I HATE TRAFFIC JAMS

Well, oh well, Comic-Con is in town this week. My bet is that a few of you have heard of it. It started out as a small get together for comic book collectors and creators. That was a few decades ago. It's now grown to this massive pop culture/sci-fi/geek orgy, three (or is it four?) days of all sorts of left field gluttony. It's the biggest convention that comes to San Diego, and I think it's the biggest comic related convention anywhere. It's a big deal for some, and if you live here, a giant pain in the ass. Because it brings in so much tourism related revenue, the city leaders lay down for it.

I went to it only once, a very early Comic-Con, then held in the basement of a hotel, but I only had a passing interest in comics. The reason why I went was because, for whatever reason, the Deadbeats were playing. I have no clue why they were booked, there was no comic connection whatsoever, and they were practically unknown in these parts. They were a L.A. punk band that had a record on Dangerhouse and played occasionally in L.A., but weren't really well known outside of California. Even in Southern California, they had a second tier status in terms of name recognition, for a few reasons. They were weird, didn't really subscribe to any sort of punk rock mode of fashion or sound, they had a sax player in their ranks, as well as a young drummer who's chops were pretty advanced (I think I remember that his dad was a jazz musician). The only members that were omnipresent in the L.A. scene (as most band members were back then) were the sax player, Pat Delaney, and the guitarist, Geza X, at least that's how it seemed. A reunion gig in 2014 (top photo above) also had ex-Screamer Paul Roessler on keyboards. I had the record, and I'd never had an opportunity to seen them, so off to whatever a comic convention is.

The show was in a small room and the crowd was pretty thin, mostly local scenesters, and the scene back then was really, really small. There might have been fifty to a hundred people, and that's if you include the Deadbeats entourage. Among the L.A. people was Brendan Mullen, proprietor of L.A.'s Masque. (He was wearing a hand drawn badge that I had made a week earlier for a friend who was in a local band. How he ended up with it, I don't know.) The show was short, but memorable enough that some friends and I put on a show not long after (flyer above) that included the Deadbeats, the Zeros, and the Young Americans (the latter, an out there band that included Ferrara Brain Pan, then Steve Hitchcock, a criminally overlooked influence on the early San Diego scene). That's a pretty tight bill in itself, though that show is probably better known in some circles as the debut live performance of Non. That's a whole other story.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Deadbeats – Kill The Hippies E.P. at Killed By Death Four songs, individual mp3s

THE DARK NUT

Here we go again. I somehow found myself on Post-Punk Oddities, a neat site with an appropriate title. Music from the era of anything goes. Everybody was sort of trying to figure it out. What was next after punk rock? They didn't necessarily outgrow it, they just wondered what was beyond the confines of three chords. Meanwhile, moshpits.

On the "B" pages over there I ran into Black Randy and the Metro Squad's "I Slept In An Arcade", which really hit the spot. It reminded me of how different they were. Listen to their first 45 "Trouble at the Cup" and keep in mind that it was released in 1978, on the same label as the Dils, the Avengers, and the Weirdos. Rhythm machines on a punk label? They didn't give a shit. Black Randy don't care.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - I Slept In An Arcade mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto.
The first 45:
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Trouble At The Cup mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Loner With A Boner mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto.
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Sperm Bank Baby mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto.
Visit:
Black Randy profile at Black Randy (fan site?)
Post-Punk Oddities

OI DUDE...

Hadn't heard this one in a while, and, I gotta say, when I did it put me smack dab back in my late teens, pouring through NY Rocker, looking for the ad to mail order straight legged black jeans from Trash & Vaudeville (really, hard to imagine but back then it was the only place you could find them). I was still living at home, had a $75 Honda 90 for transport, and in it, that is punk rock, deep. It changed the way I looked at things going forward, and I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that really is its legacy. Not the music, not the spiked hair and not the straight legged black jeans. Mark Perry knew that, way back then. He was the editor [sic] of Sniffin' Glue, one of the UK's earliest punk zines, and lead singer of Alternative TV.

