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This week Ken welcomes academic, fellow middle aged punk, and author of the new book "Hardcore Punk in the Age of Reagan: The Lyrical Lashing of an American Presidency ", Robert J. Fitzgerald. Ken and Robert discuss Robert's favorite TVGC episodes, Jane Seymour, Ted Danson, his love of House of Pain, Ken's high school punk band, Goonies, doing your research, The Pogues, Mike Watt, living in the UK from Summer of '75-77, being a Military kid, Fort Mead MD, living in Seoul Korea as a young kid in the early 80s, living two hours south of Chicago, getting a new job, being a skater kid, second tier cities, the DC/LA/NYC hardcore trinity, Naked Raygun, Ronald Reagan, suburban kids, post-Vietnam, boredom, the ridiculousness of punk culture Presidents, when white suburban kids ruin punk scenes, all dude affairs, Wasted Youth, Only in America, the correct use of saxophone, Throb Throb, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, the death of Mall Culture, Fast Times, The Elks Lodge Riot, Black Flag, police brutality, Plugz, metal vs. punk, Bones Brigade, the hip hop connection, Anthrax, appocalyptic Boston, Discharge, Nuclear War, appocalypse anxiety, The Cold War, Threads, The War Game, Big Black, Steve Albini, being out of phase, The Business, cosplay, being a musical civil war reenacter, Motorhead, Battalion of Saints, Taang! Records, how DIY punk kids were actually living the capitalist American Dream, Alternative Tenticles, SST Records, The Laffer Curve, real time populist grass roots resistance, distribution, touring, writing off certain sub-cultures, academic looks at punk rock, tape trading, the mainstreaming of alternative culture, Quincy Punks, Yo! MTV Raps, Rap City, BET, finally getting cable, watching reaction videos on YouTube, Living Colour, Bad Brains, explaining things to teenagers, the love of the hunt, record shopping, buying bad records, 7"s, Fishbone, late night underware tai chi, Youth of Today, spiritual journies, Boise Idaho's State of Confusion, pretentious record collectors, Naked Raygun's hiatus, growing up, sticking to your ideals, phone calls from Ian MacKaye, Minor Threat, playing guitar for children, heroes of the no heroes movement, being an Assistant Principal, being a historian, Riot Fest, Jake Burns, Stiff Little Fingers, playing in bands, the cringe of many 80s hardcore songs, homophobia, The Descendents, MOD, context, writing character songs, Pegboy, and cultural connections.
I saw “The Decline of Western Civilization,” Penelope Spheeris's film documenting the late seventies punk scene in Los Angeles, when it was first released in 1981/82. Performances by the “popular” bands like Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, X, and Fear were instantly memorable. I've seen the movie many times since, I've even shown it in some of the classes I teach. For me one of its more salient moments is the performance of “Gluttony,” by the Bags (called “The Alice Bag Band” in the movie), an homage to food over-indulgence. In Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, A Chicana Punk Story (Feral House, 2011), the singer of the Bags, Alice Bag, recounts her involvement in the very beginnings of punk rock in Los Angeles. Alicia (“Alice Douche Bag” is her punk name) tells of her upbringing in East L.A., growing up Chicana with an abusive father, and her obsessions with Elton John, Cosmo, and the academic study of philosophy. Most importantly for our purposes, however, she details the formation of the Bags and their career within an important moment in the history of rock music. Along the way she outlines her relationships with and involvement in a number of important people and places in that nascent scene: Darby Crash, Belinda Carlisle, the Masque, the Canterbury, the infamous Elks Lodge Riot, her brief encounter with Sid Vicious, and, of course, The Decline of Western Civilization all get ample space. Alicia is gratifyingly open and honest in Violence Girl, which is what makes it work as a significant contribution to our understanding of punk rock generally, and punk rock in Los Angeles specifically. Alicia Velasquez now lives in Sedona, Arizona, which is where I reached her for this interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I saw “The Decline of Western Civilization,” Penelope Spheeris’s film documenting the late seventies punk scene in Los Angeles, when it was first released in 1981/82. Performances by the “popular” bands like Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, X, and Fear were instantly memorable. I’ve seen the movie many times since, I’ve even shown it in some of the classes I teach. For me one of its more salient moments is the performance of “Gluttony,” by the Bags (called “The Alice Bag Band” in the movie), an homage to food over-indulgence. In Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, A Chicana Punk Story (Feral House, 2011), the singer of the Bags, Alice Bag, recounts her involvement in the very beginnings of punk rock in Los Angeles. Alicia (“Alice Douche Bag” is her punk name) tells of her upbringing in East L.A., growing up Chicana with an abusive father, and her obsessions with Elton John, Cosmo, and the academic study of philosophy. Most importantly for our purposes, however, she details the formation of the Bags and their career within an important moment in the history of rock music. Along the way she outlines her relationships with and involvement in a number of important people and places in that nascent scene: Darby Crash, Belinda Carlisle, the Masque, the Canterbury, the infamous Elks Lodge Riot, her brief encounter with Sid Vicious, and, of course, The Decline of Western Civilization all get ample