc. Mom is laying on the couch, I'm assuming trying to sleep. Sister nowhere to be seen. I turn down the music from "just below total distortion" to a whisper. My mom's head pops up. I asked her where my sister was because I couldn't believe my sister was playing the music so loud with my mom home.

"She went out with her friends."

I stopped.

"Wait, who was listening to the music?"
"I was."
"Oh." I paused. "You want me to turn it back up?"

My mom didn't make it past Aug of 2003. Great mom, super supportive of whatever us kids were trying, from music to bike racing.

*edit

Just wanted to add:

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy.

[JAllen]

Does anybody know if they will ever come out with Decline of Western Civilization on DVD or any other format?

[false_Aest]

younger, so didn't get to watch the truly formative good stuff, but for me
Fugazi, At the Drive-in, NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise, Stiff little fingers, Murder City Devils. Decidedly came into punk rock and skateboard culture in the early to mid 90's and it shaped my ethos.

add that with a good helping of industrial/hardcore NIN, KMFDM, Atari Teenage Riot

Along the same lines:

Jawbreaker, Fugazi, ATD-I, NOFX, Bad Religion worked pretty well for me.

I came of age in Chicago during the mid-90s so there's a lot I absorbed: Oblivion, Kill Hannah, No Empathy, Smoking Popes, Alkaline Trio, Apocalypse Hoboken, Sidekick Kato, KMFDM, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Front 242, Ministry . . . and CHEAP TRICK OF COURSE!

[velomonkey]

Velomonkey The Smorgasborg Records fist, good style. CT born and bred label. Were you buddies with John Daley?

You are correct, sir. Yea, Chris and I knew each other, he lived on the other side of the state from me, so we only hung at shows. Two other quick HC stories

1. The Rapha club NYC opens and they have rides - this was their original store from like 5 years ago. I pull up for a club ride on my merckx Domo Farm frites - a bike beyond cool. Th guy leading the ride is too cool for school - he has an IF, I try talking to him and he blows me off. We separate into A and B and when we're doing that he says wicked loud "Is that a straight edge tattoo??!!" I say 'yea' nonplussed, he would not shut up after that trying to talk to me - suddenly I was someone he wanted to be best buds with. I was kinda pissed he blew me off earlier - so I surged and caught the front guy - then dropped him and then went back to NYC over the GW by myself.

2. My wife, married 15 years, so back when we're dating - Long distance relationship - her in Long Island me in DC - I'm thinking is this the lady for me - she's hot, but she aint totally into my kinda stuff. Her bother has some tats - so we go into this tat place in long island - BAM - Civ from GB is right there. It's his studio. Chatted with him - married the lady. It was a sign. BTW, took her when she was 3 months pregnant with our first to see slipknot - cool chick.

[TimAZ]

Awe, yes Chris Daley not John. Was the tattoo shop Lotus? "When Sh#t goes down no one's around. Just you and him no way he'll win. I can turn my back no need to fight. My EDGE on him is my insight"... CT love for ya.

[nighthawk]

Lots of good bands being mentioned in this thread. Some shows/bands I saw that were memorable: 7 Seconds, neurosis, early Sonic Youth, Los Crudos, Sick of it All, Man is the Bastard, Aus Rotten, Skitsystem, Buzzcocks, (toured with) Dropdead, Marked Men, Dead Moon, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Isis, LaFraction, the Pist, High on Fire, Wesley Willis.... It's fun trying to remember all the obscure bands and shows.

[velomonkey]

Awe, yes Chris Daley not John. Was the tattoo shop Lotus? "When Sh#t goes down no one's around. Just you and him no way he'll win. I can turn my back no need to fight. My EDGE on him is my insight"... CT love for ya.

Yup, it was/is Lotus. Little town in Long Island - I just about flipped out.

Wide Awake - towards the end of Anthrax some NJ band, I can't remember who, they were like opening for Chain of Strength or someone and they did that song insight by wide awake. No one really knew it and the singer, you could tell was like "I'm in the Anthrax, I'm signing this song" - I grabbed that mic and jammed with him as hard as I could.

I was offended some of the patrons didn't even know that song.

You read that book 10,000 saints - VT punk kids going to NYC and going straight edge, takes place in like 89. I wrote to the author and she wrote back - it was OK. They are making it into a movie and Ethan Hawke is playing the dad. Some set design lady for the movie came on to the FB group "old school hardcore kids" and asked for like flyers or photos for the set. Man, people chewed her apart. She got nothing trying to do that. It was a whole bunch of "you weren't there" - I was gonna hook her up, but I can't find my book of film negatives.

