lol, I grew up in Manhattan Beach, so this was great to read. I was about 6 months old when this concert took place, so I missed it sadly. This was a legendary story, though. Both Morris and Ginn went to my high school (as did most of the Descendants, I believe). I think there's like a great unwritten screenplay about late 70s punk/beach town culture clashes. Maybe I need to write it. Anyway -- I will read this book! Black Flag is totally fun to read about.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 23:29 (fourteen years ago) link
lol polliwog park
― nice email (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 23:37 (fourteen years ago) link
they used to have this amazing play structure called "The Sunken Galleon" there. oh man, it was so dangerous. can't believe I didn't die on that thing.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 23:41 (fourteen years ago) link
stevie i am going to buy and read yr book, exciting!
tyler have you read "enter naomi" by joe carducci? there's some good stuff in there in the vein of what you're talking about
― my gangsta ain't NEVER been on trial (M@tt He1ges0n), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 23:45 (fourteen years ago) link
there is stuff about the sunken galleon in Carducci's book?! kidding -- i haven't read it but I should. i talked to Ginn once for my high school newspaper ... it didn't go very well!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 23:47 (fourteen years ago) link
Dude, Stevie, that extract is amazing. You can feel the dichotomies writhing as they are forced to stare each other in the face, then you notice that one face is full of blood.
I will buy the hell out of this book.
― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 23:53 (fourteen years ago) link
thank you all for the kind words and promises of purchase, dudes - and tyler, i second matt's recommendation of 'enter naomi', which is a really great personal take on that whole era (buy my book 1st tho!). was a great thrill to visit polliwog while researching the book, and soak up the pleasant valley sunday vibe that the Flag doubtless shattered that afternoon...
― like moses, the townfolk like the red sea (stevie), Wednesday, 4 November 2009 08:25 (fourteen years ago) link
Great stuff Stevie, I'm in. When does it come out in the UK?
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 4 November 2009 09:43 (fourteen years ago) link
should be out now, but i think there have been slight delays - its still a pre-order on amazon... i have yet to see a copy!
― like moses, the townfolk like the red sea (stevie), Wednesday, 4 November 2009 09:44 (fourteen years ago) link
it is in stock on amazon! also, i'll be doing a reading/q&a at filthy mcnasty's on tuesday november 10th, as part of the Talking Music Revolutions Volume Four: The Metal Years event, alongside such awesome writers as Carol Clerk, John Robb, Joel McIver, Tommy Udo and Suzanne Moore, so come along if yr in London that night.
thus endeth my plugging...
― like moses, the townfolk like the red sea (stevie), Thursday, 5 November 2009 09:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Suzanne Moore
wait what
― War On The Terrances (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 5 November 2009 10:12 (fourteen years ago) link
I am totally going to buy this book btw
yeah i'm hoping its *the suzanna moore (its not my do so i don't know fo' sho). also i was just informed joel has a parents evening that night and now can't make it, but it'll still be cool!
― like moses, the townfolk like the red sea (stevie), Thursday, 5 November 2009 10:23 (fourteen years ago) link
suzanne
This is LONG overdue and I'm giddily excited about this. Will also 'buy the hell' out of this book.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 5 November 2009 12:13 (fourteen years ago) link
hey stevie just wanted to let you know that on another board i go to there was a thread about your book that i didn't start! the buzz is building :)
― my gangsta ain't NEVER been on trial (M@tt He1ges0n), Thursday, 5 November 2009 17:09 (fourteen years ago) link
haha LINK PLS MATT!!!
― like moses, the townfolk like the red sea (stevie), Thursday, 5 November 2009 17:17 (fourteen years ago) link
google is on to you
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/spray_paint_the_walls.gif
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 5 November 2009 17:58 (fourteen years ago) link
thumbs up from carducci!!
1 guessed/predicted in Rock and the Pop Narcotic that regarding Black Flag there was never enough sales for the real publishing industry to ever write a check to get to the bottom of the band's story. Back in the late 1980s when I wrote R&TPN only Faber & Faber was even issuing original music titles, and indeed they were the only publisher to take a look at my manuscript. But the 80s/90s roll-out of Tower Books, Barnes & Noble, and Borders did spur a short golden age of the music section in book stores. That's over now. But Omnibus in the UK, which once had the only book on Black Sabbath in print, now issues the first comprehensive book about Black Flag, first in the UK, soon here. Spray Paint the Walls is very well reported and assembled by Brit music writer Stevie Chick, author of the better of the recent Sonic Youth books. Neither Greg Ginn nor Henry Rollins sat for interviews but their voices are included from earlier interviews, and more importantly Chuck Dukowski spoke to Chick - a first I believe. The story, laid out from the band's earliest practices in 1976 to its end ten years later, makes a far more dramatic book than the usual shelf-fillers with their stretch to make the empty stories of various chart-toppers sound exciting and crucial and against the odds. I read a rough draft; I'm sure most of the minor Anglocentric miscomprehensions of timelines, causalities and geography are still in it but the book is powerful because it does the story justice. And those miscomprehensions are shared by most American music writers as well so what the hell...
