| Beach Blvd | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Compilation album by various artists | |
| Released | Summer 1979 |
| Recorded | November 1978 – July 1979 |
| Studio | Media Art |
| Genre | |
| Length | 31:39 |
| Language | English |
| Label | Posh Boy |
| Producer | Robbie Fields |
Beach Blvd is a seminal compilation album featuring early Californian punk rock bands.
An influential sampler LP, Beach Blvd helped to usher in the hardcore punk movement in suburban Southern California, [nb 1] aided by DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, who gave the record its first airplay on his weekly radio show. [1] [4]
Conceived by the controversial Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields, [nb 2] [1] [4] [5] [2] [6] the album gathers three acts with quite different musical styles: the Crowd [7] [8] from Huntington Beach, Rik L Rik [9] [10] [11] from West Covina, and the Simpletones from Rosemead. [1] [5] [12]
The record title advertised the music's suburban origins: California State Route 39, named Beach Boulevard in the stretch that crosses Orange County, ran inland from the Crowd's hometown to Rik L Rik's. [4]
Produced by Fields, [1] [4] [5] all songs on Beach Blvd were recorded and mixed between November 1978 and July 1979 at Media Art Studio in Hermosa Beach, California.
The tracks credited to Rik L Rik, are remixes [nb 3] of five demo songs recorded in November 1978 [13] by the third lineup of San Francisco punk rock band Negative Trend, [10] [14] where he was lead singer. These versions feature bass overdubs by Jay Lansford, who also added a new guitar track on "Atomic Lawn". [13]
Beach Blvd was mastered by Lanky Linstrot at Wally Heider's Mobile Recording Truck, based in Hollywood, California.
Only three songs featured on Beach Blvd were previously released: Simpletones' "California" was the lead tune on their eponymous 7-inch single record [nb 4] [15] from early 1979; while "Meat House" and "I Got Power" were issued as a Rik L Rik 7-inch single [nb 5] [13] [16] in mid-1979.
Accompanied by liner notes provided by Bingenheimer, [4] Beach Blvd was originally released in the summer of 1979 on Posh Boy Records, in 12-inch LP format. [nb 6] [5] [17] The album was also the Crowd's recorded debut.
In 1981, Posh Boy Records issued a rare edition of Beach Blvd on cassette tape, [nb 7] [18] which included, as bonus tracks, the entire Red Cross EP [nb 8] by Redd Kross from Hawthorne, California. [19]
The original release on 12-inch vinyl disc was repressed in 1986.
In 1990, Posh Boy issued a 29-track extended version on CD [nb 9] [1] [20] featuring liner notes by Fields and Tony Cadena. Bonus tracks included almost half of Like It or Not Live!, [nb 10] [21] the only album by Rik L Rik's first band, the short-lived West Covina four-piece F-Word!, [10] [11] recorded live at San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens in the spring of 1978 and released posthumously that same year. The 1990 CD edition also added six more Simpletones songs: "I Like Drugs", the B-side of the single "California" [nb 4] from 1979; "TV Love" from Rodney on the ROQ, [nb 11] [22] the first of Bingenheimer's compilations, [23] originally issued in 1980; [24] "Disco Ape" (aka "You Drive Me (Disco) Ape"), an unreleased Lansford arrangement of the Dickies' "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)" from 1978; and tracks 13, 15 and 17, all released for the first time. The 1990 edition closed with three additional cuts by the Crowd: "Right Time", also taken from Rodney on the ROQ, [nb 11] "Desmond and Kathy", and an instrumental rendition of the Archies' "Melody Hill" from 1969, both taken from band's first studio album, A World Apart [nb 12] [25] from 1981.
In 1991, the original compilation was included in Richard Elerick's numbered 3-LP box set History of Rik L Rik, [nb 13] [16] [26] in conjunction with F-Word!'s album Like It or Not Live! [nb 10] and Rik L Rik's The Lost Album [nb 14] [16] [27] from 1991.
In 2004, under license from Posh Boy, the Italian label Get Back re-released the 1979 12-inch LP. [nb 15] [28]
The following year, Get Back released a 24-song Digipak CD edition, [nb 15] [29] an abridged version of the 1990 edition.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kirsty Q" | Jay Lansford | Simpletones | 2:50 |
| 2. | "I Have a Date" | Lansford, Richard W. Scott | Simpletones | 2:29 |
| 3. | "Tiger Beat Twist" | Lansford, Eric Kiertzner, David Perry | Simpletones | 2:02 |
| 4. | "Black and Red" | Craig Gray | Rik L Rik | 3:56 |
| 5. | "Meat House" | Will Shatter, Craig Gray | Rik L Rik | 2:44 |
| 6. | "Suzy Is a Surf Rocker" | The Crowd | The Crowd | 1:21 |
| 7. | "Living in Madrid" | The Crowd | The Crowd | 1:20 |
| 8. | "Trix Are for Kids" | The Crowd | The Crowd | 0:51 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Modern Machine" | The Crowd | The Crowd | 1:29 |
| 2. | "New Crew" | The Crowd | The Crowd | 1:16 |
| 3. | "I Got Power" | Rik L Rik, Craig Gray | Rik L Rik | 1:31 |
| 4. | "Mercenaries" | Shatter, Gray | Rik L Rik | 2:36 |
| 5. | "Atomic Lawn" | L Rik, Gray | Rik L Rik | 2:07 |
| 6. | "Don't Bother Me" | Lansford | Simpletones | 2:16 |
| 7. | "California" | Lansford | Simpletones | 2:51 |
| Total length: | 31:39 | |||
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kirsty Q" | Simpletones | 2:50 |
| 2. | "I Have a Date" | Simpletones | 2:29 |
| 3. | "Tiger Beat Twist" | Simpletones | 2:02 |
| 4. | "Black and Red" | Rik L Rik | 3:56 |
| 5. | "Meat House" | Rik L Rik | 2:44 |
| 6. | "I Got Power" | Rik L Rik | 1:31 |
| 7. | "Mercenaries" | Rik L Rik | 2:36 |
| 8. | "Atomic Lawn" | Rik L Rik | 2:07 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Suzy Is a Surf Rocker" | The Crowd | 1:21 | |
| 2. | "Living in Madrid" | The Crowd | 1:20 | |
| 3. | "Trix Are for Kids" | The Crowd | 0:51 | |
| 4. | "Modern Machine" | The Crowd | 1:29 | |
| 5. | "New Crew" | The Crowd | 1:16 | |
| 6. | "Cover Band" | Greg Hetson | Red Cross | 1:25 |
| 7. | "Annette's Got the Hits" | S. McDonald, J. McDonald | Red Cross | 1:08 |
| 8. | "I Hate My School" | J. McDonald | Red Cross | 0:57 |
| 9. | "Clorox Girls" | S. McDonald, J. McDonald | Red Cross | 0:58 |
| 10. | "S & M Party" | Hetson, J. McDonald | Red Cross | 0:56 |
| 11. | "Standing in Front of Poseur" | J. McDonald | Red Cross | 0:58 |
| 12. | "Don't Bother Me" | Simpletones | 2:16 | |
| 13. | "California" | Simpletones | 2:51 | |
| Total length: | 38:01 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Introduction" (live spoken language) | Dirk Dirksen (emcee) | 1:00 | |
| 2. | "Do the Nihil" (live) | Rick L Rick, Dim Wanker | F-Word! | 1:55 |
| 3. | "Out There" (live) | L Rick, Wanker | F-Word! | 1:42 |
| 4. | "In the Haze" (live) | L Rick | F-Word! | 2:11 |
| 5. | "Government Official" (live) | L Rick, Wanker | F-Word! | 2:37 |
