The Avengers (band)
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The Avengers were a San Francisco-based punk band in the first wave of American punk. Penelope Houston, who later turned to folk music, was the singer for the band, and part of what made the band unique and memorable. She was born in L.A. and raised in Seattle. In the mid-1970s she attended Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington. She became known for telling people in the dorm to turn down their music. In 1977, Houston moved to San Francisco, attended the San Francisco Art Institute and shortly thereafter became the lead singer and songwriter for the Avengers.
The Avengers opened for the Sex Pistols in San Francisco for their final show at Winterland, and their four-song EP was produced by Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols. This recording, released in 1979 on White Noise Records featured the memorable song, "The American in Me," as well as " Uh Oh!," "Corpus Christi," and "White Nigger." In addition to Houston, James Wilsey played bass, D. Furious played drums, and Greg Ingraham played guitar. Brad Kent played guitar on "Corpus Christi."
An earlier three-song EP on Dangerhouse Records was issued in 1977. A full album called "The Avengers" (aka "the pink album") was issued in 1983. Although the LP has long since gone out of print and into what Houston refers to as "legal limbo," it is available on CDR format directly from her website. In 1999, a compilation of unreleased tracks and outtakes called "The Avengers Died for Your Sins" was issued by Lookout! Records.
The CD "The American in Me" released in 2004, has four studio tracks and eight live tracks recorded at the Old Waldorf in 1979.
With the release of the new CD, vocalist Penelope Houston has joined with original guitarist Greg Ingraham to bring the Avengers back to life, completing the line-up with bassist Joel Reader (The Mr. T Experience, The Plus Ones) and drummer Luis Illades (Pansy Division, The Plus Ones). The new group is sometimes called the "scAvengers", and is playing a few select shows on the West Coast, East Coast and the UK.
[edit] External links
- The (sc)Avengers' MySpace page
- Penelope Houston's official web site
- PUNKCAST#1028 Video of CBGB show - Sep 8 2006.
