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.
Chicano rock, also called chicano fusion, is rock music performed by Mexican American (Chicano) groups or music with themes derived from Chicano culture. Chicano Rock, to a great extent, does not refer to any single style or approach. Some of these groups do not sing in Spanish at all, or use many specific Latin instruments or sounds. The subgenre is defined by the ethnicity of its performers, and as a result covers a wide range of approaches.
Georg Albert Ruthenberg, better known by his stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles–based punk band The Germs and for being a rhythm guitarist for grunge band Nirvana, and Foo Fighters. After Nirvana disbanded following the suicide of frontman Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl went on to form Foo Fighters, with Smear joining on guitar. Smear left Foo Fighters in 1997 before rejoining as a touring guitarist in 2005 and being promoted back to a full-time member in 2010.
Joan Jett is an American rock musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for founding and performing with the Runaways, who recorded and released the hit song "Cherry Bomb". With the Blackhearts, Jett is known for her rendition of the song "I Love Rock 'n Roll" which was the number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks in 1982. Jett's other notable songs include "Bad Reputation", "Light of Day", "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and her covers of "Crimson and Clover", "Do You Wanna Touch Me " and "Dirty Deeds".
Mia Katherine Zapata was an American musician who was the lead singer for the Seattle punk band The Gits. After gaining praise in the emerging grunge scene, Zapata was murdered in 1993 while on her way home from a music venue, at age 27. The crime went unsolved for a decade before her killer, Jesus Mezquia, was arrested in 2003. Mezquia was tried, convicted and sentenced to 36 years in prison.
7 Year Bitch was an American punk rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band was active between 1990 and 1997 and released three albums over that time. The band formed at the same time as the emergence of the riot grrrl sub-genre, which is a subgenre of punk music from the early to mid-1990s that emphasized the role of women in rock music. The Riot Grrrl movement began as a feminist response to the violence and misogyny that became more prominent in punk music in the mid-to-late 1980s, and 7 Year Bitch, an all-female punk band, emerged as part of that sub-genre.
Home Alive is a Seattle-based anti-violence organization that offers self-defense classes on a sliding scale payment system. Home Alive once operated as a non-profit organization and now continues to operate as a volunteer collective. Home Alive sees its work as integrated into larger social justice movements, recognizing how violence is often perpetuated through oppression and abuse. Home Alive classes included basic physical self-defense, boundary setting, and advanced multi-week courses.
Frenching the Bully is the debut studio album by Seattle punk rock band The Gits. It was originally released as a 12-track album on C/Z Records in 1992 but was later reissued in 2003 with bonus tracks and different cover art on the Broken Rekids label. "A stunning document of the talent ... [of] singer Mia Zapata ... She sings with such conviction, ferocity, and expressiveness that the lyrics become irrelevant. The band becomes irrelevant." –River Cities' Reader
Enter: The Conquering Chicken is The Gits' second full-length album, recorded in 1993 and released posthumously in 1994 on C/Z Records. Lead singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was raped and strangled to death in July 1993 during production of the record. The remainder of the band completed the album with what they had finished so far, and disbanded shortly thereafter.
Kings & Queens is an album of early recordings by The Gits, recorded in 1988 and released in 1996 on Broken Rekids. The album was originally self-released by the band in 1988 under the name Private Lubs but did not receive an "official" release until 1996 when released under the Kings & Queens moniker. Several of the tracks that appear on this record were later re-recorded for The Gits debut album Frenching the Bully (1992).
Seafish Louisville is a compilation of songs by The Gits. It was released on the Broken Rekids label in 2000, seven years after the murder of the band's frontwoman, Mia Zapata. It is primarily a collection of live tracks and alternative takes, including the then newly discovered track "Whirlwind." The CD+ section of the CD includes the video for "Seaweed" as well as photographs and lyrics.
¡Viva Zapata! is the debut studio album by American rock band 7 Year Bitch, released on May 20, 1994, through C/Z Records. Produced by Jack Endino, it was their first record with guitarist Roisin Dunne. The album's tone was influenced by the deaths of several people close to the band, including original guitarist Stefanie Sargent in 1992 and The Gits' vocalist Mia Zapata—who inspired its title and is depicted on its cover artwork—in 1993, although this was not intended as its general theme. The album's promotion was supported by Atlantic Records, who signed 7 Year Bitch a month prior to its release.
Second Skin is the second single by American punk rock band The Gits. The record was released as a limited edition 7" single by the San Francisco-based Broken Rekids Records who would later handle all of the band's discography. Included in the track listing were early versions of "Second Skin" and "Social Love".
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.
Evil Stig is a 1995 studio album by Evil Stig, a supergroup formed by Joan Jett and members of The Gits for a series of benefit concerts to fund the investigation into the 1993 murder of Gits singer Mia Zapata. The name Evil Stig is "Gits Live" in reverse. The album was released in 1995.
Lucy Hanna is an American artist, photographer, and filmmaker based in Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California.
Valerie Agnew is an American musician best known as the drummer of 7 Year Bitch.
Stefanie Ann Sargent was an American musician. She was the lead guitarist and co-founder of Seattle punk rock band 7 Year Bitch. She died from asphyxiation after choking on her vomit at the age of 24 on June 27, 1992, four months before the release of 7 Year Bitch's debut album, Sick 'Em.
Elizabeth Davis-Simpson is an American musician and songwriter best known as the bassist of the punk rock band 7 Year Bitch. She later worked on projects such as These Streets with Valerie Agnew, and has participated in a band named Clone.
Selene Here Vigil is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist of the band 7 Year Bitch.
