Video of the Week: The Knockabouts
David Baird sent us this video, via Facebook, by the should-be-legendary Huntsville, AL, band THE KNOCKABOUTS. It was made by Phillip Wann in 1983. David’s MySpace page is dedicated to Huntsville DIY history, and it’s worth checking out for his audio intro (I thought it was cool, anyway). Thanks a lot!
Here’s an interesting bit from from the September 1984 issue of MRR, reprinted in the 1995 Prank Records 7″ of The Knockabouts’ 1983 demo, from drummer Greg Sklaka:
We wanted to show that you don’t have to be Jimmy Page to be in a band. We wanted to play something basic but very powerful. We really don’t know what the average person thinks of us because we hear “play sickie sado”, than someone says “boo, y’all suck.” Our first real gig was at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in January of ’83 at a talent show with three other bands. I think we shocked everyone there, especially when we played “Sweet Home Alabama”. It was kinda funny, because after we played it, someone yelled “Freebird!.”
If the people here in Alabama would look closely at our songs, they would probably relate to them. But not very many people want to do that, so we’re labeled as shit and we get fucked with a lot, especially by the cops.
Today, we have a name for ourselves, whether people say we suck or we’re good. “Where’s My Vietnam” is probably our best song. Live it’s the peak of our insanity. “I hate your guts” and “The Beautiful” sum up life in Huntsville. I think people who first liked us now have “grown out” of hardcore or the Knockabouts, but to us it’s a definite way of life.
Wonder where they are now…