| 6. | "Shut Down" (Germs live cover) | Darby Crash | F-Word! | 3:39 |
| 7. | "Kirsty Q" | Simpletones | 2:50 | |
| 8. | "I Have a Date" | Simpletones | 2:29 | |
| 9. | "Tiger Beat Twist" | Simpletones | 2:02 | |
| 10. | "Don't Bother Me" | Simpletones | 2:16 | |
| 11. | "California" | Simpletones | 2:51 | |
| 12. | "I Like Drugs" | Jay Lansford, Jerry Koskie | Simpletones | 2:10 |
| 13. | "Dead Meat (Killer Smog)" | Lansford, Koskie | Simpletones | 2:23 |
| 14. | "TV Love" | Lansford | Simpletones | 1:34 |
| 15. | "Rock 'n' Roll Star" | Koskie | Simpletones | 2:18 |
| 16. | "Disco Ape" (The Dickies alternate version) | Chuck Wagon, Stan Lee | Simpletones | 1:52 |
| 17. | "Nasty Nazi" | Lansford | Simpletones | 3:14 |
| 18. | "Black and Red" | Rik L Rik | 3:57 | |
| 19. | "Meat House" | Rik L Rik | 2:44 | |
| 20. | "I Got Power" | Rik L Rik | 1:32 | |
| 21. | "Mercenaries" | Rik L Rik | 2:37 | |
| 22. | "Atomic Lawn" | Rik L Rik | 2:08 | |
| 23. | "Modern Machine" | The Crowd | 1:29 | |
| 24. | "New Crew" | The Crowd | 1:16 | |
| 25. | "Suzy Is a Surf Rocker" | The Crowd | 1:21 | |
| 26. | "Living in Madrid" | The Crowd | 1:20 | |
| 27. | "Trix Are for Kids" | The Crowd | 0:51 | |
| 28. | "Right Time" | James Kaa | The Crowd | 2:33 |
| 29. | "Desmond and Kathy" | James Kaa, Jay Decker | The Crowd | 2:34 |
| 30. | "Melody Hill" (The Archies instrumental version) | Ritchie Adams, Mark Barkan | The Crowd | 1:55 |
| Total length: | 1:05:20 | |||
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kirsty Q" | Simpletones | 2:50 |
| 2. | "I Have a Date" | Simpletones | 2:29 |
| 3. | "Tiger Beat Twist" | Simpletones | 2:02 |
| 4. | "Don't Bother Me" | Simpletones | 2:16 |
| 5. | "California" | Simpletones | 2:51 |
| 6. | "I Like Drugs" | Simpletones | 2:10 |
| 7. | "Dead Meat (Killer Smog)" | Simpletones | 2:23 |
| 8. | "TV Love" | Simpletones | 1:34 |
| 9. | "Rock 'n' Roll Star" | Simpletones | 2:18 |
| 10. | "Disco Ape" | Simpletones | 1:52 |
| 11. | "Nasty Nazi" | Simpletones | 3:14 |
| 12. | "Black and Red" | Rik L Rik | 3:57 |
| 13. | "Meat House" | Rik L Rik | 2:44 |
| 14. | "I Got Power" | Rik L Rik | 1:32 |
| 15. | "Mercenaries" | Rik L Rik | 2:37 |
| 16. | "Atomic Lawn" | Rik L Rik | 2:08 |
| 17. | "Modern Machine" | The Crowd | 1:29 |
| 18. | "New Crew" | The Crowd | 1:16 |
| 19. | "Suzy Is a Surf Rocker" | The Crowd | 1:21 |
| 20. | "Living in Madrid" | The Crowd | 1:20 |
| 21. | "Trix Are for Kids" | The Crowd | 0:51 |
| 22. | "Right Time" | The Crowd | 2:33 |
| 23. | "Desmond and Kathy" | The Crowd | 2:34 |
| 24. | "Melody Hill" | The Crowd | 1:55 |
| Total length: | 52:16 | ||
Simpletones [15]
Simpletones (1990 CD edition)
Rik L Rik
The Crowd
Red Cross (1981 MC edition) [18]
F-Word! (1990 CD edition)
| Production
Additional production (1981 MC edition)
Additional production (1990 CD edition)
|
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