[gomango]

This post is beyond amazing.

I see movies likes "Clerks" and know in my heart I could rustle up a pretty decent screenplay about these adventures.

I had a blast.

Fwiw. My wife and I met just about thirty years ago and I used to joke she loved me for my free access to shows/concerts and drink tickets. :)

[raygunner]

LOVE this thread!

Started going to shows in the early 90's in Chicago. Kinda caught the tail end of the whole Screeching Weasel / Vindictives wave but really missed out on going to McGregors.

Saw shows at Wrigleyside, Isabel's Grand Finale, the Crawlspace but you know, then started hanging out at the one & only Fireside Bowl!

I met some of my fave people there and saw some of the best shows. It seems like a lifetime ago but it was great.

[ptourkin]

Paul, you were in the audience for the Fear show that's in Decline of Western Civilization? And speaking of Chavo, I think he had the best nom de guerre in punk. Chavo Pederast...haha.

JFA...that takes me back to being a little kid trying to stay up late to listen to Andrea Enthal's 12 O'Clock Rock. It was my only direct connection to the underground rock scene as no one in my high school of 1100 was into "weird" music.

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-02-25/entertainment/ca-27288_1_o-clock-rock

Finally, seeing the juxtaposition of hardcore imagery and Assos, SPY and $10,000 bikes is tripping me out. I guess I still need to grow up a little.

Spheeris was filming the Decline at a number of venues and at a bunch of shows. We were all over at the time but I'm not positive I was at any one that made it into the final cut. The Fleetwood shows looked familiar.

I believe that Chavo Pederast was hung on Ron as an insult after he quit to go home to Vancouver. Greg did the same thing to Keith after he left to form the Circle Jerks (you bet we've got something personal...)

We stayed up to listen to Rodney on the ROQ Sunday nights.


I recently memorialised my 508 totem in my skin http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/cecilhayduke/11071006_817818024920000_8418198437958000147_n.jpg

[TimAZ]

Velomonkey, funny a touring band from NJ playing in CT for a crowd full of Chain Of Strength fans covers a Wide Awake song and nobody knows it. I have never heard of 10,000 Saints book. I'll have to look in to it.
Raygunner inspired by Naked Raygun being from Chicago and all?

[stefus_prime]

I was a casual punk, didn't really dig the outfits, loosely affiliated with the scene and I listened to a random grab bag of punk bands.

I eventually settled for more pop-ish stuff (think the Descendants, The Dead Milkmen, etc) with a mix of 1980's Eastern Bloc punk bands (Poland and Yugoslavia primarily). I was also fairly straight edge for a while, but I didn't have any contact with that scene. Now I'm just boring.

[jimoots]

Late 90's, early 00's, rode BMX as a teenager. Lots of stuff but the stuff that sticks in my memory is like Catharsis, Earth Crisis, Refused, Zegota. Punk anarchist stuff. Got into more modern hardcore/metalcore in the 00's but that was kind of local Australian stuff, I Killed the Prom Queen, Stronghold, Parkway Drive. Went to a lot of shows 2000-08 or so.

Then got into hip hop and kinda stopped listening to it all.

Have been getting into the more modern metalcore/hardcore, or whatever you call it, lately. Saw a Architects, Stick to Your Guns and Being as an Ocean show the other week... Really enjoying the environmentalist vibe that crew have, selling Sea Shepherd merch etc. I'm not 30 yet but it's reassuring to see 'kids' caring about something.


Judge the Storm - the pull out and it was also a poster - that blond guy on the left getting up on stage - that's me about 24 years ago.

You will enjoy this

http://noisey.vice.com/there-will-be-quiet/there-will-be-quiet-the-story-of-judge-part-1

[rustychisel]

Band manager, writer, professional music reviewer and editor for 20+ years. My list is long, very very long...

Bullet La Volta (from Boston, I believe, circa 1990). Saw them at Die Melkweg in Amsterdam and calmly and irrationally maintain they're about the best band outta the US I ever saw live. Would be gratified if anyone knew of or could shed any more light on my memory.

[velomonkey]

I recently memorialised my 508 totem in my skin

funny . . . . I recently memorialized straight edge on my bike.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3732/11342402306_172b0ce785_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ihhM3s)FF-277-Studio-10 (https://flic.kr/p/ihhM3s) by Firefly Bicycles (https://www.flickr.com/photos/fireflybicycles/), on Flickr

[xjoex]

Super awesome!

