Target Video (aka TargetVideo77) is a San Francisco-based studio, founded by artist Joe Rees, collaborating with Jackie Sharp, Jill Hoffman, Sam Edwards and others. The studio archived early art performance, punk and hardcore bands on video and film. Performers such as the Sex Pistols, the Dead Kennedys, The Screamers, The Cramps, William S. Burroughs, The Clash, the Avengers, Mark Pauline, Survival Research Labs, The Go-Go's, John Cooper Clarke, Bauhaus, X, The Dils, Johanna Went, Talking Heads, Black Flag, Flipper, D.O.A and Crucifix were recorded in the late 1970s to the early 1980s.[ citation needed ] In addition, videos often included interviews with members of the bands.
Target Video filmed a performance by The Cramps and The Mutants at Napa State Hospital on June 13, 1978, in which the bands performed for an audience of mental patients. [1] Forty years later, Rolling Stone described the performance as "legendary" and "a landmark moment for punk rock". [2] Despite being attended by only 100 people, mostly patients, the recording of the show became an underground sensation. [3]
In addition to these releases, there are other re-released compilations (Hardcore Vol. 1–5) featuring bands such as Toxic Reasons, Code of Honor, and Negative Trend.[ citation needed ]
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. The band are credited as progenitors of the psychobilly subgenre, uniting elements of punk rock with rockabilly.
Crucifix was an American hardcore punk band from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1980 to 1984. They were among the most popular acts of the San Francisco punk scene of the early 1980s. Fronted by Cambodian-born singer Sothira Pheng, Crucifix were distinct among American underground bands for their strong D-beat musical characteristics and anarchist lyrical content and graphic design. The band's debut 1983 full-length album Dehumanization on Crass Records‘ offshoot Corpus Christi Records, is considered by many critics and fans to be a cornerstone of political punk music. After their breakup, Crucifix’s members went on to form the bands Loudspeaker and Proudflesh.
In the United States, California is commonly associated with the film, music, and arts industries; there are numerous world-famous Californian musicians. New genres of music, such as surf rock and third wave ska, have their origins in California.
The Mabuhay Gardens, also known as The Fab Mab or The Mab, was a former San Francisco nightclub, located at 443 Broadway Street, in North Beach on the Broadway strip area best known for its striptease clubs. It closed in 1987.
D.O.A. is a Canadian punk rock band from Vancouver. They are often referred to as being among the "founders" of hardcore punk, along with Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, 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.
The Screamers were an American electropunk group founded in 1975. They were among the first wave of the L.A. punk rock scene. The Los Angeles Times applied the label "techno-punk" to the band in 1978. In the documentary Punk: Attitude (2005), vocalist Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys cites the Screamers as a key influence on their group and as one of the great unrecorded groups in rock history.
The Masque was a small punk rock club in central Hollywood, California which existed from 1977 to 1978. It is remembered as a key part of the early LA punk scene.
The Nuns was an American rock band based in San Francisco and New York City. Best known as one of the founding acts of the early San Francisco punk scene, the band went through a number of hiatuses and periodic reunions, lineup changes, and changes in style. Overall, The Nuns performed and recorded on and off from the mid-1970s into the 2000s. While the band was centered on Jennifer Miro and Jeff Olener through its various incarnations, Alejandro Escovedo, who went on to later success as an Americana and alternative country musician, was also a key member during its years of fame in late 1970s San Francisco.
White Noise Records was a record label founded in Los Angeles in 1978 by artists Ronn and Louise Spencer, writers Nicole Panter and Jim Bickhart, attorneys Gordon Rubin and Peter Paterno, and publicist Bob Merlis.
The Early Years Live is a video album of various live performances of the Dead Kennedys, filmed from 1978 to 1981 by Joe Reis, owner of the punk-centric video studio Target Video. It was officially released on VHS in July 1987 and on DVD in 2001.
In God We Trust, Inc.: The Lost Tapes is VHS/DVD of the Dead Kennedys' first recording session of their EP, In God We Trust Inc.. It was released in July 2003. The session was filmed in June 1981 by Joe Rees at Target Video. When the DKs went to master the tape it started to peel and deteriorate, so they had to record it again. The video tapes of the session were in the DK's video collection. This film was directed and edited by Eric S. Goodfield and was released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Dead Kennedys EP In God We Trust, Inc. It includes live versions of all the songs except "Hyperactive Child", for which no live footage could be found.
The Deaf Club was a notable music venue located on Valencia Street in San Francisco which remained open for an 18-month period. Its main attraction was punk music. The name comes from the fact the building it was in originally began as a deaf people's clubhouse in the 1930s.
The Mutants are an American band, notable in the history of San Francisco punk rock and new wave music. They are known for their theatrical performances which often include elaborate props, projections, and comical antics. They are credited with being one of the first "Art-punk" bands in San Francisco, and were one of the most popular bands of the San Francisco punk scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Dirk Dirksen was a music promoter and emcee of the San Francisco punk rock clubs Mabuhay Gardens and On Broadway in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Dirksen was nicknamed the "Pope of Punk."
Negative Trend was an American punk rock band active between 1977 and 1979. Before they disbanded, the band released one self-titled EP in September 1978.
Formed circa 1978, The Offs were a punk/ska band from San Francisco, started by guitarist Billy Hawk and singer Don Vinil, and later joined by former Hot Tuna drummer Bob Steeler and a rotation of horn players including Bob Roberts, Richard Edson and Roland Young. The Offs were active in the early days of the San Francisco punk rock scene.
Valencia Tool & Die, (VT&D), was a 1980s San Francisco music venue and art gallery founded by Peter Belsito and Jim Stockford, that presented punk, new wave, and new music performances, as well as performance art, film, and visual art shows from 1980 through 1983.
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.
The Jars were a new wave band from Berkeley, California, active from 1978 to 1982. According to Subterranean Records founder Steven Tupper, the Jars were one of the first bands to successfully combine 1960s garage and 1970s punk. They recorded two singles and were known for opening for many top punk and new wave bands that appeared in San Francisco during this period.