Void

Void was one of the earliest bands to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal in a way that was accepted by punk fans, and also the first band signed to Ian MacKaye's Dischord label that wasn't from Washington, D.C. (they hailed instead from suburban Columbia, Maryland). Their influence wasn't as widespread as it might have been, thanks to an extremely limited recorded legacy that didn't even include a proper full-length album. However, they enjoyed an enduring cult reputation among D.C. hardcore aficionados, and by most accounts their punk-metal fusion was highly effective -a ferocious, barely controlled chaos rife with tortured vocals and shrieking guitar feedback. Void's live performances were notorious for descending into drunken mayhem, a rarity in the mostly straight-edge D.C. scene but one that perfectly mirrored their music. Unique too was their interracial lineup, formed in 1980 and composed of manic vocalist John Weiffenbach, guitarist Bubba Dupree, bassist Chris Stover, and drummer Sean Finnegan. Dupree was possessed of an innovative guitar style strongly reminiscent of Black Flag's Greg Ginn, but with a feel for the more technical riffs common to heavy metal. Void's volatility quickly found acceptance in the normally exclusive D.C. punk community. In 1981, they cut a demo tape titled 'Condensed Flesh', and made their vinyl debut early the next year with three songs on the Dischord label sampler 'Flex Your Head'. The band went into the studio that spring and cut 12 songs -some of which had appeared on 'Condensed Flesh'- that remained in the Dischord vaults for a time. Given the band's unhinged sound and live shows, it was clear that they wouldn't be able to hold together forever, and they disbanded in 1983. Dischord later paired their studio recordings with 12 more by The Faith and issued them as a split LP in 1985, which was later reissued on CD and introduced Void's music to a new generation of Dischord fanatics. The 'Condensed Flesh' demo was also released as an EP by Eye 95 Records in 1992. Bubba Dupree still carried a cult of admirers in the ‘90s, and found work as a guest guitarist gigging with the likes of Soundgarden and Moby; he also appeared on Dave Grohl's Probot project in 2004. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

Red C

In early 1981, Tomas Squip, who had just moved to the D.C. area from Switzerland, was walking down M street and smoking a pipe when he ran into a whole crew of D.C. punk rockers. They were being interviewed by the Washington Post for an article on the punk scene. It was through that meeting that he was introduced to Eric Lagdameo, from Potomac, a suburb in Maryland. Eric was looking for a drummer and Tomas was looking for a band, and they ended up forming Red C with Leo and Toni Young. Leo only played a few shows with the band and was then replaced by Pete Murray, who had been rumored to have been a member of the mysterious band The Stab, along with John Stabb from Government Issue.

 
The name Red C may well have come from a favorite Ethiopian restaurant in D.C. called Red Sea, though there were other theories floating around and the band wasn’t telling. They had a unique approach to music and this resulted in a sound quite different than what most of the other bands were playing at that point in time. 

 
Red C only played six or seven shows before breaking up, but they managed to record a demo tape at Hit & Run studios at some point during the summer of '81 and songs from that session appeared on the 'Flex Your Head' sampler. There may have been a second demo recorded in their basement that featured more of their songs, but the tapes disappeared after Toni died of pneumonia in the mid-80's. [SOURCE: DISCHORD RECORDS]

 

Youth Brigade

Existing for just nine months between March and December 1981, Youth Brigade became a vital part of the birth of the D.C. hardcore scene, alongside fellow band Minor Threat. Formed from the ashes of Teen Idles -of whom Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye was also a member- and The Untouchables, Nathan Strejcek and Danny Ingram worked their way through various guitarist and bass players, finally settling on Tom Clinton on guitar and ex-Untouchables' Bert Queiroz on bass. Shows in their native Washington culminated in a support slot for Black Flag at their first East Coast show. Youth Brigade's only official release came in the shape of an eight-track E.P. for MacKaye's Dischord Records. Released in 1981, the 'Possible EP' was named as a tongue-in-cheek dig at an advert for upcoming Dischord releases, listing a "possible EP" from the band. After their break-up, Bert Queiroz went on to play with Double-O and Rain, while Danny Ingram joined British shoegazers Swervedriver for a brief stint in 1992. The band reunited in 2012 -minus Clinton- for a benefit show for the D.C. hardcore documentary "Salad Days". [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