I don't remember if Killed By Death, the hosting blog of these golden oldies, disables direct linking or not. But you'll probably want to go there anyways. That site is chocked full of early punk goodies; some you'll know well, some worthy obscurities, and a hell of a lot that probably shouldn't have ever been released. But that's part of it. Anyone could do it, and anybody did.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Alternative TV - How Much Longer mp3 at Killed By Death
Alternative TV - You Bastard mp3 at Killed By Death
More (a couple Cali-centric searches):
Dangerhouse Records posts at Killed By Death The Avengers, X, the Deadbeats, the Weirdos and the Randoms
Slash Records posts at Killed By Death The Germs and the Plugz
Visit:
Alternative TV, aka ATV, at Wikipedia
Sniffin' Glue at Wikipedia

RECORD STORE DAY IS SATURDAY

Record Store Day is this Saturday, so I'm setting the wayback machine to 1977. But it's more because of the records that drew us to the stores, than the stores themselves. That's because, after years of major label domination of "cutting edge" music, the DIY mentality of punk rock had pulled the independent label movement right out of the mud. Though the indies never really went away, there were just very few of them. But when punk hit, it was as if someone was cutting a path through all of the bullshit. Deals were made on handshakes (or clinking beer bottles), artists were given control, and distribution avenues grew. It was one of the most important, and longest lasting, aspects of original punk rock movement. Nowadays "punk rock" is for the masses, a sound and a look, more than it is a movement, way of life, or DIY business model. Sure, there's still indie punk labels, but what's disconcerting is that a lot of the music is too derivative, too much the same, too punk rock.

In 1977, all these punk labels started popping up in L.A.. Notably early were Bomp (who put out the first Weirdos and Zeros 45s) and What Records (the first Dils and Germs records),; but, by far, the one label that had it down, and released the bulk of the significant shit, was Dangerhouse. I can remember eagerly waiting for the first crop of Dangerhouse releases to hit Monty Rockers, my record store of choice. I mean that literally. I was there when they were delivered. So, that's the segue to Record Store Day. A stretch, I know.

Within a five month period, Dangerhouse released 45s by the Randoms, Black Randy & the Metro Squad (two), the Avengers, the Dils (their second), the Weirdos (their second), the Alleycats, and X. Just a few months later, amongst others, they released 45s by the Deadbeats, the Bags, and the Eyes. At the very least, there are a half dozen landmark punk records in that bunch. And, notably, they're not all really punk rock. Because it wasn't just about a look or a sound. I mean, jeez, the Alleycats were a sped up rock band that had been playing biker bars. X's John Doe & Exene started out as poets. The Weirdos were just loud ex-art school guys. The Dils were really just aggravated, well-versed, ex-rock guys. And the Deadbeats were a total fucking freakout. Nevermind the fact that the Screamers were never properly recorded, they were undoubtedly on the Dangerhouse wish list, what with former Screamer David Brown being one of the labels principals. So just listen to some of the songs on the pages below. Really, at least just listen to the Deadbeats' "Brainless," and think of that the next time you see a kid in a black hoodie and skinny jeans.

This post at 7 Inch Punk has:
The Avengers: We Are the One, I Believe In Me, Car Crash
The Dils: Class War, Mr. Big
Randoms: ABCD, Let's Get Rid of New York
Black Randy & the Metro Squad: Trouble at the Cup, Loner With A Boner, Sperm Bank Baby

This post at 7 Inch Punk has:
The Weirdos: We Got the Neutron Bomb, Solitary Confinement
The Alleycats: Nothing Means Nothing Anymore, Gimme a Little Pain
X: Adult Books, We're Desperate
Black Randy & the Metro Squad: Idi Amin, Say It Loud Pt 3, Say It Loud Pt 13, I Wanna be a Narc

This post at 7 Inck Punk has:
The Deadbeats: Kill the Hippies, Brainless [HIGHLY recommended], and three non- Dangerhouse songs

Dangerhouse history & discography at Break My Face; Pt 1, and Pt 2
An exhaustive history, with interviews and side stories.

Record Store Day official site

WHAT WE DO WAS SECRET

Photo: John Denny (Weirdos), Darby Crash (Germs) and Tomata du Plenty (Screamers) singing back-up vocals for Black Randy and the Metrosquad at the Masque, ca 1978. Original full size photo by Douglas Cavanaugh, can be found on Kristian Hoffman's site here.

The context in which the 77-78 era of California punk rock is experienced is everything. A lot of online sources get things a little skewed, some do a little research and get it right, and some "I was there" sites give interesting first-hand accounts.

One thing that needs to be remembered is, first and foremost, it was an full-on DIY phenomenon. People with little or no experience put out records and fanzines, and they were every bit as essential to the scenes as the bands were. There were no web pages, no MySpace, no Pro Tools, no mp3's or YouTube. Just scrappy kids that couldn't take the crap they were being fed any longer. Take DIY out of the equation, add thirty years and try not to choke on the words "punk's not dead."

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

The Alley Cats-Nothin Means Nothing Anymore/Give Me a Little Pain (Dangerhouse) [1]

The Bags-Survive/Babylonian Gorgon (Dangerhouse) [2]

Black Randy & the Metrosquad-Trouble at the Cup/Loner With a Boner/Sperm Bank Baby(Dangerhouse) [2]

The Controllers-(The Original) Neutron Bomb (What Records) [2]

The Deadbeats-Kill the Hippies/Brainless/Final Ride/Deadbeat (Dangerhose) [4]
The Dils-Class War/Mr. Big (Dangerhouse) [2]

The Germs-Lexicon Devil/No God/Circle One (Slash) [2]

The Eyes-Don’t Talk To Me (What Records) [2]

The Skulls-Victims (What Records) [2]

The Weirdos-We Got the Neutron Bomb (Dangerhouse) [5]

The Zeros-Don't Push Me Around/Beat Your Heart Out/Hand Grenade Heart [Demo]/Cosmetic Couple [Demo] (Bomp) [3]
The hosts:
1. Good Bad Music For Bad, Bad Times
2. Killed By Death
3. Pop Zeus

4. Last Days of Man on Earth

5. Something I Learned Today

Compilations of Dangerhouse bands (and two Weirdos comps) are available at Frontier Records.

Recommended reading: "We Got the Neutron Bomb" by Brendan Mullen and Mark Spitz

"Look, I'm John Denny!"

Visit punk oriented mp3 blogs enough and you'll eventually run across Black Randy downloads. They'll come and go, and it's often the same songs. I've always put off posting the links, until now. I thought I lost "Give It Up or Turn It Loose" for good, and I panicked. Eventually I found my way back to the site that I originally downloaded it from a year ago, and ran across one of my comments on the page with the post. It was about a night in a hotel room with Middle Class, Alice Bag and Black Randy (after a San Diego show).

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Middle Class had stored their equipment that night in my Mom's garage, and I went with them, Black Randy and Alice Bag to a hotel on Rosecrans to whoop it up. I've always had a few vivid mental snapshots of that night. Alice Bag playing the Bay City Rollers on a portable cassette, Middle Class sitting on the edge of the bed, and the most memorable, of Black Randy with a lampshade on his head saying "Look, I'm John Denny!" [John Denny, as in the singer for the Weirdos.]

..

After re-reading my comment from a year ago, I wondered how accurately I remembered the incident. I thought I remembered it clearly, but it was about 1978 or '79. Regardless, I proceeded to download "Give It Up..." and was preparing to post a link when I decided to search for an image of Black Randy that wasn't already all over the web.

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On the second page of the search results, I hit paydirt. This wasn't just an uncommon Black Randy photo. This was one of him replete with a lampshade on his head. In a case of mega-deja-fookin'-vu, the pose was exactly as the one in my mental snapshot, with one hand holding up the edge of the lampshade. Too weird.

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I'm thinking this must be a gag that he did all the time back then. So, I click on the photo. It takes me to Alice Bag's online photo album at Flickr. The photo was from San Diego, on a trip with Middle Class. (I'm in utter amazement at what can be found online.) Upon closer inspection he's holding the San Diego phone book. That night he had called for cab for me (and gave me cab fare) to get back to my Mom's. Even weirder. What are the chances? (Note: Besides the lampshade, the John Denny "wardrobe" included the clear plastic cover of the lampshade as a tube top. I had forgotten that part.)

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This is not to illustrate that I was in some sort of hip inner circle. I barely knew Middle Class and had never met Alice Bag or Black Randy before that night. No, this is to illustrate that I can actually remember something.

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And I've written this embarrassingly long thing just to tell you this: download "Give It Up and Turn It Loose" before it's gone for good. Random, yes, and technically it's not a Black Randy song. It's an instrumental by the Metrosquad, his ragtag band of ersatz J.B.'s. Think about that: a ragtag version of James Brown's J.B.'s. Playing trashy punk funk. What are you waiting for?

Last Days of Man on Earth has all 13 cuts, including Give It Up or Turn It Loose, from Black Randy's Past the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie, each posted individually. Give It Up.

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Alice Bag's photo of Black Randy used by her permission through Creative Commons