― The looming shadow of the big baller/shot caller (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 11 November 2009 16:25 (fourteen years ago) link
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/merch/global/kindle-turing-widget-photo_020509._V251249236_.jpg Tell the Publisher!I’d like to read this book on Kindle
― luol deng (am0n), Wednesday, 11 November 2009 16:52 (fourteen years ago) link
Finished the book this morning, have to say Stevie, nice work indeed, really, really enjoyed it, so much great info.
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 13:45 (fourteen years ago) link
aw thanks mares nest... really glad you enjoyed it.
― I don't think this is funny..Much Clown Love Ya'll! (stevie), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 14:25 (fourteen years ago) link
still looking forward to reading this -- soon! in the meantime, i tracked down a recording of that Polliwog Park show! http://ow.ly/Mv0M Neat ....
― tylerw, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 16:05 (fourteen years ago) link
that show is nuts... the bootleg is essential, perhaps more for the banter between the roadies and the guy who put the show on than the music, but 'wasted' SLAYS
― I don't think this is funny..Much Clown Love Ya'll! (stevie), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 16:06 (fourteen years ago) link
Yep, made me go back and dig out the albums, was rooting around in the loft yesterday looking for James Parker's book, Planet Joe and Get In The Van.
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 20:59 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.doobybrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/justin-bieber-black-flag.jpg
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 9 July 2010 18:40 (thirteen years ago) link
http://grab.by/grabs/78550b4ceb4e799f5aa4fc25ad6989c3.png
― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Thursday, 5 August 2010 20:44 (thirteen years ago) link
that Bieber jpeg causes my rage to hit 28 Days Later levels
― San Te, Thursday, 5 August 2010 21:14 (thirteen years ago) link
if u want one so bad just buy one
― the itsytitchyschneider (s1ocki), Thursday, 5 August 2010 21:14 (thirteen years ago) link
*grabs a lead pipe*
― San Te, Thursday, 5 August 2010 21:15 (thirteen years ago) link
lol, it's the first thing i've ever liked about JB
― a CRASBO is a "criminally related" ASBO (contenderizer), Thursday, 5 August 2010 21:38 (thirteen years ago) link
"performer and world travelernascent Burroughs Henry Rollins has a new favorite portable sound system"
― a CRASBO is a "criminally related" ASBO (contenderizer), Thursday, 5 August 2010 21:39 (thirteen years ago) link
A really good DVD of The Minutemen & Black Flag went up on D!m3ad0z3n a couple of days ago, it's from San Francisco '81 (Dez era) and it's pretty good quality.
― disastrous sixth series (MaresNest), Thursday, 5 August 2010 21:44 (thirteen years ago) link
Don't know if any of you guys saw anything about this but there was a reunion of sorts here in Vancouver a few weeks ago to celebrate local resident Chavo Pederast's 50th birthday. Greg Ginn showed up and they played some numbers. Here's an interview with Greg Ginn being his usual self. Anyway, Spray Paint The Walls is briefly discussed. Of course Greg hasn't heard of it and tries his hardest to appear disinterested. Was there ever anyone more paranoid about being pigeonholed? There's some clips from the show too.
Greg interview:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j3gg7XUE4s
Interview with Ron too:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMHbNOEafsY&feature=related
― everything, Friday, 24 September 2010 03:49 (thirteen years ago) link
RADDDDDD!
CHAVO and GREG sound so great (esp when he remembers the lyrics :/ ) and that is a DOPPPPPE t-shirt CP's rockin.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Friday, 24 September 2010 04:15 (thirteen years ago) link
whoah
― pay to the order of Iron Balls McGinty, $1 and NINE CENTS (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 24 September 2010 04:50 (thirteen years ago) link
almost shit myself when nardwuar handed greg the book. i spent MONTHS of my life emailing and calling greg, trying to secure an interview, or at the very least to let him know i was working on the book, and in good faith, but i got no closer to contact with the man than chatting with his assistant. he knew it exists.
<3 ron reyes. that footage is awesome...