Government Issue

One of the longest-lived bands on the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, Government Issue (or G.I. for short) carried the torch for traditional hardcore punk on their early records, but evolved into something more adventurous by adding bits of metal, new wave pop, and psychedelia. Frontman John Stabb (born John Schroeder) guided the group through a legion of personnel shifts and several label changes, which made their nine-year lifespan all the more remarkable. Since their demise, G.I. has remained somewhat overlooked in relation to the rest of the D.C. hardcore bands of their time, in part because their music never really fit the proto-emo bent of much of the local Dischord stable. They did have a following in the straight-edge community, although Stabb's stance on drinking was more one of moderation than absolute purity.

 
Government Issue was born in 1981 out of the ashes of a group called The Stab, from which lead vocalist John Schroeder took what eventually became his stage name (he also went by John Stabb Schroeder on occasion). As the members of The Stab drifted apart, Stabb and drummer Marc Alberstadt hooked up with new guitarist John Barry and bassist Brian Gay, and changed the name of the band to Government Issue. By the end of the year, Gay had left to attend college, and was replaced by Minor Threat bassist Brian Baker, whose band was then on hiatus. Government Issue recorded their ten-song debut EP, 'Legless Bull', that year, releasing it on the Dischord label; they also appeared on Dischord's 'Flex Your Head' compilation, an important early document of the D.C. scene. Baker soon replaced Barry on guitar, and Tom Lyle joined in late 1981 as the new bassist; when Baker rejoined Minor Threat in early 1982, Lyle took over his guitar spot. 

 

 

Anxious to release another record, Government Issue left Dischord for the Fountain of Youth label and put out the 'Make an Effort' EP in 1982; the Ian MacKaye-produced LP 'Boycott Stabb' followed in 1983. Brian Baker returned to man the producer's chair for 1984's 'Joyride', which featured new bassist Mike Fellows; Fellows brought a temporary shot of energy to a revolving-door position that at various points in the past several years included Rob Moss and Michael Parker, among others. Fellows too moved on, however, and 1985's 'The Fun Just Never Ends' also marked a temporary end to G.I.'s tenure with Fountain of Youth. Hoping for better marketing, the band switched over to Mystic and issued two more records that year, the EP 'Give Us Stabb or Give Us Death' and the concert album 'Live on Mystic'. However, they returned to Fountain of Youth for 1986's 'Government Issue', which featured ex-Minor Threat bassist Steve Hansgen and found Stabb moving in a more melodic, less traditional hardcore direction that drew from the goth-punk phase of The Damned. It also helped earn G.I. a larger-scale deal with Giant. 

 
Longtime drummer Marc Alberstadt subsequently left the group, and Stabb and Lyle finally found a permanent rhythm section duo in bassist J. Robbins and drummer Peter Moffett. With a measure of stability, Government Issue's musical growth continued apace on 1987's 'You', their first album for Giant (which also reissued their Fountain of Youth catalog). Heralded as their most consistent and well-crafted LP to date, 'You' was a necessarily oblique chronicle of Stabb's stormy and illicit relationship with an underage girl. Released in 1988, 'Crash' was even better received, thanks to arguably the greatest musical variety of G.I.'s career. Despite reaching a peak, an increasingly weary Stabb decided to put an end to the band in 1989, having enjoyed a nine-year run. Lyle embarked on a solo career, releasing the album 'Sanctuary' in 1992. Robbins founded and fronted the acclaimed Jawbox, while Moffett joined Wool; the two later played together in Burning Airlines after Jawbox's 1997 breakup. Stabb reverted to his given name of Schroeder and gigged with several D.C.-area bands throughout the '90s, including Betty Blue, and by 2000 was performing with a moodier post-punk group called The Factory Incident. Stabb later performed and recorded with the band History Repeated, releasing a digital EP in 2015. In February 2016, Stabb and his family announced that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer; the disease claimed his life on May 7, 2016. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

 

