HERE'S TO THE ALSO RANS

Some records seem to be everywhere when they come out. Even though the pressings were limited, because of small demand, you end up seeing them everywhere right after they're released. This is especially true when they're punk records, about 500 pressed and maybe about 200 record buying punks in the scene when the record comes out. So it was that the Xterminators 45 (which came out about 1979) was overlooked by a lot of people in the San Diego scene. Coming out on Radio Active Records, it was released at roughly the same time as records by label mates the Injections and the Executives. (Who had money for three 45's and beer?)

The Xterminators were on the bill of a lot of shows back then, but rarely headlined. This made the demand for the record even less, especially when the Injections were the token notorious band of the label. And they were pretty humble guys too, definitely not a group that had "a look" or contingent associated with them. I'm not sure if I remember the complete line-up correctly: Doug "DT" Black sang and Terry Horn was the bassist (both pictured above, Horn in the shades), a guy named Juan Ruiz (kind of a scene outsider) was the guitarist and, if memory serves, Danny Ramirez was the drummer (could be wrong on that...). With DT and Terry the only scene regulars, they weren't a band that was highly visible as a unit off stage. Therein another reason why the record never went anywhere...back then.

Fast forward about 25 years and I'm on the receiving end of a call from a punk collector trying to get his hands on any San Diego punk records, the more limited the pressing the better. I passed his phone number on to DT and he's soon selling what remaining copies he had in his possession for something like 50 or 75 bucks. And shortly after that, the songs appear on a German compilation of rare punk singles. Punk record collectors (well any record collector really), are a bunch I've never completely understood, but I will enjoy the fruits of their labor any day of the week. So when the blog Killed By Death posted the Xterminators a few days ago, I wasted no time procuring a little San Diego punk rock history.

Hearing these songs again, unincumbered by scenester factors, I have to say, that they sound a hell of a lot more interesting than they did back then. DT's vocals sound nothing like his regular speaking voice today, but that's not neccessarily what gets me. I had totally forgotten that "Microvave Radiation" had a synthesiser on it (leading one commenter on Killed By Death to compare the sound to the Screamers), and the guitar on "Occasional Lay" sounds like a less produced Derwood Andrews (from the first Generation X album), with a few late song Clash-type chord changes. Regardless, I can't be objective. If you were around back then, you'd probably dig these. If not, there's always the comment section...

The Xterminators - Microwave Radiation and Occasional Lay mp3s at Killed By Death

(Yeah, I know, collectors like to disable direct mp3 links. Oi dude, whatever...)

Photos by Harold Gee