The Germs

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For the comic strip, see The Germs (comics).
The Germs
The Germs, left to right: Pat Smear, Barney Doom, Darby Crash, Don Bolles
The Germs, left to right: Pat Smear, Barney Doom, Darby Crash, Don Bolles
Background information
Origin Flag of United States Los Angeles, CA, USA
Genre(s) Punk rock
Years active 1977—1980
2005—Present
Label(s) Slash Records
Associated
acts		 Darby Crash band
Foo Fighters
Nirvana
Website www.germsreturn.com
Members
Shane West
Pat Smear
Lorna Doom
Don Bolles
Former members
Darby Crash
Michelle Baer
Dinky
Dottie Danger
Donna Rhia
Nickey "Beat" Alexander

The Germs are a punk rock band from Los Angeles formed in the late 1970s. Their 1977 single, Forming/Sexyboy (live), is generally regarded as the first punk record from Los Angeles.

Contents

[edit] History

The band started when Paul Beahm and Georg Ruthenberg decided they should start a band after being kicked out of University High for antisocial behaviour, allegedly for using 'mind control' on fellow students. The (initially hypothetical) band was named "Sophistifuck & The Revlon Spam Queens," with Beahm (then 'Bobby Pyn,' and later Darby Crash) on vocals, Ruthenberg (then and later called Pat Smear) on guitar, an early member called Dinky on bass, and Michelle Baer playing drums. This lineup never played live.

In April '77 the band featured its final bassist, Lorna Doom, with transitional member Dottie Danger on drums, later famous as Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go's (Carlisle never played live, due to her being sidelined by a bout of mononucleosis for an extended period, although she can be heard introducing the band on the Live At The Whiskey recording), and was soon replaced by Donna Rhia, who played three gigs and recorded their first single. Nicky Beat, of various noteworthy LA bands, then sat in for a time.

Initially drawing on musical influences including Iggy Pop, Suzi Quatro, The Runaways, and New York Dolls, the Germs began as an objectively pathetic musical outfit, with Smear the only member competent on an instrument (Lorna Doom survived early performances by sliding a finger up and down the fingerboard of her bass; Donna Rhea generally kept a minimal beat on the bass drum, periodically hitting a cymbal). The first single, Forming, was recorded on a Sony 2-track in Pat's garage and arrived back from the pressing plant with the note, "Warning: This record causes ear cancer" printed on the sleeve by the plant staff, much to the band's displeasure. It featured a shambolic but servicable performance on the A-side and a muddy live recording of Sexboy on the B side, recorded at the Roxy for the Cheech and Chong movie, Up In Smoke, although the song was not featured in the movie. Neither was the band, the only one not to be called back to perform live in the "battle of the bands" sequence, perhaps due to the fact that the Germs' chaotic Roxy performance had featured a full-on food fight.

The Germs, despite all expectations, developed a sound that was extremely aggressive, hyper-competent, and highly influential -- although throughout their career, they would have a reputation as a chaotic live band. Singer Darby Crash often arrived onstage nearly incoherent from drugs, singing everywhere but into the microphone and taunting the audience between songs. The other band members had similar problems, with many contemporary reviews citing collapses, incoherency, and drunken vomiting onstage.

The final drummer - Don Bolles - was, however, extremely technically adept, and the amateurish bass stylings of Lorna Doom became, through rehearsal, a tight, complex counterpoint. Smear was revealed as a remarkably talented and fluid player, while the songwriting began to be cited as art and poetry. The canonical lineup of the band was often accused of willfully skirting the boundary between genius and disaster. Crash's vocals had begun to mold themselves around the style of The Screamers' vocalist Tomata DuPlenty (The Screamers, a huge LA live attraction at the time, never released a record, but covered the Germs song, 'Sex Boy,' at live shows, recordings of which are now widely available on bootleg.) Another strong influence on the band's final sound was Zolar X, a theatrical glitter rock band popular in the Los Angeles area circa 1972-1980. Crash and Smear were enthusiastic fans of the band from the pre-Germs days, and the fast tempos and raw guitar tone of (the historically pre-punk) Zolar X [1] are very similar to the sound achieved on later Germs recordings.

