PROGRESS REPORT.

YIKES!!!DRAWN IN 1985, A BACK COVER FOR MIKE GITTER'S XXX FANZINE OUT OF BOSTON: "I TOLD YOU I WASN'T KIDDING ABOUT THE HAT AND EARRINGS THING, WAS I?"



I have been drawing stuff for years and years now. The more you do stuff, the better you get. Right? Right.

There are certainly things I can do that I can excel at. Then again, there are other things I can do that I can't really do at that well. It all gets that much more desperate whenever a well meaning person reminds me of where I was when they send me some old barely finished crap drawing I did in the eighties! On the other hand, it also shows me that I have gotten better, and thank the Lord for that. It is a little bit bemusing at this point, but that is the way it goes. So now that it is years and years later, what do I think I am pretty good at? And what is it that I lack in the drawing department. I am not sure. So I am going to compile a little progress report on what you can expect when you read a cartoon that I drew, both the strong points and the not so strong points. There will not be a quiz afterwards.

THE NOT SO STRONG POINTS:

1. SPELLING AND GRAMMAR: Try as I might, sometimes I just can't spell properly. I try, I really do. Even funnier is the fact that its always the same three or so words. Like, the whole "i before e" thing seems to baffle me. The usage of then and than also confuses me. One day recently I got a call from my father who pointed out my grave errors in the whole "i before e" thing in the contents of the newest book. He didn't want to talk about the cartoon I did in tribute of him, or at least he didn't want to bring it up. But he did call me on my bad spelling and grammar shit. I told him I was trying. Oh well.

2. DRAWING FEET AND SHOES: Drawing a human foot appears to be really tough for me. Even with a nice non descript black shoe, somehow my feet always look clunky, like the subject is suffering from elephantitus of the foot or something. I see other artists who obviously have this problem as well, so they do things to disguise it, like drawing swirling clouds or fog ankle high. These are usually superhero comic artists. Maybe I should bather all of my subject's feet in the same sort of cloud, regardless of where they are or what they are doing. It might help.

3. EVERYBODY IS SCOWLING IN MY CARTOONS: I am good at drawing the scowl, no doubt about it. But human beings have more then two facial expressions..the eyebrow is a wondrous thing, and you can convey a lot of emotion from them. I need to work on this, as it is getting old having people tell me that "everybody in your cartoons look so angry". Sorry about the scowling. Really.

4. DRAWING COMMON HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS: You need a drawing of a phone? Or a vacuum cleaner? Or maybe a dryer? Well, like most people that can draw, you can stick a picture of said object in my hand and I could easily copy it. Maybe I should remember this when I am almost done with something and instead of just waiting till I can get home and pull the image off of a computer, I just draw the said object as fast a possible and hope for the best. Too bad these things come out looking like a mentally disturbed person drew it! Yeah, there is a joke in there, huh?

MY STRONG POINTS:

1. DRAWING PEOPLE SO THAT THEY LOOK STUPID: Hell, I can do this really well. In fact, it seems as though at least half of what I draw falls under this idea. It is amazing what a little outstretched tongue, the crossing of the eyes, and a finger in the nose or drool can do. I can make anyone look stupid! This is a good talent to have if you draw cartoons.

2. THE IMPROVEMENT I HAVE MADE IN DRAWING WOMAN: Back in high school, I would flinch at girls wanting me to draw them. I would hem and haw and hesitate, because in reality all of my efforts looked really stupid. During the punk rock eighties, all girls would be drawn wearing a hat with eyelashes and maybe some hooped earrings, so you would know that these people were supposed to be women. It took awhile, but I can draw woman a lot better, maybe even pretty good. A few people have even said that I could draw hot looking woman. Well uh...I guess that is cool. i have three types: hot, studious and defiant. Sometimes they hold axes in their hands as well. That could be all three of my types combined.

