I was watching a Bill Hicks special on Netflix instant cue the other day and there was one bit that he did that discussed the music icons of the 80’s and was focused on the George Michael’s and Debbie Gibson’s of the era, and comparing them to the rock icons of the 60’s and 70’s. While I was watching it just made me start thinking of all the 80’s bands during that time that did were actually awesome, and had members who did embody that rock image. There has always been manufactured, softer music icons for every generation. You have the Pat Boones, the Peter Framptons, The George Michaels, the Ricky Martins, and now the Justin Beibers, but we can’t let that overshadow what else was happening during those times. Sure a lot of it didn’t hit the top of the charts, and rock n roll has never had its prominence as it did in the 60’s and 70’s. Disco, New Wave, Electronica, Rap, and modernized pop have helped to challenge rock over the years, and there will always be bands that aren’t coveted by marketers that still are doing some creative, fun, and rock n roll.
(What was wrong with Rock N Roll)
Since rock was so prominent in the 60’s and 70’s is easy to forget a lot of what else was happening. You had the likes of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and a slew of 60’s garage rock that was followed by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and once again slews of heavy-oriented 70’s rock bands. It is the 80’s that seems to be badly represented, and the rock n roll that people do unfortunately remember was created by the likes of Poison, Motley Crue and other terrible 80’s hair metal. That’s not to say that rock fell out completely with the world in the 80’s, it just was not the # 1 money-maker of the era.
The 80’s though was a great time for a lot of creativity being put into rock n roll, and it’s growing number of sub-genres. The 60’s focused on a lot of idea’s and messages, and the 70’s became littered more so with people just wanting to be rock stars, and at the beginning of the 80’s you saw a lot of individuals creating new outlets for the messages, and meaningful aspects of their music. They weren’t interested in becoming rock starts and being worshipped, they used music as an outlet and found ways to continue doing it in a way that wasn’t watered down. I am not saying that all non-commerrical rock is filled with great messages, and always meaningful, but it is free from a lot of the influence of the promoters. I am also not saying that all rock that was popular in the 80’s was crap, and there were still some strongholds.
(Queen)
The 80’s continued to have Queen at the top of the charts and continuing to rock. Janes Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were in their best form in the 80’s, and Stevie Ray Vaughn continued on the traditions of Jimi and the Texas Blues Legends before his untimely death. And still these are not necessarily what people think of when they remember the 80’s. George Michael, Paula Abdul, Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club, Hall and Oates, Whitesnake or Bryan Adams might come to mind quicker for most when looking back on this decade. Each of those were popular, and my only qualm is that a lot of music is discredited by people who lump all 1980’s music in with this group.
(The way Pop Culture viewed the Skating Scene in the 80's)
Ive focused on punk rock in a lot of my recent articles, so I will let it take a backseat on this mix and this article. It is the obvious “fuck you” to the music scene at time, and being disenfranchised with the state of things. So with that being said, we are going to look at other avenues of rock who continued to maintain, and artists (rock or not) that deserve some credit for continuing the tradition of being awesome even if it may not have been what was hot.
( The Talking Heads )
I do want to look at a generalized view of the new wave scene. This scene emerged from the 70’s punk scene, and for what it turned into and is remembered for , it was a water-downed, safe version of punk that was able to take over the airwaves, and tv and spawn a fashion style synonymous with the 80’s. People forget though that there was some quality musicians in some of the forerunners. The Talking Heads were definitely one of the biggest bands during their time, and sure David Byrne might be a dick, but they created some interesting arty rock n roll that was also riddled with satire and commentary. Echo and the Bunnymen are also lumped into that general scene a lot, but the creativity and hints of psychedelia separates them from the Flock of Seagull’s and Wham!’s of the time. Most of all you had Devo who scored big with a hit, but were proud of being nerds, were the opposite of what was “framed” as cool, and didn’t compromise on their style or sound to please the fans there to just see them play “Whip It”. People saw a marketable sound, and proceeded to litter listeners with new artists who had half the musicianship and definitely not the integrity of a lot of the early bands.
The 80’s is also when the Northwest started their own little brand of rock called grunge, and in the 80’s it was definitely grungy. With a list that includes Mudhoney, The Melvins, Soundgarden, and Nirvana, the Northwest was playing their own style of rock. The east coast had bands doing similar things, Dinosaur Jr., The Feelies, Sonic Youth and Swans were laying some of the foundations for art-noise rock and what would soon be a burgeoning indie rock scene. Even Europe had something interesting things happening with Gang of Four, Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain breaking away from the traditional blues-styled rock n roll and paving the way for post-punk, shoegaze and Britpop bands to become the next big thing in the Isles.
