#jack grisham

[californiababylon]

Jack Grisham. TSOL

[darusen]

T.S.O.L. - Wash Away, Suburbia (dir. Penelope Spheeris).

[spilladabalia]

TSOL - Darker My Love - from Suburbia

[beelzebub-barbie-art]

Jack Grisham - T.S.O.L.

[yuritestikov]

⚡ Jack Grisham, TSOL, circa 1982. 📸: Edward Colver⚡

[returningtapes]

[7r0773r]

Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk by John Doe with Tom DeSavia & Friends

It could be argued that nothing challenged the complacency of 1970s visual, mind-numbing glitz than the rise of the punk-show flyer. All it took was some 8-by-11 paper, glue, a razor blade, and a stack of old magazines, schoolbooks, some old porno mags as well as access to a copy machine. These seemingly hastily put-together show promos were showing up everywhere: record stores, skate shops, bars, and, most of all telephone poles, club walls, boarded-up construction sites—basically anywhere that was ripe for plastering. Angular and uncomfortable layouts challenged our senses, typography design delivered the shock of a ransom note: dictators, celebrities new and old, 1950s science-fiction imagery, sacrilegious Christian iconography, Ronald Reagan’s forehead emblazoned with the number of the beast—these were all de rigueur. (Tom DeSavia, p. 88)

***

Whether real or imagined, we considered ourselves in opposition to almost everything and everyone. The artwork on the album covers and flyers was specifically meant to upset and provoke. At times I thought we were so extreme, we didn’t want to have an audience at all.

As a result of our actions, we existed in a world of high contrast. We were rarely considered less than in the extreme. We studiously sought to obliterate the middle ground. (Henry Rollins, p.138)

***

one last thing I like to explain is our idea of what econo meant. of course we got it from the old ford econoline vans we did out-of-town gigs in; the first one we did, we borrowed black flag’s. but what econo meant to us was not just finding what, at the time, might seems the least amount of coin. econo to us was finding the most bang for buck, look down the road at what we had to get done and find the way that made most sense—the “econo” way that guaranteed our autonomy and, at the same time, helped us work as many gigs as we could cuz that’s what we loved doing. it was about not letting the lack of coin dictate to us what could and could not be done. of course, there’s material stuff and that’s the reality on the dealio, but c’mon, we were from working families: we knew the score on that kind of scene, no prob! in this way we never had to “fake” our way, not one second, in the movement—like what popeye said, “I am what I am.” hear hear. econo was not a slogan but a way of life for the minutemen, inspired by the movement. (Mike Watt, p. 175)

***

now, I gotta say a lot of the people in the older days were older—it wasn’t really a kid movement, maybe more like runaways—but by the early ’80s a lot of the “folks who were first” were burning out and from the suburbs came younger and younger cats, like out of high school and younger. how many of the old hollywood bands had ladies in them? tons. later the movement had fewer and fewer, and that even went for the audience. my early take on the first influences of the movement was glitter and glam, which ladies always were strong in, even if it wasn’t a huge scene. even the dancing changed from up-and-down pogo into side-to-side slamming—no more personal space, even if it was kind of vertical—things were definitely going horizontal, w/ fight after fight making what was called “the pit,” and of course, the desired “background sound” to this was faster and faster, added to more of the same ol’ same ol’. all that “no coercion” talk was over and “uniform” was very much in. I didn’t totally get bummed cuz at least there was some scene, but damn if so much wasn’t squandered like it was and all warped up. but hey, that’s humans. hell, pat boone sold more copies of “tutti frutti” than little richard did, and how long ago was that? stuff gets twisted up, dumbed down w/ knuckleheads, and all the reasons involved for the movement getting started in the first place get forgot and stomped. damn. (Mike Watt, p. 180)

***

People ask me about the music, what I liked about it, what my favorite bands were, but I don’t know what to tell them. Yes, I saw X, The Germs, The Bags, and The Controllers. I played backyard parties with Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. I came from an area that spawned Social Distortion, The Adolescents, T.S.O.L., and The Crowd. I was part of a scene that has influenced millions with its style and its sound, but I really couldn’t give a fuck. You might as well be asking me what color pants I wore when I threw my first Molotov cocktail or built my first bomb. The punk scene and the sound was just a bedspread that I fucked on; for me it was never about the music. It was about the pathway of letting go. (Jack Grisham, p. 215)

[californiababylon]

Jack Grisham. T.S.O.L.

Photo by Alison Braun.