Sacred Miracle Cave

Sacred Miracle Cave was an US American alternative rock band, late 1980s to early 1990s. It was a studio project involving members of The Lazy Cowgirls, The Raunchettes, Claw Hammer, and friends, and a showcase for the songs and vocals of Betsy Palmer and the extreme guitarisms of Keith Teligman and Chris B. Psychedelic as hell, twisted, anguished, goes from libidinous inferno to naive ballad. Produced by David Roback. Totally brilliant, dense sexual stew with extra hot psych sauce. [SOURCE: LAST.FM] 

Patti Palladin

Patti Palladin is primarily known for her work with Snatch (with Judy Nylon) in the early 1970s, Johnny Thunders, and The Flying Lizards. Palladin co-wrote the track "Trial by Fire" that appeared on the 1982 Judy Nylon album 'Pal Judy' (with her backing band Crucial). Snatch was included in the influential Nurse With Wound list released as part of the artwork for the 1979 'Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella'. Snatch recorded the song "R.A.F." with Brian Eno, which was released on the 1982 EG Records compilation album 'First Edition' and included audio samples from a Red Army Faction ransom message. 

 

Palladin also worked extensively with Johnny Thunders of The Heartbreakers, the former lead guitarist for New York Dolls. Palladin appeared on Thunders' 1978 debut solo album 'So Alone' and his 1985 album 'Que Sera Sera', and in 1988 they together released the album 'Copy Cats' on Jungle Records. She and Thunders also recorded a 1984 cover of Fred Wise and Ben Weisman's "Crawfish" for Postcard Records. 

 

Palladin became a member of The Flying Lizards around 1980, with whom she recorded the 1981 album 'Fourth Wall'. Palladin's "The Nuns New Clothes" appeared on 1983's 'The Batcave: Young Limbs And Numb Hymns' on the London Records label. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

The Green Pajamas

Performing lilting pop/rock with strong U.K. '60s influences, neo-psychedelic band The Green Pajamas were founded in Seattle in 1984 by Jeff Kelly and Joe Ross. A lifelong music fan, Kelly began composing his first songs at the age of 11, forming a group called The Electric Garbage Cans; his parents purchased him a reel-to-reel tape recorder, and he spent his teenage years compiling literally hundreds of cassettes of original material. After graduating from college, Kelly briefly joined a new wave band dubbed The Larch; he met Ross at a party and the two formed The Green Pajamas, informed by their mutual love of The Beatles and inspired by the Los Angeles "paisley underground" community. 

The group debuted in 1984 with the cassette 'Summer of Lust' on the Green Monkey label, and issued a flurry of tapes before recording their proper full-length debut, 'Book of Hours', in 1987. After 1990's 'Ghosts of Love', The Green Pajamas went on hiatus, and Kelly issued the solo LP 'Coffee in Nepal' in 1991; finally, in 1997 the band resurfaced with "Doctor Dragonfly" as well as 'Indian Winter', a compilation of singles and compilation tracks. 'All Clues Lead to Meagan's Bed' followed in 1999 and 'Seven Fathoms Down and Falling' arrived in 2000. 

The following year The Green Pajamas released the 'In a Glass Darkly' EP, which was inspired by J.S. Le Fanu's writing, as well as the full-length 'This Is Where We Disappear'. A mishmash of discarded singles and outtakes, 'Narcotic Kisses' was released in 2002 along with a full-length album, 'Northern Gothic'. The band celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2004, commemorating the event with a 14-track retrospective disc, 'Through Glass Colored Roses', and a live in-studio album, 'Ten White Stones'. Another full-length studio effort, the unabashedly psychedelic '21st Century Séance', was released the following year. 

In 2006, the band released yet another compilation disc, 'Night Races into Anna', followed by a companion piece to 'Northern Gothic', 2007's 'Box of Secrets: Northern Gothic Season Two'. The all-new conceptual piece 'Poison in the Russian Room' dropped in 2009. For their next project, The Green Pajamas penned a set of songs about drinking and heartache with a slight rootsy feel, released in 2011 as 'Green Pajamas Country!' They were back in dark but more musically familiar territory with 2012's 'Death by Misadventure'. Nautical themes dominated 2012's 'To the End of the Sea', and the collection 'Supernatural Afternoon', which brought together rare single sides and unreleased material, followed in 2017. The prolific band delivered another installment in the Northern Gothic series, 'Phantom Lake: Northern Gothic 3', in 2018. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

SS-20

SS-20 was an American psychedelic garage rock band from L.A. active in the mid 80's. Put together Bruce Wagner, an amazingly nuanced guitarist terminally influenced by '60s psychedelic rock, with Madeline Ridley, a goth queen who prayed to Jim Morrison and Syd Barrett almost as often as she slit her own wrists, throw in ace drummer David Winogrond (Skooshny, Davie Allen, Sylvia Juncosa) and ace producer Gary Stern, add astonishing cover versions of "My Eyes Have Seen You" (Doors), "Penetration" (Stooges) and a brace of vampiric originals, and you have this sleeping gem. Fantastic instrumental improvisation nailed to a mesmerizingly gloomy vocal presence makes for a band that, if you haven't heard it, you really should be asking yourself why. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]

 

The Steppes

In late 1982 singer-songwriter brothers John and David Fallon got together with Eddie Gryzb and recorded (and self-released 200 copies of) a five-track 7" EP under the moniker The Blue Macs. They mailed the bulk of the pressed EPs to record labels and magazines, and were quickly featured in Melody Maker in March 1983 with a positive review of said EP. 

 

In 1983 the band expanded the lineup to four members (adding guitarist Tim Gilman and replacing drummer Eddie Gryzb with Dante), changed its name to The Steppes, and demoed songs that would be released as a self-titled debut album on Mystic Records in 1984. The record found its way onto college radio in the US and imported copies spread throughout Europe. The next few years saw The Steppes playing several shows in southern California, as well as demoing many songs with their new drummer Jim Bailey. The band then signed to Greg Shaw's Voxx label who would put out several of the band's records, starting with 1986s 'Drop of The Creature', recorded in west LA. The album received critical acclaim and includes fan favorites such as "A Play on Wordsworth" and "Holding Up Well." 

 

The band began to be occasionally miscategorized as being part of the Paisley Underground neo-psychedelic revival, apparently because during this period they sometimes performed with some of those L.A.-based bands. 1988 saw the band release the album 'Stewdio', which was produced by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion. They embarked on their first tour of Europe which was lauded as a success with stops in Greece having 1,000+ people in attendance. 

 

In November '88 they began work on their next album 'Enquire Within'. Recorded over a four-week period at Goldust Studios in Bromley, UK, 'Enquire' is the band's third release on Voxx records and saw a progression in the sound of The Steppes as well as an increase in press exposure. Released in 1989, the album includes fan favorites such as "Master James" and "In Your Prime." By 1990 The Steppes were residing in different parts of the world (USA, Germany, Ireland) but still managed to record what many regard as their career defining album, 'Harps & Hammers'. Like the albums preceding it, 'Harps' accumulated expanded positive press and continued to finely hone the band's developing sound. Soon after the release of  'Harps & Hammers' the band dissolved. This has been historically attributed to complications involved with getting the band all on the same continent.

 

A live album 'Alive Alive, Oh' was released posthumously on Voxx records in 1991. In September 1991 John Fallon recorded a solo album in London. It was released in 1992 by Voxx records, initially being credited to The Steppes, erroneously. It was eventually re-released with proper crediting going to John Fallon. 

 

Each of the respective band members remain largely inactive musically, although Delerium Records, owned by Richard Allen (who also managed the band from 1989-1991), persuaded The Steppes to reconvene in June 1995 and write and record a new one-off studio album, 'Gods, Men and Ghosts'. The album was produced and recorded in Milwaukee by John Frankovic of the band Plasticland and released by Delerium in 1997. A rarities album was also released on Delerium in 1997 along with sonically improved CD editions of 'Drop Of The Creature' and 'Stewdio' (also including the band's first EP). In 2011 John Fallon re-activated his musical career by recording and releasing a 7" single on vinyl, 'Picture Yourself Today / Theme For Steve McQueen', as well as returning to performing live. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