( Slayer )
While we have been focusing overall on more accessible forms of rock n roll, you cant overlook what was happening in the real metal scene in the 80’s. While Hair Metal was the hot thing for most of America, an awesome metal scene was forming throughout the country. Sometimes Hair Metal acted as a stepping stone, but overall they were two separate scenes. Real metal fans wouldn’t be caught sporting a Poison or Winger shirt over a Motorhead or Slayer one. The 80’s saw the introduction of thrash metal, and the emergence of the big four: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. These bands had pretty huge following and wrote some incredible albums that have been mimicked (or at least bands have tried to) and influenced generations of younger metal heads. The 80’s saw the continuation of Ozzy’s reign on top of the metal world, saw valiant efforts from Ronny James, and other fathers such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest kept rolling strong. Near the end things got more extreme, and Florida being a shithole helped to create some classic death metal albums and helped push metal to some new extremes for the time.
So when I look back at the 1980’s, sure what was popular at the time may have been shit, but that’s kinda the way it is today too. There will always be great bands, and if whats not popular isn’t your style, you gotta be resourceful and dig deep. I say this these days while having a computer, and easy access to any history that has been documented, so I give kudos to those back in the days who had to search out music through fanzines, tape trading, and flyers for random shows. I try not to focus on what I dislike from the 80’s, but the high volume of awesomeness that it provided and still sounds as amazing in this current day and age.
The description of underrated is one that has been applied to many bands over the years, and it is a description that changes amongst genre, demographic, and listener. It is sometimes used in too loose of a manner, and becomes saturated by trivial bands of a genre, or acclaimed bands whose diehard users feel they still aren’t loved enough. So in doing a piece about bands that are underrated, it is focused on bands that I feel are underrated, and is solely a subjective opinion. My own view of underrated is definitely affected by genre, general style, and targeted audience. For example, a band like Youth of Today are highly regarded in their genre and have been influential worldwide on the development of straight edge and hardcore punk, while they still remain largely unknown to people with no punk rock connection or information base. If I were judging by the appreciation of the general population then Youth of Today would be highly underrated, but looking at it within their genre they are a band that has a proper amount of proprietors and detractors.
There is something rather enjoyable about finding an underappreciated band. It is that idea of discovering something special, and then the further enjoyment of spreading this special something through word of mouth. Sometimes it falls on dead ears, or someone just isn’t able to see the brilliancy that you do, and other times the person is enthralled by what you are playing and becomes just as excited at a new discovery. The beauty of sharing music with others is the experience that follows. When a song strikes you as special, and someone else is able to hear that, then it is that shared connection, especially when it feels more like a unique question.
I have a sporadic taste in music, and I realize that is not the case for everyone, so when I find someone to bond over music and across genres I usually create some form of connection with that person. My old roommate Japples is a person who I connected with musically, and he was one who could sit and listen to me play a random assortment and find an appreciation of the playlist. It helped that he was a fan of metal, especially the genre of doom metal. One of favorite my sharings was when I was on a world music kick, and was finding a lot of traditional Asian music. I came across this album of Mongolian songs, and while they were all great, one in particular had a great melody, was catchy and had the most basic characteristics of what the majority appreciate in music. Due to the traditional instrumentation, foreign language and vocal stylings, it is also a song that could be lost on many, but not on Japples. He recognized what I was hearing, and just that experience is something that I will remember. The way I see it, an openness to music is an openness to life and that’s a quality I enjoy in people.
When I think about underrated bands in general, it is the idea of a band that is creating something musically or emotionally outside of the average while still not getting the recognition that they deserve. The 1970’s is an era that is riddled with underappreciated gems , and a lot of albums that influenced many prolific artists who came afterward. Rock n’ Roll came in true form in the 60’s, and opened the door for experimentalism. With the path laid out, Rock in the 70’s was able to take many different directions and forms. The continuation of the psychedelic and progressive scenes in contrast to the rise of the metal and infant punk scene serves as reminder of how far the genre had expanded. With the rise of many different styles, many more bands were formed and documented, and many bands were forgotten and overlooked.
