Necros were an early American hardcore punk band from Maumee, Ohio, although they are usually identified with the Detroit music scene.[1] They are the first band to record for Touch and Go Records.
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The Necros were formed in 1979 by then-teenagers Barry Henssler (vocals), Andy Wendler (guitar), and Todd Swalla (drums). After going though a handful of bassists (including Jeff Allsop, David Cooke, Brian Hyland, Jeff Lake, and Brian Pollack), Corey Rusk joined the band. Barry Henssler had struck up a friendship with Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson of Touch and Go magazine after sending them a copy of his own 'zine, Smegma Journal.[1] Vee and Stimson became fans of the Necros and decided to put out a record by the band. In 1981, the band's first record, a self-titled 4-song 7" EP (recorded prior to Rusk's entry into the band) most commonly known as "Sex Drive", was released. The first record ever released on Touch and Go Records (then called Touch and Go Rekords), it was limited to only 100 copies.[2] Andy Wendler also stopped performing with the band in 1981 (although he continued to write for them) and was replaced by Brian Pollack on guitar. Later that year, the band recorded and released another self-titled 7" EP, this one a 9-song record most commonly known as "IQ32", which was produced by Ian MacKaye and was a joint release between Touch and Go (which Rusk now had a hand in running) and Dischord Records. Andy Wendler reclaimed his spot on guitar in late 1982 and in 1983 the band recorded and released two more records, a 7" and LP both titled Conquest For Death. Following the release of the LP, Corey Rusk quit the group to concentrate on Touch and Go, since, by that time, he'd assumed full control of the label.[3] Although the decision to leave the group was Rusk's, Touch and Go has never reissued the Necros records they put out.
Bassist Ron Sakowski replaced Corey Rusk in 1983, but the group would not release another record for two years. In an interview with a zine called "One Solution", Henssler blamed the delay between releases, at least in part, on Rusk's refusal to give the band a definite answer as to whether or not they were still on Touch and Go.
A new Necros release finally came to fruition in 1985 when they appeared on a split release with White Flag, entitled Jail Jello, on Gasatanka Records. Now featuring a more distinctly hard rock sound, the band followed up the split with the Tangled Up LP on Restless Records in 1986 along with a single of the same name on Gasatanka. Following a 1987 tour with Megadeth, the group called it quits. A live album, Live or Else, appeared posthumously in 1989.
Following the breakup, Barry Henssler formed Big Chief, who would record for the Sub Pop label. Ron Sakowski and Todd Swalla would reunite in the mid 1990s as part of the final line up of Touch And Go artists Laughing Hyenas.
In 2002, a limited (only 450 copies pressed) split 10" with Authority Abuse was released by Wise Hoodlum Records. The Necros material consisted of live recordings from 1981 through 1983.
Tangled Up and Live or Else were released together on CD by Rykodisc in 2005 and is currently the only Necros material available on CD.
The Necros famously played with The Misfits in their first incarnation. They even played the Misfits' last show in which Todd Swalla eventually stepped in to play drums when Brian Damage became too drunk to perform. Since then, Glenn Danzig has spoken out his dislike of Barry of the Necros, calling him a "fat piece of shit" in an interview with Nardwuar.[4]