― the cusses of 2 live crew (stevie), Friday, 24 September 2010 07:03 (thirteen years ago) link
in greg's defense, there is the distinct possibility that he may have been high on pot
― del griffith, Friday, 24 September 2010 07:16 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, and i totally respect that! i may have been high when i was calling/emailing!
― the cusses of 2 live crew (stevie), Friday, 24 September 2010 07:17 (thirteen years ago) link
and in fairness all he said was that he hadn't seen the book. he comes across pretty well in my book, and not overly defensive.
― charlie h, Friday, 24 September 2010 07:25 (thirteen years ago) link
oh definitely, he seemed fine.
― the cusses of 2 live crew (stevie), Friday, 24 September 2010 08:14 (thirteen years ago) link
Your book and Beefheart's Through The Eyes of Magic combined were both the kind of books I'd make excuses to go and read throughout my busy day. "Hey there's a lightbulb out in the bathroom, I'm going in to fix it." Then I'd sit and feverishly devour these books. I think I read yours in three sittings. Not trying to blow smoke, but Spray Paint the Walls is really more than any Flag fan could have wanted. Thanks for writing it.
I actually put in to do My War for the 33 1/3 series, got a "good idea!" response email, but never followed up. I think your book sorta nullifies that 'good idea,' anyway.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Friday, 24 September 2010 14:50 (thirteen years ago) link
reyes seems like a bro of the highest caliber
― my balls and my nerds (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:10 (thirteen years ago) link
wow, thanks! i sweat blood on this book, and its by no means perfect, so to see you write that means a lot. and i think there's definitely more to be written abt the flag, esp on My War. i'd read your book in a flash.
xp
― the cusses of 2 live crew (stevie), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:18 (thirteen years ago) link
ron's really great. i think my interview with him for the book was the first he'd given in years - i didn't think i had a chance in hell of speaking to him, and then joe nolte got in touch and said "i have a friend you might want to speak to for your book, if you're interested?" he's really sweet, really honest, really humble.
― the cusses of 2 live crew (stevie), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:20 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh Nardwuar, never change.
― (¬_¬) (Nicole), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:23 (thirteen years ago) link
"Reality 86'd" A film by David Markey
http://vimeo.com/23499919
"Reality 86'd" A film by David Markey (c) 1991 We Got Power Films. (TRT 01:01:51) A road documentary shot from the inside of the last Black Flag tour ever (the 1986 "In My Head" US tour.) Greg Ginn along with Henry Rollins, Cel Revulta, and Anthony Martinez comprise the final line up of the band. Featuring behind the scenes proceedings and live performances from Black Flag, Painted Willie, and Gone (Ginn's side project, then featuring Sim Cain and Andrew Weiss (later of the Rollins Band) . Filmmaker / musician David Markey was along for the entire trip as the drummer / singer for Painted Willie (with Phil Newman & Vic Makauskas), documenting the six month tour as it happened. Also features roadie Joe ("Planet Joe") Cole, soundmen Davo Claasen and Dave "Ratman" Levine, and the tour manager who kept it all together, Mitch Bury. A crucial turning point in American underground rock. The end of the line for a trail blazing American band.
― am0n, Thursday, 12 May 2011 15:37 (thirteen years ago) link
bump
― am0n, Thursday, 12 May 2011 17:46 (thirteen years ago) link
awesome! thanks for posting.
― tylerw, Thursday, 12 May 2011 17:47 (thirteen years ago) link
thanks man
how long before it gets yanked or does ginn not care anymore
― the first rule of debate club (Edward III), Thursday, 12 May 2011 17:49 (thirteen years ago) link
That would be a nice subtle bit of graffiti if someone added quotation marks on the posters for that show.
― birdistheword, Friday, 8 March 2024 19:04 (two months ago) link
I've seen some youtube footage of recent Black Flag, and I would steer pretty clear of that tbh
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 8 March 2024 19:23 (two months ago) link
Gonna skip it.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 8 March 2024 20:21 (two months ago) link
EVERYONE SHOULD LSITEN TO RAY PETTIBONE'S NEW BAND ITS SO GOOD
https://surdrone.bandcamp.com/album/full-length-2
― kurt schwitterz, Friday, 8 March 2024 21:07 (two months ago) link
sitting at the bar at a restaurant near my neighborhood and it’s crowded on a monday. realize the music venue across the street has the Black Flag (“black flag”?) show in an hour and, outside of two tables of people obviously going to it, I am trying to puzzle out the rest of the people in hereare the dudes in their 50s waiting around in the entryway here for the band? is there another event nearby? a mystery
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Tuesday, 19 March 2024 00:09 (two months ago) link