3. RE-CREATING THE 7 SECOND'S "WALK TOGETHER ROCK TOGETHER" COVER IDEA FOR PEOPLE THAT WILL PAY ME TO DO SO: People just can't seem to get enough of this thing that I drew in 1984, that will probably be carved on my tombstone after I am dead: "He drew the 7 Seconds cover". What is it about a punker band playing being surrounded by smiling punker types getting into the proceedings that seems to have such a timeless quality? I guess because it represents fun. And it often is or was fun. I drew a version for a band called H20 (that was never used), another recent version for a band called Triple Threat and more recently I drew a t-shirt design for the recent NO WAY RECORDS festival in Richmond last year. People just love this shit! As long as I am paid I will reinact this idea for anyone, because I am sort of a whore for money..in a drawing sense, that is. You need a angry dude screaming into a mike and being swallowed up by an audience that consists of mostly angry young men and a few woman and maybe an Afro American dude as well? You've come to the right place!

4. SNEAKING CHARLIE BROWN INTO ANYTHING I CAN: For whatever reason, Charlie Brown seems to crop up a lot, and in the least likely places in my cartoons. But Batman has also made a few appearances as well. Perhaps I should stick to Batman for the future.

5. HAVING NEVER BEEN TO A COMIC BOOK CONVENTION IN MY LIFE: This sort of speaks for itself. I used to read superhero comics when I was younger, but standing in a short line to have the writer Chris Claremont sign something of mine (and feeling sort of dumb too) is the closest I have ever come to this kind of thing. Maybe I am doing myself a great disservice, like shooting myself in the foot by not being in touch of this world, a thing that could only be used for my advantage..but I just haven't done it. I also rarely if ever go to art shows and that kind of thing.


So there is the progress report, kids. In the future, I will try to improve on these weak points of mine and excel even farther on my strong points. The only exception is the punker band/audience exchange of energy concept...I think I got that one down.

THE DRUMMERS NIGHTMARE PHOTO!

PHOTO FROM OUR LAST SHOW HELD IN DURHAM NC. SAYS ME AT THE TIME THIS WAS TAKEN: FUCKING STUPID ASS DRUMS SLIDING AROUND ALL OVER THE PLACE BECAUSE OF ONE FUCKING LITTLE STUPID THING...HAVENT HAD A "DRUMMERS NIGHTMARE" SHOW IN A LONG ASS TIME AND I HOPE ITS ANOTHER FIFTEEN YEARS BEOFRE THE NEXT ONE. FUCKING DRUMS..I HATE DRUMS SOMETIMES! STUPID DRUMSET...STUPID STUPID!

PHOTOS!!!!

SO HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS FOR YOU TO LOOK AT..WHAT THE HECK.....


ANDY FREEBURN AND JUSTIN GRAY IN CHICAGO LAST YEAR.

DALE CROVER WITH SHORT HAIR AND DESCENDENTS T-SHIRT, PHOT BY ME TAKEN A LOOOONG TIME AGO...

ETHAN SMITH, WAYNE TAYLOR, REED MULLIN AND ME, SUMMER OF 1985 IN RALEIGH. THIS WAS THE INITIAL SUMMER THAT I VISITED AND IT SORT OF SEALED THE DEAL FOR ME. THIS WAS TAKEN IN REED'S PARENTS OFFICE ONE HOT SUMMER DAY.

WOODY WEATHERMAN OF NO LABELS..I GOT THIS PHOTO BUT HAVE NO IDEA WHO TOOK IT. SORRY!

JACK BREWER OF SACCHARINE TRUST AT THE FALLOUT SHELTER, 1986. PHOTO BY CHRIS SCHNIEDER. THIS WAS A GREAT SHOW.

WOODY AND MIKE OF COC AT THE BREWERY, LATE 1985. NICE MINOR THREAT SHIRT, WOODY. I THINK CLAIRE ASHEBY TOOK THIS.

BL'AST! AT THE TURNING POINT IN CHAPEL HILL, 1986. PHOTO BY ME.

BL'AST! "THE POWER OF EXPRESSION". ONE OF THE GREATEST RECORDS OF THE EIGHTIES.

SHORT LIVED LINEUP OF BLAST! WITH KIP DUVALL (NOW IN ALICE IN CHAINS..NO SHIT!) STAGE RIGHT. I THINK I WENT TO THIS SHOW..CAN'T BE SURE....



ORIGINAL GUITARIST STEVE STEVENSON OF PLAYING IN OXNARD CALIFORNIA, DECEMBER OF 1984, THE FIRST TIME I WITNESSED THEM. WATCHING STEVE ARE ASSORTED MEMBERS OF DR. KNOW AND STALAG 13 GETTING THIER ASSES HANDED TO THEM ON A SILVER PLATTER.