(Dust)
A prime example is the New York City trio, Dust. A hard rock band who came into form in the early 70’s, and released two killer records. Their second release, Hard Attack, though is a magnificent piece of musicianship that combines elements of early metal bands, some country-rock influence, and great lyrics. The opener “Pulled Away; So Many Times” starts the record off right with a garage sounding rhythm guitar accented by excellent bass playing and creative drumming. The song pounds through until it reaches a folksier portion that builds up and ends rockin just as hard as it started. The bass player Kenny Aaronson is one of the highlights of the album, and his playing really helps to add depth to the sound on the whole river. The album continues on tastefully blending full on rockers with a few softer diddies that only help to accent the next song in line, and finishes with a little piece of classical guitar playing. Other highlight tracks for myself are “Ive been Thinkin”, a sad song featuring a prominent slide guitar lead, and “Suicide”, the hardest song on the album featuring a pounding riff and angst ridden vocals. Dust features a young Marky Ramone, who shows that he has more chops on the drums than he lets on with his later work.
(Atomic Rooster)
Other 1970’s bands who stand out for me our Atomic Rooster, Leafhound, Captain Beyond,Sir Lord Baltimore and Hawkwind. All bands who produced some phenomenal records, sometimes just one, and have been lost to most of the world in the shadows of the Grand Funk Railroad’s and Journey’s of the time (nothing against the previous two bands who put outside some good songs, just that it doesn’t touch the works of Dust in the slightest). Once again though, it could just be that peoples musical tastes develop drastically different just as preferences in taste and touch can. Underrappreciated bands didnt just start in the 1970's either. All era's of music have produced underappreciated artists, and some of them can be hard to find, fortunately with today's technological prowess, it is easier than ever to find something that has been "lost" in the ocean of recordings.
When you look into the punk rock genre and other forms of underground music you definitely have to skew how you look at underrated and underappreciated. In my eyes, most all punk groups are underappreciated by the general masses, and at the same time that is kinda what it is going for. Punk was never meant to really break the bank, but some bands have attained massive worldwide success and the attention of the majors. For the most part, punk rock bands are ignored by most and conceptualized as just noise with yelling over it, while accurate at times it is definitely not always the case.
(RKL!)
A punk rock band that I feel is underrated all around is Rich Kids on LSD. They definitely have a following, and many older punks and listeners from the early day will show love, but they are a band lost past their generation. They survived for a long time, starting in the 80’s, making their way to Epitaph in the 90’s, and having sporadic appearances in the 2000’s. Their early catalog is filled with classic nardcore gems, and an interesting take on the positive outlook. You had some California punk kids playing some snotty hardcore, and they were really good at it. They lost some followers as their sound developed to a more Nofx styled of punk in their epitaph days, and then towards a dirty rock n roll band. While those aren’t the albums that people would say are classic, I think they continue to show the excellent musicianship of the band and those albums were great for that style. RKL is a band that I always feel should get more love, as well as that 80’s Nardcore scene in general.
(Delta Momma Blues LP)
Going back in the other direction you then have artists like Townes Van Zandt and John Prine who are crtically acclaimed song writers. They have pretty decent followings, and I would still say they are underrated for what they do. They are what I call musician’s musicians. They are artists who have heavily influenced their genre, and other musicians are inspired by their work and create something that becomes nationally recognized. Townes Van Zandt is the epitome of the musician’s musician for me. He was one of the greatest songwriters of all time, poured so much emotion into his work, and yet in his heyday he did not draw that great of a crowd. He was highly regarded by Bob Dylan, Sonic Youth, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and many others and it wasn’t till after his death when more folk started to hear what these people were talking about. He definitely has lived on past his death, and the slew of covers that he inspired have gone on to gain a following, but Townes saw his end hanging out in a trailer suffering from mental health and addiction problems.
I am including 2 mixes for this entry so help spread the love on some of my favorite artists that arent always talked about. These bands are chosen by many in an opinion totally subjective to my musical timeline, and you may find them shitty or amazing! Like I said earlier, Underrated spans beyond genres and so does this list. Each band may not be underrated in the same way as the other, but more so to who they were and what they were out to accomplish. Here is also a little list of the albums I feel are the most underappreciated:
Top 15 Underappreciated Albums
1. Dust - Hard Attack
2. Atomic Rooster - Atomic Rooster
3. The Chocolate Watchband - Inner Mystique
4. Townes Van Zandt - Delta Momma Blues
5. Rich Kids on LSD - Keep Laughing
6. The 13th Floor Elevators - Psychedelic Sounds
7. Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond
8. The Big Boys - Lullabies Help the Brain Grow
9. Lonesome Sisters - Follow Me Down
10. Pentagram -Pentagram
11. SNFU - Better Than a Stick in the Eye
12. Screamin Jay Hawkins - At Home with Screamin' Jay Hawkins
There is something legendary and mythical about the New York Hardcore scene. A scene that revolutionized aspects of the hardcore style, and brought an element that you didn’t necessarily always find in the other upstart scenes of DC and Cali. There were larger than life characters, stories you would think only happen in the movies, and a realness and legitimacy to the lifestyle being lived by those involved. I was not around for the 80’s scene, and I grew up in Texas, so my view and opinion is purely subjective to what I have read or learned through others who were there or knew someone who had a good story and so forth. Just everything I have learned over the years in combination with a slew of landmark releases in the punk rock genre have made it a genre that I continually return to and always enjoy.
