It is Totally Personal

Lately I have been told on the facebooks that I am fronting a cover band. Not true. The  Adolescents play mostly original material. There are nine albums full of material to choose from. Unfortunately, the interwebs allows for all kinds of stupid to be magnified, including mine. 

In the interim of a decade made inane by the Misinformation Highway, I will continue to try my best to define myself and my world, with little regard for the misinformation posted by the unknowing. 

For example, before sending me a fuck you Tony post, the current owner of the Doll Hut implied that I front a cover band. Of course I blocked him. I don't have time for drama. However, I can't really blame him, after all, his bar has never invited me to play, and has a hard on for tribute bands like rADOLESCENTS. That means those knuckleheads are feeding him a line of bullshit, and he simply doesn't know because he wasn't there. 

In any event, let me define terms. 

There is a huge difference between a cover band, and a tribute band. A tribute band plays material of one particular band. They generally play it very well, and it fills a void for people who want to relive some sort of nostalgia factor. In the old days we would call this SHA_NA_NA. 

Some of the bands often try to not only sound like the band, but look like them.  I think most noticeably bands like Wild Child, a DOORS tribute band that was fronted by a Jim Morrison look alike. There are tons of these bands, tributes to all sorts of punk and classic rock bands. Hell´s Belles tribute to AC/DC or Cheap Chick come to mind. These are bands that generally love the material they play, and stay focused on it. In an age of historic inaccuracies and  creating an anachronistic void , however,  for the fan who has no true reference to the past. 

In the 21st Century that is called fake news, but even that bullshit term negates the true nature of the misinformation.

Then there are bands like FLAG and rADOLESCENTS, which are simply tribute bands composed of former members. These bands provide a snapshot into the past, generally covering one specific window of time. They are generally fun, and provide a release of energy- generally to appease the fan who wasn there the first time- whether because of age- or more likely- because they were too lame to see the real deal because they were busy being jocks, or gearhead, a Republikkkan, or whatever.

While tribute bands take on one specific persona of the band,  cover bands take on any personality they choose.  They don discriminate. They will play anyone´ś songs. Many of these bands end up in lounges and bars, taking requests for tips. Although these bands generally suck, the punk rock versions of this sub-genre can be pretty fun. Steve Sot played in alot of these bands; BLACK DIAMOND RIDERS, MANIC HISPANIC, FLOCK OF GOO GOO, and PUNK ROCK KARAOKE. 

Then, of course, are the bands that hold their name and move on, sometimes writing new material, usually not. DEAD KENNEDYS,  999, ANGELIC UPSTARTS, FLIPPER, BLACK FLAG, VANDALS, ADOLESCENTS, FEAR, etc ...... and every band you loved from 1953 to now and is still playing.... we all fall under that blanket. We play the old, some of us play the new. 

I walk on a fine line. I have friends that play in all of these kinds of bands. It is not my intention to draw any parallels, or to dismiss any of the bands. However, it has become necessary for me to stop my silence on the matter of the rADOLESCENTS in order to present my insights. My desire is simply to have people insult me in a way that they don't come off looking so foolish. 

Unlike FLAG, in which the core of the band actually played and recorded the songs, 3/5 of the rADOLESCENTS played on none of the records. Not a single fucking note.

My problem with the rADOLESCENTS is totally personal.