F-Word! “Like It Or Not Live” 1978. Posh Boy Records. First-wave LA. punk, recorded live “off the boards” at Mabuhay Gardens, San Francisco “in front of a hostile audience” at a show with the Nuns and Avengers.  The sound is pretty excellent for 70’s live punk. F-Word! has virtually no releases: besides this live LP, they released a single covering the Germs’ “Shut Down,” which also appears on Like It Or Not Live. Other covers include New York Dolls’ “Bad Girl” and The Stooges’ “No Fun.” The originals all have a sound that mashes up their influences (Stooges, Germs, Ramones). My top picks are “Do the Nihil” (great title!), “Out There,” the super-messy and melodic “(I Don’t Want To Be A) Real Guy” and the wild “Eat Your Dinner” (can’t understand a word of it except the the “eat your dinner!” part). You can listen to the entire recording here.

I knew nothing about this band but found out F Word! was part of the initial 1977 L.A. punk explosion, centered around the Masque club in central Hollywood. Posh Boy was both their label and manager (Robbie Fields), who, according to F-Word!’s Dim Wanker (co-founder, guitar) precipitated the breakup by releasing a record without the band’s knowledge or permission, kicking the then 17-year old Wanker in the stomach, and instigating rifts between band members, particularly Wanker and co-founder Rik L Rik (vocals). The two mended their split years later and played a show “at Bergimont Station in late 1999 w/ X, The GoGo’s, The Crowd and MC’d by Pee Wee Herman to a maximum crowd filling out into the street” (punkvinyl.com). Rik died in 2000.