LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 36

So, the shopping spree at Ugly Things mentioned the other day included two back issues of Ugly Things, a book of Bomp magazine reprints and Look Out, an excellent compilation of San Diego bands from 1958 -1973. This spree was saturated. Any one of the items arriving in my mail box would have been be a treat. It's going to take a while to digest all of it.

One thing I was looking forward to was an in depth interview with the Weirdos in an Ugly Things back issue. I'd been meaning to pick it up for a while and knowing how thoroughly Ugly Things covers bands I expected it to be good. It was excellent. Eighteen pages with a lot of shit I didn't know. I've followed the band from their first few months of existence and I've read at a half dozen books on the early L.A. punk scene and countless fanzines over the years. Nothing I've read yet comes close to this interview. To the few of you that are Weirdos people, that issue of UT is marked down. Snag it before they're gone, and by the way, if you know the Weirdos, you likely know the Screamers. There's another back issue with a length interview with them (by Jon Savage).

The Weirdos interview whipped me into a Weirdos binge. The OG Weirdos, with both Denny brothers, Cliff Roman and Nicky Beat. The early videos linked below carry that line up. Tonight's long video is more recent, but better quality and one thing that stands out is how well they hold it together with just one guitarist. It's not easy mixing chords with short licks where they need to be, and Dix Denny does a great job.

One thing about the Weirdos. There's no one like them. Particularly the earliest incarnations. They were as much what they were as what they were not. They were out there, always serious on stage despite some of their songs being kind of silly. And they were tight, and intense. I haven't seen them in the last few years, but I've seen them in different line-ups over the course of decades and it has always been a hoot and a half. I'm not sure if you can get that from the videos, but regardless they're a slice of L.A. punk history. There were a lot of good punk bands in L.A. back in the day and the Weirdos were one of the best.

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Listen:
The Weirdos - Destroy All Music mp3 at Killed By Death
The Weirdos - Life of Crime mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.
The Weirdos - Why Do You Exist mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto
The Weirdos - We Got The Neutron Bomb mp3 at Killed By Death ditto
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at Killed By Death
Tonights features and shorts:
The Weirdos - Live, on L.A.'s "TV at Night" (1978) at YouTube 17 minutes
The Weirdos - We Got the Neutron Bomb, Live at the Mabuhay at YouTube By Target Video 1978
The Weirdos - Life of Crime, Live in L.A. 1978 at YouTube
The Weirdos - Full set, Las Vegas Dive Bar 2014 at YouTube 56 minutes
Visit:
Weirdoism - Band bio by John Denny (lead singer) at Break My Face

OUR MOTOWN

Driving today with a compilation of Dangerhouse singles blasting away, I was reminded what a great fucking label it was. They only released about thirteen or fourteen seven inchers, one compilation (that was on one side of a picture disc twelve inch) and one proper LP, Black Randy and the Metro Squad's Pass the Angel Dust, I Think I'm Bowie. What's so special about the label is that they put out seminal records by seminal bands. All but a couple of the discs are the best that any of the bands ever recorded, and just about all of them were released early, 1977 - 1979. In their discography, the first Avengers 45, the first X, second Dils, first Bags, first Alleycats, second Weirdos,...you get the picture: seminal. And it was a strictly DIY label. Some of the recordings were done in hotel rooms, the sleeves were folded paper, their distribution through mostly independent record stores. It is the label that best represents the early L.A. punk scene (though the Avengers were from San Francisco and Howard Werth, the odd non-punk release, was from the UK). The only questionable release, aside from Werth's, was from 2013 (!) an LP by a someone named Sienna Nanini, a release that someone in the comments on YouTube referred to as ABDL, which a search revealed means "Adult Baby/Diaper Lover". Yikes! Not my bag at all, and that's all I have to say about that.

So here's a mess of Dangerhouse stuff. The two mp3s down there are my two favorite, but there are others at Killed By Death (linked below). Another link with the story behind the label, and a complete discography, including the few reissues there have been, at Discogs. If you want to read up, I suggest We Got the Neutron Bomb by Brendan Mullen (owner of the Masque, an underground club active back then) and Marc Spitz. It's an oral history in chronological snippets by many of the main players.