Do you remember Krishnacore? Some pics of 108 bank in 94 or so.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/vic.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/1084.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/boulderjoe/media/hc/1084.jpg.html)

How about the doughnuts? Swedish HCSE band from the mid 90s.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/dough1.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/boulderjoe/media/hc/dough1.jpg.html)
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/doughnuts2_filtered-1.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/boulderjoe/media/hc/doughnuts2_filtered-1.jpg.html)


Lifetime! Philly 95?
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/lifetime2.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/boulderjoe/media/hc/lifetime2.jpg.html)

Mouthpiece 94, I think.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/mouthpiece0.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/boulderjoe/media/hc/mouthpiece0.jpg.html)

Policy of Three
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/po32.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/boulderjoe/media/hc/po32.jpg.html)

Texas is the Reason
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/titr3_filtered.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/boulderjoe/media/hc/titr3_filtered.jpg.html)


DamnationAD Reunion in 2005
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/boulderjoe/hc/damnation-DSC_0097.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/boulderjoe/media/hc/damnation-DSC_0097.jpg.html)

Sorry I got nostalgic.

[velomonkey]

Super awesome!

Do you remember Krishnacore?

Of course, saw Shelter's debut at the Anthrax where Inside Out opened for them with Zack de la Rocha on throat and then Quicksand played their debut. Increible show with awesome lineup - since all 3 bands were new, hardly anyone showed (it was a Sunday, too). I vividly recall seeing Inside Out and it was like "whoa, this dude is awesome" - then Quicksand you were like "wow, so different and it rocked." Shelter kinda sucked but Ray was just such a presense. Was in NYC with my family last summer and walked right by Ray - it took me 15 seconds to recall it was him and by then he was gone. Wish I got to say hi.

I kinda hated Rage Against the Machine caused I loved Inside Out so much and the frat boys liked Rage . . . I totally dig them now and think Tom Morello is awesome. Wish I saw them.

[R3awak3n]

I used to listen to some punk/hardcore stuff.

Stuff like sick of it all, Agnostic Front, bad brains, to stuff like nofx and early pennywise.

Also some surf punk ···· from sweeden was cool.

Was never into sxe, just wasn't my thing but listened to sxe music sometimes, one of my favorite bands was One King Down which is where I got the name r3awak3n (reawaken) which was one of their songs sometimes in the 90s.


edit: I used to be super into propagandhi too

[Hank Scorpio]

..... Sick of it All, etc.

Oh I forgot about them and No Laughing Matter too. We used to see shows at Club Bene in Sayreville known to us as Slayerville and The Birchhill. Two of NJs finest dumps.

[Motoguzzi1]

Milwaukee/Madison, Started seeing shows in the early eighties. Killdozer and Die Kreuzen were the locals.

[GRAVELBIKE]

Late 90's, early 00's, rode BMX as a teenager. Lots of stuff but the stuff that sticks in my memory is like Catharsis, Earth Crisis, Refused, Zegota. Punk anarchist stuff. Got into more modern hardcore/metalcore in the 00's but that was kind of local Australian stuff, I Killed the Prom Queen, Stronghold, Parkway Drive. Went to a lot of shows 2000-08 or so.

Then got into hip hop and kinda stopped listening to it all.

Have been getting into the more modern metalcore/hardcore, or whatever you call it, lately. Saw a Architects, Stick to Your Guns and Being as an Ocean show the other week... Really enjoying the environmentalist vibe that crew have, selling Sea Shepherd merch etc. I'm not 30 yet but it's reassuring to see 'kids' caring about something.

You will enjoy this

http://noisey.vice.com/there-will-be-quiet/there-will-be-quiet-the-story-of-judge-part-1

Saw Being As An Ocean last year. Good gig. Shared a few words with Joel afterwards, and we talked about the unfortunate tendency there is to label bands just because one of the members have certain beliefs, etc.

[buldogge]

What do you want to know about Bullet La Volta? Late 80's band from Boston...were on Curtis' TAANG Records. I have the original release and a TAANG sampler cassette around here somewhere...

-Mark

Band manager, writer, professional music reviewer and editor for 20+ years. My list is long, very very long...

Bullet La Volta (from Boston, I believe, circa 1990). Saw them at Die Melkweg in Amsterdam and calmly and irrationally maintain they're about the best band outta the US I ever saw live. Would be gratified if anyone knew of or could shed any more light on my memory.

