Avengers (band)

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Avengers
The Avengers.JPG
Avengers in 2012
Background information
Also known asscAvengers
Origin San Francisco, California, United States
Genres Punk rock, hardcore punk
Years active1977–1979, 1999, 2004–present
Labels Dangerhouse, White Noise, CD Presents, Lookout! Records
Members Penelope Houston
Greg Ingraham
Joel Reader
Luis Illades
Past membersDanny Furious (Danny O'Brien)
Jonathan Postal
James Wilsey (deceased)
Brad Kent (deceased)
Danny Panic

The Avengers are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in San Francisco, California, United States. [1] The band recorded an EP, We Are the One (1977) and, after opening for the Sex Pistols, worked with Steve Jones, but had not released an album before breaking up in 1979. [2] After the breakup an EP with the Steve Jones-produced songs was released (The Avengers), [3] and later an album, Avengers, in 1983. Their lead singer, Penelope Houston, is also a folk singer who has a solo career. Since 1999 a number of other albums were released with studio and live tracks, and the band has come together for various occasions. [4]

Contents

History

Early history

Drummer Danny Furious (Danny O'Brien) and guitarist Greg Ingraham decided to start a band, and Furious approached Penelope Houston to be their singer, who agreed. [2] They finished their lineup with Jonathon Postal on bass, although he was replaced shortly after by Jimmy Wilsey. [5] Their first release (and only release while the band was originally together) was We Are the One , a three-song EP which was released on Dangerhouse Records in 1977. [6]

The Avengers opened for the Sex Pistols in San Francisco at their final show at Winterland, [7] which led to Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones producing a recording session for the band. [6] In January 1979, Ingraham left the band and was replaced by Brad Kent, although the band only lasted a few more months until June 1979. [5] An EP, titled Avengers , was released on White Noise Records a few months after the band broke up, which included songs from the Steve Jones produced session. Houston went on to record as a solo artist. [6]

An album called Avengers (sometimes referred to as the Pink Album, including by Houston herself) [8] was released in 1983. It featured tracks recorded through the band's whole time together, and was compiled by drummer Danny Furious. [5] The album was out-of-print for a long time due to being in "legal limbo", during which time Houston sold the album in CD-R format directly through her website. The album was re-released in 2010.

New releases and re-formation

In 1999, a compilation album called Died for Your Sins was issued by Lookout! Records. In addition to original unreleased studio recordings and live tracks, three tracks were newly recorded in 1999 by the scAvengers, featuring original members Houston and Ingraham with new members bassist Joel Reader (The Mr. T Experience, The Plus Ones) and drummer Danny Panic (Screeching Weasel). To support the album, the scAvengers did a few shows. [9] In 2003, a live album titled Zero Hour was released in Italy. The next year, The American in Me was released, featuring all of the tracks from Zero Hour plus four other unreleased studio recordings. Houston and Ingraham again joined with Reader and new drummer Luis Illades to perform some record release shows, and this lineup has performed sporadic live shows since. [9]

On July 16, 2006, Houston and Ingraham joined Pearl Jam to perform "American in Me" at the Bill Graham Civic Center. By January 2017, they were recording in Berkeley with Robert Shimp.

Reception

Members

Current

Previous

Discography

Compilation albums

Live albums

EPs

Singles

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<i>We Are the One</i> 1977 EP by Avengers

We Are the One is the first EP by the Avengers. It was released on Dangerhouse Records in 1977. It is sometimes known as the Dangerhouse EP, referring to the label that released it. It was recorded in October 1977 at Kitchen Sink Studio.

<i>Avengers</i> (EP) 1979 EP by Avengers

Avengers is the second EP from rock band Avengers. Released by White Noise Records in 1979 after the split up of the band, it was produced by musician Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols. It is also known as the White Noise EP, a reference to the record label. The 1983 album Avengers features identical versions of "White Nigger" and "Corpus Christi", while there are different versions of the other two tracks.

<i>Avengers</i> (album) 1983 compilation album by Avengers

Avengers is a compilation album by the American punk group Avengers. It was released on vinyl in 1983 by CD Presents. It is the closest thing to a studio album the band has, although it was compiled by drummer Danny Furious from various recordings the band did in their three years of existence.

<i>Died for Your Sins</i> 1999 compilation album by Avengers

Died for Your Sins is a compilation album by the Avengers. It was released on February 23, 1999, on Lookout Records. The album is composed of four studio recordings from 1978, three studio recordings from 1998 recorded by The Scavengers and fourteen live tracks recorded in 1977 and 1978. Two of the songs on the album are covers: "Joker's Wild", originally by The Ventures, and "Money", originally by Barrett Strong.

<i>Zero Hour</i> (Avengers album) 2003 live album by Avengers

Zero Hour is a live album by the Avengers. It was released on a vinyl in 2003 on the Italian label DBK Works. The album features a recording of the band's final concert that took place at the Old Waldorf, San Francisco, CA on June 13, 1979. The same concert was released a year later on the compilation album The American in Me.

<i>The American in Me</i> 2004 compilation album by Avengers

The American in Me is a compilation album by the Avengers. It was released on April 20, 2004, on DBK Works. The album is composed of four studio recordings from 1978 and a live concert recorded at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco, CA on June 13, 1979. The concert was previously released on Zero Hour one year earlier.

<i>Live at Winterland 1978</i> (Avengers album) 2010 live album by Avengers

Live at Winterland 1978 is a live album by the Avengers. It was released through online music stores on February 16, 2010. The album features a recording of their set on January 14, 1978 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, CA, when they opened for the Sex Pistols on what would become the Sex Pistols final show, before reuniting years later. The Sex Pistols' set has been released on an album of the same name. Songs from this album were previously released on a couple 7" bootlegs titled Penelope and Summer of Hate.

<i>Live Collection</i> 1987 EP by Bruce Springsteen

Live Collection is the name of a Japanese 1987 four song live Bruce Springsteen EP. The EP features two tracks that did not make it into the Live/1975-85 collection: "For You" and "Incident on 57th Street". The River Tour performance of "Incident on 57th Street" released on this EP was the song's last outing until their 1999 reunion tour and has helped make this song a live favorite. The original LP included a fold-out color poster, and lyric sheet with the lyrics to all four tracks in English, and Japanese. The album has since been re-released starting in 2001 on compact disc.

References

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  2. 1 2 Callwood, Brett (February 19, 2020). "Avengers Assembled". SF Weekly . Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Merlis, Bob Merlis (January 6, 2021). "The Tracks of My Years". Spin . Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  4. Margasak, Peter (October 26, 2012). "Sunday: Marco Cappelli's Italian Surf Academy and the Avengers". The Chicago Reader . Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Backman, Karl (December 1, 2004). "Danny Furious of the Avengers interviewed". Summer of Hate. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Strong, Martin C. (2003). The Great Indie Discography. Canongate Books. p. 9. ISBN   1-84195-335-0 . Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  7. Vaziri, Aidin (May 17, 2019). "Penelope Houston reflects on life as a San Francisco punk icon". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  8. Houston, Penelope. "Glad I'm a Girl store". Penelope Houston . Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Encoule, Jean (January 1, 2005). "The Avengers – Payback". Trakmarx. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  10. Nowlin, Sanford (November 6, 2019). "Penelope Houston of the Avengers on the Band's San Antonio Gig and Preserving Punk History". San Antonio Current . Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  11. Goldberg, Michael (January 28, 2019). "The 'King of Slow': Remembering Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  12. Adams, Gregory (4 February 2016). "R.I.P. Former D.O.A. Member Brad Kent". Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.