The Lewd

 

The Lewd were an outgrowth of an earlier band called The Sixteen Year Old Virgins, who changed their name to The Knobs. Lead singer J. Satz Baret was formerly as "Satin Sheets," and played in the later, non-cabaret version of Ze Whiz Kids, circa 1975. Ze Whiz Kids, primarily a theater group, also included the late Tomata Du Plenty, of The Screamers. 

 

The Lewd’s first show was in the Northwest punk Bethlehem, Vancouver, B.C. The Lewd opened for the Ramones on June 8, 1977 for an evening of pure insanitainment. They recorded and released a great three-song EP on Scratched Records in 1979. The record was a home studio recording, and included the insane "Kill Yourself." The B-side numbers, "Trash Can Baby" and "Pay Or Die" are equally great crash 'n' burn punk tunes, all with Blobbo (Kurdt Vanderhoof of Metal Church) playing bass. 

 

In late 1979, Satz and Blobbo moved The Lewd to San Francisco and Blobbo switched over to guitar, adding Bob Clic on bass. This band recorded some demos and played SF for a nearly a year until Blobbo quit to form his new venture Metal Church, who released quite a few heavy metal albums. Bob Clic moved to guitar, and part-time model Olga de Volga came in on bass. Olga had played with other bands, including one called VS and often played Lewd shows wearing outrageous black leather outfits. The band appeared on the 1980 seven-inch, four-band EP 'S.F. Underground 2' (Subterranean Records) doing the fast-paced punker "Mobile Home." 

 

With Christopher Reece in as drummer, they released their only LP, 'American Wino' on ICI Records in 1982. Having fully absorbed the emerging faster hardcore punk sound, this blistering document features one side of studio recordings done in Hollywood, and another side culled from a live performance at Target Video Studios. This album is a crucial document of the San Francisco early '80s hardcore scene, right up there with releases by Flipper, VKTMs, No Alternative, Dead Kennedys, etc. After the LP was released, Bob Clic left and the band fizzled out soon afterwards. Olga moved to Hawaii, and Chris Reece became a member of Social Distortion. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]