space. Alicia is gratifyingly open and honest in Violence Girl, which is what makes it work as a significant contribution to our understanding of punk rock generally, and punk rock in Los Angeles specifically. Alicia Velasquez now lives in Sedona, Arizona, which is where I reached her for this interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I saw “The Decline of Western Civilization,” Penelope Spheeris’s film documenting the late seventies punk scene in Los Angeles, when it was first released in 1981/82. Performances by the “popular” bands like Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, X, and Fear were instantly memorable. I’ve seen the movie many times since, I’ve even shown it in some of the classes I teach. For me one of its more salient moments is the performance of “Gluttony,” by the Bags (called “The Alice Bag Band” in the movie), an homage to food over-indulgence. In Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, A Chicana Punk Story (Feral House, 2011), the singer of the Bags, Alice Bag, recounts her involvement in the very beginnings of punk rock in Los Angeles. Alicia (“Alice Douche Bag” is her punk name) tells of her upbringing in East L.A., growing up Chicana with an abusive father, and her obsessions with Elton John, Cosmo, and the academic study of philosophy. Most importantly for our purposes, however, she details the formation of the Bags and their career within an important moment in the history of rock music. Along the way she outlines her relationships with and involvement in a number of important people and places in that nascent scene: Darby Crash, Belinda Carlisle, the Masque, the Canterbury, the infamous Elks Lodge Riot, her brief encounter with Sid Vicious, and, of course, The Decline of Western Civilization all get ample space. Alicia is gratifyingly open and honest in Violence Girl, which is what makes it work as a significant contribution to our understanding of punk rock generally, and punk rock in Los Angeles specifically. Alicia Velasquez now lives in Sedona, Arizona, which is where I reached her for this interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I saw “The Decline of Western Civilization,” Penelope Spheeris’s film documenting the late seventies punk scene in Los Angeles, when it was first released in 1981/82. Performances by the “popular” bands like Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, X, and Fear were instantly memorable. I’ve seen the movie many times since, I’ve even shown it in some of the classes I teach. For me one of its more salient moments is the performance of “Gluttony,” by the Bags (called “The Alice Bag Band” in the movie), an homage to food over-indulgence. In Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, A Chicana Punk Story (Feral House, 2011), the singer of the Bags, Alice Bag, recounts her involvement in the very beginnings of punk rock in Los Angeles. Alicia (“Alice Douche Bag” is her punk name) tells of her upbringing in East L.A., growing up Chicana with an abusive father, and her obsessions with Elton John, Cosmo, and the academic study of philosophy. Most importantly for our purposes, however, she details the formation of the Bags and their career within an important moment in the history of rock music. Along the way she outlines her relationships with and involvement in a number of important people and places in that nascent scene: Darby Crash, Belinda Carlisle, the Masque, the Canterbury, the infamous Elks Lodge Riot, her brief encounter with Sid Vicious, and, of course, The Decline of Western Civilization all get ample space. Alicia is gratifyingly open and honest in Violence Girl, which is what makes it work as a significant contribution to our understanding of punk rock generally, and punk rock in Los Angeles specifically. Alicia Velasquez now lives in Sedona, Arizona, which is where I reached her for this interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I saw “The Decline of Western Civilization,” Penelope Spheeris’s film documenting the late seventies punk scene in Los Angeles, when it was first released in 1981/82. Performances by the “popular” bands like Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, X, and Fear were instantly memorable. I’ve seen the movie many times since, I’ve even shown it in some of the classes I teach. For me one of its more salient moments is the performance of “Gluttony,” by the Bags (called “The Alice Bag Band” in the movie), an homage to food over-indulgence. In Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, A Chicana Punk Story (Feral House, 2011), the singer of the Bags, Alice Bag, recounts her involvement in the very beginnings of punk rock in Los Angeles. Alicia (“Alice Douche Bag” is her punk name) tells of her upbringing in East L.A., growing up Chicana with an abusive father, and her obsessions with Elton John, Cosmo, and the academic study of philosophy. Most importantly for our purposes, however, she details the formation of the Bags and their career within an important moment in the history of rock music. Along the way she outlines her relationships with and involvement in a number of important people and places in that nascent scene: Darby Crash, Belinda Carlisle, the Masque, the Canterbury, the infamous Elks Lodge Riot, her brief encounter with Sid Vicious, and, of course, The Decline of Western Civilization all get ample space. Alicia is gratifyingly open and honest in Violence Girl, which is what makes it work as a significant contribution to our understanding of punk rock generally, and punk rock in Los Angeles specifically. Alicia Velasquez now lives in Sedona, Arizona, which is where I reached her for this interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices