Los Angeles Punk Rock 1980-85

[Christoph]

some cool pics of the early 80´s punk scene in LA i found on the web:

http://www.morphisstudios.com/photos-3.htm

[Speed-Randy]

Brings back memories

[Rennsurfer]

Cool. Too bad there aren't pics, on that site, from '77-'79.

[MYTOY]

Nice! I remember when Fear played @ Christmas it was called toy's for t ats (female anatomy). You wouldnt believe what they were throwing into the audience.

[Worm]

Those pics are AWESOME!
Fred....77-79?  There really were'nt many shows in 77 or 78, at least for me.  The only places that had shows in 77/78 were the Masque or the Garden and a few others.  Very obscure.  None of which I had heard of behind the Orange County curtain.  Plus in 77/78 I was still in highschool wearing skinny ties and pegged pants and pogo'ing to Devo and the Surf Punks.  Hardcore?  Didnt really know hardcore till about mid/late 1980.  Early 80 was Oingo Boingo, Billy Vera, Suburban Lawns,and Squeeze etc..  shows at the Whiskey (went with the skinny tie thingy).  Now, at least for me it started 1980. My bro put the Germs GI album on the turntable and as they say........ thats where it all began (for me).  The first REAL show was and still is the most insane one ever.   LA shipyards, no permits, total mayhem, BlackFlag, Stains, Mad Society, Stingers, etc..  Ended in full blown destruction with my bro and I in trench coats and chuck taylors (not yet figured it out) escaping the chants of kill the hippies running thru a scrap yard, hopping over a huge fence and landing in an alley 50 feet from 30 shoulder to shoulder full riot gear LA cops with shields, helmets, and sticks pounding.  We ran and ran.  Made it to the car and laughed the whole way home.  Cut my hair the next day and lost the trench coat and shoes.  Next big show was X at the Whiskey Dec 29th 1980.  1981 was the YEAR for me.  I was hanging out at the Starwood on some wednesday nights and most fridays or saturdays.  Wednesday nights Rodney (on the rock) was spinning disks in the ballroom and Blackflag would be grinding in the live hall.  Funny, the first time I saw BFlag, Dez Cadena was singing (post Keith Morris, pre Rollins) and the Go Go's opened for them.  yes boys and gurls, the Go Go's.  They were a shitty gimmik band and Belinda was fat, ugly and had f'd up green hair. None of them were even close to hot.  That night a bouncer got stabbed in the forehead.  Great start to daring dangerous fun.  It was 1980 and 81 on, that I was immersed in the culture.
Sorry for the long diatribe, I got carried away

I did find myself in a book recently.  I'm on the cover up front in the crowd at a DK show.  Found it by accident at Borders.  Funny.  I cant make a pic in Keiths book, but a I can find my sorry ass in "California Hardcore".  hah!

Apologies again.  I was bored.

[Worm]

One more thing.  If you have'nt already....find, steal, borrow the movie "What We Do Is Secret"  The Darby Crash story.  Great stuff.  Or the best period movie ever (with a 18 yr old Flea in lead role), "Suburbia"

Thats all.

[Christoph]

worm, cool story i would appreciate more, so keep em coming 

[Worm]

More really?  I have'nt thought about this sh*t for 30 years.
Grew up in Brea CA, North Orange County.  Next door to Fullerton on one side and Whittier on the other.  There were'nt many of us way back then and those that existed pretty much knew each other real well.  Our north OC vibe was WAY different than the Huntington beach scene.  Frankly we were afraid of the HB punks.  They were mostly big dudes, jocks etc.. that loved the violence.  Great bands came from HB at that time like The Crowd, TSOL, and later Shattered Faith etc...  Now, we were different.  I am kind of ashamed to say it but maybe some of us considered ourselves more the intellectual punks.  Funny.  We really were'nt but compared to HB we were much more docile.  Thats not to say we werent totally out of hand and obnoxious and wild.  No no no.  Just not all of us were as hostile.  The bands that rose up in our area became much more famous, maybe in part that our parties would last an hour or two longer than HB's.  Dunno.  We would go to house parties in Brea, Fullerton, Placentia, and Yorba Linda most weeks.  Thinking back its funny how sometimes Social Distortion was supposed to play but Ness was so tweeked on H that another band would play with their gear.  Bands like Agent Orange or the Adolescents, Confederate, or Eddie and the Subtitles.  Once in awhile SD would play when Mike was vertical, not in a fight, or in jail.  Funny now.  We also had a crash pad in Brea that we would poke in and out of. Next to the old Brea high school was an apartment rented by the guys from the Adolescents, everyone always called it the "black hole".  Hence their song of the same name, "Kids of the Black Hole".  Disgusting place.  Fun times tho.
It's amazing how counter culture, and frightening to others we were.  There was ONE club in our area by Fullerton College, many of you old dudes have been there.  It was called Ichabod's.  Saw some epic bands there.  Of course everyone of our local bands, Middle Class, Adolescents, and others from far away like The Cramps, and on and on.
One night there Suicidal Tendencies played and they brought their "crew" from Santa Monica with them and proceded to beat the sh*t out of most of us.  In the pit I fell and was kicked in the face HARD.  Lots of swelling etc... hah.  After the show Mike Muir (singer) comes outside and of course tough guy me starts yelling at him cuz he's a dick.  So, get this, the guy doesnt blink.  He marches over to me reaches back and in 1 second punches me in the face solid and knocks me on my ass.  Guess they won eh?  It was a tough night for my face....hah! (I'm still pretty) Ever since I've not been a huge fan so to speak.  hah!
Ah, old stories.  kinda blurry really.  Is'nt it SUPPOSED to be that way?
Thats enough.