[rustychisel]

What do you want to know about Bullet La Volta? Late 80's band from Boston...were on Curtis' TAANG Records. I have the original release and a TAANG sampler cassette around here somewhere...

-Mark


Just interested in their history, genesis, how long they were around, recordings, stuff like that. They played support to a band I managed and they were the best thing about the tour.

They came on stage with a real belief in themselves. Good stuff, but I heard nothing more about them after that.

[martinez]

Interesting enough, I never personally identified with the whole straightedge aspect of the hardcore scene. I've never been one to label myself so I never even bothered with that subculture. I definitely listened and respected to many straightedge bands, but I did find it silly to label yourself something that some people never fully understood. I knew many people claiming but still were smoking cigarettes or having promiscuous sex. Had a just a whiff of contradiction, just as in some cases of people and religion. No offense to anyone, btw!

But I am jealous to hear about those to have experienced the presence of the bands that paved the way for the bands that got me into punk/hardcore.

[Tim Porter]

Great thread! I really enjoyed reading about those experiences. I was a little old to pick up that whole scene. Does it count that I saw the MC5 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the armory in 1971? Still remember that show . . . . Tim

[echelon_john]

Bullet Lavolta...jeezus. My introduction to Bullet Lavolta was working at International Bicycle Center during summers in college. Chris Cooper was the service manager, and wouldn't stop talking about Bullet Lavolta. That, and trying to get dates by saying "Let's ride bikes and drink beer." I think it actually worked sometimes.

This thread is great. Grew up on the South Shore of Boston in the 80s; feel very fortunate. WERS and WMBR, and somewhat early WFNX were really incredible sources for music and politics. Listened to all kinds of stuff and saw all kinds of bands. PIL in 1984 or 1985 at the Orpheum, Gang Green a couple of times, Slapshot. The Neighborhoods played at my high school. (The Cars played the Senior Prom a few years before I got there.)

My dad's office was at 253 Summer Street, which was right next to The Channel. I wasn't allowed to go there until I was old enough to sneak there, but remember picking up music from seeing the names on the marquee. Mission of Burma, Bad Brains, Circle Jerks, Husker Du.

Went to college in Maine and caught lots of shows in Portland; Bad Brains, Fugazi multiple times, Dinosaur Jr, Fishbone...

Funny story: I jammed a couple of times in college with a guy named Tim Brooks, who I learned afterwards was the bass player for BOLD. (Wasn't really into the NY positive youth scene), and another guy who played drums named Dan Harris, who's now a news anchor. We shared a love of the Minutemen.

Saw Rollins doing spoken word a bunch of times in DC, and saw the Rollins Band open for Red Hot Chili Peppers in London at Brixton Academy. Chaos.

Saw X a bunch of times, both acoustic and electric. Social distortion a few times. The Damned a bunch of times in various incarnations. Operation Ivy once.

Ska—Saw the Specials/English Beat/Special Beat a bunch of times. Toasters, Allstonians, Skavoovie & the Epitones...

Oh, and finally saw Motorhead a couple of years ago—something the punks and the metalheads can agree on!

[sandyrs]

I grew up listening to mostly punk/hardcore... but I'm 24, so (a) I'm still growing up by most definitions and (b) I didn't get to see a lot of the bands mentioned here.

Have seen Dinosaur Jr, Mission of Burma, and a couple other classics, but most of my experience is with basement shows where half the bands playing no longer exist by the end of that calendar year. I'm seeing Ceremony next month, not sure what to expect considering the difference in sound between Violence Violence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdraJ67IPRg

and their upcoming new album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ou_ohqC-4c

[buldogge]

I don't know a ton about them, as they weren't really my cup of tea...I probably only bought the vinyl because it was released on TAANG.

Not surprisingly, there is a Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_LaVolta

FWIW
-Mark

Just interested in their history, genesis, how long they were around, recordings, stuff like that. They played support to a band I managed and they were the best thing about the tour.

They came on stage with a real belief in themselves. Good stuff, but I heard nothing more about them after that.

[rustychisel]

Thank you. Pretty much the career path I envisaged. I think last time I went looking for info on them they didn't show up on Wikipedia. Heck, the internet probably didn't exist back then.

I don't know a ton about them, as they weren't really my cup of tea...I probably only bought the vinyl because it was released on TAANG.