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Listen:
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at Killed By Death
The Dils - Class War mp3 at Killed By Death
More Dangerhouse releases at Killed By Death
Still more Dangerhouse releases at Killed By Death  Click on "Older posts" if you really want Rhino 36
Visit:
Dangerhouse discography at Discogs
The Dangerhouse story, part 1 at Break My Face
The Dangerhouse story, part 2 at Break My Face
Frontier Records at Bandcamp Releases by Black Randy, Red Cross, Weirdos and Middle Class and Dangerhouse compilations

I'M NOT LIKING THIS SHIT AT ALL

You can argue amongst yourselves about this one. I think we can all agree on the most basic level. When it gets to the point that people are getting blown up, whether it's one or a thousand, something is broken. Point your fingers all you want, you are not going to tell me that anyone blowing up anyone else is a good thing. It is awful, just about the worst thing done in the worst way, So, let's just back up and calm down. You, go over and sit on the lawn. You'll get your turn.

What scares me is that it's starting to remind me of some evil cocktail, the end of Dr Strangelove mixed with the Weirdo's "(We Got the) Neutron Bomb". Check the lyrics to the Weirdos song, released around 1978 (I think).:

"We got the neutron bomb, gonna drop it all over the place. You're gonna get it on your face. Foreign aid from the land of the free, but don't blame me.

We got the neutron bomb...Don't understand you, don't know what you mean. We don't want you, we want your machines. United Nations and NATO won't do, it's just the red, white and blue."

They had another song, "Fort USA" with the refrain "You're never going to blow away Fort USA!". Oh, and "I oppose gun control, I don't even like rock 'n' roll!" These punkers are a laugh riot.

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Listen:
The Weirdos - We Got the Neutron Bomb mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it
The Weirdos - Fort USA (streaming) at YouTube
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.
The Weirdos - Destroy All Music.mp3 at Killed By Death (Ditto)
The Weirdos - A Life Of Crime.mp3 at Killed By Death (Ditto)
The Weirdos - Why Do You Exist.mp3 at Killed By Death (Ditto)
Video:
The Weirdos - Life of Crime (Live) at YouTube Los Angeles 1978
The Weirdos at the Dive (Live) at YouTube Las Vegas 2014, a full set, 56 minutes

NEUTRON BOMB ON YOUR FACE

A friend mentioned the Weirdos the other day, so I did what a bored person with their computer on does. I poked around YouTube and found a couple clips I hadn't seen before. One would be a good example of what they were like back in the day, for those not familiar with them. The other is for those with their fingers stuck permanently in the three finger salute, those who, like me, have always had a soft spot for the Weirdos.

The first clip is just one song, "Life of Crime", and although the quality isn't the best, it is one of the best early clips of them floating around. It feels just like it did seeing them live back then, like you're drunk. The video quality just adds to it. Back then, I never got that buzzed. It was just how you felt watching them. Even when their whole collage as dress code thing started to dissipate, there was still something there that made you feel off kilter. Not to say they didn't bring it. They did. They were an extremely tight outfit. Bomp label owner and fanzine editor Greg Shaw once said that, musically, they were better than most UK punk groups of the same era, and he was right (sample some of the mp3s below). And their lyrics were great too. The wording was comical, but often with an underlying message. A random example, "We Got the Neutron Bomb", a song about military dominance:

We got the neutron bomb, gonna drop it all over the place. You're gonna get it on your face. Foreign aid from the land of the free, but don't blame me.

We got the neutron bomb...Don't understand you, don't know what you mean. We don't want you, we want your machines. United Nations and NATO won't do, it's just the red, white and blue.

Quote singer John Denny:

"We [Los Angeles] had our own look, our own sound. It was apart from New York or London.... We were staunchly against safety pins, we tried to parody punk rock at first. We did happy faces onstage as a joke sometimes, which was the exact opposite of what New York was doing. We were just thumbing our noses at everything. Everything was a joke; punk was a joke, we were a joke. Nonetheless, we were still serious about rocking."

The second video below is for you who were around back then. I've no idea how it would look out of context, because I'm very familiar with the band and the songs and, like I said, I've always had a soft spot for them. It's a live show from last year. Despite the fact that they're whittled down from a five piece to a four piece, there's little noticeable empty space. That guitarist Dix Denny is able to make it work says volumes. As a confessed Weirdo softy, I gotta say, it's good to see Dix Denny and his brother John can still doing a bang up job, hardly coming up for air between songs. To think that they're both pushing sixty is pretty remarkable when you consider that many that age have started eyeing the early bird specials.