Part of the appeal I think is the romanticization of the legit street lifestyle. In a lot of the US punk scenes, a high percentage of the youth getting involved were from the suburbs and were unhappy with the status quo (which is a good thing), but in NYC you had people who grew up in the Lower East Side before it was gentrified , you had people forced to be on the streets and living in squats, and fighting for a place to sleep, or sleeping in Thompkins square and having to deal with the real dangers that accompany their situation.
( An angsty Suburban Punk)
For a lot of individuals involved in punk rock, they were fed up with their suburban life, so the imagery and struggle of street life seemed real and unmanufactured. Hearing the songs and the lyrics, and meeting these individuals provided an escape from a more mundane existence, and lets people grab a hold of something that wasn’t being forced fed to them but adults, authority figures, media and the commercialization of western culture. New York City was a cultural hub as well, and the centerpiece not just for the state of New York but for a number of surrounding states and there scenes. You had individuals from New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania all making their way into town for shows, and supporting the burgeoning scene.
(Danny Diablo and the DMS Crew)
I love to sit around and hear the people from that generation share stories. I venture to the livewire-records board to read old stories form back then because it is fascinating. I don’t pose as if Im from the streets, hell I wouldn’t have lasted a week in the LES at that time, but that does not mean there isn’t something exciting about these extraordinary stories from people who historically helped to develop what you are a part of today. The negative side of the NYC some is that it spawned this “tough guy” image and encouraged a lot of people to flex their shit when there was no need to. It continued to open the door for more thugs who had no connection with the scene, and weren’t invested in helping to foster the community. This attitude spread to other cities and continues to this day, and now you have fake “crews” and “tough” individuals with really no real credentials, but just an inferiority complex and negative self-image that they mask with negative coping skills.
It is not as if the whole new York scene was completely responsible for this. Gangs were involved out in LA quite a bit, there were loads of racists always causing problems and punks have always had to brace themselves for violence from rednecks and jocks. The dangerous atmosphere was part of the intrigue of the scene. Going to a show was a community event, with awesomely aggressive music, and at times you had to make sure that you didn’t piss off the wrong person. The violence and toughness of the early scene seemed less forced, and more a part of the upbringing in contrast to the fake posturing you find a lot of today's members trying to mimic.
(Ritchie Underdog)
Its hard not to be fascinated with some of the people who have been involved, or stories about them. A lot of what I hear, I am uncertain of the full truth and validity, and at times it seems they are tall tales, but they make for a great conversation starter. One story in particular that stands out involves Ritchie Birkenhead, who played in YOT and sang for Underdog. There are a lot of great stories about Ritchie’s younger years, and my favorite involves him on his way to play a show, probably at CBGB or the Ritz. Along the way he is jumped, stabled with a screwdriver (possibly), proceeds to pound the shit out of his attackers, makes his way to the show and performs. Ritchie was known as a scraper from what I have gathered, and while playing with YOT on tour he would be the muscle to fend off racists, and others trying to start trouble with the very vocal group.
Another group of individuals that are shrouded in drama, street life, and awesomeness are the Cro-Mags. At the center of this groups shenanigans are John Joseph (aka Bloodclot) and Harley Flannigan. The Cromags released the seminal hardcore album, “The Age of Quarrel”. The combination of pounding riffs, crossover sensibilities, street awareness, and hare Krishna combined for one of the most genre defining musical outputs. Not too far afterward, internal strife amongst members caused shifts in lineup changes, sound and consistency in performance. The feud between Harley and Bloodclot is legendary in the scene, and continued well into the 00’s, with the Internet serving as a catalyst for amazingly incoherent rants, threats, accusations and overall WWF styled call-outs. I believe Harley at one time threatened to stab JJ with an Aids-infected dirty syringe. The Cro-Mags put out a set of demo's and really only one album worth having, but that album alone has solidified their position in NYHC history, that in combination with their antics. Over the years they have released a number of other releases that are layered with cheesy metallic stylings, and unlistenable vocals by Harley Flannigan who took responsibility when JJ parted ways.
