The History of American Hardcore 1980-1986

A single disc today, compliments of Rhino Records, and I also have another (seperate post), generouslly sent our way by great friend of the blog, DavSez......the two posts could not be much different, but as you know I do strive for.......oh, yes, variety.......hope ya like today's efforts.

First up we have "The History of American Hardcore, 1980-86", which is pretty accurately summarized by it's title.....I've said before, this is not one of my "favorite" scenes of them all, andI have taken what I feel is a bit of undue criticism for this....I've never claimed a "dislike" for the scene, some great shit came out of it......it's just that it simply wasn't my favorite, AND I grew up in a home where it WAS my younger brother's favorite, and it got kind of tired after a while, likely why to this day HE does care, especially, for Led Zeppelin, the Ramones, the Smiths, and more......not a big deal, nor, certainly as big a deal as some "Hardcore" fanatics have tried to make it out to be in the past.

So, how about this comp? It's pretty good, quite representative in what it attempts to accomplish, and gives us some damn good tunes, also works together, coherently, quite well, as a single entity, reinforcing my theory again that punk and power pop work FAR better than most rock genres as compilations (reason or such stated here multiple times, pay attention pot-head).

OK, we start off with a decent one, Black Flag's abrasive "Nervous Breakdown", certainly well known in west-coast hardcore circles. The Middle Class check in with a short (less than 1 minute) quickie, before we reach (IMO) our first classic....."Pay to Cum" by the Bad Brains (I have done a Bad Brains feature post before, check archives)......one of the great singles of the era, ANY genre, if you don't have it by some chance, please get it now.....DOA turn up with the ode to then-President Reagan, the delicately titled "Fucked Up Ronnie", a worthwhile period piece, practically Hardcore Folk music (in message only!)....the legendary Circle Jerks turn up with "RedTape",Minor Threat gives us "Filler"......obviously a veritable all-star lineup of the bands of the genre/era......without listing everything here (that is what the track list is for), we get atrack from the underappreciated Big Boys (who probaly deserve their own post), Really Red turns out the classic "I Was a Teenage Fuckup", even an Adolescents demo ("I Hate Children")......wrapping things up is of Flipper's best (did a full Flipper post not too long ago, links may still be good), "Ha Ha Ha Ha".....

Well, not ALL encompassing, no Germs, no Dead Kennedys, no Toxic Reasons (I know you don't know them, they were from Ohio and were kickass), but the 26 short teeth-kickers here do a fine job of representing......play this loud, don't take it too seriously, but this is a good one, hope ya enjoy it!

THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN HARDCORE 1980-86-01 BLACK FLAG-Nervous Breakdown/02 THE MIDDLE CLASS-Out of Vogue/03 BAD BRAINS-Pay to Cum/04 DOA-Fucked Up Ronnie/05 CIRCLE JERKS-Red Tape/06 MINOR THREAT-Filler/07 MDC-I Remember/08 UNTOUCHABLES-Nic Fit/09 GANG GREEN-Kill a Commie/10 THE FREEZE-Boston Not LA/11 JERRY'S KIDS-Straight Jacket/12 SS DECONTROL-Boiling Point/13VOID-Who Are You/Time To Die/14 SCREAM-Came Without Warning/15 NEGATIVE APPROACH-Friend or Foe/16 BAD ATTITUDE-Articles of Choice/17 DIE KRUEZEN-Think For Me/18 BATILLION OF SAINTS-My Minds Diseased/19 7 SECONDS-I Hate Sports/20 THE BIG BOYS-Brick Wall/21 REALLY RED-I Was a Teenage Fuckup/22 ADOLESCENTS-I hate CHildren (demo)/23 YDI-Enemy For Life/24 DRI-Runnin Around/25 CRO-MAGS-Don't Tread On Me/26 FLIPPER-Ha Ha Ha Ha

Rise Above! And more good stuff to come this week, next week, and WAYYYYY into the future from GROWING BORED FOR A LIVING......and PLEASE remember I'm ALWAYS up for guest contributions, ala those of Dave Sez, or ANYTHING ELSE (hey what happened to that Washington DC-area mega-post I was promised a while back?????)......and remember NOT limited to music.....pictures? short stories? essays? LOVE to see/hear it all, this is the place as I will accept anything, we are all "friends" here, cyberfriends, but friends no less, and I for one am interested in what talents or hobbies the minions are willing to share with us!


I hope all is wll with everyone and your families, really....it actually is becoming a reality to me that I am ACTUALLY going to RETIRE this summer.....thrilling, exciting, scary, you name it.....but it is time.....for a guy who's had the same job for 31 years, married to the same lady for 27 years, lived in the same home for 25 years.......well, a huge life change like that is scary, but exciting....I'm only 52, and am looking for work to supplement my retirement income, but I just cannot wait to begin this new chapter of the lives of BigScott62, BigCarla66, and BigGrant97!