Skaterock
In the mid-eighties a wonderful thing popped up. It happened when
skateboarding and punk-rock culture, which naturally went hand in hand, became
one in a phenomena known as skaterock. A lot of professional skateboarders
were accomplished musicians and performers - Steve Caballero (who is STILL pro)
had his band Odd Man Out, and Steve Alba (also STILL pro and still kicking ass)
was in a number of bands, most notably his namesake outing, Screaming Lord Salba.
Three bands in particular tickled my friends and me in a very special way.
Drunk Injuns
From the ashes of skate-rock ancestors Gods Of Sound, and Los Olvidados came
Drunk Injuns.
The true all-time heavyweights of skate punk bands. As mysterious as the
Residents, this offering of DRUNK INJUNS' early recordings circa 1983-84, packs
a powerful 1-2 punch with searing guitars, a heavy driving back-beat, and
mature, introspective messages delivered in a unique vocal style. While emerging
from the same culture that spawned the typically anthemic skate punk sound,
DRUNK INJUNS have a unique sonic signature to be filed under "brooding," "moody"
and "caustic."
Imagine bands like the Dead Boys, Joy Division, the Ramones, Sleepers, Hank
Williams, Negative Trend, Rik L Rik, and the Doors rolled up into one with a
vicious twist.
Vocalist/Producer Mörizen Föche, aka Mofo, originally created and directed
Thrasher magazine's Skate Rock compilation series, and was ultimately
responsible for identifying the musical phenomenon in a series of magazine
articles, and is credited with coining the term "Skate Rock". MoFo was also one
of the best, most proflific and most interesting of all skateboarding
photographers of the 1980's. He deserves as much credit as Steycyk for defining
the aesthetic of the foundation that lay in wait for the mid-nineties boom.
DRUNK INJUNS perform in costume as Indian ghost warriors. Rumored to have
perished in plane crash in North Dakota. Most talked about skaterock band on
SKATEROCK.com boardroom.
There is a "new" album from Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles - it has some
old stuff, some unrelased stuff, and a couple of new stuff.
Find out about it
Listen to Drunk Injuns "LOTTA KILL" before you go further!
fIREHOSE
There's the story from the man himself. Firehose (NOT FIREHOUSE, some
awful hair-band) has a very specific way to write their name as well - fIREHOSE.
Years before they internet they were playing the
how-we-capitalize-makes-us-different game. True friggin pioneers.
These guys actually didn't skate I don't think, but their music was VERY
prominently displayed in the famous Santa Cruz skateboard videos shot on film by
Scott Dittrich, during the groundbreaking streetskating parts featuring the
great Natas Kaupas (who also STILL skates and STILL kicks ass)!
"fIREHOSE started the spring after a guy named D. Boon got killed when ed fROMOHIO (actually charles edward crawford) found watt's number in the phone
book, called him and then headed out to pedro from columbus, ohio. george hurley
did drums. over the course of seven and half years we made six records and did
many, many gigs in the u.s. and europe. I am forever grateful to edward for
getting me back in the saddle and wrestling bass again"
"I got the name fIREHOSE from watching a film short of bob dylan doing
"subterranean homesick blues" using cue cards for the lyrics. I thought that it
was funny when he held up the card that said 'firehose'"
MIKE WATT
Listen to Brave Captain Listen to "For The Singer of REM" (Yeah thats the title...)
McRad
There were a series of very important skateboard videos produced in the
late-80's, early-90's, by none other than Dogtown and Z-Boyz director Stacy
Peralta and his mentor-art-partner Craig Steycyk. One musical choice stood
out, espeically in BAN THIS. McRad. Basically it was all Chuck
Treece. He played all the instruments, wrote all the songs and sang
everything. Dumb-ass 80's name but driving, kick ass skaterock which I
cannot find now ANYWHERE! I remember I used to have the cassette that I
had to order direct from Brian Ware at Beware Records...but that is it.
Chuck Treece's influence on both skateboarding and music can't be ignored. As both a
pro skater and prolific musician Chuck defines what skaterock is all about. He
is a driving force behind McRad and has sessioned with nearly countless
musicians from Billy Joel to the Bad Brains.
Now living in Philadelphia, Chuck Treece is everything from the bassline in
Billy Joel's "River of Dreams," the drums on the theme song for the TV show
Clueless and the backing vocals on Bad Brains' album, Quickness. He's toured
with Urge Overkill playing bass, G. Love and The Goats playing drums and played
guitar on the road with the Disposable Heroes of Hiphopracy.
He put out a solo album in 1990, Dreamin', on Caroline Records and has founded
several bands over the years: the '90s melodically groovy Black Beans, and the
recent hardcore hip-hop trio Supergrub. His current side projects include
playing live with classic rockers Aunt Pat and singer-songwriter Nancy Falkow.
I cannot find ANY of the McRad stuff ANYWHERE - Somebody Help!
Coming
Soon - Screaming Lord Salba, Odd Man Out, many more...
Check out the related HISTORY OF PUNK page here
The Killing The Messenger Web
Portal