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Listen:
The Weirdos - We Got the Neutron Bomb mp3 at Punk Rock Music
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at 7 Inch Punk
Alternate link, the second 45:
The Weirdos - We Got the Neutron Bomb mp3 at Killed By Death Go here to get it
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at Killed By Death (Ditto)
The first 45:
The Weirdos - Destroy All Music.mp at Killed By Death Go here to get it.
A Life Of Crime.mp3 at Killed By Death (Ditto)
Why Do You Exist.mp3 at Killed By Death (Ditto)
Video:
The Weirdos - Life of Crime (Live) at YouTube Los Angeles 1978
The Weirdos at the Dive (Live) at YouTube Las Vegas 2014, a full set, 56 minutes

RIP UP YOUR TICKETS

As one of the first punk 45s out of L.A., the Weirdos "Destroy All Music," established the Weirdos as a band to to watch, and it set the tone of the whole first wave of L.A. punk bands as something decidedly not New York or London. Hearing the songs below, it might be a case of "you had to be there'" because, as good as the Weirdos recorded output was, their live show was just completely over the top. As if a Robert Rauschenberg combine plugged into an amp, turned it up, and then stepped into a bucket of water. One thing just struck me recently, and may have been why the Weirdos were so memorable and why they were taken seriously despite some humorous lyrics, crazy get ups, and borrowing from pop culture. Outside of a few early photos, they hardly ever smiled; not on their record covers, not in fanzines and definitely not when they played live. Make no mistake, they were a serious band; they just chewed up Southern California culture and spit it out.

I've posted their stuff before, but The Adios Lounge just posted three of their songs with a good write up, so I had me an excuse to push them on you again. In doing a search for other songs, I ran into a couple posts at The Devil's Music about their first two 45s, both essential slabs of L.A. punk.

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Listen:

The Weirdos - Destroy All Music mp3 (via DivShare) at The Devils Music Click on green "Download" button, wait 15 seconds for download button to reappear, and then click on it again.

The Weirdos - Life of Crime mp3 (via DivSghare) at The Devils Music Ditto.
The Weirdos - Why Do You Exist mp3 (via DivShare) at The Devils Music Ditto.
The Weirdos (We Got the) Neutron Bomb mp3 (via DivShare) at the Devils Music
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at 7 Inch Punk Direct linking may be disabled. If so go there to get.
More:
The Weirdos - Three songs at The Adios Lounge
Visit:
Weirdosism - Weirdos bio by John Denny at Break My Face

DESTROY ALL MUSIC

"I want to kick in the radio, I wanna go bomb the record store,..." Those are the first two lines of "Destroy All Music" by one of L.A.'s earliest punk bands, the Weirdos. They weren't as much innovative, as they were a package, visually, lyrically and musically; a blast that rarely let up, and they were really tight. Where there were guitar solos, they were short, just enough for punch, and on stage they were all over the place, with lead singer John Denny wiggle wobbling and pacing the stage. Early on, they would be covered with stuff; stapled, taped, pinned, some stuff just dangling, like some sort of walking collage of pop culture crap. All the visual clutter of a ransacked 99 cent store. Throw into the mix that John Denny, in an early interview, cited Captain Beefheart and Gene Vincent as influences, and they sound nothing like either. But, the thought was there. Plug that in and turn it up. Behold the sound that once was taken for granted.

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Listen:
The Weirdos - Destroy All Music mp3 at Killed By Death
The Weirdos - Life of Crime mp3 at Killed By Death
The Weirdos - Why Do You Exist mp3 at Killed By Death
The Weirdos - We Got The Neutron Bomb mp3 at Killed By Death
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at Killed By Death
LPs:

The Weirdos - 3 Full LP downloads (via Rapidshare) at Uncontrollable Urge An album of demos and rehearsals, and both Weird World compilations. (Click through redirect to RapidShare. Scholl down and click on the gray "Free Download" button.)

Video:
The Weirdos - Life of Crime ('78) at YouTube
The Weirdos - Destroy All Music (live, at the Masque '77?) at YouTube
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement (live, at the Masque '77?) at YouTube
Visit:
Weirdosism - Weirdos bio by John Denny at Break My Face
The Weirdos discography (incomplete) at New Jersey Noise

IGNORANCE IS THIS

You know what happens when you get to spending all of your time rockin,' and don't have the time to pick up National Geographic? You write songs that lampoon third world cultures, sensitivity be damned. Of course, that is if you're a musician. Everybody else can go to the circus to witness a genuine tribe of Ubangi savages. (Unsettling circus posters here.)

How things have changed. If you wrote and sang these song today, you might be pointed towards sensitivity training. No longer are natives of exotic locales written about as if they're martians. They could be your friend on Facebook. All that said, there's no denying the appeal of early rock n' roll naivety.

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Listen:
The Cadets - Stranded in the Jungle mp3 at Ace Terrier
Warren Smith - Ubangi Stomp mp3 at DavidFulmer.com
Hank Mizell - Jungle Rock mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Covers:
New York Dolls - Stranded in the Jungle mp3 at Blackout Musique
The Weirdos - Jungle Rock (streaming, audio only) at YouTube

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."

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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