The Germs recorded two singles (with alternate tracks), an album-length demo session, and one full-length LP, (GI), each more focused and powerful than the last. Crash was, despite his erratic behavior, generally regarded as a brilliant lyricist (a contemporary critic described him as "ransacking the dictionary"), and the final lineup of Smear, Doom, and Bolles had become a world-class rock ensemble by the recording of (GI), turning in a performance that spurred an LA Weekly reviewer to write, "This album leaves exit wounds." It is considered one of the first hardcore punk records, and has a near-mythic status among alternative rock fans.

The album was produced by Joan Jett of The Runaways. Some European copies of the album also credit Donny Rose on keyboards (the song, "Shut Down," was recorded live in the studio, and has a track of a melodic, two-fisted piano).

The Germs are featured in Penelope Spheeris's documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization along with X, Black Flag, Fear, Circle Jerks, Alice Bag Band, and Catholic Discipline.

Following the release of their solo studio album, (GI), The Germs recorded six original songs with legendary producer Jack Nitzsche for the soundtrack to the film, Cruising, starring Al Pacino. Only the song, "Lion's Share," ended up on the Columbia soundtrack LP -- it was featured for about a minute in the movie, during a video booth murder scene in an S&M club. Other songs from this session did not appear until the 1988 bootleg "Lion's Share," along with four tracks from their infamous last show at the Starwood. The Cruising sessions were finally released officially on the CD "(MIA): The Complete Recordings."

Crash committed suicide in 1980, at age 22, for reasons unreported at the time. Beahme overdosed on heroin in a suicide pact with close friend Casey Cola, who ended up surviving. She insists that he did not intend for her to live, nor did he change his mind last minute and intend for himself to live. His death was largely overshadowed by John Lennon's death the next day.

The Germs presented themselves not only as a band, but also as a loose and half-ironic cult, with membership signified by a Germs burn.(a characteristic cigarette burn on the wrist or inner forearm.)

[edit] After the End

After the Germs ended Don Bolles played with several other seminal L.A. bands, including CELEBRITY SKIN, Nervous Gender and 45 Grave. Pat Smear went on to play with Nirvana and, after the death of Kurt Cobain, with the Foo Fighters. Pat is playing some shows with the Foo Fighters acoustic tour in 2006.

In 1993, Slash Records released The Germs: Complete Anthology (MIA), with liner notes by the band's onetime manager Nicole Panter and friend, fan and L.A. scene icon Pleasant Gehman. The album cover is the Germs' traditional black background and blue circle.

In 2004, the song Lexicon Devil was featured on the skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2.

A movie about The Germs, What We Do Is Secret, is in post production as of August 2005 with actors playing the band members and Jett. Spurred by the movie, Smear, Doom, and Bolles reactivated the Germs with actor Shane West, who plays Darby Crash in the movie, taking over the vocal spot, and have been performing live.

They played on the 2006 Vans Warped Tour, two in California and one in Arizona.

They toured club shows in the US with Shane singing from Late July to Aug. 2006. (Detroit, Chicago, New York, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, DC).

[edit] Reaction to Reformation

Some prominent members of the punk rock community have been critical of the band's decision to continue without Darby Crash, and replacing him with someone primarily known as an actor. Fat Mike of NOFX called the groups performance at the 2006 Warped Tour "really bad" and stated he hoped the band didn't do any more gigs. [2]

Jello Biafra formerly of the Dead Kennedys (whose remaining members reformed without him, initially with former child television star Brandon Cruz) stated "Running out with a pretty-boy movie actor substituting for Darby [Crash] and calling themselves the Germs- That’s the lowest that retro incorporated has reached yet".[3]

[edit] Members

[edit] Current lineup

  • Pat Smear – guitar (1977-1980, 2005-present)
  • Lorna Doom – bass (1977-1980, 2005-present)
  • Don Bolles – drums (1978-1980, 2005-present)
  • Shane West - vocals (2005-present)

[edit] Former Members

  • Darby Crash - vocals (1977-1980)
  • Dottie Danger a.k.a. Belinda Carlisle – drums (1977)
  • Donna Rhia – drums (1977)
  • David Winoground – drums (1977)
  • Cliff Hanger – drums (1977-1978)
  • Don Bonebrake – drums (1978)
  • Nickey Beat – drums (1978)
  • Rob Henley – drums (1978)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Trivia

  • In both the By the Way and the Universally Speaking music videos by the Red Hot Chili Peppers feature Darby Crash's biography "Lexicon Devil".
  • In the Red Hot Chili Pepper video for Californication, Anthony Kiedis's license plate reads "GERMS", referencing The Germs.

[edit] External links

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