In 1996, Beer City convinced the Crusties to go back into the studio. Beer City re-mastered Crustunes, added new tracks, and released “The Crusties” on CD. The Crusties continued to play every year, eventually releasing Rats Revenge in 2006, with a mix of old and new songs.

The members of The Crusties work in a wide variety of musical groups. Tim Cole went on to play in a jazz combo called Euripides Pants out of Austin TX.

Johnny Washday, also a founding member of Sacred Order, has done solo work for twenty years, and continues to thrive in the local Milwaukee music scene.

Paul Terrien, the newest addition to The Crusties has found success with Beatallica, the Beatles/Metallica cover band currently touring Europe and Asia.

Paul New joined Wanda Chrome and the Leather Pharaohs touring Europe throughout the late 1990’s, and now plays with Binky Tunny and the Farmland Chokehold.

For the release of Rats Revenge, Brian Kurek, a founding member of The Crusties returned. He found success as a booking agent for punk bands in the Wisconsin scene, and is currently a member of Numnutz.

After many years, a few tours, a few self released cassettes , a 7″ on Beer City the band called it quits due to drugs, alcohol and jail time. Some time after that Beer City released a full length called ‘ Were Fucked’ that had the original 7″ plus 9 songs that were recorded , but never released.

The talks of a reunion were taking place , but were squashed earlier this year (2008) when ‘Booger El Roacho’ ( singer of the band) passed away.

If you ever got to see this band you know why they are considered legendary. The music was fast and furious. Tim Yo of MRR compared these guys to early MDC. With such talented band members these guys were alot more then hardcore. They mixed punk and metal along with many other influences like no others could.

If you ever saw them play you know the intensity of most of their live shows. Bottles were broken. Many times objects were brought that could be smashed on the stage. The singer often got naked and at times his ex-wife would blow him right on stage as he sang one of the bands songs ’suck my dick’. The mic was the singers leash and on the rare occasion he got to use a cordless mic watch out! He would not hesitate to run through the crowd across the bar or wherever. People would get knocked over. Drinks and bottles of beer would go flying. It was all around chaos! All in all this band was quit an adventure both on stage and off.

There are plans for Beer City to release a ‘Motherfuckers’ box set someday. It will be complete with DVD and the bands entire recordings. Until that time the ‘Were Fucked’ full length is available both in LP and digital format.

They returned to Radiobeat to record “Late for the grave” with producer Steve Barry and had since formed an alliance with local peers Psycho and the LP was released on Ax/ction Records in the summer of 1985.

Marc had left to be replaced by Terminal Tom,a work associate of Charlie’s. They did a short tour through the midwest and returned to have longtime guitarist John to depart to be replaced by Marc, who had been promised the guitar slot years before. This marked a productive period for the group resulting in many new songs with a slightly more metallic slant. The lyrics and delivery remained the same of a hardcore band, resulting in a “crossover” sound.

Mike Sores was reluctantly dismissed after much discussion and the band continued as a trio, each contributing to vocals. Many of the songs written with Mike had become staples of the bands set ,which they played to audiences in both the USA and Canada. They released a 7″ ep on Ax/ction titled “Today’s Society” with the title track quickly becoming a fan favorite and garnering positive reviews from MRR and Flipside, both regarded fanzines at the time.

They continued to play local shows with COC,GBH as well as out of state weekend gigs with Psycho,who had fast become a sort of brother band to them,due to drummer Charlie’s membership,which continues to this day.

Tom’s status with the band was iffy at this time though his energy and contribution remained,he was replaced at different times by Keith Bennet and Bill Normal, the original bassist of Psycho, until they finally settled on sudbury resident Mark “Waldo” Small who played on the band’s final lp “Hmmlmmlum”.

At this point the band had changed direction a bit, adding more melody, straying from the original intent, though the resulting LP had many interesting moments.

Wisely noting musical differences and time constraints, after doing a short tour of the USA in which Waldo was replaced by Ed Lynch of Psycho, the band decided to call it a day. Their last gig was in Trenton, NJ opening for the Descendents and Rollins Band at the venue City Gardens. “Cancer Causing Agents” is the first ever digital release by the band.

The vinyl debut “You Are My Victim” was released in 1983 through a small independent Italian label, and later that year, the band signed a deal with American indie-punk label Toxic Shock (Skin Yard, House Of Large Sizes…). “Screams From The Gutter” (Toxic Shock 1985) is widely regarded as being their best album so far, mixing seminal punk rock and sharp hard core. That year the band flew over to the States for their first US tour (and have since returned to tour the USA a total of six times). The reaction to the “Italian punk rockers” was incredible in the US, and the album sold more than 40.000 copies strictly through independent distribution and shops.

“Wop Hour” (Toxic Shock – 1986), “After Your Brian” (Toxic Shock -1986) and “Mine To Kill” (Southern – 1989) helped to develop a heavier, more riff oriented sound. Raw Power, with only a small cult following in Italy, were in the US, considered to be one of the leading exponents of the “Crossover” sound, the music that evolved from both punk and thrash metal and drew a world wide audience thanks to bands like S.O.D., C.O.C., D.R.I., and Attitude Adjustment.

