Circle Jerks
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- For the masturbatory practice see mutual masturbation.
| Circle Jerks | ||
|---|---|---|
 Current Line Up of Circle Jerks (October 15, 2003).
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Punk rock Hardcore punk |
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| Years active | 1979–1989 1994–1996 2001–present |
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| Label(s) | Frontier Records Faulty Products LAX Records Combat Records Relativity Records Mercury Records |
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| Associated acts |
Bad Religion Black Flag Black President |
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| Website | http://www.officialcirclejerks.com/ | |
| Members | ||
| Keith Morris Greg Hetson Zander Schloss Kevin Fitzgerald |
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| Former members | ||
| Roger Rogerson (1979-1983) (deceased) Earl Liberty (1983-1984) Lucky Lehrer (1979-1983) Chuck Biscuits (1983-1984) Keith Clark (1984-1996) |
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The Circle Jerks are a hardcore punk band formed circa 1979 in Hermosa Beach, California. It was formed by Black Flag's original singer Keith Morris and future Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson. They, along with such bands as Black Flag and Bad Religion, were among the preeminent punk bands of the L.A. scene in the early '80s.
The band broke up and reformed twice, sometimes with different bass players and/or drummers. They disbanded for the first time after the release of their fifth album, 1987's VI, as Hetson decided to continue touring and releasing a number of albums with Bad Religion. However, they reunited around 1994 and recorded a reunion album, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, in the following year, then a tour followed. After that, the Circle Jerks once again parted ways as Hetson was still involved in Bad Religion, but reunited again for good around 2001. The band has continued touring ever since.
To date, the Circle Jerks have released six full-length studio albums, one compilation, live album and live DVD. Their last studio release, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, came out in 1995 and is the only reunion album that the band has released to date. However, they are reportedly gearing up to release a new studio album, but it is unknown when it will occur.
Many of today's later punk groups cite the Circle Jerks as an influence, including Anti-Flag[1], Dropkick Murphys[2], Good Riddance, NOFX, The Offspring[3] and Pennywise.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early days and increasing popularity (1979-1982)
Lead vocalist Keith Morris was an original member of Black Flag, co-founding the band with Greg Ginn and recording the Nervous Breakdown EP with them before suddenly departing the group in 1979. Morris formed Circle Jerks along with guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson (a classically trained guitarist), and drummer Lucky Lehrer.
Their debut album, Group Sex was released in 1980 on the Frontier Records label; its fourteen songs totaled out at fifteen minutes (which featured some songs that Keith Morris had written while in Black Flag, Black Flag claiming the songs were "theirs" and one song Greg Hetson wrote the music to. The song Hetson wrote, was a guitar riff and solo deemed Hetson's "Signature" riff)). That same year, the group was one of several California punk bands to be immortalized in the Penelope Spheeris documentary The Decline of Western Civilization; live versions of five songs from Group Sex appear on the movie's soundtrack album.
In 1981, the group signed with IRS Records subsidiary Faulty Products and recorded their sophomore release, Wild in the Streets, the title track of which is a cover version of a Garland Jeffries tune. Faulty Products ceased operations several months after the release of the album, forcing Circle Jerks to find their third record deal in as many years. While they regained the copyright to Wild In The Streets, the original stereo master tape was lost, forcing the band to do a remix from the multi-track tapes when they reissued the album, along with Group Sex, on CD in 1988.
[edit] The final years (1983-1988)
They signed a management deal with War producer/manager Jerry Goldstein's Far Out Productions, and recorded their third album, Golden Shower of Hits, in 1983; the album was released on Goldstein's LAX label. The title track is actually a medley of six seemingly unrelated cover versions (of artists as diverse and unexpected as The Association, The Carpenters, and Tammy Wynette) strung together to create a story line of two people who fall in love, have an unplanned pregnancy, rush into marriage, and end up divorcing. Another song from the album, "Coup D'Etat", was used in the soundtrack of Alex Cox's early film Repo Man, and the band makes an appearance playing an acoustic/lounge version of "When The Shit Hits The Fan".
Not long after Repo Man had concluded its first-run release schedule, Rogerson and Lehrer left the band. They were replaced by Zander Schloss (who also had an acting role in Repo Man) and Keith Clark respectively. The band also changed labels for the fourth time, signing a deal with Relativity Records' metal imprint Combat Records, which had started a punk sublabel, Combat Core. The newly revamped group recorded its finest effort since Wild In The Streets, Wonderful, and released it in 1985. Their newfound stability allowed the lineup to record a second album for Relativity, VI, not long afterward. One track from VI, "Love Kills", had been commissioned by Alex Cox for the soundtrack of the movie Sid and Nancy, and can be heard early on in the feature.
[edit] Hiatus (1989-1993)
A decade-long career for the Circle Jerks culminated in a sudden breakup in 1989 as Hetson decided to continue playing guitar and release a number of albums with Bad Religion. Live recordings made during what would be their final tour at the time were immortalized in the live album Gig in 1992, their third and last release for Relativity.
During the hiatus, Hetson would continued playing in Bad Religion; Schloss played guitar and bass with various acts; Keith Clark initially retired from music; Keith Morris worked menial jobs, battled health problems, and kicked a longtime drug and alcohol habit.