Santa Cruz's BL'AST! were hands down one of the best bands that I have ever seen, and their debut album "The Power Of Expression" is a record hat I have listened to millions of times and I can never seem to get sick of it. How did these five young men from such a laid back beach community in Northern California record a album so great that they showed up their heroes?

And by heroes, I mean BLACK FLAG first and SSD second. First off, I am sure that showing up SSD wasn't too hard. They only had one good record, and I think you all know what I am talking about.

In the case of BLACK FLAG, what can I say..they changed my life forever. BUT it isn't too hard to state by the time "The Power Of Expression" came out, the mighty FLAG was winding down a bit, if not by the tail end of the Roessler/Stevenson lineup then certainly by the "Loose Nut"/"In MY Head" final offerings of said heroes. Bl'ast! was famously made fun of by Henry Rollins in his "Get In The Van" book when the two bands encountered each other in 1984, and it is a belief shared by most people. A lot of people couldn't get past the Flag thing, and I suppose I can understand that. But from the first time I saw this band play in Oxnard California in December of 1984 until the last time I saw them with their short lived final five piece version with ex Neon Christ guitarist Kip Duvall stepping in for original guitarist (and main songwriter in their early days Steve "Stevenson" Borek), this band handed my ass back to me every time and made me say "Black Who?"

Plus they did awesome covers of "The Slave" by the Germs and "12xU", and in the case of that cover it sounded awesome and nothing like anyones version. Seriously.

I am certainly not knocking anything the remaining four guys (Bill Torgerson, Dave Cooper, Mike Nieder and Clifford Densmore) did after all of that, but "The Power Of Expression" twenty whatever years later is a towering monster that still holds up more than easily. And the five piece versions of Bl'ast! were awesome players and performers. Steve Stevenson must have had a lot to do with this, but when he got more into The Cure and less into combing his hair like Howdy Doody, it was obvious his days were numbered. The remaining four wisely got Kip Duvall, but this didn't last too long either. I wasn't really too into the other records that they did but there are some good songs here and there, but nothing with the intent of "The Power Of Expression".

Clifford's lyrics are also pretty free of cringe-worthy moments. He had a good head on his shoulders, and even when he is singing (now sort of funny and dated) lines like "We are the youth of today, and no one is going to take our future away" as he does in the song "The Future", the force of the band hammering behind him backs up the statement with the force of a hurricane. Besides, this was recorded way before all of that "youth crew" stuff. Nieder and Stevenson do wield their guitars like the bastard sons of Greg Ginn to some extent, but then there is other tangents that they go off in..really though, a lot of people have tried hard to bite a little bit of what made Black Flag Black Flag, but no one got as close and eventually (if only for a moment) surpassed them, and that is what Bl'ast! clearly did on "The Power Of Expression".

Man..think I'll play this record again.

AMAZING FIVE STAR REVIEW OF MANCHILD 3! HEAD SWELLS EVEN BIGGER NOW!

yeah, I do look on the internet for reviews..I'd re-print bad ones, too:

Brian Walsby and Melvins? And you haven't ordered it yet?!, January 10, 2008
By Jon C. Yates "entheogeneticist" (Anaheim, CA United States) - See all my reviews


Brian Walsby is my favorite working comic artist, bar none. Imagine Harvey Pekar with a little less misanthropy, replace the jazz with the best punk bands that ever existed (those SST cats, especially) and you have some idea of what Walsby accomplishes, but a simple lazy hyphenated "like-blank-crossed-with-blank-minus-blank" does the guy no justice. From band profiles to a diary of his time spent with Melvins on their 2006 tour to original work that proves he is equally adept at humor as well as more somber fare, Manchild 3 is a perfect starting point to dig this guy's work- biting humor, stellar taste in tunes, and a drawing style that is like what you tried to convey in the notes you'd pass back-and-forth during physics class in high school, only way, way better- what's not like? After reading this, I immediately ordered the first two Manchild volumes and I'm waiting with baited breath for number four.

On top of all the great comics contained within this tome, it comes packaged with OZMA-era demos recorded by the mighty, mighty Melvins from Walsby's personal collection. If that doesn't have you adding this to your shopping cart, you haven't a soul.