Not surprisingly, there is a Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_LaVolta

FWIW
-Mark

[kurto]

Glad to see some other Chicago people. The mid-late 90's at Fireside was my thing, and then I went to college in Champaign in the late 90s/early 00s, so I caught a lot of the midwestern emo stuff when it was still hardcore kids in sweaters.

[velomonkey]

The coolest show I ever saw - where I was like "whoa, this is crazy" - summer 1992 and I am doing a study abroad in London, UK - my buddy and I go to see Spinal Tap.

A bunch of Americans acting like a British heavy meta band played to a true live British audience. That was cool and punk as all hell.

[buldogge]

I saw an AMAZING 'Leatherface' show at the Fireside back in the early 90's...our friends 'The Strike' (Red Mod band originally from Minneapolis, later in Chicago) played there a few times as well...really liked that venue.

-Mark

Glad to see some other Chicago people. The mid-late 90's at Fireside was my thing, and then I went to college in Champaign in the late 90s/early 00s, so I caught a lot of the midwestern emo stuff when it was still hardcore kids in sweaters.

[TimAZ]

Seeing MC5 in 1971 is super rad! Did they kick out the jams? Velomonkey I would have loved to see Quicksand, Inside Out and Shelter at the same show just as Shelter and Quicksand were starting. I think for 1990 the Quicksand e.p. was years and years ahead of it's time. Also, I am a huge fan of the BURN 7" of 1990. I feel the same way about RATM as you. Although, I did see them in 1993 before the frat boys took them on as their hard rockin band of choice. Never did care to see them after that. I also, loved Shelter from their beginning. The No Compromise and In Defense Of Reality 7''s are great. I did like the later Youth Of Today stuff better too. 1988-through the end.

[Spdntrxi]

nardcore represented here..
Ill repute dr know.. Etcetera Went to high school with some of them..

[TimAZ]

Are you saying JFA was a Nardcore band?

[Spdntrxi]

No.. Just one of the ones I liked..I should edit I jnow

[kurto]

I saw an AMAZING 'Leatherface' show at the Fireside back in the early 90's...our friends 'The Strike' (Red Mod band originally from Minneapolis, later in Chicago) played there a few times as well...really liked that venue.

-Mark

Oh, man. I love Leatherface. I've never seen them, but Hot Water Music used to regularly cover Leatherface songs, and it was awesome.

[TimAZ]

Stalag 13 were awesome. And Velomonkey forgot to mention how rad the SXE TI bike looks.

[velomonkey]

Any of the Chicago peeps recall a fanzine called Good & Plenty - I knew Gabe. He was pen pals and with this lady friend of mine and he came with this other dude to visit - drove all the way from Chicago. We took him to Anthrax to see Judge - it was like the highlight of his life.

In the mid 90s he did that band that kinda got big - Local H.

[TimAZ]

I'm not a Chicago guy, but I know Good & Plenty. Man the core was pretty awesome when you had to work at it to be involved.

[doomridesout]

This thread rules. I neeeeever would've expected to see a Man is the Bastard namedrop on this forum.

I'm too young for the 'glory days' (what's that?) but I still go to DIY basement shows when I can. I've always been more on the metal side of things but I've seen tons of hardcore, crust, powerviolence, fastcore, and grindcore bands in dingy basements, VFW halls, etc. all over the place.

[fatallightning]

Do the leg tattoos give it away?
https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11009385_10204858545317815_348041952351825933_n.jp g?oh=96305a489e68d21c6bcbcd637ef21c9f&oe=55CD69A7

Anyway, more of an early 2000s hardcore/screamo/metalcore scene. Especially the more upstate Poughkeepsie NY and northern NJ VFW/basement show etc scene. Converge, Bury you Dead, Folly, As I lay Dying etc. I'm excited for the poison the well and from autumn to ashes reunion tours. Around the same time I was also listening to harsh industrial/EBM like KMFDM, Ministry, :wumpscut: and others. Youth Code is a current band I'm really into that combines hardcore and industrial synth elements. Pretty big fan of the post hardcore and emo of the time also, boysetsfire, Cursive, saves the day, sunny day and so on.

Not much into the early 80s youth crew stuff, moreso first wave goth stuff like Bauhaus and Siouxsie Sue.

[martinez]

. I'm seeing Ceremony next month, not sure what to expect considering the difference in sound between Violence Violence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdraJ67IPRg

and their upcoming new album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ou_ohqC-4c

I'm also planning on catching ceremony here in LA.
Definitely an interesting change in musical direction, but I noticed many bands are starting to turn away from their hardcore roots: cruel hand, title fight, etc.
but ceremony can do no wrong. I'm excited to hear more of their new stuff. I really like the song "the seperation"

[moose8]

Doc hopper in a basement in Gardiner, Maine were some of my favorite music shows. Life Sentence, Slap Of Reality and assorted other bands came through. Great times in a small town. Green Day in a small venue in 1993 was also really good.

