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Germs “Cat’s Clause”

sfilzen — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 20:55:43 +0000

Germs “Cat’s Clause” 1993/2020. Radiation Records. Limited edition, gatefold, includes a 60×60 poster of the album cover. Today, August 5th, is Germs co-founder and guitarist Pat Smear’s birthday (b. Georg Albert Ruthenberg, 1959) – he also toured with Nirvana, has been on again/off again with Foo Fighters, was briefly in 45 Grave and has recorded with acts as diverse as Mike Watts to Paul McCartney. Cat’s Clause is a comp of live Germs shows and rehearsals from ‘79 and ‘80, originally a 10″ on Spanish label Munster Records released in ‘93. Some of this material I already have (because I’ll literally buy any Germs material that crosses my path) but most of it is new to me – not necessarily the songs but the live versions that appear here. I don’t recall hearing their cover of PiL’s “Public Image,” which leads off the album, from their infamous Dec. 3rd 1980 concert at the Starwood. I definitely had not heard “Germ’s Riot” recorded at the Great Gatsby in Redondo Beach in January 1980…and never need to hear it again as it’s about 3 hours of crowd sounds, mostly incoherent yelling and arguing (hardly a “riot” – it’s also only 5 minutes long but it feels much much longer). Also new to me are the two tracks recorded at Fleetwood in Renondo Beach, 1980: “My Tunnel” and “Communist Eyes” (which of course appears on the Germs’ only official LP G.I.) as well as the renditions of four songs from the Canterbury rehearsals (for G.I.) in ‘79 – “Strange Notes,” “Circle One,” “Forming” and “What We Do is Secret.”

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The Germs “Forming”

sfilzen — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:55:04 +0000

The Germs “Forming” b/w “The Germs Live” (which is really “Sex Boy” recorded live at the Roxy, the Germs’ second show, supposedly intended to appear in Cheech and Chong’s movie Up In Smoke. It didn’t make the cut.) originally released 1977 on What Records? and reissued in 2015 on Viaduct Records, green vinyl. Today, August 17th, is Belinda Carlisle’s birthday – yes, she is best known as the lead singer of the Go-Go’s but she was briefly the original drummer for The Germs, going by the name Dottie Danger. From an interview with Rolling Stone: I was the first drummer but we never played. I came down with mononucleosis and had to go back to my parents’ house and recuperate. But yeah, I’d met Lorna Doom before she was the bass player for the Germs. We used to go see the Babys and the Ramones the first time they came to L.A.We went to the Beverly Hilton to try to get Freddie Mercury’s autograph, and we met Darby Crash and Pat Smear, who were trying to do the exact same thing. They thought we were ridiculous-looking, and we thought they were ridiculous-looking, and then we thought, “Let’s form a band.” I’d seen a lot of the early punk bands and just got to be part of the scene. After I got mono, another friend of ours from art class, Donna Rhia – Becky was her real name – was the first drummer. When I got better, I was fine with her taking over the drums, because I didn’t like playing the drums. I became sort of a Germs prop person. I would hand Darby peanut butter and broken glass and salad dressing and whatever was around. When we formed the Go-Go’s, I had the choice of playing drums again or singing, and I decided to sing.

Donna Rhia (Becky Barton) is the drummer on this single; she was replaced first by David Winogrond, then Cliff Hanger, next was D. J. Bonebrake (best known for being in X), then Nicky Beat (L.A. Guns), Rob Henley and finally Don Bolles. Darby Crash (b. Jan Paul Beahm) still went by the moniker Bobby Pyn in ‘77 and both he and Pat Smear are credited for the writing of “Forming.” The photo below is supposedly of bassist Lorna Doom (Teresa Ryan) and Belinda Carlisle from around ‘77.

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The Germs “’Round and ‘Round”

sfilzen — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 14:29:07 +0000

The Germs “’Round and ‘Round” b/w “Forming (Version 2)” 2004. Alive Records, purple vinyl. “’Round and ‘Round” was originally performed by Chuck Berry (the B-side to 1958′s “Johnny B. Goode”) and appears on The Germs’ posthumously released ‘81 EP What We Do Is Secret and seems to be a nod to David Bowie’s 1971 version – Darby Crash was a major Bowie fan – the staccato rhythm and phrasing very similar to Bowie’s. The first version of “Forming” was The Germs debut single, released in ‘77, and that iteration is still my favorite, raw and rhythmically awkward, the ending has Crash bemoaning “We’re playing it all wrong. The drums are too slow, the bass is too fast, the chords are wrong, this is making the ending too long…ah, I quit.“ Version 2, on this 45, was cut “with future X drummer D.J. Bonebrake taking over for the departed Donna Rhia – Don Bolles was on hiatus; Crash’s monotone had evolved into a frantic, discordant wail; Pat Smear’s guitar is both looser and stronger, and Lorna Doom’s bass playing sounds kind of/ sort of professional. In short, they’d grown from an inept garage band figuring out how to put the pieces together to an inept punk band who, for better or worse, knew just what they wanted to do, and it’s their strength and confidence that makes all the difference in the world. The two versions of the song bookend the excellent compilation CD (M.I.A.), which ultimately tells you everything you really need to know about the Germs.” (Allmusic)

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Adolescents “Adolescents”

sfilzen — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 20:33:18 +0000

Adolescents “Adolescents” 1981. Frontier Records. Debut release by SoCal punk ‘supergroup.’ Also pictured is a flyer from a show I am pretty sure I went to at Kutskas Hall just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin, probably in ‘87 or ‘88. (Things back then tend to be a bit, um, hazy)

The Adolescents have had a fluctuating lineup over the years, including punk legends like Pat Smear (the Germs) and Steve Soto (Agent Orange). Adolescents (also called the Blue Album) features Casey Royer (D.I.) on drums, Rikk Agnew (Social Distortion, Christian Death) and Frank Agnew (Social Distortion, touring guitarist for T.S.O.L.) both on guitar, Steve Soto (Agent Orange) on bass and Tony Cadena on vocals. I have zero clues as to who was in the band when I saw them, but by that point Casey Royer, Tony Cadena and Frank Agnew had all left The Adolescents.

The album has one ‘hit single,’ “Amoeba,” which has been featured in video games and movies and received some SoCal airplay in the early 80′s. Adolescents is considered a classic punk release that helped establish the SoCal mid-tempo punk sound.

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