[Dave Rosique]

Hey Scott,

Nothing says fun like a good old fashioned azz kickin'   Ha!

I miss very little from the old days... mainly my youth

Glad you survived it my brother!!

~DR.

[Worm]

Yeah thanks Dave, sometimes it feels like I didnt survive...... ha

Here's a vid of the Black Hole song.  Man the guys look old.  Rik looks terrible, Tony like a hippie, and Bloto (Soto) before lap band surgery.  Frankie looks good tho!  Funny, this saturday my bro-law (a singer) is playing in HB with his new band that includes Frankie (Agnew) on lead.  Its pretty good music.  Its their first show as a band.  Im looking forward to it.  No pit for the old guy.  Two years ago I was in the pit at a Dickies show and sadly its the last time I get in the mess again.  1 minute in and this young girl trips, bonks her coconut on the floor and gets knocked out right in front of me.  I drag her out, sat down and said to my son.  "I am done"
Now my son has taken the reins.  Thats the way it;'s supposed to be eh?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/hMDEJOoFw1c" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/hMDEJOoFw1c</a>

[Speed-Randy]

they look way older. i remember seeing them at placentia boys club back in the day. now they look like me, old and fat. but that cd is still top rotation in my truck,(i dont have an ipod) and kids of the blackhole always gets repeated at least twice

[Rennsurfer]

Fred....77-79?  There really were'nt many shows in 77 or 78, at least for me. 

They existed, Worm. But you and I were probably too young to attend and many of those shows were most likely in England. I just wanted to see the pics. By '80, I was old enough to go on my own.

I really miss Suburban Lawns. One of my all time fave groups. Still listen to them and never stopped. Also in my iPod.

[nicolas]

wow!!! great stories there.

but is this around the time blink182 played as well?

[Worm]

This was before Blink 182 was BORN.........

[Speed-Randy]

I think he's asking about the vid you posted, and blink is about as punk as Brittany Spears

[danny gabbard]

Britney did shave her head !

[Rennsurfer]

Danny's right... she's more punk than those pop stars will ever be... and I don't care for her music.

[Dave Rosique]

(holding my hand up) Excuse me, just what is the connection between Punk dudes and cool old scooters? Vespas, Lambrettas (sp)?? I always liked the scoots with the mirrors, horns, and of course a Mercedes hubcap on the front wheel

OK, I need to know

[Bryan67]

Not punks, the scooter guys are mods.

[Rennsurfer]

One more thing.  If you have'nt already....find, steal, borrow the movie "What We Do Is Secret"  The Darby Crash story.  Great stuff.

I was an extra in that movie. Arrived at the set, one night, during filming... and the director looked at me and said, "Do you mind if we use you in the scene that we're shooting?" I laughed and told him that I was just there, delivering skateboard decks (The Germs boards that we made.) and that I was probably too old for the era. He told me that I was wearing perfect clothing for the circa/look they were going after. I was wearing Levis 501 jeans, Clark Foam (surfboard blanks) t-shirt, and Vans deck shoes. Afterwards, I suggested that rather than pay me, to just let me have some of the pizza that I saw backstage. We went to my friend's car. Pulled out a few biers, poured 'em into fast food cups, went back inside after shooting was done for the night, and pigged out on empirical amounts of pizza. Turned out to be a fun night and got to see The Germs play with the actor on lead vocals.

