Shawn Kerri | |
---|---|
Born | Shawn Maureen Fitzgerald 1958 Covina, California |
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Artist |
Pseudonym(s) | Dee Lawdid |
Notable works | "Skank Kid", CARtoons |
Shawn Kerri (born Shawn Maureen Fitzgerald, [1] 1958 [2] ) is an American cartoonist who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. She is known for her work as one of the few female contributors to CARtoons Magazine, [2] and as part of the early Southern California punk rock scene, producing iconic images used by the Germs and the Circle Jerks. [2] [3]
Shawn Maureen Fitzgerald was born in 1958 in Covina, California. [3] Her family then moved to the San Diego area, where she grew up, [3] attending Mission Bay High School.
Her art was influenced by Mad Magazine cartoonists Jack Davis, Will Elder, Wally Wood, and Harvey Kurtzman. [1] [4] As a teenage girl, she was initially turned away when she applied to draw for CARtoons Magazine in 1975, but was hired on the strength of her portfolio of car illustrations. [5] [2] She continued to work for the magazine until it ceased publication in 1991. [5] Between 1978 and 1982 she wrote scripts for Disney's international Donald Duck comics, which were illustrated by Tony Strobl and the Jaime Diaz Studio. [5] She contributed comics to Cracked and pornographic cartoons for Hustler , Chic , Velvet and Gentlemen's Companion under the pen name Dee Lawdid. [1] She also created short comics for Last Gasp's Cocaine Comix and Commies from Mars. [2] She illustrated "Adventures on the Isle of Adolescence", a 1994 spoken-word short film by David Koenigsberg, based on a poem by Pamala Karol ("La Loca"), who narrates. [6]
Kerri moved to Los Angeles in 1977, [1] and was active in the punk rock scene there in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1978, she published a fanzine called Rude Situation, with Mad Marc Rude, who was then her boyfriend. [2] [1] During this period, she drew numerous promotional flyers and tour posters for her friends, which included members of the Germs and the Circle Jerks. One of her best-known images, "Skank Kid" [1] is a composite character of a white teenage punk dancing wildly. [7] He appeared in various comics and illustrations, and was appropriated by the Circle Jerks to be part of the band's logo. Kerri was not paid for this, but reluctantly granted permission to band leader Keith Morris to avoid a legal fight and damaged friendships. [2]
Although there have been conflicting reports that Kerri died in the 1990s, either from a drug overdose, [5] or from falling down stairs at home, [3] documentarian Carl Schneider reported in 2004 that he had found her living with her mother, suffering from chronic cognitive problems following a fall. [2]
The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of music, ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom, and the DIY ethics, the culture originated from punk rock.
The Germs were an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1976 to 1980. The band's "classic" lineup consisted of singer Darby Crash, guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Lorna Doom and drummer Don Bolles. They released only one album, 1979's (GI), produced by Joan Jett, and were featured in Penelope Spheeris' seminal documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization, which chronicled the Los Angeles punk movement. The Germs disbanded following Crash's suicide in 1980. Their music was influential to many later rock acts, and Smear went on to achieve greater fame performing with Nirvana and Foo Fighters.
A zine is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very small group, and are popularly photocopied into physical prints for circulation. A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and popularized within science fiction fandom, entering the Oxford English Dictionary in 1949.
Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.
Jan Paul Beahm was an American singer who, along with longtime friend Pat Smear, co-founded the punk rock band the Germs and was best known as their lead vocalist. In 1980, he committed suicide by overdosing on heroin.
MDC is an American punk rock band formed in 1979 in Austin, Texas, subsequently based in San Francisco, and currently Portland, Oregon. Among the first wave of bands to define the sound and style of American hardcore punk, MDC originally formed as The Stains; they have periodically changed the meaning of "MDC", the most frequent being Millions of Dead Cops. The band's lyrical content expresses radical left political views and has proven influential within the punk subculture.
The Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris. In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a letter demanding the film not be shown again in the city.
Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture and punk rock. It is primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, hierarchy, white supremacy, authoritarianism, eugenics, class and classism, while supporting anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, anti-imperialism, leftism, anti-globalization, anti-gentrification, anti-racism, anti-sexism, gender equality, anti-homophobia, racial equality, animal rights, free-thought and non-conformity. One of its main tenets is a rejection of mainstream, corporate mass culture and its values. It continues to evolve its ideology as the movement spreads throughout North America from its origins in England and New York and embraces a range of anti-racist and anti-sexist belief systems. Punk does not necessarily lend itself to any particular political ideology as it is primarily anti-establishment although leftist punk is more common due to the prevalence of liberal and conservative ideologies in the status-quo.
"I Kill Children" is the ninth song on the Dead Kennedys album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. It is sung from the first person perspective of an unnamed murderer of children. It satirizes America's twin obsessions with extreme violence and conservatism. Jello Biafra had said on his spoken word tours that he wrote the song when he was 18 years old after thinking about how and why people became serial killers, and actually considers it one of his weakest songs.
GI, stylized as (GI), is the only studio album by American punk rock band the Germs. Often considered the first full-length hardcore punk album, it was released in the United States in October 1979 on Slash Records with catalog number SR 103. The album was later released in Italy in 1982 by Expanded Music with the catalog EX 11. The album's title is an acronym for "Germs Incognito", an alternate name the band used to obtain bookings when their early reputation kept them out of Los Angeles-area clubs. After (GI)'s release, the band would only undertake one more recording session, for the soundtrack album to Al Pacino's 1980 film Cruising. On December 7, 1980, a year after the release of (GI), vocalist Darby Crash died by suicide.
Punk literature is literature related to the punk subculture. The attitude and ideologies of punk rock gave rise to distinctive characteristics in the writing it manifested. It has influenced the transgressional fiction literary genre, the cyberpunk genre and their derivatives.
Group Sex is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks. It was released on October 1, 1980, by Frontier Records. The album consists of 14 songs in 15 minutes and is considered to be a landmark album in hardcore punk. It was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Wild in the Streets is the second studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks. It was released on March 4, 1982, by Faulty Products, a sub-label of I.R.S. Records.
Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda County, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Oakland and Berkeley areas.
The Stisism Band, later known simply as Stisism, was an American punk rock band from Brooklyn, New York.
Artcore Fanzine is a punk zine first published in January 1986, covering punk and hardcore music based out of the United Kingdom. It is published once or twice a year and as well as interviews of new bands, labels and artists. It is also known for the other half of the magazine called Vaultage which covers bands, labels, artists, authors and photographers from throughout the history of this style of music. There have been 40 issues of Artcore published to date (2022) and at least 9 vinyl/CD and cassette releases.
Th' Inbred was a hardcore punk band from Morgantown, West Virginia. It released two albums, A Family Affair and Kissing Cousins, and an EP, Reproduction.
Marco Almera is a Southern California artist.
Mydolls is an American rock band from Houston, Texas, formed in 1978. The group consists of Linda Younger, Dianna Ray, Trish Herrera, and George Reyes.
Bad Compilation Tapes / Borderless Countries Tapes is an independent punk/hardcore music label founded in 1982 by Chris Chacon and Dave W. in San Diego, California. The label, with a declared DIY ethic, published from 1981 to 1986 twenty-seven compilations on cassette involving 149 groups from 17 countries. It still sold tapes until around the year 2000, but it made the last 2 tapes of the 27 in 1986. It is considered one of the labels that contributed most to the spread of the European hardcore punk scene in North America. They are currently being remastered and reissued on Bandcamp.