BLURT-BACK: WELCOME TO HOLLYWEIRD The Weirdos
Aug 29, 2011
Great songs, a great look, great photos, great graphics, a great show: in 1977 the L.A. upstarts kick-started the west coast punk scene.
BY FRED MILLS
[This is an expanded version of an article that originally appeared in Harp magazine in 2007. - Ed.]
It was uttered: "I wanna kick in the radio/ I wanna bomb the record store/ I say-destroy all music!" And with that little bit of 1977 nihilistic ‘tude called "Destroy All Music," powered by churning Who/Dolls/Clash guitars, coronary-inducing drums and seething vocals, the Weirdos delivered an American punk anthem as enduring as "Anarchy in the U.K." was in Britain.
Inspired early on by performances by the New York Dolls and the Stooges, the Weirdos - Cliff Roman (guitar), John Denney (vocals), Dix Denney (guitar), Dave Trout (bass), Nickey Beat (drums) - formed in Hollywood in early '77, penning such colorfully-titled punk epistles as "Destroy All Music," "Teenage," "A Life of Crime," "Why Do You Exist?" "We Got the Neutron Bomb," etc., and wielding their crude three-chord ditties like billy clubs.
"You know, we pretty much kicked off the local punk scene in L.A.," says Roman now. "The scene actually evolved around the early Weirdos shows. For us, it was great and we were much admired and respected. We were the only local band in 1977 that could draw a sizable crowd. We wrote our own material, designed our look, and created our own posters and art; we were a little bit wary of the punk label and wanted to differentiate ourselves from other bands in the scene back then. But we met many talented, creative people, doing a lot of shows with the Zeros, Dils, Nerves and Germs. We played the Masque, Starwood and the Whisky. Later we did shows with the Plugz and the Screamers. Devo opened for us when they first came to L.A. and we played the Hollywood Palladium with Blondie. It was an exciting time."
And Weirdos concerts were events unto themselves, to say the least.
"Our first few gigs were at the Punk Palace. The Punk Palace was wherever we did the shows. First at S.I.R. studios, then at the Orpheum Theatre. At first we played without a drummer. Then we were introduced to Nickey Beat by Phast Freddie and Nickey joined us for a show at the Orpheum Theatre where we played with The Germs and The Zeros. That show was undeniably the first local L.A. Punk Show ever. It was a tiny theater, 99 seats, and the place was packed because word had got out about our band. The Damned were there as well as Greg Shaw from Bomp! and Rodney Bingenheimer, the local DJ from KROQ who played the latest punk records from England. The Zeros came up from the San Diego area and we met The Germs at the Bomp! Records store a few days before the show. The Germs couldn't play a song - Darby Crash started throwing peanut butter around, and they got thrown off the stage! The Zeros played a great set. We finished our set with Captain Sensible playing guitar with us for an encore. Greg Shaw told me later that we made history that night."
(In L.A. in the late seventies, punk shows could also be dicey affairs due to local officials' tendency towards heavy-handed responses. "The police never bothered us," notes Roman, "but I was down at the Masque one night when the police came down and stopped the show and made everyone leave. People got arrested and some were beat with batons. There were some shows when security guards would stop us mid-set to try to settle down the crowd. It didn't work. It was pogo mania back then.")
It's likely the Weirdos' visual aesthetic ("deconstructed thrift store day-glow abstract expressionist rock-a-billy chic," quipped one reviewer) was probably as key to their popularity as their music. Punk zines like Slash and Search and Destroy regularly put the zoot-suited, chopped-and-coiffed miscreants on their covers, and whenever the mainstream media came trawling for typical "zany-looking" punks, the Weirdos invariably got the photographic nod - they were one of the first L.A. combos to be featured in Time, in fact. Yours truly, publishing his own fanzine at the time, called the Weirdos "the face of West Coast punk" in a review of the "Destroy All Music" three-song seven-inch.
That single, originally released by Greg Shaw on his Bomp! label, was reissued in 2007 by Bomp! as part of the Destroy All Music CD, which adds a mini album from '79 and four early demos; a photo-stuffed booklet and detailed liner notes tell the band's story in images and words. Says Roman, "Greg was a big supporter of the Weirdos. We did our first single, ‘Destroy All Music,' with him. Kim Fowley wanted to sign and produce us, but we decided not to go with him. He was involved with The Runaways at the time. Phast Freddie came to all our early shows and wrote about us for his fanzine Back Door Man. Then we did our second single ‘We Got the Neutron Bomb' on Dangerhouse. They were the new local cool label that was run by and for the local musicians.
"I really like Destroy All Music CD because it is chronological. There is our first demo, which starts with ‘Teenage' and then it's the same tracks as our Bomp! single. In some ways it sounds better even though it's pretty raw. The magic is definitely there. Also, on this record is our Bomp single and mini LP Who, What, When, Where, Why [originally released in 1979] in their entirety for the first time on CD. The contrast between the early work and later work is interesting, too. The later work was us in the studio, sort of doing our own Sgt. Pepper's. We were overdubbing and experimenting, rather then pushing the record button and playing live. I think it still holds up. We were pretty amazed at how good it sounded when Dix Denney and I remastered the tracks."
As strong as the recordings were and as powerful as the band was live, however, the Weirdos were unable to make much headway outside the West Coast touring circuit. By Roman's reckoning, as 1981 rolled around the punk scene had changed dramatically; reckoning that their band had run its course, the Weirdos opted to bow out. Since then they've reunited several times with shifting lineups. The Condor album appeared in 1990. (Roman: "That's a great record and there are some magnificent tracks there. Unfortunately it's out of print.") A version of the band also toured nationally in 1989 with the Circle Jerks, and that was followed by the 1991 retrospective Weird World, which has been their most popular title over the years and frequently appears on punk best-albums lists.
As recently as 2004 the Denney brothers mounted yet another reunion tour featuring Circle Jerks bassist Zander Schloss and Skulls drummer Sean Antillon, while a 2006 tour of England with the Damned was aborted after just one show when the Denneys' mother passed away. "The Weirdos are pretty much done now," says Roman. "They haven't done anything since. I didn't think it was the true Weirdos since I was not part of that effort. But I certainly respect them for their great talent and choice of material - songs I wrote!"
Meanwhile, for Roman's part he's moved on from his punk past, working as an educator and middle school administrator since hanging up his axe. Yet he still holds fond memories of his "Hollyweird" days and doesn't rule anything out.
"We had it all: great songs, a great look, great photos, our own great graphics, and we put on a great show. When I last played with the band our set was 20 songs and lasted for almost two hours! So you never know - anything can happen."
THE WEIRDOS SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
*Destroy All Music (Bomp!, 2007). Original "Destroy All Music" 7" (Bomp!, 1977) and Who What When Where Why? 12" plus unreleased demos of "Teenage," "Destroy All Music," "A Life of Crime" and "Why Do You Exist?" Remastered 2007 by Cliff Roman and Dix Denney; liner notes by Roman and Mick Farren.
*We Got the Neutron Bomb EP (Dangerhouse, 1978)
*Who What When Where Why? 12" (Bomp!, 1979)
*Action Design 12" (Rhino, 1980)
*Condor LP (Frontier, 1990)
*Weird World 1977-1981: Time Capsule Volume One (Frontier, 1991)
*We Got the Neutron Bomb: Weird World Volume Two CD (Frontier, 2003)
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