(JJ and Harley)
So what is the NYHC sound? What makes it different than bands from Boston like SSD or the Midwest like Negative Approach? In the early 80’s, not too much, but that changed over time. Early on there was no defined sound except the fast and aggressive hardcore that was coming out at the time. In the late 80’s, you started to see a trend forming amongst the NYHC bands. The Cromags, Agnostic Front, and Warzone paved the way early on for a tougher sound, combing the power of hardcore with some of the sheer heaviness of metal. In the late 80’s bands like Raw Deal, Breakdown, Madball and Outburst popped up which took those building blocks and added some more groove (influenced by the emerging hip-hop scene) and brought more of a focus on tough mosh parts (which this wave did extremely well). This is what I associate with the NYHC sound. Through the 90’s and into the 2000’s this is what is now associated with the “tough guy” or “mosh” bands. 25 ta life, Crown of Thornz/Skarhead, Bulldoze, Vietnam, Boxcutter, and Fury of Five all helped to further the thuggish image and popularized that attitude amongst the scene.
(Ray and Porcell rockin in)
On the other side of the fence, the mid to late 80;s also was a breeding ground for a more positive brand of hardcore. Propelled by a bunch of Connecticut upstarts and Revelation Records, “Youth Crew”, or “Posi” Straight Edge bands became a force within the scene, and the movement soon spread through the nation due to the message, and energy of the bands involved. . Influenced by the positive hardcore of 7 seconds and the DC straight edge scene, NYC became a stronghold due to bands like Youth of Today, Bold, Gorilla Biscuits and the general revelation records scene. Youth Crew was definitely not the first hardcore style to popularize the idea of straight edge within the scene. DC is the birthplace, with Cali and Boston helping to popularize the drug free lifestyle. Youth of Today did what many thought was impossible and created a thriving SxE scene in NYC. They also helped to introduce the idea of vegetarianism, which has become a prominent theme in punk rock since.
(Me! You! Youth Crew!)
The Youth Crew bands played side by side with other NYHC bands at the time, no matter the style, and overall it seemed like a pretty unified scene through all the different groups. That differs from today( in a national scene kinda way) to where it seems every styles stays within its clique to a degree. What did separate the Youth Crew from the more street oriented bands was their demographic. They were mostly from middle class families, dressed in a jockish fashion (Nike High Tops, Crewcuts, and Champion Hoodies) and thematically focused on different topics. Despite all these differences, you would find bands like YOT and Gorilla Biscuits sharing the stage and hanging out with Agnostic Front or Warzone. There was a mutual respect and enjoyment of what everyone was bringing to the scene at the time.
(Walter Schreifels)
NYHC has such a rich history, and New York City has always been a hotbed for upcoming styles, culture and societal trends, so its no shock that punk rock developed there and progressed even further. You have bands who have gone on to do some pretty big things. Sick of it All and Agnostic Front have huge following all over the world, and have toured relentlessly over the years, and you have many members of NYHC going onto different musical projects that bring them more into the national spotlight. That is no better exemplified than by Walter Schreifels who played in Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, and subbed in many others during his tenure in the scene and has gone on to gain more popularity with Quicksand, CIV, Rival Schools and his solo work. What is shocking though is the decline of NYC being a breeding ground for hardcore. After the 1990's it seemed to slow down quite a bit. I am sure they still have some great bands, and some of the older ones are still trucking along. Outside of a handful of bands I cannot really think of any up and coming hardcore bands breaking out of the NYC scene. We have had a resurgence of older bands doing reunions and making a "comeback", the youth crew bands and a lot of the classic NYHC bands have definitely jumped on the resurgence of their popularity in the younger scene. While I love to a see a reunion (when it is done well, and feels genuine), I would really like to see a scene being built on the current state of hardcore. I know there are many great scenes across the country, and maybe NYC doesnt need to be at the forefront.
With the advent of this Revelation Records 25th anniversary show, The Abused and Breakdown playing Chaos in Tejas, and Outburst playing the Black n Blue bowl this year, I figure it would be appropriate to share a little of the NYHC love with the world. This mix contains 40 of my favorite NYHC bands and you can see how they all mesh together, and at the time the diversity is very present. Murphys Law, Burn, Token Entry, Born Against, and so forth are all bands that bring something unique to the NYHC sound, I am by no means an expert, but a fan who loves to stagedive and highfive.If you find yourself interested in hearing more, these are the top 10 releases that I feel helped to define the genre and remain classic and amazing records to this day.
NYHC Favorite 10 Records
1. Agnostic Front - Victim in Pain LP
2. Cro-Mags - Age of Quarrel
3. Youth of Today - Break Down the Walls
4. Murphys Law - S/T
5. The Abused - Loud and Clear
6. Warzone - Dont Forget the Struggle, Dont Forget the Streets