[BurritoGuru]

Does anybody know if they will ever come out with Decline of Western Civilization on DVD or any other format?

Boxset (http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/the-decline-of-western-civilization-films-to-receive-deluxe-box-set-release-this-june/) coming out in June sometime. Long overdue.

[BurritoGuru]

Growing up in SF in the 80s was a great time period. Was going to underage shows almost every weekend. My first punk show was Human Sexual Response when they were living in SF. I met the singer through my Dad and he gave me a record. Saw them at the old Waldorf at the age of 9. I think Agent Orange played on the same bill. I played the Fig 14 record nonstop.
SF had some great music venues over the years.
Saw many punk and metal bands at old waldorf, The Farm, Morty's, Stone, Mabuhay Gardens, Off Broadway, Firehouse, Chatterbox, the CW Saloon, the omni and more that I am forgetting.

Slim pickins now.

I still have a big stack of flyers from the 80s and 90s that I would take down from poles, pick up at the record vault or at shows.

[JAllen]

Boxset (http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/the-decline-of-western-civilization-films-to-receive-deluxe-box-set-release-this-june/) coming out in June sometime. Long overdue.
That's great! I'll be looking forward to that.

[oliver1850]

I think the earliest sorta punky band I listened to was the New York Dolls - still have the 1st album on 8 track tape somewhere (as well as LP and CD). I remember reading about the Sex Pistols when they were causing so much uproar in the UK. At the time I wrote them off (without having heard the music) as an elaborate publicity stunt. As Frank Zappa put it, "selling punk like some new kind of English disease". When the Clash came along and seemed to be more deserving of all the attention, I bought the first LP (only available as an import) and was quickly won over. By that time "Never Mind the Bullocks" was in the cutout section and I finally bought it. It's one of my favorites from the era. So from '77 on I was pretty open to give all sorts of things a listen, but never got too deep into any particular scene. One record that got played a lot on WPGU in Champaign (probably by dj Jon Ginoli, later of Pansy Division) was the Modern Lovers LP. You couldn't call "Road Runner", "Pablo Picasso", or "I'm Straight" punk, but they sure stood out from the bulk of what was played on the radio in 1977. I still associate that record with punk. I don't think any of the bands I saw in the late 70s would qualify as punk (anyone remember The Rave?), but I did see the Ramones in 1980. The Vertabrats were the closest to punk of the local bands at the time, with the Poster Children and Hum a few years down the road. I bought a lot of records, such as the Dead Boys, Gang of Four, Damned, Stranglers, Chelsea, XTC, Specials, Stiff Little Fingers, Buzzcocks, the Saints, Joy Division, Wire. In the 80s I listened to a lot of SST stuff (Husker Du, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Bad Brains being the favorites), Cramps, Cowpunk, Paisley Underground, most anything on Homestead, Frontier, What Goes On, Hot, Twin/Tone, Slash, IRS, Touch and Go, etc. etc. Favorite venues were Mables in Champaign, Stache's in Columbus, and Gabe's Oasis in IA City.

[hesh0925]

Anyway, more of an early 2000s hardcore/screamo/metalcore scene. Especially the more upstate Poughkeepsie NY and northern NJ VFW/basement show etc scene. Converge, Bury you Dead, Folly, As I lay Dying etc...

Love me some Converge. So damn good live.

Used to go to shows ALL the time back in high school. It's what my friends and I lived for. But I'm fairly younger than most of you guys here (I'm only assuming) so I didn't get to see the same bands.

Got into a wide variety of bands ranging from Between The Buried And Me and Misery Signals to With Honor and Modern Life Is War. Darn, I miss those days.

[TimAZ]

"Those days are gone, but they're not forgot"...

[gforce]

Kinda late to this thread but I saw some memorable stuff over the years.
Iggy Pop - several times - probably the best in 1980 in a small club with Carlos Alomar.
Television in Chicago when Anton Fig jumped off his drumkit and punched a heckler in the face ending the show.
Gang Wars with Johnny Thunders cursing the crowd and later ending up in jail trying to break into the safe of the club?!?

