The Germs “What We Do Is Secret” 1981. Slash Records, 45 rpm. My own personal vinyl holy grail. During the mid-80’s and early 90’s, before the internet, eBay, etc., I would look for this record at every single record store in every city I went to. Then finally in ‘93, on a post-college graduation visit to my aunt in San Diego, there it was. Displayed on the wall behind the register at (I think) Off The Record in the university district.

Slash Records released “What We Do Is Secret, a compilation EP, after Darby Crash’s death in 1980. Its slower version of “Lexicon Devil” is my favorite, originally on the “Lexicon Devil” 7” EP from 1978 (out of print). You can listen to the version here. A faster version of the song appears on “G.I.”

I’m not sure this album is actually rare, but to my 1980’s-early 90’s mind it was and I hungered to find it. Having that desire when shopping for vinyl is an experience that I guess no longer really exists. In my opinion the ease of finding records now takes most of the fun out of the hunt. Nothing can compare to that rush of finding your own ultimate vinyl treasure in some hole-in-the-wall used record store in a city you’re visiting.

Track listing for “What We Do Is Secret”:

Side 1

Round and Round

Lexicon Devil

Circle One

Caught In My Eye

Side 2

No God

The Other Newest One (live)

My Tunnel (live)