Dead Kennedys

The Dicks

Corrosion of Conformity (photo by Claire Ashby)

Crucifucks

Frank, reading MRR. (photo by Eldon Baldwin)

We don’t have any photo credits for many of these old photos. If you took the pictures without credits, or know who did, or have any information about when/where they were taken, please get in touch!

Wanna submit a photo for the MRR Photo Blog?

If you shoot shows and have photos you want to submit for the MRR Blog, send them to: markmurrmann {at} gmail(.)com. Be sure to put “MRR Photo Blog” in the subject. Include your name, the band, where and when it was shot. Just send your best photos – edit tightly. Three to five photos is plenty. We will be exercising a little quality control here…not everything sent in will be posted. Please size your photos so they are 500 pixels (72 dpi) at the longest side.

There are a lot of awesome photographers out there shooting shows…and there are a lot of unseen archives of old shows. Show us what you’ve got!

I was doing my review of a German band called Kellerasseln and the vocals kicked in my memory of a comp that I sadly still have back in Chicago with the rest of my records. The comp I thought about is called Welcome to Montana…Come Die With Us, put out by Poisoned Candy Records in 2005, and the band I had in mind is called DERANGED DICTION. Originally from Missoula, Montana, they moved to Seattle, WA, in 1983. Deranged Diction changed singers three times, but still managed to put out some awesome tunes. I would be lying if I didn’t say that my favorite era of theirs was when Tom Kipp sang on their first batch of songs, including “Pruning,” which appeared on the We Got Power comp put out by Mystic Records in 1983, and one of my favorite punk songs ever, “Periscope.” Their guitar player, Jeff Ament, went on to form Pearl Jam, which is pretty much the antithesis of what I am into, and I guess they  jumped on the reunion show bandwagon last month, but shit guys, Deranged Diction’s Montana era is rad and there is no denying…

He also sent these great pics! Here’s the download. Playlist at the end of the post — насладитесь!

[Update from Tigran & Facebook readers: A few bands here are actually post-Soviet — Grazhdanskaya Oborona, Chimera and Nyurnberg are from the '90s. Thanks nerds!]

Grazhdanskaya Oborona (1984)

Adolf Gitler, 1986 (not a Nazi band)

Putti (1983)

Soviet mixtape playlist:

1. mi sjadem na tanki / ADOLF GITLER
2. rejgan provokator / AVTOMATICHESKIE UDOVLETVORITELI
3. rukoyatka / CHIMERA
4. serij golub / ZVUKI MU
5. totalitarizm / GRAZHDANSKAYA OBORONA
6. vintovka eto prazdnik / GRAZHDANSKAYA OBORONA
7. budushego net / INSTRUKCIJA PO VIZHIVANIJU
8. opredeljonnije / MATROSSKAJA TISHINA
9. deklosirovannim elementam / YANKA
10. epidemija sili / NJURNBERG
11. na blazhennom ostrove kommunizma / KOMMUNIZM
12. novobranci / ARMIJA VLASOVA
13. tretij reih / ADOLF GITLER
14. trezvost / BRIGADNIJ PODRJAD
15. zagovor / GRAZHDANSKAYA OBORONA
16. zoopark / POSEV
17. davaj vojnu / PIZHEVIJE OTHODI
18. radiodiversija / AUKCION

Operation Phoenix archives: the hard copies

Operation Phoenix is run by Adam Miller, an aficionado of early punk who writes, “I first got into punk when I was a teenager during the 90′s, but it was older stuff like the Stooges, Ramones, Black Flag, Germs, Circle Jerks — all of the usual suspects.

“The inspiration for the zine part of the site was due to the difficulty I had finding old zines to read. During the late 90′s, I contacted one of the zine libraries in the US to see if they would mail me zines if I’d cover postage and send them a deposit until I returned the zines. They said no. I understood the reason, but I thought an online site would fix that problem for a lot of people.”

Originally conceived as an online store (hence the name including the word “Records”), the site soon found its niche as a zine and flyer archive, with an online punk discography that Adam hopes to further develop. The zine archive is definitely the star of of show here though. I’ve been downloading zines from this site for months and still don’t have everything I want. And Adam says there are around 250 more zines he is still preparing to upload to the site.

Does this sound like a lot of work for one dude?

“The site absolutely takes a lot of work, but when I think of all the time that went into publishing all of these zines, it puts everything in perspective.”

Don’t miss the decades of perspective to be found at Operation Phoenix. Adam can be contacted thru the site. As a bonus, here are his recommendations for more punk archives.

Break My Face
Flex!
Kill From The Heart
45 Revolutions
Collector Scum

Happy treasure hunting!

No particular reason why I chose this 1988 single from the UK’s Mega City Four for this weeks’ From The Vaults post, aside from the fact that it’s a great melodic punk record — and while not necessarily obscure, the band might be unknown to some readers of MRR. In fact, I’m not all that familiar with the Mega City Four myself. I do know this is their first proper release, and there were a lot more to follow; from what I’ve heard of their later stuff, it’s even more in a pop direction.

