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While Joe lived
in squalor at the infamous church in Hermosa Beach, The Last
had a billboard on Hollywood's glitzy Sunset Strip... |
The first half of the year was spent recording their first
album, L.A. Explosion. After its completion, the band
started gigging once again, and became a mainstay in the LA scene.
Joe was living in an abandoned church in Hermosa Beach along
with members of Black Flag, Redd Kross, and the Descendants. Known simply as
"The Church," the building was owned by a group of
hippies who rented out many of the rooms to local punks after
earlier attempts at making the building an arts & crafts
center failed. (Click here to read an interview
from Slash about the church with Joe, Keith Morris, Ron Reyes,
and Steve & Jeff from Redd Kross.)
One
of the more hilarious Church-related events of 1979 came in July
when, somehow, Black Flag was booked to play an open-air concert
at Polliwog Park in nearby Manhattan Beach - part of a series
of "concerts in the park" which consisted mainly of
jazz-type combos and big bands. In attendace, along with a handfull
of actual fans, were the curious and a large crowd of families
and children, no doubt expecting another sedate show as in previous
weeks. This Sunday, they were in for a shock as Black Flag took
to the stage and played a kick-ass set. Early into the set, most
families took their kids and left, but not all. Many of the children
that remained seemed to be enjoying themselves, happily throwing
parts of their picnic lunches towards the stage. My favorite
moment: in between songs, Keith Morris announces,
"I feel sick. I think I'm gonna throw up!" He spots
a small child sitting up front, next to the stage. "All
over this little kid!" he continues, hunched over the child,
pretending to vomit. The bemused kid just looked up at Keith
and smiled. A classic moment - friggin' hilarious. Later, Robo,
their drummer, gave me a ride back to the Church from the Park,
where there was held another great party featuring Black Flag.
In this picture, I believe that is Dez Cadena and Ron
Reyes - future Black Flag singers - wrestling in front of
singer Keith Morris. Photo by Spot.
Joe: "Between June and October
of that year we went from the quintesenntial opening band to
becoming one of the highest drawing bands in the city. Pop &
Punk were merging - KROQ would play one of our surf/pop type
songs, new wave kids would go to a show, discover slamming, and
next week they would have done alarming things to their hair
and be listening to far more dangerous groups. We were, in short,
a halfway house between "safe" new wave and the more
dangerous, creepy crawly world of the L.A. punk underground that
was about to explode."
In November, Jack Reynolds quit the band, much to his
and Joe's later regrets. John Frank, who had previously
sat in on previous recording sessions with the band, joined as
the official drummer. Jack played the drums for power, while
John was more adept technically and had a more stylistic approach.
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