To this day, I haven't seen the movie. One of these days... I'll get around to it. But at least my theory still holds true after all of these years; I will always be up for either working, skating, or surfing for food.

 

[Dave Rosique]

Not punks, the scooter guys are mods.

Mods

[Rennsurfer]

Mods

Dave, go rent the movie Quadrophenia. That will explain everything rather nicely.



Excellent movie. I remember sneaking a six pack of biers & straws into the Lakewood theatre with Ray Zimmerman to see that. Awesome story of the greasers vs. the mods. Sting (from The Police) even makes a cameo appearance.

[Andy]

It's cool to hear stories from people that were there.

Agent Orange and Suicidal Tendencies are amongst my favorite bands. I discovered these through skateboarding and reading Thrasher magazine around '85 '86, although at that time I was spending every penny on Skateboards and not music. Being in the UK meant I had no chance of seeing the bands so nowadays I am getting hold of the music and thanks to the BBC Radio 1 Punk Show I am discovering more as well which is cool.

So what was the story of Suicidal Tendencies getting banned from playing, it also seems strange that there was so much violence associated with the scene as well, although I am well aware there was violence at English punk shows in the '70s.

Tell us some more stories, Worm.

p.s. In the UK during the '80s, the relationship between punks and mods was hate, at least it was in my town 

[Lemonade]

Ramirez, where are you on this one? Attended a concert @ the Olympic Auditorium ('82?) that featured Suicidal Tendencies(reason we went), SST, TSOL, Minutemen, and RHCP. We stayed the hell away from the mosh pit. All I wanted was a Pepsi, and she wouldn't bring it to me! Great times!!!

Lems

[Christoph]

around summer ´96 suicidal tendencies played an open air show in my city and as a 16 old kid i was standing in the center of the moshpit, not the best move when your´re small and skinny. after 2 songs  i had nosebleeding from an elbow punch in my face and couldn´t walk for a week cause i had sprained my ankle when some one landed on my foot. rest of the show i watched from the back drinking beer. had alot of fun that day.
 

[Worm]

This seems SO dated and wierd now.  Its much easier listening to the music now than seeing how they looked then.  They were really pre punk/"New Wave".  They disappeared in LA soon after the Black Flag, Circle Jerks, etc era started.  Guess they just were'nt angry enough.  Hah!
Check out the video its hilarious.  When I first saw them I remember thinking how totally RADICAL these guys were....... fiunny.
At that first show I saw these rough looking dudes jumping up and down, later to be termed by Toni Basil's boyfriend, Mr. Spaz Attack, as the "pogo".  The pogoing later evolved into slamming.  Slam pit then evolved into the term Mosh pit.  Yessiree boys and girls the POGO is where it all started.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/cntGmdOmHuE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/cntGmdOmHuE</a>

[Worm]

I could'nt resist.  This band is one of my ALL TIME favorites.  In fact the first "punk" album I ever bought.  The Gears with..... "Dont be afraid to Pogo"
CLASSIC.
Cant believe I found this.
This song, Trudie Trudie and they're "big" hit Elks Lodge Hall.
Oh man I dug these guys back then.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/VKp__Af3N0E" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/VKp__Af3N0E</a>

[nicolas]

allright here is another try 

it still is a couple years after 82, but this is the main reason i listened to punk and hardcore. SANTA CRUZ! their skateflicks are some really nice music-culture-vids.

bands like JFA, Odd numbers, Sioux Nation (still looking for a cassette or LP of these guys), circle jerks, fugazi,... all great stuff


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/zXMZGhPhJW0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/zXMZGhPhJW0</a>

but then it evolved in more modern punk (early/ mid 90's) and back to early hardcore with Unity, Chain of strenght, ignite, bad brains, ...

Oh man I dug these guys back then.

i still like that music today, makes a great change from that 50cent cd i have all day in the radio 

[Worm]

Here's an early favorite of many of you I am sure.  Randy?  Both Marks.....?

The Dickies in 1979.... Now thats back a bit eh?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/7c37GdAzgQo" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/7c37GdAzgQo</a>

[Rennsurfer]

Most excellent Dickies video, Worm. I've seen that band so many times... I can't remember exactly how many. Also, Agent Orange (my favorite), T.S.O.L., CH3, The Crowd (another fave), and The Addicts.