Speaking of no soul, one of the most satisfying aspects of this book, for me at least, if that Walsby is unafraid to take on the sacred cow who is Mike Patton. Following Walsby's example, I finally have the courage to stand up to my nerdy music geek friends and say "ramming a microphone down your throat and screaming...doing a weak eYe Yamatsuka impersonation, over stale funk-metal is NOT genius! Burping into a tape recorder in a hotel room is NOT genius!" And don't even get me started on Peeping Tom.

Thanks John! So far Mike Patton hasn't kicked my ass yet, I'll let you know if he does..

FORGOTTEN GEMS OF EARLY EIGHTIES HARDCORE MUSIC.

SECRET HATE: THE 1983 TWELVE INCH E.P. THAT THEY PUT OUT IS A LONGTIME FAVORITE OF MINE.


Today's culture, speaking in terms of all things punk rock (whatever that ever meant or even means now) has turned into what i like to call "the Nuggets syndrome", which is a new generation of kids digging into the vaults and salt mines to find exciting rock and roll music in a way similar to me when I got into the "Nuggets" era of forgotten sixties punk. I was totally into music made by people some twenty years older than I myself. But these days what is interesting is how much easier it is to get your hands on information thanks to you know..the Internet and stuff like that. Even more interesting is what is overlooked, and what is championed. Since Double Negative started a couple of years ago I have witnessed some of these choices first hand. I know that you like what you like but I must admit that I am a bit surprised by some of these choices.

A good example to start with is the guy who put out our record. Does anyone remember the band ANTI from Los Angeles? Well, Brandon from No Way Records does. He has all three of their records. Hmmm. I had all of their records too. I am not saying that they are bad but I just find that sorta amazing, mainly due the fact that it is so damn obscure.(The Mood Of Defiance record was a lot better.) Some of the Mystic Records stuff is held in the highest regard to some people I have met, a head scratcher if ever there was one. I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised and I could go on and on but instead I had this idea that there seemed to be some stuff that I haven't heard or read ANYONE singing the praises of. Usually these bands fall into the category of being able to release maybe a seven inch or a twelve inch e.p., maybe having some additional compilation tracks and then fading away into obscurity even though they were arguably as good or perhaps even better than some of the more famous and infamous eighties era punker bands that get praised towards high heaven.

This small list isn't my chance to show off how obscure and cool i am, these are some really good bands that put out some really good records that for whatever reason no one seems to have noticed. Since real information is somewhat scarce (meaning I myself don't know too much about these bands) I am going to stick in little bits of info that I found on the Internet.

SECRET HATE: This band was from Long Beach California and seemed to exist in the early eighties. They released one twelve inch e.p. called Vegetables Dancing that I thought was really terrific; a eclectic (in the best sense of the word. No two songs sounded alike) sounding band with hot shit guitar playing by the band's late guitarist, Reggie Rector and dramatic almost theatrical vocals from Mike Davis, who could actually sing. Secret Hate also had a few songs on various compilation records in the early eighties, most notably Hell Comes To Your House. After all of this, the band seemed to just...fade away. The following interview I found on the net when the band did in fact re-form a few years ago:

Twenty years ago punk rock wasn't so bound by musical conventions. The early bands only had a few bands to look up to for indications of punkness, and most of that was attitude and visual style rather than style of music. Consequently, many bands invented punk rock as they went along. The results could be weird, or off kilter, or just plain amazing. Secret Hate is one of those early bands. From the prolific Long Beach scene, here they are today. ...And remember, it was never really about hate...
U.D.: Who are you and what do you do?
Mike Davis: I'm Mike D and I sing.
Rick Selga: I'm Rick, AKA Junebug, I'm a clinical psychologist and a drummer
Bob Schaeffer: I am Bob. Freaks, whatever, odd jobs.
Blake Davilla: Some call me Blake. I lasso the wind.
Kevin Roach: My name is Kevin, I play the bass guitar.
U.D.: A lot of bands come and go, you guys came back. Why?
MD: Cuz we're able to play without self destructing now. And it's in our nature to make noise.
RS: Always wanted to come back. We were still friends and talked about it a lot. When Sublime used our song, that just pushed us back in.
BS: Because we wanted to.
BD: I got no place to go.
KR: Rick, Mike, and I thought playing would be fun. When it stops being fun, why do it?
U.D.: Why did you leave the scene in the first place?
MD: Too much fighting, too much schmoozing, too much needles.
RS: Burned out on the violence.
BS: We felt we needed to go underground to germinate.
BD: Not qualified to answer old school S.H. questions but I suspect the "Hot Dog" incident had something to do with it.
KR: Our "scene" was 18-20 years ago. We just went separate ways. Life changes and you do different stuff. Rick and I crawled around L.B. for years.
U.D.: Secret Hate was an integral part of the early Long Beach punk scene. How does the scene differ today?
BD: Chain wallets.
MD: Long Beach was in between the O.C. scene & L.A., we had no clubs so we had to d.i.y., it's not as tight knit today but people seem to be getting along...
RS: There's more of us today.
BS: There is more trash, and less natural beauty, people still try to act really tough for no reason.
KR: I wish I could tell you about the scene in L.B. today. Lots of new bands, cliques, etc., etc. I'm jazzed whenever I hear a band outta L.B., Secret Hate, out of necessity is a bit detached from it all, which is not always a bad thing.
U.D.: What year was Reggie Rector (original guitarist) murdered? Can you share the details?
MD: I'm not comfortable sharing this with you.
RS: No.
BS: I dunno.
KR: I don't have many details on that. Long Beach has claimed so many. Reggie's death was just another tragedy in a long list of the same. We miss him.
U.D.: My fondest memory of Reggie is when he, some one's mom, and I were alone in a cramped, one-room bungalow and the two of them crept under a blanket on the floor and proceeded to conduct business. I never could understand why they didn't go outside and commando a bush or something! What's your fondest memory of him?
MD: Me and Reg were pushing his car and he got mad and picked it up by himself, also just chillin' at his house smoking pot and writing songs that made no sense to any other punkers.
RS: His lead in Bomb Chic.
KR: It seems most of my memories of Reg are when he pissed me off. It's funny how the mind works. I think what I remember most about Reg was his laugh. We'd get stoned and he'd giggle and laugh like a child. He was a gentle guy, could play bad-ass guitar, and could drop a man with one punch.

So this isn't much to go by, but Vegetables Dancing remains a favorite of mine. It had been re-issued on c.d. with some bonus live tracks that all sound just as good. Secret Hate was/is a unheralded gem.


REBEL TRUTH: I know almost nothing about this band from Sacramento California excpt that this trio put out one amazing seven inch in 1983 on Version Sound and disbanded shortly afterwards. The seven inch had lots of speedy precise sounding hardcore songs on it that were seriously up there with the likes of Minor Threat in terms of catchiness and clean execution. Some of the arrangements reminded me of an astronaut landing on the moon. It sounds stupid, I know. The lyrics were all very astute and intelligent. I ripped off a few of these in some old bands I was in, ha ha. They also had songs on various compilation records and tapes to boot. Their drummer was shit hot, too. Here is a little part of an old 1982 Flipside Magazine interview:


FS: Where did Rebel Truth start? Who is in the current lineup?

The band started here, in Sacramento about a year ago. At this time the band has three members - Erik Fremstad (Bass), Stu Horne (Drums), and Kevin Lee (Guitar).

FS: Do you have a definition for Rebel Truth that you want people to know about?

As a banner and concept, we think Rebel Truth makes a concise statement on society in general - Truth as rebellion to the thinking and actions of the status quo. As a band we seek honest, responsible and compassionate answers and efforts because for us sincerity and humanity are very important values necessary for good ideals, actions and goals.

FS: Tell us about the lyrical content of your songs.

We're not exclusively pursuing political issues, but politics are automatically implicated when you write society-conscious music. Still, we stay pretty basic. We usually try to keep our lyrical style straightforward and earnest because we don't want to be misconstrued. We also try to take a personal stance towards dilemma in a song because even though we want to touch a universal nerve, we can literally only speak for ourselves.
It takes a special skill to attack a political issue astutely with a song, though that's not to say we wouldn't want to try and do that in the future - it's just that dissipating personal anxieties and pressures with our music challenges us quite enough right now. We're really concerned with trying to do this as best we can.
As for what we're trying to accomplish - as far as we can see and hope, cooperation is vital to the future and communication is a vital basis for cooperation. We can serve as a communicator, hopefully a good one. We always want Rebel Truth to inspire and/or cause change for the better, but musical communication is our home base.
We do want Rebel Truth to become a cooperative effort between audience and band - a concept that will lead or initiate action by its existence, one that offers positive change, support and encouragement for people both in and out of the scene. We'd definitely like to see benefit/donation gigging for honorable, compassionate causes become a much bigger part of our performing future.

