Thursday, July 25, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO PUNK: Hardcore '81-83

In San Francisco (as elsewhere) the first wave punk bands were subsumed in the early 80's by the rising tide of hardcore. The DK's survived by transforming themselves into a hardcore band, while Flipper pursued its own path, with little regard for trends. (As I write this, Flipper is on a 40th anniversary world tour.)

Penelope Houston started a solo career. Chip and Tony from the Dils formed the Rank And File with Alejandro from the Nuns. Members of the Sleepers and Negative Trend combined their talents in the Toiling Midgets. Mike Fox (Tools) and Johnithin Christ (Society Dog) started the hardcore band Code of Honor. Fox and Society Dog members also backed Nicki Sicki in the group Sick Pleasure.  

Bands were moving to San Francisco: the Lewd, MDC, DRI, the Dicks, Toxic Reasons, Verbal Abuse, and Red Rockers among them. A lot of punks moved into The Vats.  

Here are three dozen tracks by homegrown SF hardcore bands Crucifix, Social Unrest, Urban Assault, the Fuck-Ups and Bad Posture. Sothira, Creetin K-OS, Marc Dagar, Bob Noxious, and 4-Way were all memorable frontmen. 

These bands from 1981-83 were soon followed by Bay Area groups such as Whipping Boy, the Sluglords, Fang, Trial, Rebels & Infidels, Christ On Parade, Victims Family, Attitude Adjustment, Faith No More, Neurosis, and Tales Of Terror. Gilman Street opened at the end of 1986, home to a third generation of SF punk.

If you want more SF sounds, Dr. Drunk has (Impatient) Youth and the Code Of Honor album. AJ at Themen Aus Großen Städten recently reupped the Avengers' pink albumOld, Weak But Always A Wanker has Factrix, the Teenage PhD's, the Alive Rock City compilation LP and the Units. Lots of Voice Farm reposted at My Vinyl Dreams blog for you SF synth fans. Deathbürger has a smorgasbord of punk platters from NoCal, SoCal and elsewhere. Excellent blogs all of them, well worth you while!

8 comments:

  1. wow! looking forward to this. i would play the fuck-ups 7" for people that needed some "refreshing" in their music.
    thanks,
    ice

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    1. Ha! There was an element of political correctness in Bay Area hardcore (MRR for example), but at the opposite extreme were "refreshing" bands like the Fuck Ups, Bad Posture, Sick Pleasure, Tales Of Terror, Sluglords, the Lewd, and Fang.

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  2. When I worked in Berkeley, it was well-known that Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedy's visited Gilman Street, and was assaulted for being a millionaire, by people who momentarily forgot that he did a lot to set something in motion that RESULTED in a Gilman Street! - Stinky

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    1. I didn't know that you were once a Berkeley heathen scum, Stinky!

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  3. I rented a rehearsal room from Flipper's manager at 22nd and Illinois in San Francisco, we were sandwiched between Silvertone and Flipper. The guys from Flipper were great! Nice guys, loved that band. ----- A few years ago, my son and I were eating lunch at a burger joint in Alameda. Group of heavily tattooed guys at the table next to us turned out to be FANG. We'd both played the Mab about the same time so we chatted about Ness Aquino. Small world..

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    1. Cool! And now Ted Falconi and Steve de Pace are performing with David Yow and Mike Watt -- who'da thunk it?

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  4. Thanks for the comp but it seems to be missing the first 2 tracks. Just making you aware. Thanks again.

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    1. Thank you for bringing that to my attention! "Making Room For Youth" and "Join The People Who've Joined The Army" by Social Unrest were indeed missing. Thanks again to Dr. Drunk for the Fuck Ups, and to Deathburger for Bad Posture!

      NEW LINK: https://tinyurl.com/SFHC8183

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