During their long tours in the States Raw Power shared the stage with bands like the Circle Jerks, Adolescents, D.O.A., Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Agnostic Front, Dead Kennedys, Suicidal Tendencies, and in a small club in Seattle in 1986 a then unknown band called Guns’n'Roses opened for the cult Italian band.

The band never enjoyed anything more than cult status in Europe. Even though they continued their explosive live performances all over Europe, they never managed to establish a foothold. This was due to the fact that Raw Power suffered from a lack of professional management and structure, especially in their home country, where they never had the support they both deserved and needed. Raw Power never had the chance to record a studio album that captured the raw, explosive energy and power that they brought to stages all over the world. Their first record for Godhead, “Fight” (1995) (MTV even picked the video for the title track rotation), came close to capturing the bands live energy (which has been compared to standing at ground zero when twenty five megaton nuclear warhead goes off). Came close, but not close enough…

The detonation was captured on 1st of March, 1996 at the Maffia, a club in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The raw, live sound was captured in the only way possible, live, for their last release, “Live From The Gutter” on Godhead records. Twenty-seven songs, recorded with no overdubbing, perfectly reproduced, the barely controlled aggression and raw attitude that recalled “Screams From the Gutter”, the feeling that has been ever-present at Raw Power gigs.

In 1998 the band had several new songs ready for release and began shopping for a label in the U.S. to release them. The end result was “Reptile House”, their greatest album yet, released on their original label Toxic Shock, now known as Toxic Ranch Records. Three American tours in support of the album followed.

Then in the year 2000 they released “Trust Me” through a new, and short lived American label called Hello Records. The record was given fantastic reviews, and at the bands 20 year mark, they were stronger than ever. In the summer of 2001, the band flew to Atlanta, Georgia USA and started the most successful American tour to date. The band was wildly welcomed in most major American cities. No matter how many member changes, label changes, etc., the two brothers that started Raw Power remained the core of the band, and as far as the world knew, would never stop!

In 2002, Raw Power went back into the studio to record yet another full length release. The new material was a celebration of the bands longevity, and the band decided to call it “Still Screaming After 20 Years”, which was released on Six Weeks Records. Shortly after the record was finished, on October 6, founding member Giuseppe! Codeluppi suffered a fatal heart attack while playing soccer. Most people thought the band, without Giuseppe!, wouldn’t recover, but in 2003 they became more active than ever. Guiseppe! wasn;t replaced, nor could he be replaced, instead the members of raw Power have one mission, to ensure that Guiseppe’s music and words are still heard around the world and that they stay true to their mantra…..”Raw Power Will Never Die!!”"

Since then, the band haven’t stopped, playing all over Europe and the US (even playing a Save CBGB’s show in NYC), they released a Greatest Hits collection on Sudden Death Records, and followed it the only way they know how – by playing every and anywhere. Members may come and members may go, but one thing is certain…’Raw Power Will Never Die!”

At the time, not many bands were playing fast hardcore in Texas and, like D.R.I. and M.D.C. before them, Verbal Abuse relocated to San Francisco in the end of 1981.

In San Francisco, Verbal Abuse lived at the infamous Vats along with members of The Dicks and M.D.C. as well as Harley Flanagan from the Cro-Mags. By the end of the year, they had signed with Fowl Records and recorded their first LP, Just an American Band which was released in the beginning of 1983.

The band then embarked on a tour to promote their first album but Brett soon left Verbal Abuse to join the army so Nicki asked former Sick Pleasure bandmate Dave “Koko” Chavez to take his place.

However, hardcore was starting to fade away and crossover thrash was the big thing in the mid ’80s so Nicki quit the band in 1984. Since Joie, Dave and Gregg wanted to continue making music, They asked Condemned to Death singer Scotty Wilkins to sing.

1985 Saw Scotty Wilkins sidelined with a throat infection for several months. He was replaced, short-term, by Anxiety lead singer Jim Pitts.

1986 they recorded their second album, V.A. Rocks Your Liver, which was released on Boner Records.

The band continued to tour but Joie eventually left to join another band in 1987, being replaced by Andy Schuman. Gregg also left for family reasons a bit later, being replaced by former Condemned to Death drummer Mike Chubka who left in 1987 .

In 1989 Chris Kontos joined up after Gregg James was unable to make the European tour. Verbal Abuse was asked to take M.D.C.’s place because they were unable to make the trip. Off they went for 38 shows in 42 days with Destiny booking. At the end of that tour Destiny asked if they would record a “Live Recording”. Out of that came Passport- Verbal Abuse of America released on Destiny records.

1990 saw Destiny bringing VA back to Europe to tour off the Live recording.

They recorded another album entitled Red, White and Violent and released in 1995 on Century Media Records. They toured for this record and split about a year later as Scotty joined Electric Frankenstein.

Joie Mastrokalos resurfaced playing guitar for his good friend Duff McKagan’s band in 1993 and 1994. He contributed on Duff’s solo album Believe in Me and the following solo tours that ensued.

In 1996, the band got a lot of recognition and newfound interest when thrash metal legends Slayer covered five of their songs on their Undisputed Attitude record. The songs covered are “Disintegration”, “Free Money”, “Verbal Abuse”, “Leeches” and “I Hate You”.

Nicki having been released from prison and money from the Slayer album royalties brought the band back together in the 21st century, now with Nicki back on Vocals, Andy on guitar, Dave on bass as well as new members Jess Aaron on second guitar and Geza Szent-Galy on drums. The band’s first LP was re-released by Beer City records on CD with many extra tracks in 2002.

(December 04 2008) Verbal Abuse is still together and plays out on occasion.

In the mid-80s INFERNO are a worldwide well known (the most known) Hardcore Band from Germany…even though most lyrics are sung in German. The group tours all over Europe, as an active cell of the continental Hardcore-network, a network which reaches from the Basque Country up to Helsinki, from Amsterdam to Athens, from Bristol to Belgrade.

21 years ago big Thrash- and Speedmetal-Acts such as Hirax, Slayer, Anthrax or S.O.D name INFERNO as one of their biggest influences in several interviews and features. S.O.D even cover the tune “Ram It Up” while recording their first album. (compilation “From The Megavault” / Metalblade)

Scott Ian: “INFERNO were the hardest, fastest, most brutal hardcore band of their time and were a direct influence…”

Head On Collision’s sordid roots can be traced to the now deceased hardcore outfit Very Metal. As Head on Collision’s founding member Pat McCauley’s previous band, Very Metal saw some success as a hardcore outfit. Pat had always dreamed of playing in a straight, balls-to-the-wall thrash metal band but tastes had changed, as they are ought to do, and McCauley found that the indie music scene in the late 80’s wasn’t particularly hospitable to thrash metal. Suffering from the giant tidal rush of Metallica’s dominance, the 80’s gave way to the 90’s and a younger, more impressionable McCauley found greater acceptance catering to a hardcore/crossover palette with Very Metal. After that band’s eventual demise, McCauley found himself with the artistic freedom to chase his ultimate dream of thrash metal perfection.

It took four years since Very Metal’s demise but by Spring of 2005 McCauley had found a roster a roster of capable musicians (no small feat; the band was now on its third vocalist) and recorded their debut five-song demo, Arise From the Wreckage. The response was positive and thanks to a great live show, promoters and labels began to take notice. A year later the band was invited to take the stage at the fearsome Minneapolis Mayhem 3 festival. After years of hard work, a revolving door of vocalists and some 1,200 demos sent, it seemed like success had finally arrived.

Head On Collision is straight thrash metal without the bullshit. Playing fast and hard without nod to any trend or posture, Head On Collision is refreshingly unaffected. Those tired of diluted crossover amalgams will relish the band’s full length debut, ‘Ritual Sacrifice’. Head On Collision recall the thrash scene at its most fecund state. After languishing in the gallows of heavy music for so many years, Head On Collision stand poised to bring thrash metal out of the shadows and into the limelight once again.

San Jose’s most famous skater, Steve Caballero, was learning the bass guitar in his mom’s house, where he lived at the time, for one reason; to start a band. Being the determined type that he is, he did just that with the friends who were in his backyard skateboarding on his ramp they had built to replace the bulldozed skateparks. After a few line-up changes, band names, and song writing reworks, the first inklings of what The Faction would become surfaced on Halloween day when Adam Bomb Segal took the drums, Russ Wright played the bass, and Gavin O’Brien manned the mic. That line up opened for Social Distortion at San Jose City College that December, but it didn’t last. With a need for even crunchier guitar sounds while playing live, Adam joined Russ on guitar while the then-unknown Keith Rendon took over on drums. When Russ moved out of the area soon after, the line-up of Steve, Gavin, Adam and Keith went on for almost 2 years unchanged.

In that time The Faction were busy. In 1983 a 7″ e.p. was released, (’Yesterday Is Gone’), and a skatepunk’s dream tour of the band and a dozen friends caravanned up and down California playing gigs and skating everything in sight. The very first Thrasher Magazine Skate Rock TAPE featured two Faction songs that had worldwide distribution. Soon, fan mail was steadily streaming in from all over the globe. The first album ‘No Hidden Messages’ debuted soon after and their first US tour kicked off in the summer of 1984 exposing even Stevie to the whole country for the first time. Some compilation appearances followed along with dozens of gigs.

While the songs that would compromise their soon to be released 12″ e.p. ‘Dark Room’ were being honed for recording, two personnel changes took place. First, Ray Stevens II from the now-defunct local icons Los Olvidados joined on bass so Stevie could move to rhythm guitar. A few months later Keith left the band to concentrate on his skating and building gnarly muscle cars, (no one would race his Nova). Replacing Keith was hard, but Steve went back to the locals in his back yard and recruited Bosch who had played at some jam sessions in the pre-Facion days. Dark Room was released to the growing numbers of Faction fans all over the world and a summer of 1985 US tour was completed in support of it. At the time, being Social Distortion and Suicidal Tendencies “Nor Cal baby-band” meant opening for them when they ventured north, and/or giving them a place to stay. In the fall of 1985, the band recorded another 12″ e.p. titled ‘Epitaph’ that was released after the band split up on Halloween night at a party in south San Jose.

The split didn’t last too long as two over-booked reunion gigs in 1989 at San Jose’s Cactus Club reminded their home town of their live abilities, while a three song long lost demo was recorded and forgotten till one of the songs, ‘Accelerate’, appeared on the DVD documentary of fallen friend Mark ‘Gator’ Anthony. The line-up for that brief spell was Stevie on lead guitar, Gavin on vocals, Ray on bass, Bosch on drums, and the newly recruited pro-skater Jeff Kendall filling in for Adam. The next Faction reunion wouldn’t happen for eleven years.

In 2000 Los Olvidados, the mayors of San Jose’s punk scene, did a reunion show. The significance of that show may be lost on anyone who wasn’t part of the San Francisco Bay Area punk scene in the very early 80’s, but for those in attendance it was nothing short of a kick in the head reminder of what use to be. Los Olvidados guitar god Mike Fox, (now of The Dwarves), challenged Gavin, the only member of The Faction who said he would never get on stage again, to agree to another go. Mike’s words took about a month of gnawing away the resistance till they broke through. The line-up this time was Steve on guitar, long-lost Russ Wright (now of The Demonics) also on guitar, Gavin on vocals, Ray on bass, and Keith back on drums for the first time in 16 years! This was as close to the original line up as they would come. A Zero Magazine sponsored San Jose Legends Show at The Usual Niteclub in downtown SJ was quickly organized. Headlining was The Faction with Los Olvidados, and the also newly reformed Ribzy. Opening was The Forgotten who wanted to pay homage to the old bastards who came before them. There were over 700 people in a 450 capacity building for that show as officials may or may not have been paid off. It was only suppose to be a one-show deal, but when the band met two insane kids in a Honda who had driven all the way to San Jose from New Jersey just to see them play that night, plans were changed.

Gigs in Canada, Scotland, Germany, and up and down the west coast took place, and a four song yet to be released session was recorded. Those who have heard those songs say they are The Faction’s best ever, and a DVD compilation slated for an early 2009 release on Beer City Records should prove it. Stay tuned.

After their early 80’s start, M.D.C. had released approximately one album every other year, (give or take), continuing recently with full lengths 1993’s “Shades of Brown” and recently with “Now More Than Ever”, a compilation/20 year retrospective of the band’s work and the brand new “Magnus Dominus Corpus”. What follows is a brief history of the musical, political organization that is M.D.C..

M.D.C., whether referring to the acronyms Millions of Dead Cops, Millions of Damn Christians, Millions of Dead Capitalists, Millions of Dead Congressmen, Millions of Dead Children, Missile Destroyed Civilization, or Multi-Death Corporation, Male Dominated Culture, Marine Death Corps, and Magnus Dominus Corpus (the Latin being a personal request of the pope for whom we played in San Francisco… until the secret service chose to practically throw us off the roof across street from the Mission Dolores Church back in ‘87 when Pope John Paul came to S.F.), have always attempted to make powerful, political statements that screamed loudly against political insanity in a punk scene often littered with meaningless personal topical babble. Their originality challenges (and often rivals, in the opinions of the die-hard fans) the Dead Kennedys (who originally helped co-produce M.D.C.’s first LP and released it abroad in Europe), due to M.D.C.’s blunt and radical views.

In their now past-25-year existence, M.D.C. did undoubtedly influence many bands of today. Their influence is evident in many modern anti-government-and-oppression oriented groups. Alternative duo “They Might Be Giants” mentions M.D.C. in their song “Rhythm Section Want Ad”. In addition, M.D.C. is thanked in the liner credits of H20’s first album, plus mentioned in NOFX songs entitled “Reagan Sucks” and “13 Stitches” and a Tribe 8 song as well. The cover of their fourth Album “Millions of Damn Christians” depiction of da Vinci’s “Last Supper” with St. Al Schvitz, St. Dave, St. Franco and our lord, savior and raging guitarist, Gordon Fraser subbing for those other apostles (John, Jesus, Thomas and James the Greater) is one of the Christians rights 10 most evil and satanical albums. So sayeth the 700 Club and PTL (so much for the Pope’s approval…oh well, you can’t please everyone!).