The Eyes Of Mind

The Eyes Of Mind was a band clearly inspired by the psychedelic sound of the sixties. They skillfully mixed it with a very melodic power pop sound on theis sole album 'Tales Of Tuquoise Umbrella' (1984), another dose of giddy psychedelic revivalism from Greg Shaw's LA stable. Produced by Mark Wirtz (whose credits in the genre's original era include Keith West's Tomorrow, a legendary British psych band), the quartet takes the Edwardian flower power route path down the paisley road. Guitarist Jamie Phelan has a pleasant, fragile voice; the Eyes avoid slavish re-creation in favor of a subtler melodic evocation of the innocence and positivity of '60s pop. Loverly. [SOURCE: POP ON THE RUN]

 

Things

One of the more obscure bands of the Southern California paisley underground scene in the mid-'80s, The Things fell prey to the fundamental shortcoming of the movement -their style was wholly derivative, and their material not nearly as good as their '60s heroes. Certainly songwriter / singer / guitarist Steve Crabtree's chief musical inspiration was Arthur Lee, and the trio's 1984 debut, 'Coloured Heaven', was populated with innocuous folk-rock songs that, though well-intentioned, were not fit to be Love/Arthur Lee rejects. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

Dwarves

Short of G.G. Allin, it would be hard to name a punk rock band that went further to establish a bad reputation than the Dwarves. Playing deliberately crude, high-speed punk rock dripping with bad attitude, the Dwarves -led by vocalist Blag Dahlia and guitarist He Who Cannot Be Named- matched their music with lyrics that celebrated all sorts of bad behavior, and their album covers almost invariably featured full-frontal nudity. Add in the band's live shows, which often lasted less than 20 minutes and occasionally included a physical assault on the audience, and you have a recipe for infamy, which the Dwarves rode to a lasting cult following via incendiary albums like 'Blood Guts & Pussy' (1990), 'Thank Heaven for Little Girls' (1991), and 'The Dwarves Must Die' (2004). 

The Dwarves began in Chicago as a teen garage rock outfit called The Suburban Nightmare, and the garage/psych sound was partially carried over into the first Dwarves release, 1986's 'Horror Stories'. After the first album, the Dwarves relocated to San Francisco and evolved into a faster and sleazier punk rock outfit, as documented on the 1988 EP 'Lucifer's Crank'. In 1990, the Dwarves signed with Sub Pop Records and released their most notorious album, 'Blood Guts & Pussy', a ten-song, 13-minute assault packaged in a sleeve that featured two naked women covered in blood and a nude dwarf covering his midsection with a rabbit. 'Blood, Guts & Pussy' became the talk of the underground music press, and the Dwarves blazed across the country on tour, leaving a trail of blood from their own self-inflicted gashes, a bagful of drug stories (according to popular myth, bassist XXXXX disappeared in Detroit on a crack binge during a 1992 tour in support of 1991's equally seedy 'Thank Heaven for Little Girls', never to be heard from again), a litany of bizarre stage-show sex acts, and the wreckage of numerous 15-minute-long live shows. 

The Dwarves unsurprisingly self-destructed shortly after a failed hoax; shortly before the release of the 1993 album 'Sugarfix', the band issued a press release stating that guitarist He Who Cannot Be Named had died. 'Sugarfix' also carried a tribute to the guitarist, who in truth was very much alive. Sub Pop was not amused when they learned the facts and dropped the band, which soon went on hiatus. But the Dwarves re-formed for 1997's 'The Dwarves Are Young and Good Looking', and Epitaph Records signed the band in time for 2000's 'The Dwarves Come Clean'. Four years later, the band returned with 'The Dwarves Must Die', which included guests Dexter Holland from The Offspring, Nick Oliveri from Queens of the Stone Age, Nash Kato from Urge Overkill, and voice actor Gary Owens. In 2009 the band began to work on a new album, this time recruiting past members of the band like Salt Peter and Vadge Moore to play on the album instead of an all-star celebrity cast, and released 'The Dwarves Are Born Again' in 2010. The year 2011 brought the EP 'Fake ID', and in 2014 the troublemakers returned with the album 'The Dwarves Invented Rock & Roll'. The band moved to Burger Records for the release of their tenth full-length effort, 2018's 'Take Back the Night'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

The Mystery Machine

San Diego garage band from 1983. The Mystery Machine formed by Ray Brandes, Bill Calhoun, David Klowden, the three who later formed The Tell-Tale Hearts, Carl Rusk who formed The Nashville Ramblers and Mark Zadarnowski, a former member of The Crawdaddys. 

