I've got the world up my ass
and i'm gonna move fast
be the first
won't be the last
i've got the world up my ass
society is burning me up
take a bite, spit it out
take their rules, rip 'em up, tear them down
(World Up My Ass)
The Circle Jerks
were started in 1979 by original Black Flag singer Keith Morris and Redd Cross guitarist Greg Hetson. As one of the bands featured prominently in the classic Punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization; The Circle Jerks, along with Black Flag and Fear came to embody the west coast hardcore punk sound of the early 1980’s.Their first album, Group Sex featured 14 songs and took up about 15 minutes of vinyl time! This record featured such classic Punk tunes such as "Beverly Hills", "I Just Want Some Skank" and "World Up My Ass".
Their next album, 1981’s Wild In The Streets suffered from horrible production and poor distribution. Faulty Products (a division of IRS Records) went bankrupt soon after the release of the album.
In 1983, Golden Shower Of Hits was released, featuring a bizarre medley of cover songs from artists such as Tammy Wynette and The Carpenters.
The Circle Jerks were also featured in the movie Repo Man, playing a lounge version of “When The Shit Hits The Fan" whilst dressed in tuxedos.
Following this, the Circle Jerks replaced their rhythm section and released Wonderful and VI.
In 1989 Greg Hetson quit the Circle Jerks to join Bad Religion (a role he still holds).
The Circle Jerks reformed in the mid 90's and released Oddities, Abnormalities, & Curiosities; which most notably featured The Soft Boys' “I Wanna Destroy You” (with teen pop princess Debbie Gibson on backing vocals!).
There’s also a pretty good live DVD of a 2004 show on the Kung Fu Records "The Show Must Go Off" series of vids.
The Circle Jerks have regrouped intermittently over the years. Keith Morris has suffered from health problems (such as diabetes) over the years as well.
Last month, the band released a new song called “I’m Gonna Live” (available on Myspace) and there are rumors of a new album. They’ve been touring the U.S. West Coast as well.
Toonage
(From The Decline (live))
Beverly Hills
(From Group Sex)
I Just Want Some Skank
Deny Everything
World Up My Ass
(From Wild In The Streets)
Wild In The Streets
Trapped
Put A Little Love In Your Heart
(From Golden Shower Of Hits)
Golden Shower Medley
(Live)
When The Shit Hits The Fan
Posts
2 comments:
for the fourth damn time I'm trying to comment!!
Cool post! I loved these guys in high school. I've got a couple of things from the second album I plan to post eventually. Agreed though, it's not near the classic that the first one is.
That "Wild In the Streets" cut off of the Rodney on the Roq Comp. LP used to scare me as a kid growing up in the South Bay in the earliest 80's - I'd never heard anything that sounded so reckless in all my life. Too young to see em then, but did finally catch em in (of all places) London in '87 in the VI tour. By that time HC was over, Keith had grown dreads . . . but it was wildass fun anyway.
Oh and thanks for commenting on my NeareSST Relatives piece - I've added you as a link on my blog.
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