[edit] Reunion (1994-1996)
Around 1994, the Circle Jerks, along with the Wonderful-era lineup, reunited for good and signed a major label deal with Mercury Records, a move that while not unwelcome in the post-Nirvana era, had a few business complications: Hetson was still with Bad Religion, who had signed a long-term contract with Atlantic Records, while Zander Schloss had been part of a band contracted to Interscope. Those complications ironed out, the band recorded Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities and released it in the summer of 1995. To date, it is the band's last studio album recorded by any line-up. One track on the album, a cover of The Soft Boys' I Wanna Destroy You, features backing vocals from pop singer/songwriter Deborah Gibson, who had just wrapped up a solo album with the same producer the Circle Jerks were using. Gibson later made a surprise appearance at the Circle Jerks' performance at punk mecca CBGB's to perform "I Wanna Destroy You" with the band. Despite such media attention, the group suddenly imploded three weeks into a tour behind the album. The breakup would not be totally permanent, but Clark left music for good afterward.
[edit] Second hiatus and comeback (1997-present)
Further Circle Jerks activity was suddenly held up when Morris announced that he had been diagnosed with diabetes in 2000. A multitude of punk bands held benefits on the punk legend's behalf.
The core of Morris, Hetson, and Schloss continues to tour to the present day, in between other commitments -- Hetson is still a full-time member of Bad Religion, Schloss also plays bass for the reformed first-generation LA punk band The Weirdos, and Morris was an A&R director for V2 Records until the label was suddenly shuttered by its owners in 2007. Original bassist Roger Rogerson died in 1996 of a drug overdose. Lucky Lehrer became a lawyer and is still living in Southern California.
In 2004, The Circle Jerks shot a live concert DVD as part of Kung-Fu Records' live DVD series The Show Must Go Off!. The band plays many of its classics from all six of their studio albums plus - in nods to Schloss' other current band and Morris' salad days, respectively - covers of The Weirdos' "Solitary Confinement" and Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown".
For several years, there has been a rumored Circle Jerks album to feature new material, which had been said to be imminent; although no further formal announcement has been made. In late February 2007, the band released their first new song since 1995 on their Myspace page, titled "I'm Gonna Live", adding more anticipation to the possibility of a new album emerging.
More recently, the Circle Jerks have been featured on a television commercial for XM Satellite Radio. They are the first band played in the commercial and the song is "Operation" from the album Group Sex.
[edit] Trivia
- 'Circle jerk' originally was a slang for group masturbation. It was, for a time, used as a slang term to describe various sub-culture teens who perhaps didn't necessarily fit the punk "criteria", but rejected the conformity of the mainstream in both real or superficial ways.
- Keith Clark now has a thriving tax preparation firm in Southern California.
- "Wild in the Streets" was used in the videogame Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.
- Roger Rogerson passed away in 1996 of a drug and alcohol overdose.
[edit] Band members
| Dates & releases | Members & prominent instruments | Notes |
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| 1979-1983 Group Sex, Wild in the Streets and Golden Shower of Hits |
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| 1983-1984 live shows only |
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This line-up also contributed tracks to the Repo Man soundtrack. |
| 1984-1989 Wonderful and VI |
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Last line-up before going on a hiatus. |
| 1989-1994 | SPLIT | Hetson was busy playing in Bad Religion during this time. |
| 1994-1996 Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities |
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Members of the pre-hiatus line-up were part of the band's first reunion. |
| 1996-2001 | SPLIT | Hetson continued playing in Bad Religion during this time. |
| 2001-present |
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[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
| Album Cover | Year | Title | Label | Format | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1980 | Group Sex | Frontier | LP/CD | Debut album. |
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1982 | Wild in the Streets | Frontier | LP/CD | Produced by David Anderly and Gary Hirstius |
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1983 | Golden Shower of Hits | Allegiance | LP/CD | |
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1985 | Wonderful | Combat | LP/CD | |
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1987 | VI | Combat | LP/CD | Final album before splitting up for good. |
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1995 | Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities | Mercury | CD |
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2007/2008 | Untitled 7th Studio Album | Unknown | CD |
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[edit] Other releases
| Album Cover | Year | Title | Label | Format | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1986 | Group Sex/Wild in the Streets | Frontier | CD |
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1992 | Gig | Combat | CD | Live album. |
[edit] Videos
| Album Cover | Year | Title | Label | Format | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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2005 | The Show Must Go Off! | Kung Fu | DVD |
[edit] References
- ^ Anti-Flag at Allmusic.com (HTML). Allmusic.com. Retrieved on April 1, 2007.
- ^ Dropkick Murphys at Allmusic.com (HTML). Allmusic.com. Retrieved on April 1, 2007.
- ^ The Offspring at Europunk.net (HTML). Europunk.net. Retrieved on April 1, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Circle Jerks |
| Keith Morris | Greg Hetson | Zander Schloss | Kevin Fitzgerald |
| Past members: Roger Rogerson | Earl Liberty | Lucky Lehrer | Chuck Biscuits | Keith Clark |
| Discography |
|---|
| Full-lengths: Group Sex (1980) | Wild in the Streets (1982) | Golden Shower of Hits (1983) | Wonderful (1985) | VI (1987) | Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities (1995) |
| Other releases: Group Sex/Wild in the Streets (1986) | Gig (1992) |
| Related articles |
| Bad Religion | Black Flag | Black President | California punk scene | Hardcore punk |
