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Photo courtesy of my friend, Chuck, aka Melissa aka my front row buddy

The crowd energy was amazing and the band seemed genuinely thrilled to be playing to such an enthusiastic and sold-out audience. Part of the reason I loved seeing 7 Seconds so much back in the 80’s was (and is!) that they are super-positive and inclusive; last night they played another fave “Not Just Boys Fun” which is about making sure the girls/women at their shows get a chance to be up front and dance without getting pummeled – at least that’s what I think I recall Kevin saying in an interview at some point (at that last show I saw in ’88 my friend, another small girl, and I got to sit on the stage during the show because things were getting too nuts in the pit). We all remember how great that energy felt back in the day so last night was sort of an 80’s punk rock reunion: I saw a bunch of my Fox Valley friends, some of whom I haven’t seen in years, including my friends Shawn and Allyson who were at all the 7 Seconds shows; after one of those shows – I believe in ’87 – the band came down to Allyson’s house for a party. That was a doubly epic night.

Shawn, me, Allyson. Photo taken by Joe on Shawn’s phone

So many highlights from the show, but my favorite were definitely songs from Walk Together Rock Together, one of my most-listened to punk records of the 80’s. (Walk Together Rock Together, produced by Ian MacKaye, is an expansion of the same-named 1985 EP and includes studio and live recordings.) Top show moments: “In Your Face,” “New Wind” and the title track “Walk Together Rock Together” – so much audience participation and whoa-whoa-whoaing. And in a beautiful act of universe synchronicity, today also happens to be the birthday of Nena (b. Gabriele Susanne Kerner, 1960) of “99 Luftballoons” fame. One of 7 Seconds most beloved songs – and one of their only covers – is a rendition of “99 Red Balloons” which was the final encore of the show. You can, as long as you have Facebook, watch the entire concert here:

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We have an original of The Crew but after hearing Scott Crawford’s “Spoke” podcast interview with Kevin Seconds a couple months back, I decided I needed this reissue in the collection (Trust Records had the band’s blessing).

7 Seconds was one of my favorite punk bands in the 80′s; I feel like I saw them every few months in the Fox Valley area: at the Ridgeway in Neenah (I got to sit on the side of the stage during that show) and ABC Boxing and Kutska’s Hall in Green Bay (we partied with the band at my friend’s house after one of the Kutska’s show). I still have some of the flyers for those shows in my collection that look pretty similar to the ones in the booklet.

The Crew was 7 Seconds’ first full-length release, put out after a slew of singles and a ton of touring. It’s an absolute hardcore punk classic, fast, hard but still melodic with whoa-whoa-whoa anthems like “Not Just Boys Fun” (always a favorite of us girls at the shows – 7 Seconds was a very female-friendly band for punk girls at concerts), “This is the Angry Pt. 2,” the title track “The Crew,” “Colorblind” and “Young Til I Die.” They had originally intended to put out their first record on Alternative Tentacles (Jello was a big fan of the band) to be titled United We Stand. Alternative Tentacles was going through some financial shit (read the booklet for the details) and Shawn Stern of BYO was pursuing 7 Seconds for a release so they ended up going that route, putting some of the tracks that they recorded for United We Stand onto The Crew.

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I forgot how much I like New Wind! I’ve always listened to their more hardcore 1986 Walk Together, Rock Together a lot more (their cover of “99 Red Balloons” on that album is absolutely killer), but so many tracks on New Wind remind me of those 80′s shows, full of melodic punk and moshing (well, I’d stand at the edge of the pit, hoping not to get stomped while elbowing the more obnoxious slammers back into the melee). Particularly awesome are “New Wind,” “Somebody Help Me Scream,” “The Inside,” “The Calendar” and “Still Believe.” It’s definitely not hardcore (though at times hard-edged) but rather infused with earnest youthful positivity (i.e. “Expect to Change”) and signature “whoa-whoa’s” sprinkled liberally throughout. So I guess I wasn’t that surprised to see in the liner notes the band’s thank-you to U2 “for inspiration” – certainly not musically but absolutely for tone and message.

Lyrics to “Expect to Change”

I keep thinking each and every day
Have I really made a difference, have I made things change?
In all these years of “growing up,” and “standing strong,”
Has it made a single dent with all that is so wrong?

[Chorus:] But if I haven’t done a thing for world affairs
At least I know I try and I’ll show that I care
‘Cause it’s me that has to make an effort
Or what can I expect to change
That’s where it starts, in myself
Not just shifting all the blame

And as I’m growin’ older, I can see the changes
Yet history ain’t history at all it seems
I try to keep my head held high, eyes open wide
And growing keeps me learning, yeah it keeps me free

[Chorus:] What have you got to think that time will stop for you?

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Youth of Today “Disengage” b/w “Modern Love Story” and “Envy” 1990. Revelation Records. Flyer from a show they played with fellow straight-edge hardcore punks Uniform Choice, likely from August 1986, but possibly ‘87, as that was around the time Youth of Today and Uniform Choice shared Wishing Well Records as their label. I have zero recollection of the show – I saw way too many punk shows at that venue in the mid to late 80′s for them to have much memory clarity. We’d see pretty much any show that came to town: being cheap, all ages and not too far from home made it easy. If I had to guess my motivation for going to this show, besides getting out of the house and socializing at a punk show, it was likely because of Youth of Today’s connection to Seven Seconds, which we all LOVED. Their debut EP was released on Kevin Seconds’ record label, Positive Force Records and Seconds played drums for Youth of Today for awhile in ‘86.

This 3 song 7″ was the single release from their final recording (a whopping 4 song 7″ EP Youth of Today EP) before breaking up in 1990. They did reunite in 2003 for a European tour and then again in 2010 and have continued to play live periodically to present day. It’s pretty standard “Youth Crew” punk that comments on the degradation of modern society due to corruption and greed and it’s the job of youth to rise up, speak up, etc. etc. The single “Disengage” comments:

We’ve got to disengage/Can’t you see this age/Dragging us down, down to the ground/We’ve got to disengage/And I think it’s sad that our society’s gone mad/Possessed by taking more than we need/And our motivation’s a sad situation/Because it’s fueled by anger, envy, and greed

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