Perhaps the idealism of the band caused their early demise, who knows. But Rebel Truth was definitely a overlooked gem to me. Their music had been reissued on c.d. by Brian at Grand Theft Audio Records, so it shouldn't be too hard to track down if you want to check them out. The c.d. also comes with a live show, various demos and outtakes.


NO LABELS were a sister band to C.O.C. I suppose In this case I do actually know a whole lot about them. They shared band mates (Reed Mullin on drums and Woody Weatherman on bass) with them, and were formed at precisely the same time as C.O.C. If you have read any of my blog at all and you remembered the Like Gold Down A Sewer archives, you know that this was the first hardcore band that I heard from North Carolina, via their "Jane Doe" cassette. It is still a great recording, some of the best type of this music I have heard, on par with about anything. A few of these songs ended up on compilation records and the demo had limited circulation when it was recorded. We are talking about 1983 here, folks. The tapes have since been long since lost/destroyed or forgotten. I did have a crystal clear copy made for me by the band's guitarist Ricky Hicks, but it was ripped off on that ill fated Pittsburgh encounter that Scared Straight had (to the three people reading this who will know what I am talking about) and since then in twenty years or so, NO ONE has a decent sounding cassette of this amazing recording! No one in the band does I can assure you. It is too bad but oh well. File this next to that four track that the Mike Dean/Woody/Reed Mullin version of COC made at the Brewery of all the new songs they had (minus then singer Simon Bob..no vocals..alright!!) before Mike quit. Sniff sniff....There is not much info on No Labels but here is a short snippet that I would imagine Ricky Hicks handled:


Background No Labels started in February of '82. We were looking for fun and there were quite a few people in Raleigh who liked hardcore - but no bands to speak of. By August we had established a permanent line-up and we started writing our own songs. We all like music other than hardcore - i.e. blues, heavy metal (without the mentality), reggae - however it's the energy and/or truthfulness of the music that we are attracted to - not the label. At this point it is mainly "hardcore" that we play.

Band's Purpose or Intent Having fun - us and the audience - is the main purpose but we can't help but interject personal opinions and politics within our songs. As Vince told me, it is too band that there are so many bands that don't take a stance on anything either in their music or lyrics. If you're serving something that tastes good, why not add some nutrition to it?? One important thing to remember about us and every other band is that what we say is an opinion - no more, no less - the important part of what we say is the questions or thoughts we arouse, not the answers. Those are for you to find.

On Raleigh and D.C. Because of Raleigh's small size, a relatively small scene, and narrow-minded club owners, very few national bands make it to the area. No Labels and others have relied on DC as a place to go and see shows. They have some of the best bands anywhere. This is important because the song "HarDCcore" on the North Carolina compilation NoCore has seemed to cause a lot of tension between NC and DC. It is unnecessary and unfortunate. We would like to explain that we personally think that DC as a whole has a great scene with good attitudes and good people, but within any scene, especially one of its size, one is going to find problems. We cite DC in the song because we are familiar with the place. Its intention is not to breed ill feelings, but to serve as constructive cirticism from an outside view - stressing the distinction between territorial ism and local ism; and the stupidity of the hypocrisies people commit just to be "accepted" in the "scene".

No Labels were real good. Everybody I know around here said that they were by far the most important band until they broke up and then C.O.C. took the ball and ran with it. This is all here say of course, I wasn't there. Unlike Secret Hate or Rebel Truth, there is no real proof of No Labels' existence. Maybe one day someone will find that forgotten good quality tape of "Jane Doe" and figure out the rest.

Honorable mentions go out to Mecht Mensch, the Neos, The early Tar Babies, Genetic Control and if I think about it a whole bunch more so I will shut up and stop for now. So long, kids!