Anyway, Miles Apart/Running in Darkness is a very cool little single, and any fan of late-’80s melodic punk bands from the UK should give it a listen. To my ears, it’s got more of a Stiff Little Fingers feel than, say, Leatherface, who were heavily influenced by Hüsker Dü. But what do I know? Check it out for yourself:

1. Miles Apart
2. Running in Darkness

Sadly, frontman Darren “Wiz” Brown passed away in 2006. Here’s a link to an unofficial (but very comprehensive) Mega City Four webpage: www.megacityfour.co.uk

SUBHUMANS, THE INSTIGATORS, CONVULSIONS — Vaults Bar, Bradford, May 15th, 1983…

On Saturday 14th May, the Subhumans had played a gig at the Palm Cove Club in Bradford with The Instigators also on the bill. During the evening it was announced that there would be a second gig the following evening to help the Subhumans pay for some repair work to their van. As we were in the crowd, we approached the promoter, Nick Toczek, and blagged our way onto the bill, which was now Subhumans, Instigators, and Convulsions. Venue for the gig: The Vaults Bar. Shit!!!!

Bradford was, and still is, home to a motorcycle gang called the Satan’s Slaves. These guys are full patch-wearing 1%er outlaw bikers in the same vein as the Hell’s Angels, Mongols, Bandidos etc. They are an organised club with full members, prospects, hangers on, and all the rest of the outlaw biker trappings, with violence being high on the agenda. Very heavy dudes. The headquarters of the club was… The Vaults Bar!!

You could walk past this place (if you were dumb enough) any night of the week and pass rows of choppers parked on the pavement, with the odd prospect standing guard outside, glaring at anyone who dared look their way. It was a definite no-go area. To attempt to put on a punk gig there was a total no brainer, but fuck it, we were on the same bill as our heroes the Subhumans.

So we arrive at the venue early — around 6:30 to load our gear in before the Satan’s Slaves arrive. First job was to move all the tables and chairs from in front of the stage to make a dance floor for the punks to enjoy the music. Bad move, we found out later, as there is a definite hierarchy within the Slaves. Big cheeses have their own tables in front of the stage. Not tonight fellas. So, we set up the amps and drums; PA guy arrives and sets up. Subhumans and Instigators arrive and wonder why we look nervous. I don’t remember how much we told them, as they weren’t from our town so we probably took the “ignorance is bliss” approach. Around 7:30 the Slaves begin to arrive with their leader at the front. He was a mean looking dude called “Les C” (left out his full name) with a shaved head and a hook where his right hand once was (!—web ed.). I guess the other bands were beginning to realise that these guys weren’t here for the music, and they’re not happy with the rearranged seating. We decide to get up and play, as we were first on the bill. First few songs went down okay with the (very) few punters (fools?) who’d braved the venue, although the Slaves seemed unimpressed as they glared out of the shadows… Tune number five in the set: “System’s Slaves,” with the chorus, “We don’t wanna be systems slaves.” Stan decides to change the chorus to “We don’t wanna be Satan’s Slaves” without telling anyone. I remember giving him a sort of “Oh, fuck” glance and then ducking out of the way of the first of many beer bottles to come flying our way. I think we did pretty well, and none of us actually suffered a direct hit, although we were showered with broken glass. We raced through the rest of the set and jumped off stage to mingle in with the punters. You have to realise that the bikers were all in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. We were all 16, so we can be excused for our non-confrontational (cowardly) behaviour?

Next up: Instigators. Not many upfront of the stage (can’t blame them), followed by Subhumans. Think a few of us braved the pit for the Subhumans (our heroes) set.

Anyway, the end of the night approaches and word goes around that the Slaves are waiting outside and are gonna kick our asses. We decided to go down in style, so about 20 of us who were left got into a bunch and armed with guitars, amps and drums for weapons charged out making a lot of noise straight into an armed gang of… nobody!! The bikers had simply roared off into the night, much to our relief.

We had many run-ins over the years with trendies, football fans, and lesser gangs of bikers, but this was the most memorable. Being a punk in the UK in the ’80s made you Public Enemy Number 1 to all the dickheads in town.

This all happened 27 years ago, so may not be 100% accurate, but it’s how I remember it. Happy days!!

—Phil

Thanks again, Phil! Here are the track he sent in, and you can read and hear more, including Convulsions’ Electro Convulsive Therapy demo, at Terminal Escape.

Convulsions – “Coming Your Way Soon” MP3
Convulsions – “Electro Convulsive Therapy” (v.2)
Convulsions – “Hatred Controls” (v.2) MP3
Convulsions – “You’re Nobody” MP3
Convulsions – “Media Punx” MP3
Convulsions – “In Command” (live) MP3
Convulsions – “Hassled Youth” (live) MP3
Convulsions – “Freedom of Speech” (live) MP3
Convulsions – “Belfast in Bradford” (live) MP3

And the post wouldn’t be complete without…

Convulsions – “System’s Slave” MP3