In 1981, M.D.C. (then still known as the Stains) released what should be considered a legendary punk landmark single on 45, “John Wayne Was a Nazi” paired with “Born to Die.” At this point, the band was slower and less polished than they would become later as M.D.C.. However, the two-song single still has integrity and merit, and captures the essence of what early punk rock was all about. The angry lyrics, the simple chording (mostly all power chords, still our favorite kind) and riffage (”John Wayne Was a Nazi” has only three chords, repeated for chorus and verse!! but they ARE such good chords!), make this debut single very outstanding for its time. Its extreme rawness, combined also with surprising competence and sincerity is what makes these early pieces so spectacular. What’s more, Dave’s harsh, sometimes screamed vocals serve to add power and persuasion to the intense, controlled roar that M.D.C. was all about. The debut single’s originality and spontaneous feel would later be overshadowed by other releases, but this preliminary single retains its purity and classic status in light of repetitive, mass-produced smut that litters most hardcore punk of today.

Millions of Dead Cops was M.D.C.’s first LP, and its twelve songs were released on vinyl on R Radical Records in 1982. R Radical Records was M.D.C.’s own record label and also released DRI, C2D (Condemned To Death), Dicks, BGK, Reagan Youth, the Offenders and more. It should be noted that R Radical Records was only expanded to release other band’s music in a collective spirit and not the furtherance of our aspirations in the music “business” which we found distasteful and not in line with our political motives and roots. That was why we put out our own records on our own label in the first place. Later on, the guy in LA in charge of the production took the money and ran and hasn’t been seen since.

Millions of Dead Cops developed as a brilliant album, successfully combining personal rage and angst with genuine social/political concerns. The song “John Wayne was a Nazi” and “Born to Die,” which both originally appear on M.D.C.’s (The Stains’) first single, were released in cleaner, more precise, faster and slightly lengthier versions on Millions of Dead Cops. Also included were classic hardcore songs like “Business on Parade,” “Corporate Death Burger,” “I Hate Work,” and the epics “Dead Cops/America’s So Straight, “I Remember” and “American Achievements,” –and each song contributed unique elements toward the eventual heightening of M.D.C.’s debut outing as an essential early piece of punk history. The album was recorded in Houston, with cover art by Carlos Lowry.

Yes, M.D.C.’s early material is rough, and it is raw, but a listener must appreciate the band’s unique appeal from a viewpoint of recognizing their simplicity, innocence and honesty; essential values for effective critical approaches that are often lacking in much “punk” of today. M.D.C. never tried to be anything they were not, and they never changed their approach due to pressure. This first album is the one truly considered a classic landmark punk album by most, and it is well-deserving of such a title. Millions of Dead Cops is fast, heavy, grating, and scathingly political, encompassing everything that is truly classic about M.D.C.

M.D.C.’s first EP, (second release) “Multi Death Corporation,” EP contains four songs. The band’s musical maturity and lyrical development is obvious as is the clever way they assume the first person bad guy persona… “We’re the Multi Death Corporation… opportune on any situation…” equating the suffering of the poor with the indulgence of the rich unabashedly in the first person. The second part of the title cut “Selfish Shit” effectively brings that persona to the singular form making note of the callousness of the “me generation” mindless individual without whom the “Multi-Death Corporations” could not survive. “No Place to Piss,” and the beautifully nasty “Radioactive Chocolate” make this EP another essential, complete classic. The cover is disturbing and helps tie the whole concept together as a whole. The efforts were well worth it.

The third release of M.D.C. was another EP entitled “Millions of Dead Children.” This EP has also been occasionally referred to as the “Chicken Squawk” EP. The 7 inch only has three songs, however, the tracks manage to be diverse, from the speed power of “Kleptomaniac” to the rapid country parody and classic punk dance song classic status of “Chicken Squawk,” and finally with more hardcore hinting in the all-out assault “Death of a Nun” (which M.D.C. also developed as a slightly different song entitled “Pecking Order” for the later compilation “More Dead Cops”). The song “Chicken Squawk” was written by Jimmy Brighton and Butch Zito with Dave years earlier but Dave’s spiffed up lyrics make it what it later became. This EP is an essential for the die-hard M.D.C. fan, but if one only desires the music and not necessarily the memorabilia of having the EP itself, these three songs can be found as released on a later full-length album with the previous EP included as well, the 1988 compilation (career retrospective at the time) More Dead Cops. In addition, this single was released by the band Crass on their own UK label, the only U.S. band they ever put out! Dave Dick from the Witnesses plays acoustic guitar in “Chicken Squawk”.

In 1983: At this point in time M.D.C. would have completed 2 nationwide (and Canadian) tours and two of Europe. The first European tour offered us 18 gigs opening for the legendary “Dead Kennedys”. They were on their fourth tour abroad and generously shared their huge popularity with us, a virtual unknown band at the time. Upon returning from our first European experience, we were surprised to have been chosen as the YIPees “Album of the Year” band and offered a 50 city tour with their organization which included playing on a float in New York City starting at Washington Square and ending in front of the U.N. building. The tour culminated with a 4th of July gig in front of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. M.D.C. then returned to their beer vat (actually by that time they had the whole top floor of the beer vats) and took a well needed sabbatical.