[ptourkin]

Re: the earlier MPLS/Twin Tone refs: I had these in college

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/cecilhayduke/20150513_170422.jpg

[bcroslin]

Do the leg tattoos give it away?
https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11009385_10204858545317815_348041952351825933_n.jp g?oh=96305a489e68d21c6bcbcd637ef21c9f&oe=55CD69A7

Anyway, more of an early 2000s hardcore/screamo/metalcore scene. Especially the more upstate Poughkeepsie NY and northern NJ VFW/basement show etc scene. Converge, Bury you Dead, Folly, As I lay Dying etc. I'm excited for the poison the well and from autumn to ashes reunion tours. Around the same time I was also listening to harsh industrial/EBM like KMFDM, Ministry, :wumpscut: and others. Youth Code is a current band I'm really into that combines hardcore and industrial synth elements. Pretty big fan of the post hardcore and emo of the time also, boysetsfire, Cursive, saves the day, sunny day and so on.

Not much into the early 80s youth crew stuff, moreso first wave goth stuff like Bauhaus and Siouxsie Sue.

The dude behind you in the photo has got to be thinking BEST DRAFT EVAR

[Mikej]

What about the Accused and subhumans? chewy

[echelon_john]

That. Is. Awesome.

Re: the earlier MPLS/Twin Tone refs: I had these in college

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/cecilhayduke/20150513_170422.jpg

[Corso]

Saw the Clash 3 times, once at my college (SMU) during the combat rock tour (THAT was amazing). Saw second version of Clash in Hartford, it was also great show!

Others I’ve seen: The Damned, Public Image LTD (few different line-ups), Adam Ant, Devo, Talking heads, Ramones, Black Flag, Big Audio Dynamite, Sinead O’connor, The Cult, X, New Order, Psychedelic Furs, 0-Postive, the Pretenders, Mission of Burma, U2, Human Sexual Response, The Dead Boys (at the Channel in Boston, A bouncer knocked me out cold with a sucker punch), B-52s, the Neighborhoods, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols (Not the old Sid version-unfortunately) and lot’s of local Boston Bands. Had a pal who Bartended at Spit!

And i’m throwing in Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, just because Jonathan!

[buldogge]

Nice!

I had the pleasure of driving Iggy (and his girlfriend) around the STL, when he played at the club I was the runner at (and later manager, 'Mississippi Nights')...A truly friendly and intelligent guy...lots of interesting conversation!

Never saw Television, but...Anton Fig on drums???

-Mark in St. Louis

Kinda late to this thread but I saw some memorable stuff over the years.
Iggy Pop - several times - probably the best in 1980 in a small club with Carlos Alomar.
Television in Chicago when Anton Fig jumped off his drumkit and punched a heckler in the face ending the show.
Gang Wars with Johnny Thunders cursing the crowd and later ending up in jail trying to break into the safe of the club?!?

[Bob Ross]

By the time the scene really caught on I was already grown up (sic), so I was playing bass in a lot of punk bands from 1979-83. None of the punk bands I was in ever achieved much notoriety (The VacuumHeads appeared on the first Modern Method compilation album) but we shared stages with Mission Of Burma, Gang Green, Jerry's Kids, The Neighborhoods, Thalia Zadek and Mark Sandman's pre-fame bands, etc.

Bands I saw? Uh...The Ramones, Gang Of Four, Fear, Siouxie & The Banshees, X, Shriekback... probably the coolest though was in 1977 or '78 at some tiny hole-in-the-wall bar in Manhattan called Botany Talk House (now long gone), we'd gone to see a band called Noise R Us just 'cuz we thought the name was funny, they never showed up but instead the band on this microscopic 6'x9' stage was The Bad Brains. :eek: They completely destroyed that room, as well as my conceptions of what music was about.

[velomonkey]

That's some dang good lineups - and you shared the stage with some good bands. That's success in my book.

Yea, I saw Bad Brains twice and the first time you knew it was really different. Did everyone know that the Beastie Boys were named that cause they were all such huge Bad Brains fans they wanted a name with two words both starting with a B.



Bands I saw? Uh...The Ramones, Gang Of Four, Fear, Siouxie & The Banshees, X, Shriekback... probably the coolest though was in 1977 or '78 at some tiny hole-in-the-wall bar in Manhattan called Botony Talk House (now long gone), we'd gone to see a band called Noise R Us just 'cuz we thought the name was funny, they never showed up but instead the band on this microscopic 6'x9' stage was The Bad Brains. :eek: They completely destroyed that room, as well as my conceptions of what music was about.

