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Legal Weapon | |
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Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Genres | Punk rock, hardcore punk |
Years active | 1980–2018 |
Labels | Arsenal Records, MCA Records, Triple X Records, Last Resort Records, Sewer Line Records |
Associated acts | The Silencers, Bags, the Gun Club, the Sisters of Mercy, the Damned, the Adolescents |
Past members | Kat Arthur Brian Hansen Charlie Vartanian Patricia Morrison Mike R. Livingston Steve Soto Frank Agnew Adam Maples Eddie Wayne Margo Reyes Derek O'Brien Tom Slick Danny Halperin Jerry Jones Haskin Sharon Needles Steve Reed "Mad Dog" Karla |
Legal Weapon were a Southern California-based punk band, initially composed of singer Kat Arthur and guitarist Brian Hansen (both previously of the Silencers), bassist Patricia Morrison (formerly of Bags and later of the Gun Club, the Sisters of Mercy and the Damned), drummer Charlie Vartanian and guitarist Mike R. Livingston. [1]
The band's early full-length albums Death of Innocence (on which their lineup included Steve Soto and Frank Agnew of the Adolescents) and Your Weapon were well received. Later efforts moved away from punk to a more hard rock sound. [2] The band released one album on a major label, 1988's Life Sentence to Love , during a period in which they were signed to MCA Records.
With her powerful voice, Arthur was often called "the Janis Joplin of punk". [3] She died October 14, 2018, at the age of 62. [4]
Damaged is the debut studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. SST Records released it on December 5, 1981.
The Adolescents are an American punk rock band formed in Fullerton, California in 1980. Part of the hardcore punk movement in southern California in the early 1980s, they were one of the main punk acts to emerge from Orange County, along with their peers in Agent Orange and Social Distortion. Founding bassist Steve Soto was the sole constant member of the band since its inception until his 2018 death, with singer Tony Reflex being in the group for all but one album.
The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to incorporate influences from blues, rockabilly, and country music. The Gun Club has been called a "tribal psychobilly blues" band, as well as initiators of the punk blues sound and cowpunk - "He (Pierce) took Robert Johnson and pre-war acoustic blues and 'punkified' it. Up until then bands were drawing on Iggy & The Stooges and the New York Dolls but he took it back so much further for inspiration."
Brian Baker is an American punk rock musician. He is best known as one of the founding members of the hardcore punk band Minor Threat, and as a guitarist in Bad Religion since 1994. In Minor Threat, he originally played bass guitar before switching to guitar in 1982 when Steve Hansgen joined the band, and then moved back to bass after Hansgen's departure. He also founded Dag Nasty in 1985, was part of the original line-up of Samhain, and has had stints in Doggy Style, The Meatmen, Government Issue, and Junkyard.
D.O.A. is a Canadian punk rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They are often referred to as the "founders" of hardcore punk along with Black Flag, Bad Brains, Angry Samoans, Germs, and Middle Class. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to the second wave of the American punk sound as hardcore.
D.I. is an American punk rock band formed in 1981 in Fullerton, California. It was founded by vocalist and primary songwriter Casey Royer, after previously playing drums in the bands Adolescents and Social Distortion.
Brats in Battalions is the second studio album by the American punk rock band the Adolescents, released in August 1987 on SOS Records, the band's independent record label. It followed a reunion of the band after a five-year breakup, and subsequent lineup changes which saw drummer Casey Royer and original guitarist Frank Agnew replaced, respectively, by Sandy Hanson of the Mechanics and by Agnew's younger brother, Alfie Agnew. Brats in Battalions explores several styles of punk rock and features new recordings of all three songs from 1981's Welcome to Reality EP, as well as cover versions of the traditional folk song "The House of the Rising Sun" and the Stooges' "I Got a Right". Singer Tony Brandenburg left the band after this album, and the Adolescents recorded one more album without him, 1988's Balboa Fun*Zone, before breaking up for another 12 years.
U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the first hardcore punk bands.
Steve Soto was an American musician. Soto was a multi-talented instrumentalist, a founding member of California punk rock band Agent Orange in 1979, and a founding member of Adolescents in 1980 performing on bass guitar in both bands. Soto was also a member of Legal Weapon, Joyride, Manic Hispanic and the punk supergroup 22 Jacks. Soto fronted his own band, Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts and he also became a member of Punk Rock Karaoke in 2001.
Bernie Tormé was an Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner. Tormé is best known for his work with Gillan, as well as his brief stints with Ozzy Osbourne's backing band and Atomic Rooster.
Thom Wilson was an American punk rock record producer and engineer.
Fang is an American hardcore punk band from the early East Bay punk rock scene, established in Berkeley, California, United States, in 1980.
Combat 84 were an English punk rock band active during the early 1980s. Formed in 1981 in Chelsea, London by skinheads 'Chubby' Chris Henderson and 'Deptford' John Armitage, Combat 84 rose to national prominence after being featured in a controversial 1982 BBC Arena documentary about the skinhead movement.
Live '91 is a live album by the American hardcore punk band T.S.O.L., released in 1991 through Triple X Records. It marked a reunion of the band's original lineup of singer Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes. At the time, the rights to the name "T.S.O.L." were held by Joe Wood and Mitch Dean, who had replaced Grisham and Barnes in 1984 and taken the band in a glam metal direction. Wood legally prevented the original members from using the name for their reunion, so they were billed by their four full names and Live '91 does not carry the name T.S.O.L. on its packaging.
Death of Innocence is the first album by the American punk rock band Legal Weapon. It was independently released in 1982 on Arsenal Records.
Your Weapon is the second album by the American punk rock band Legal Weapon, independently released in 1982 on Arsenal Records.
Interior Hearts is a studio album by the punk rock band Legal Weapon. It was independently released in 1985 by Arsenal Records.
Life Sentence to Love is an album by the American punk rock band Legal Weapon, released in 1988 on MCA Records.
Take Out the Trash is an album by the American punk rock band Legal Weapon. It was released in 1991 on Triple X Records.
Welcome to Reality is an EP by the American punk rock band the Adolescents, released in October 1981 on Frontier Records. Recorded after guitarist Rikk Agnew left the group, it was their only release recorded with guitarist Steve Roberts. The band broke up in August 1981, and when the EP was released two months later it was not well received. When the Adolescents re-formed five years later, a new lineup re-recorded all three songs from Welcome to Reality for their reunion album, 1987's Brats in Battalions.