It would be two years later, and the first changing of the guard, (Ron had submerged himself in a thriving skateboard business that made huge demands on his time and energies.) until M.D.C.’s fourth release, but first they released a very ambitious compilation called “P.E.A.C.E.”. It featured 55 bands from around the world.

This second full-length album was “Smoke Signals”. This was not as hard or driving as the past releases and didn’t glean great reviews. However, Smoke Signals has many different and interesting musical textures, and should be commended as one of M.D.C.’s broader efforts. A political flyer is included with the LP version, concerning the Big Mountain Elders (Native American group) Relocation Resistance March. The march was held at Big Mountain, Arizona, on July 7 1986. Smoke Signals reserves a place in M.D.C.’s history if only to show the enormous Smoke Signals includes many more of M.D.C.’s trademark short, simple songs, some too simple for critics and listeners. There were thirteen songs in all, the last being the instrumental title track, “Smoke Signals.” Ones like “Missile Destroyed Civilization” and “The Big Picture” (a cover of Canada’s the Subhumans) are often performed live to this day. This was one of the last releases M.D.C. would have with Ron – their original guitarist and along with Dave -founders and main songwriters. This was also the debut of guitarist Gordon Fraser (”Jesus” on the cover of the “Damn Christians” album) who would remain for the next several years.

After several preliminary expressions in the forms of their first four releases (Millions of Dead Cops, the EP Multi Death Corporation, the EP [single] three-song Millions of Dead Children and the full-length Smoke Signals), M.D.C. decided to expand their musical range on their next release. The fifth release “Millions of Damn Christians: This Blood’s For You” was released in 1987. The album begins as an attack on religion, (hence its title). Its fourteen songs frighteningly depict life in the midst of the Reagan years, as M.D.C. covers a variety of topics ranging from Reagan (”Bye Bye Ronnie”), the agricultural imperialism of coffee-growers (”Chock Full of Shit”), intolerant and violent punks, (”S.K.I.N.H.E.A.D.”), bureaucrats (the rapid, short “Henry Kissmyassinger”), and junkies (”Your Death Wish is Sick”) plus a cover of Cream’s “Politician” (We went back to our old, old school roots and took a Cream song and played it like Led Zeppelin, changing only one line from “I’m a political man” to “We’re a political band”). This Blood’s For You has been dubbed by many as one of M.D.C.’s best albums, presumably due to its musical diversity and overall integrity. The album began to successfully utilize and incorporate acoustic guitar, melodies and guitar solos giving it a more rock than hardcore approach. Note that Latin percussion on “Chocked Full!”

Another worldwide tour and a guest appearance on Michelle Shocked’s “Short, Sharp, Shocked” album, along with a bunch of unreleased material, and two seven inches brought us to the point of deciding to put out a semi anthology entitled “More Dead Cops”. I say “semi” anthology because there is as much previously unreleased stuff on it as not. It was not intended to be a typical “Greatest Hits” It combined the early x-con ron years (1979 – 1985) — three 7 inches and a 12 inch including both sides of their debut single (”John Wayne was a Nazi” b/w “Born to Die”), the four-song Multi-Death Corporation EP, the three-song Millions of Dead Children EP (with the alternate version of “Death of a Nun”, called “Pecking Order” instead), two rare compilation tracks “Pay to Come (Cum) Along” — an attack on the Bad Brains tour and the song “Evolution in Rock”. Ending with two previously unreleased and amusing covers from 1987 Jimi Hendrix’s “Spanish Castle Magic” and Albert Kings’ blues classic “Born Under a Bad Sign” w/Gordon Fraser on guitar. It really is what it says… More (from the) Dead Cops!

“More Dead Cops” begins with that old cowboy “Texas Schvitz” asking John Wayne the musical question: “Just whaddya fixin’ to do about us M.D.C. boys?!” John replies that he plans to have us hanged at Judge Barker’s convenience. Bruce Dern then tells John “That sounds like bold talk from a one eyed fat man” Thanks Bruce. We couldn’t agree more, in fact, it sounds like even bolder talk from a one-eyed, fat, DEAD man! He was a Nazi, after all! HA!

Also in 1988, M.D.C. put out a live album entitled Elvis in the Rhineland as a seventh release, which contained a performance recorded live in Berlin of twenty-five songs. M.D.C. viciously blasts through all twenty-five in a kind of career-retrospective style. Two of these songs are Michelle Shocked covers — both the rendition of the Shocked tune “Fogtown”, and the last song, “Secret to a Long Life.” The song “Dead Cops Rock” is simply a M.D.C. rendition of Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock” in their classic evil-parody style. Dave would wear an Elvis suit for every show of this period. The most significant historical thing about this album from the bands perspective was the reunification of our power chord god x-con ron to the band although this reunification would once again be temporary as was a short stint with Mikey Offender soon after.