[Geeheeb]

I'm new here, and the pink floyd thread got me thinking about music I really like. Anyone like current hardcore? Some of my favorites are Gas Chamber (who is touring soon!!), Culo, Cloud Rat, Teef, Diat, Zero, Tercer Mundo.

Anyone play in a band now or in the past?

[joosttx]

I'm going to see Flipper with a high school buddy in October.

[buldogge]

There has been NO hardcore made since ~1992...that is metal that you are listening to...You just don't know it! :D

:help:

-Mark in St. Louis

I'm new here, and the pink floyd thread got me thinking about music I really like. Anyone like current hardcore? Some of my favorites are Gas Chamber (who is touring soon!!), Culo, Cloud Rat, Teef, Diat, Zero, Tercer Mundo.

Anyone play in a band now or in the past?

[joev]

Wow...lot of old memories a'stirring. Had seen a local upstate NY band in the early 80's a bit- Public Welfare in a tiny tiny bar called Casa Linda. They coulda been contendas! Shades of the Clash. Did get a chance to see Husker Du at SUNY B and, well not really so much hardcore, did see REM there too. It was great to see Michael Stipe writhing on his back on the stage while wearing a trenchcoat!

[Geeheeb]

played a hardcore fest in stl called lobsterfest a few years ago, it was in a warehouse across an alley from a kids museum with a school bus hanging off of it. suburban smash, sweet tooth, and shaved women were some recent ragers from there.

[buldogge]

Sounds like 'The Other World' (club)...You missed out by not going to 'City Museum' ("kids" museum), which really is one of a kind fun for all ages.

As far as lobsterfest..never heard of it...I assume it occurred after 1992.

-Mark

played a hardcore fest in stl called lobsterfest a few years ago, it was in a warehouse across an alley from a kids museum with a school bus hanging off of it. suburban smash, sweet tooth, and shaved women were some recent ragers from there.

[doomridesout]

Anybody who says there isn't hardcore in 2015 is crazy. I like Culo, had to check out some of your other namedrops since I haven't picked up an issue of MRR in a while and I've grown too lame to make keeping up my priority. I would be of no use to someone who actually has paid attention in the past few years to what's good as far as worthwhile recommendations.

I'm a huuuuge powerviolence fan-- ACxDC, Weekend Nachos, Despise You, Hatred Surge, etc.

Hardcore is "over" when you get too old to pay attention. There is good hardcore in 2015.

Jesus, let's go back to talking about gravel tires, OK?

[redir]

I probably am too old to pay attention now :D

I think it was 1989 I saw Dead Kennedy's in San Fransisco and after that show down the road, unrelated, there was a gun fight outside a bar. Crazy night.

I grew up in CT and went to NYC on a few occasions. I remember seeing Bad Brains and some others I can't remember now. I graduated high school in 1987 but really was more interested in bands like Zeplin, Floyd, Hendrix, 60's stuff but also modern stuff like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure and so on.

When you think about it, kids today are so lucky to have such a huge and instant library full of music. Ahem... 'in the old days'... you had to read about shows in magazines and go to record stores when that one dude who knew everything was working so he could help you find something you like.

Straight edge was never for me. I liked LSD and other psychedelics at that time and frankly most of the straight edge kids I knew were phonies and the whole philosophy struck me as NOT being anarchist punk but rather governed by rules.

[buldogge]

Then I'm too old to pay attention...so be it.

We're all nostalgic for whatever our "youth" was filled with. Hardcore today is nothing like the hardcore of the east coast birth and youth crew eras that I came up in.

-Mark

ps...I'm straightedge, which also hasn't been well represented since the early 90's, as far as I'm concerned.

Anybody who says there isn't hardcore in 2015 is crazy. I like Culo, had to check out some of your other namedrops since I haven't picked up an issue of MRR in a while and I've grown too lame to make keeping up my priority. I would be of no use to someone who actually has paid attention in the past few years to what's good as far as worthwhile recommendations.

I'm a huuuuge powerviolence fan-- ACxDC, Weekend Nachos, Despise You, Hatred Surge, etc.

Hardcore is "over" when you get too old to pay attention. There is good hardcore in 2015.

Jesus, let's go back to talking about gravel tires, OK?

[DarkStar]

So many memories, Dead Kennedy's, The Vibrators, Tragic Mulatto, Dead Milkmen, Talking Heads, B-52s, Pixies, The B-movies, Lou Reed, and a lot more bands, some that I知 not sure if I actually saw live.