The Alley Cats | |
---|---|
Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Genres | Punk |
Years active | 1977–1982, 2015–present |
Labels | Dangerhouse, Time Coast |
Members | Randy Stodola, Apryl Cady, Matt Laskey |
Past members | Dianne Chai, John McCarthy later members as The Zarkons: Terry Cooley, Freda Rente reformations after 2010: Paula O'Rourke, Pam Jag, Malti Kennedy, Joe Barile |
The Alley Cats are a Los Angeles, California-based punk rock trio formed in 1977. The original line-up, featuring Randy Stodola (guitar and vocals), Dianne Chai (bass and vocals) and John McCarthy (drums), [1] was a fixture of the early L.A. punk rock scene. Signed to Dangerhouse Records alongside other seminal California-based punk bands including the Bags, Black Randy and the Metro Squad, and X, [2] they released their first single "Nothing Means Nothing Anymore" backed with "Give Me a Little Pain" on March 30, 1978. [3] They are among the six bands featured on the 1979 compilation album Yes L.A. and appear in the 1982 film Urgh! A Music War . [4]
The Alley Cats were regular performers at such Los Angeles venues as Club 88, Hong Kong Café, The Masque, and the Whisky a Go Go. [5] Music writer Chris Morris remarked that the band "made some of the toughest, most nihilistic music on the scene." [6]
Reformed as "The Zarkons", they released two albums, Riders In The Long Black Parade (1985) and Between the Idea & the Reality…Falls the Shadow (1988), [7] before disbanding in 1988. [8]
After a 20-year hiatus, Stodola reformed the trio and currently performs as The Alley Cats along with fellow North Dakota-native Apryl Cady (bass and vocals) [9] and Matt Laskey (drums). [10] [11] The line-up appears on the 2020 compilation album SPIKE: A San Pedro Compilation. Live performances include songs from the band's early albums as well as covers and new material. [12]
X is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles. The original members are vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist-bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D. J. Bonebrake. The band released seven studio albums from 1980 to 1993. After a period of inactivity during the mid-to-late 1990s, X reunited in the early 2000s and continues to tour as of 2023.
The Weirdos are an American punk rock band from Los Angeles. They formed in 1975, split-up in 1981, re-grouped in 1986 and have remained semi-active ever since. Critic Mark Deming calls them "quite simply, one of the best and brightest American bands of punk's first wave."
Splodgenessabounds are an English punk rock band formed in Keston, Kent. The band is associated with the Oi! and punk pathetique genres. Their frontman is Max Splodge. They have scored three UK Singles Chart entries, including one Top 10 hit and a second Top 30 hit.
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.
Subhumans were a Canadian punk rock band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1978.
Urgh! A Music War is a 1982 British concert film featuring performances by punk rock, new wave, and post-punk bands and artists. Filmed in August to September 1980 it was directed by Derek Burbidge and produced by Michael White and Lyndall Hobbs. Among the acts featured in the film are Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Magazine, the Go-Go's, Toyah Willcox, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, X, XTC, Devo, the Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead Kennedys, Gary Numan, Klaus Nomi, Wall of Voodoo, Pere Ubu, Skafish, Steel Pulse, Surf Punks, 999, UB40, Echo & the Bunnymen and The Police. These were many of the most popular groups on the New Wave scene; in keeping with the spirit of the scene, the film also features several less famous acts.
Flipside, known as Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine, was a punk zine published in Whittier and Pasadena, California, from 1977 to 2002. The magazine was associated with its own record label, Flipside Records, releasing vinyl records and compact discs beginning in 1978.
The Flesh Eaters are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1977. They are the most prominent of the bands which have showcased the compositions and singing of their founder, punk poet Chris Desjardins, best known as Chris D. While Desjardins is the group's only continual member, the Flesh Eaters' lineup has drawn from some of the most famous bands of the L.A. punk scene, such as the Plugz, X, the Blasters, and Los Lobos.
Dangerhouse Records was a punk music record label based in Los Angeles, California.
Robert Alan Lopez, better known by his stage name El Vez, is an American singer-songwriter and musician, who performs and records original material and covers classic rock songs. Mixing the styles of Elvis Presley and many other American rock artists with his own Latin-American heritage and music, he is known for expressing revolutionary views through the satire and humor in his songs.
Yes L.A. is a six-song compilation EP featuring first-generation Californian punk rock bands. It was also the final release of the short-lived but influential Dangerhouse Records label.
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.
Oliver Joseph Nanini was an American rock drummer, most famous for being the percussionist and a founding member of new wave group Wall of Voodoo during their heyday in the 1980s. He was known for playing with pots, pans, and other objects. This arrangement can be seen in the motion picture Urgh! A Music War in which Wall Of Voodoo performed a live version of the song "Back In Flesh" from the Dark Continent album, and also later in the video for the hit single "Mexican Radio". Along with Stan Ridgway and Bill Noland, he left the band after their performance at the US Festival in 1983. Nanini went on to become one of the co-founders of the neo-traditional band The Lonesome Strangers and played on their first record, Lonesome Pine.
American garage punk band the Cramps was active from 1976 until 2009. Its discography consists of nine studio albums, two live albums, four compilations, two EPs, and 23 singles. The band also produced eight music videos.
Brendan Mullen was a Scottish nightclub owner, music promoter and writer, best known for founding the Los Angeles punk rock club The Masque. Through Mullen's support at various nightclubs in California, the scene gave birth to such bands as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Go-Go's, X, The Weirdos and the Germs.
Bruce "Ravens" Moreland is an American rock musician and songwriter. He has worked with such bands as Wall of Voodoo, The Weirdos, Nervous Gender, and Concrete Blonde among others. As of 2011, his current project is known as Ravens Moreland.
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Flesh Eaters, also known as Disintegration Nation after the title of its opening track, is the four-song debut EP by American rock band the Flesh Eaters.
Dianne Chai is an American bass player. She was one of the founders of the L.A. punk rock band The Alley Cats.
Punk 45: Chaos in the City of Angels and Devils is a 2016 compilation album released by Soul Jazz Records. The album compiles early music from the Los Angeles punk rock music scene from various intendent music labels, such as Dangerhouse, Upsetter and Bomp! Records.