Zebra Stripes

Zebra Stripes (aka Zaida Gutierrez, now Zaida Clark) was a regular on the Los Angeles area Garage scene. Her track "Intro 66" originally appeared on VOXX Records' 'Battle of the Garages Volume 3' that spotlighted the Southern Callifornia Garage / Psychedelic rock scene of the mid 80's. This track was produced by Yard Trauma / Unclaimed member Lee Joseph to be the opening track for the new compilation. The track was so popular it was adopted by local KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer (Rodney on the ROQ) to be one of his theme songs for many years. The success of "Intro 66" led to the Dionysus Records LP 'Zebra Is Her Name' which featured Lee, members of Thee Fourgiven, The Miracle Workers, and others backing Zaida on a number of tracks. [SOURCE: YOUTUBE]

 

Jon & The Nightriders

Jon & the Nightriders released several albums and singles during the early 1980s: 'Surf Beat ’80' (1980), 'Live at the Whiskey A-Go-Go' (1981), 'Charge of the Nightriders' (1984), 'Splashback' EP (1982), and 'Stampede' (1986). The high-energy reverberated sounds of Jon & the Nightriders featured traditional surf arrangements and instrumentation. The band featured future Slacktone members Dusty Watson on drums and Dave Wronski on guitar. Surf historian John Blair composed many tracks and was featured on reverberated lead guitar. Ultimately, John Blair would write the authoritative "Illustrated Discography of Surf Music 1961-1965". 

 

Josie Cotton

Josie Cotton's 1982 new wave hit "Johnny, Are You Queer?" is unquestionably in dubious taste (although its killer chorus is one of the more memorable of its era), but there's more to this underrated singer/songwriter than her one shock-value novelty hit. Not only are Cotton's two early-'80s albums underrated pop gems, she since resumed her career in a surprising fashion; rather than jump the lucrative '80s nostalgia bandwagon like so many of her Los Angeles contemporaries like Berlin and Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons, Cotton has turned to a lovely, haunting version of art rock closer to that of Jane Siberry or Kate Bush. 

 
Some magazine articles in the early '80s claimed that Josie Cotton was the granddaughter of the actor Joseph Cotten, a piece of misinformation that overlooks the obvious difference in spelling. In reality, Josie Cotton was born Kathleen Josey in Dallas, TX, daughter of a prominent local family whose fortune had been made in…well, cotton. After singing with some local bands in Dallas' artsy Deep Ellum neighborhood, Cotton moved to Los Angeles in the late '70s to further her career. In Los Angeles, Cotton met and began dating a local musician named Bobby Paine, who with his brother, Larson Paine, had written a tongue-in-cheek girl group pastiche called "Johnny, Are You Queer?" that was a staple of The Go-Go's early live act. When the group declined to record the song on the advice of their record company, Cotton offered to do the song herself. A 12" single of the song with The B-52's-like "Let's Dance the Blackout" on the flip was released by Bomp Records in 1981. Although the song was a subject of controversy both on the Right (who claimed it promoted the gay lifestyle; one television preacher even claimed that playing the 12" single at 33 rpm instead of the usual 45 would reveal that it was actually a man singing) and the Left (who claimed it was homophobic), the single sold well enough that Elektra Records signed Cotton and reissued the single. Cotton's first album, 'Convertible Music', was rushed to completion and released in the summer of 1982. A glorious blast of Farfisa organs, surf guitars, and Cotton's appealingly whiny voice, the album scored another minor hit with the near-perfect "He Could Be the One." 

 
Cotton appeared in the 1983 cult classic "Valley Girl", singing both her previous singles and the Gary U.S. Bonds oldie "School Is In" during the climactic prom sequence. Her second album, 1984's 'From the Hip', was also produced by the Paine brothers, who took a more active role in the songwriting, minimizing Cotton's own excellent contributions and unwisely updating the sound with synthesizers and electronic drums. Though the superb "Jimmy Loves Maryann" was a minor hit, Elektra dropped Cotton shortly thereafter. 