After the live Elvis, M.D.C. released the album “Metal Devil Cokes: It’s the Real Thing” in early November 1989. The sixteen-song Metal Devil Cokes, while it maintains the M.D.C. traditions, was never considered an especially impressive album. However, the album was quite diverse. The acoustic number “Acid Reindeer” and crazy blues songs such as “Hole in My Soul” are very musically intricate. The song “Three Blind Mice,” poking fun at every fairy tale and fantasy epic imaginable, along with the albums other aspects, makes it listenable, for those who enjoy their scathing political commentary mixed with humor and differing styles of music. There was yet another new guitarist on this album, Eric Calhoun, who did contribute to the amusing and satirical songs on the again-diverse Metal Devil Cokes. M.D.C. even goes so far as to cover the old classic “Love Potion #9″! We could get by the line “When I kissed a cop down on 34th and vine… he broke my little bottle of love potion #9!”

M.D.C. recorded a live album in Maribor, Slovenia (the country was called Yugoslavia at the time) in 1990 with the band playing seventeen of their classic songs up until that point. The recording is from a September show, and Matt Freeman from Operation Ivy (and later, Rancid) was still the bassist for the legendary M.D.C. Matt became M.D.C.’s bassist in the spring of 1990 fresh out of Operation Ivy, and debuted with them in April 1990. Also at this time, Tim Armstrong (later lead singer of Rancid) was an M.D.C. roadie! Live in Maribor is truly a rare album, totally out of print. So if you happen to find it, consider yourself lucky.

In 1991, M.D.C. released a fifteen-song LP entitled “Hey Cop, If I Had a Face Like Yours” – Millions of Dead Cops II. In many reviews or reference sources this album is sadly neglected, and it’s a shame because the record contains classic tracks like “The Jew That Got Away”, “Millions of Dead Cops” (the song!) and “U.S. War #54″. Many mistake the “Millions of Dead Cops II” reference on the album’s title to be an allusion to a new band, which would be half true. Dave and Al were still guilty as charged, but this subtitle only refers to the album. You’ll only find the same M.D.C. that we know and love, only with a new guitarist, Bill Collins, who is quite talented and also doubles as a main music/songwriter for the record. As an additional note, Matt Freeman did play bass on this album as well as being a member of M.D.C. during 1990, as previously mentioned, but called it quits with M.D.C. after touring with them for the duration of the year. Hey Cop is a great album, though, and very listenable, with many different styles incorporated once again.

M.D.C. released what was to be their last full-length release for several years, the diverse recording Shades of Brown, in 1993. The title track itself has impressive lyrics, and the album as a whole touches upon many of today’s (the 90’s) musical styles, including metal, rockabilly, hip-hop, and yes, M.D.C.’s classic and expected hardcore. The band also moved to New Red Archives Records for this album. This LP is easier to find in some circumstances, but still elusive. The fifteen-song Shades had a single put out from it, as well, for the song “Thanks For Giving Me What I Didn’t Want.” The musicians for this album include newcomers Chris Wilder (from Stikky) as the latest madman on guitar and for the extensive vegetarian rap in “Real People, Real Food, Real Bullets”, and also Erica Liss on bass (from the band “Gecko Valour” which she shared with Al Schvitz who drafted her, then Monster Island). These members all left eventually after this album and the sparse made-for-single song here and there which would follow in M.D.C.’s next period.

In 1994, shortly after Shades was completed, M.D.C. recorded a split 7-inch with the Capitalist Casualties called the Liberty Gone EP. M.D.C. had two cuts, a song entitled “Bombs, Not Food” and “Nazis Shouldn’t Drive (Cars)”, the latter of which is a different kind of ode to the late singer of Screwdriver, Ian Stuart and a really good song. A lot of Cali hardcore on this one. This EP is also quite difficult to find (but what M.D.C. album isn’t?). The recording was, of course, released on Capitalist Casualties’ label Slap-A-Ham.

In 1997, M.D.C. put out a two-song single called “I Don’t Want to Hurt You Dude, I Just Want My Shit Back” with that song itself as the title track, as well as a b-side in the form of the song “Dark Clouds.” “Dark Clouds” focuses on the struggles of drug addiction. This album with Tom “Pig Champion” of Poison Idea was released on Honest Don’s Records, an offshoot of Fat Mike of NOFX’s label, Fat Wreck Chords. Ironically, the reason not much had been heard of M.D.C. up to that point was due to the fact that Dave and Al Schvitz (M.D.C.’s long-time and until then, the only drummer and a main secondary songwriter) were imprisoned for a year on charges of possession of controlled substances. It should be noted that being a long standing member of M.D.C. does one little good when dealing with the legal authorities and does not cause said authorities to give one any undue consideration! This addition to the M.D.C. history and legacy did not dampen M.D.C.’s spirits, as will be shown later, and seems to have fueled their music and make them more angry at the situation the world is in today. For this album, Dave left Erica and Chris Wilder and long-time home San Francisco, as he moved to Portland, Oregon due to trouble with the law. He again teamed up with Metal Devil Cokes guitarist Eric Calhoun as a result, and called the new single Pig Champion as well. But Oregon would prove to be another trial for Dave Dictor and Tom.

