Here’s more from that badass collection of 40+ rare punk lps that just arrived… Poison Idea– War All The Time, Bad Brains– Quickness, Social D- Prison Bound, Suicidal Tendencies– Join The Army, TSOL– Beneath The Shadows, ’77 comp lp- Long Shots, Dead Certs & Odds on Favourites, a great feel for ’77 punk at it’s best from many bands most of us have never heard of: Rings, Count Bishop, Johnny Moped, Radiators from Space, plus Moterhead and a “notorious” band (before they were evil) *Doc’s pick of the day… Murphys Law- s/t, The Selector- Celebrate The Bullet, and last but not least, The Dickies– The Incredible Shrinking Dickies….
Get over to strange now if ya want “first dip” on one of these seminal punk records, or check the new arrivals list to see if these are still available online tonight after 9, don’t see it yet? Keep checkin’!
You can tell from the line-up this HAD to be a great gig. Yep, it was! I’ve never been a big Vandals fan and although I know they played that night I honestly don’t remember it. [sorry guys]. But I DO remember the Circle Jerks. Consistently one of the best bands to you could wish for in the early 80’s. PURE energy! Their drummer at the time was so good people would actually pay just to see HIM play. Amazing!!!
Same goes with the Dickies. Never a bad gig from them and I should know. The Dickies is the band that I have seen the most in my life! This is also the gig where I saw this guy wearing the coolest Leather Jacket I had ever seen (still to this day). I snuck a picture of him and later used it for some D Strange ads. On the back of his jacket he had a drawing of Sid Vicious wearing a leather and t-shirt. REALLY cool and done well. And here’s another story from one an underrated band;
MIA at Fenders ballroom Long Beach, Ca 1984-1985
This “could” have been the Youth Brigade/7 Seconds/MIA (the live recording released from Youth Brigade on BYO) but I’m not 100% sure. As always, you took your life in your own [or should I say others did] when you went to The Fenders.. . Nazi skinheads and Suicidal Tendencies gang members were always sure to be there preying on those that were by themselves.
MIA started in Reno, Nv but made the move to Huntington Beach area of Southern California in the early 80’s. I was lucky enough to have seen them play several times and they never ceased to amaze! Great music and great lyrics made them one of my favorites to see back then. When I stared the label a few years later I actually approached Mike (singer) to ask them about re-releasing their first lp, a split with Genocide, and their “Murder in a Foreign Place”lp. For some reason it never happened. Too bad.
Unfortunately Mike passed away in an odd way a few years back. He was on a business trip during winter in the Midwest and while getting out of car he slipped on the ice bumped his head and froze in the parking lot. A homeless person found him and reported it to the police. #punk
Doc’s first gig…
It was The Dickies with maybe the Pandoras? Not sure on that one… I was 17 years old and had just gotten my driver’s license. The gig was at the world famous Whiskey in Hollywood. My oldest friend at the time; Glen and I were listening to bands like Devo, Blondie, Oingo Boingo and the like but The Dickies had always been one our favorites. I was excited and nervous to go to a real “punk rock” gig. I remember being a little scared about going. Were we going to get asses kicked? Would we “fit it”? I borrowed Glen’s trench coat and decided to take the chance. Remember guys back in the “old days” going to a Punk Rock gig could be a little “risky”. If you were found or thought to be a “Posseur” or were a hippy you were NOT treated kindly. You’d get beaten up or get your head shaved!
We took my car; The Red Scare [which I still have and use today] on the 40 miles trip from our city of Upland to Hollywood. I remember driving up to The Whiskey and seeing a line formed with people sporting mohawks, leather jackets and hard stares. The first thing I recall upon entering The Whiskey was a cocktail waitress walking up to us and asking “would you like a drink”? Glen was mormon and I didn’t like to drink alone!
Back then The Whiskey had a set of bleachers (like at a high school football game) off to the left of the stage. They also had an upstairs. Glen and I had heard about punks with barbed-wire wrapped around their boots to slice you while slammin’ and others that would sneak up to you and burn you with their cigarette (aka a “Germs Burn”). Neither of those sounded like fun to us so we made a beeline upstairs where we could overlook the entire stage. When The Dickies took the stage the air was electric. This is the original line-up. Leonard played his keyboards [hasn’t done that in years] and brought out all the props. They were fucking great! Blew my mind 100% We survive our first gig and were both hooked. The next month, once again at the Whiskey, was Social Distortion and Bad Religion. Another great gig [until Greg Graffin hit someone with the mic-stand just for getting on stage]. What a douche!
Oh, this picture was actually taken at Fenders in Long Beach a couple years later by the way….
