1984

Nineteen Eighty Four was a good year...9th grade, Luther Burbank Junior High.  Miss Harley swore that we looked stoned in this picture.  Bob, the drummer for Lack Of Interest, also the guy behind Deep Six Records is in there too.  In case you don't know me I'm the hesher 4th from the right.  Jack Purvis, another hesher, is 2nd from the right, that's the only other name my burnt out brain can remember from this pic.  Being a library assistant was a sweet job, you put away books for a couple of minutes and chill the rest of the period.  9th grade, the top of the heap at our junior high, not knowing that I would instantly and insufferably be flung to the bottom of the heap the following year at Burbank High.  King shit.  I was voted "friendliest" that year, because you know despite all the wrong I have done in my life, I'm a pretty nice guy.  Gilbert Bautista was my best friend and partner in crime.  We grew apart in high school, he ended up with the stoner gangsters, while I ended up punk rock.  Rode my skateboard back and forth, the 20 or so blocks to school.  Got my first job, with a paycheck, that year cleaning out bird cages at a pet shop.  The aviaries were the worst because you had to get inside with the birds and while you were cleaning up shit, they would shit on you.  Before I got the job I would get stoned at the park with the other stoners on the way home.  Saw Venom, Slayer and Exodus that year with my elementary school chum Roy Miyake (last I heard was at a Buddhist Monastery in San Fransisco).  One of my greatest shows ever, but I've told that story. I was going to lots of concerts around this time, my Mom's effort to educate me.  The Universal Amphatheater was a great venue for bigger concerts, not a bad seat in the house.  Saw Return to Forever, Bo Didley, Hank Williams Jr., Willie Nelson, Kansas, Joan Baez, Pete Seger (and what was left of the Weavers...a group that had been blacklisted by McCarthy).  My two favorite bands at the time were Venom (or maybe Slayer) and Crass, go figure, I've never made sense.  There were two record stores that were a short bus ride away, one in North Hollywood and another in Glendale  Didn't have a girlfriend that year, I don't think I was even digging on anyone in particular, but two of my best friends were girls, Bonnie and Mindi (they ended up going to the other high school in Burbank so we lost touch).  Outside of school I played AYSO soccer as I had done since I was 5.  My knee blew up playing soccer in high school on my 16th birthday...that was the end of my soccer career (I wasn't that good anyway, too slow...short legs).  My life at home was cool, being raised by a single Mom who didn't really care what I did, as long as my grades were decent and I wasn't getting in trouble for anything.  Life was pretty good.  I was old enough to know the world was crazy place and stupid enough to think I knew everything.  Little did I know, life would turn out the way it did.  Anyway, here's some tunes that could sorta be my soundtrack to 1984 and wherever possible I've tried to include demo or live versions...what were you doing in 1984? Crass - What a Shame Slayer - Chemical Warfare MDC - John Wayne Was a Nazi Venom - Angel Dust Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus Dead Kennedys - Bleed For Me G.I.S.M. - ABC Weapons 45 Grave - Black Cross The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Manic Depression BLACK SABBATH - Electric Funeral