Paul Heyman & Friends

Young Paul Heyman with the unholy trinity of WWWF wrestling managers - Classy Freddie Blassie, Captain Lou Albano, and the Grand Wizard of Wrestling!

We Are the One: Remembering The Avengers

One of San Francisco’s earliest punk bands; the AVENGERS were certainly the first to self-consciously approximate their image and sound from the SEX PISTOLS and the CLASH. However, they are elevated to all-time classic status locally by the band’s anthemic riffs and Penelope Huston’s spirited vocals. They formed at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1977, playing Stooges and Rolling Stones covers until writing enough of their own material for a live set. Dangerhouse Records issued their 3-song debut EP later that year as the AVENGERS quickly developed into one of the burgeoning punk scene’s best bands. Bill Graham booked them to open for the SEX PISTOLS at their ill-fated Winterland Ballroom concert in January 1978, in which the AVENGERS stole the show. SEX PISTOLS guitarist Steve Jones apparently agreed, as he produced their four-song 12-inch on White Noise Records in 1979. Unfortunately, that record would not come out until after the AVENGERS had already disbanded out of frustration with the lack of upward mobility. One more record, the “Paint It Black”/“Thin White Line” 45, came out in 1983 on CD Presents.

Numerous recording sessions took place throughout the band’s two-year existence, but the local scene’s lack of interested record labels prevented the AVENGERS and virtually all of their contemporaries from proper documentation. David Ferguson’s CD Presents label compiled all three singles and several unreleased tracks into a posthumous LP in 1983 without the band’s permission, but it has since become the AVENGERS’ definitive release. This record has all the favorites, from “We Are the One” to “The Amerikan in Me.”

Avengers live at the Winterland Ballroom, January 14, 1978

Bassist Jimmy Wilsey went on to play guitar with Chris Isaak’s backing band SILVERTONE from 1985 to 1993 while drummer Danny Furious briefly played with Joan Jett, SILVERTONE, and SOCIAL DISTORTION. Penelope Huston embarked on a solo career in folk music, releasing a substantial amount of albums and singles throughout the ‘90s. She would reunite with guitarist Greg Ingraham as the SCAVENGERS with the PLUS ONES rhythm section of MR. T EXPERIENCE bassist Joel Reader and Danny Panic from SCREECHING WEASEL in the late ‘90s, producing a number of excellent live shows and several re-recorded tracks for the 1999 compilation Died for Your Sins released by Lookout Records. Several 1978 studio sessions and live recordings from the AVENGERS’ heyday also see the light for the first time here. Penelope and company unearthed more demos in 2012 for a sanctioned double CD reissue of the 1983 LP.

Gimme Something Better

Penguin Books, 2009

Gimme Something Better is an interesting book to revisit for me right now as a longtime Bay Area resident watching the effects of gentrification on local culture. California was the “capitol of the kooks” when I first arrived here in 1988; that’s how I liked it and would start inching towards the local punk scene several years later. GREEN DAY and RANCID were achieving mainstream success as I began regularly attending shows in the underground scene that spawned them. A.F.I. was still a scrappy punk band then; playing shows at Gilman Street and UC Berkeley keg parties. Although A.F.I. vocalist Davey Havok gets a quick chance to tell their story, Gimme Something Better’s lineage ends roughly around 1994-95 with GREEN DAY and RANCID’s ascension from the underground. Anything else beyond that is another story for another time.

Toni & Rachel, the DMR Twins.

While Gimme Something Better does profile a number of bands, readers should not expect it to serve as a guide to their recorded output. You won’t find discographies listed in the back like with Stephen Blush’s American Hardcore. Gimme Something Better is about Bay Area punk as a social and cultural phenomenon. Many visible (and sometimes notorious) figures on the scene offer their perspectives, from band members to zine writers to skinhead street thugs and even the local sheriff! We read about venues like the Farm and Ruthie’s Inn, as well as cliques like the D.M.R. punk girl gang and the Jak’s skate team. Punk rockers often lived marginal lifestyles, which produces chapters about the Vats and other abandoned living spaces (i.e. squats) in San Francisco. Gimme Something Better allows chapters to exist on Nazi skinhead crews AND the nearly-forgotten Outpunk scene that

Sam McBride: Fang vocalist and convicted murderer.

reminded everyone of punk’s queer roots. Various incidents that attracted media attention get coverage as well. FANG vocalist Sam McBride talks about going on the lam after murdering his girlfriend Dixie Lee Carney. We also remember the time someone hid a mummified baby at Gilman Street and when random crusty punks destroyed Jello Biafra’s knee at a poorly attended show.

Gimme Something Better isn’t perfect; it has a number of editing issues and it is not clear when different events take place over the twenty-year span. There also appears to be a peculiar narrative that treats punk’s destructive elements with seemingly more sympathy

Marc Dagger, Urban Assault vocalist and member of SF Skins.

than those that made a positive contribution to the subculture’s longevity. Nazi skins and violent drug addicts are simply forgiven for childish immaturity while Maximum RocknRoll and 924 Gilman Street are portrayed as entities to make fun of for their self-righteous do-gooder attitudes. MRR and Gilman deserve it in many ways, but let’s not forget that this book wouldn’t have very many reasons to exist without their respective roles in keeping Bay Area punk alive. I also could have done without a few stories about doing drugs and getting in fights to make room for more photos and graphic art. Such an art-driven subculture deserves more visual representation in its history books. That said, Jack Boulware & Silke Tudor checked their facts and packed a lot worth reading in over 400 pages. I’m looking forward to seeing if someone takes the book’s title up as a challenge to do research of their own and tell the rest of the story.

Movie Review: Hairspray (1988)

DIRECTOR: John Waters. CAST: Ricki Lake, Divine, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono, Jerry Stiller, Leslie Ann Powers, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Michael St. Gerard, Clayton Prince, Cyrkle Milbourne, Ruth Brown, Shawn Thompson, Mink Stole, Joann Havrilla, Doug Roberts, Alan J. Wendl, Toussaint McCall, John Waters, Ric Ocasek, Pia Zadora.
Hairspray was quite a revelation upon its initial release in 1988; it showed the world that John Waters and his cast of misfits were capable of crossing over to the mainstream with their madcap gross-out elements intact. However, Waters uses those elements to make big-picture statements regarding body image, equality, and inclusion. Ricki Lake makes her film debut as Tracy Turnblad, a plus-sized teen of the early ‘60s who dances her way into regular appearances on the popular local teenage dance show. Tracy’s overnight celebrity inspires a newfound confidence that leads her to speak up in favor of the Civil Rights movement, which does not sit well with a certain segment of society. Divine obviously deserves special mention for playing the dual role of Tracy’s mother Edna Turnblad as well as that of a racist TV station director. Unfortunately, he passed away just two weeks after Hairspray’s premiere, never to capitalize on the positive critical reception. Bolstered by a fabulous ‘60s pop and R&B soundtrack, Hairspray is John Waters’ finest hour—it is a subversive family-friendly film providing clues to a way out, if you will. Those clues are of utmost importance.

Movie Review: Dracula (1931)

DIRECTOR: Tod Browning. CAST: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade, Charles K. Gerrard.
Dracula is not without its flaws, but consider the context of it being the very first ‘talking’ horror movie. Most of the actors are clearly having trouble with the transition from the silent film era, as is director Tod Browning. Although Browning had directed “talkies” prior to Dracula, he wouldn’t really figure them out until he directed Iron Man later that year and then Freaks in 1932. Try sinking your teeth (heh) into a shining example of an actor becoming the role they play to the point of owning it and setting a new standard. Bela Lugosi does exactly that in Dracula, still managing to be menacing nearly a century later. Critics pointing at Lugosi’s slow, theatrical performance are missing the point. Why would a centuries-old nobleman from the Carpathian Mountains ever adapt to the 20th century? Count Dracula’s appeal lies in his not changing with the times. This makes him appear unique in the face of the modern man. Bland Brits like John Harker could never hope to be as interesting as Dracula; it is why Harker’s fiancée Mina and friend Lucy are still talking about the Count (and not John) hours after meeting him. Let today’s generation take away Lugosi’s career-defining—and ultimately career-ruining—performance from Dracula if nothing else. One also cannot forget Dwight Frye’s performance as the doomed Renfield, a character imitated in film nearly as much as the Count himself. Dracula is a film that any fan of horror movies ought to see at least once.

One Man Gang

Happy 60th birthday to the One Man Gang! One Man Gang is one of my favorite wrestling names ever! I first read about the man nicknamed the 747 in The Pictorial History of Wrestling and figured that it was only a matter of time before he came aboard the WWF. He spent the first ten years of his wrestling career in various territories before arriving in the WWF in May of 1987. Wrestling fans knew of him from World Class and the UWF, where he was managed by Gary Hart and Skandor Akbar respectively. One Man Gang would mow down jobbers in quick fashion. He would usually drop them AND the referee with an inverted suplex after the match was over, asserting himself as a force to be reckoned with. One Man Gang was repackaged a year later as Akeem the African Dream, which was a terrible gimmick and an obvious swipe at Dusty Rhodes. George Gray reverted back to the OMG persona upon entering WCW in 1991 and has not looked back since. You can find him making a living as a prison guard at the Louisiana State Penitentiary these days when he is not making the occasional appearance on the independent circuit. I hope that really is how he signed autographs back in the day!

20 Years Ago Today at Kimo's

All three of these bands are kinda forgotten footnotes now, but they each had an interesting approach. SANGRE AMADO was part of the early San Francisco black metal scene that spawned bands like WEAKLING and LUDICRA. Their songs sounded like they were written and recorded in the abyss itself! BRAINBLOODVOLUME was a short-lived sludge outfit with a pedigree that includes bands like AMBER ASYLUM, ARTIMUS PYLE, LAUDANUM, NO STATIK, REINA AVEJA, and WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I always enjoyed them live and wish they had issued a proper recording. MURDER TAKES NO HOLIDAY was like the next chapter in the heavy Oakland metal/punk sound; too bad they never released any recordings either. Things would probably be much different if these bands existed now.

Fred Blassie

Only a pencil neck geek would turn down a deal on a car from Fred Blassie! They wouldn't dare!

25 Years Ago Today at the CSM Hall

Not surprising that over 700 people showed up for this stacked lineup! I wasn't one of them, so I stayed home and looked at the flyer instead. I'm sure the Stockton police were quite thrilled to have that many punk rockers suddenly gathered in their town.

Gino Hernandez

Gino Hernandez flanked by his bodyguard Andrea the Lady Giant! Andrea went on to Mid-Atlantic Wrestling to manage Gino’s former tag team partner Tully Blanchard under the name of Baby Doll! Too bad the Handsome Half-Breed from Highland Park left us 34 years ago today, but he is still your champion nonetheless!

Bobby Heenan

I just realized that this blog went live a month ago and I have not posted a single photo of Bobby Heenan bleeding. That is being rectified right now. Please accept my humble apologies and have a good day.