 
In most cases, that would be that, other than the almost inevitable nostalgia tours. However, Cotton, temporarily reverting to the proper spelling of her real surname, Josey, unexpectedly reappeared in 1993 with the mysterious 'Frightened by Nightingales'. Co-produced by her husband, legendary L.A. punk producer Geza X, the album is worlds away from the snappy '60s pop of her '80s albums. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

The Vertebrats

The Vertebrats were a musical group formed in the twin cities of Champaign-Urbana (CU), Illinois, initially active from 1979 until 1982. They are credited with being one of the originators of a local CU DIY music scene that still exists. The Vertebrats gained notoriety due to their energetic live performances, on-stage chemistry, numerous original compositions, a fiercely loyal local fan base, and, as time went on, other bands covering their songs. The four members of the band's original stable lineup (from November 1979 onward) were Roy Axford Jr., Matt Brandabur, Kenny Draznik, and Jim Wald.

During their initial existence (1979–82) their recorded legacy was scant. Their song “Left in the Dark” was included on Greg Shaw’s Voxx Records (a subsidiary of Shaw’s Bomp! Records label) anthology called 'Battle of the Garages' released in 1981. Because this anthology LP was distributed internationally, The Vertebrats gained broad exposure. As a result, “Left in the Dark” was covered later by The Replacements, Uncle Tupelo, The Screaming Tribesmen (from Australia), and Courtney Love, among others. The band put out a 7-inch 45 RPM single with “Diamonds in the Rough” and “Jackie’s Gone” on their own label (Vb Records) in 1981. Their song “Any Day Now” was included on a locally produced anthology 'Stabs in the Dark' put out by Pogo Records in 1982. The CU FM radio station WPGU (107.1 MHz) honors listeners' requests for Vertebrat recordings such as "Left in the Dark" to this day. 

In the early 1990s, the band posthumously released two CDs of material gleaned from various studio and home recordings. The first is called 'A Thousand Day Dream' and the second 'Continuous Shows'; both were released by Parasol Records of Urbana, Illinois. Taken together, the two CDs showcase over 40 original compositions. A remastered (and improved) version of 'A Thousand Day Dream' was released in 2003 by the Reaction label, a subsidiary of Parasol Records. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

Rodney Bingenheimer

Rodney Bingenheimer is punk rock's biggest cheerleader. In the mid-'70s, long before record labels found punk commercially viable, Bingenheimer beamed two-chord, two-minute garage pop via his Rodney on the ROQ radio show on Los Angeles' pioneering alternative station KROQ. The impact of his program was felt throughout Southern California; struggling young acts found exposure they couldn't acquire anywhere else while many of its listeners, such as Dexter Holland of The Offspring and Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, eventually took the Orange County punk and ska that Bingenheimer had long championed onto the Billboard charts. 

Bingenheimer began his career as a stand-in for Davy Jones of The Monkees in 1966. Raised in Mountain View, CA, Bingenheimer ran away to L.A. after a suggestion from Cher. Called "The Mayor of Sunset Strip," Bingenheimer became such a prominent cult figure in the L.A. music scene that The G.T.O.'s wrote a song about him entitled "Rodney." In 1972, Bingenheimer opened a club that catered to the glam crowd, attracting visitors such as David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Led Zeppelin, Joan Jett, and even Elvis Presley. Rodney on the ROQ debuted on KROQ in 1976, and the show's underground discoveries -including punk rock icons such as Agent Orange, The Circle Jerks, and Social Distortion- were compiled onto Rodney on the ROQ albums in the '80s. In 2000, Bingenheimer was the executive producer of 'Blockbuster: Glitter Glam Rock Experience', a tribute to the early '70s U.K. imports he once spun in his club. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

The Know

The Know was the first band to headline at Madame Wong's on October 3, 1978, and they'd been playing for a while before that; their first gig was in March of 1978 at the Whisky with The Mumps and The Quick. Gary Valentine had moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 1977, right after getting pushed out of Blondie, and just before 'Plastic Letters' got recorded, and in search of the perfect band with which to make his second assault on the music world. After his first solo single recorded with The Mumps, Gary Valentine wanted to record with The Know. The other members of the trio were Richard D'Andrea (bass) previously with The Motels, and Joel Turrisi (drums), later to be replaced by John McGarvey.