For the next release (the move was circa. ‘96 or ‘97), M.D.C. was on Honest Don’s recordings (which was, at the time, merely a young offshoot of Fat Mike’s, of NOFX label, Fat Wreck). As for an album in 1998, M.D.C. put out a 7″ split single (also on Honest Don’s) with the Repeat Offenders, the title being “My Dog Has No Girlfriend”, with Tom “Pig” Champion (of the Repeat Offenders) appropriately lending his talent to the title track. M.D.C. also found a new bassist named Joe, who picked up their songs quickly. Tom and Dave also collaborate in the band the Submissives, who released an album entitled An Anvil Will Wear Out Many a Hammer in 1996, songs reminiscent of the 1980 Imperialist Pigs . However, the collaboration with Tom led to more drug use, as was the trend during the speed-fueled Submissives sessions (although it is a great album about sex, pain and perversion), and this led to more problems. Later, Al Schvitz (M.D.C.’s original and only drummer to this point) was again put in jail for not hanging around S.F. where they obviously had it in for him. In 1997, 95% of people paroling out of prison in California were violated. The prison corrections and deputy’s unions had grown bigger than the teachers union and incarceration was California’s biggest industry. It was only a matter of time until the “Dead Cops” drummer was violated without cause if he stayed. So he followed Dave to Portland where they both live to this day. (Al has since gone to great lengths to stay in the good graces of all the powers that be, not withstanding that, as The Dicks song says: “If you can’t find justice… IT’LL FIND YOU!).

On the video front, M.D.C. was filmed twice in 1983. Target Video released a VHS of live footage of M.D.C. with Crucifix at the On Broadway that is relatively difficult to find. I just recently had a chance to obtain and to watch this video, and let me tell you, it is amazing. The sheer power that the band emits on stage performing live is enough to knock you on your ass. Flipside released a VHS of live footage of M.D.C. with the Dicks at the Olympic Auditorium. John Lieb from the Sluglords and Morally Bankrupt is on drums for that one. In addition M.D.C. appears on several other videos, bootlegs and such, to be detailed soon on the site.

M.D.C. is active in a number of good causes, recently speaking against the jailing of anarchist Chris Plummer and more. M.D.C. was on the cover of the FIRST issue of Maximum Rock’n’Roll, and the band is interviewed inside! They also have had major articles in Playboy, Spin, Sounds, and interviews in local papers and fanzines far to numerous to count. They have done countless benefits for worthy causes from the Indians at Big Mountain to Food Not Bombs and retained the support and best efforts in furtherance of a better world.

Some other personnel who should be mentioned as being M.D.C. alumni are guitarists Tom Albino (Missile Destroyed Civilization) Brendan Bekowies (from Stockyard Stoics – after a brief stint with Dave Hahn as guitarist on the Brazil tour and Al Bazin Albatross (drums – former member of Ludichrist and Big Sniff and current member of side project the Plungers) and Mike Pride (from Dynamite Club) playing drums on “Magnus Dominus Corpus”. Also such notables as Dejan Podobnik and Felix Griffin from D.R.I. fame on drums.

Things changed and are on the up and up for M.D.C. They have released a 20-year retrospective of their work entitled Now More Than Ever: M.D.C. 1980-2000. This record has 31 songs, highlighting many of M.D.C.’s albums and includes some rare material and a really great new song called “More Squawk” — an offshoot of that crazy early single “Chicken Squawk”. Featured on this recording was Matt Van Cura, M.D.C.’s newest find for a great bass player, plus John Soldo (formerly of NY hardcore band Crackdown) on drums for the new track.

M.D.C. toured Europe in 2004 as M.D.C. Unplugged with “Boxcar” Dave and x-con ron and currently you can catch Dave with Mike from No Red Flags continuing the Unplugged tradition.

The latest M.D.C. album of new tunes is the long overdue “MAGNUS DOMINUS CORPUS” also called Millions of Dead Contractors referring to those foolish enough to see the nightmare in Iraq as another opportunity to get rich. Guess they weren’t as smart as they thought. Three quarters of the original line-up, Dave, Ron and Mikey recorded that one and the fourth member Al has since rejoined in the newest (and oldest) incarnation of M.D.C. One can find the full circle complete.

- by Jake Beamer
updates by Beer City

After “MAGNUS DOMINUS CORPUS” was released the band went out on several US and European tours.

The most notable change to the band would be the passing of Mikey “Offender” Donaldson on September 22 2007 in Barcelona Spain. Mikey always said if something happened to them he would want Mike Smith from Portland , OR to replace him and so it was.

In 2007 and 2008 M.D.C. would continue to tour Europe and the USA. With their original lineup plus Mike Smith on bass.

(Dec 04 2008) M.D.C. Is still together and plays out and is planning a tour for early spring of 2009 starting March 20th. The current lineup is Dave Dictor (vocals), Al Schvitz (drums), Mike Smith (bass) and Russ Kalita (guitar).