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Thread: Yo, DJ.....HIT ME!!

  1. #76
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    BLACK FLAG play Toronto on June 19th. I will have to make TWO trips to Toronto this year....FFS....

    I gotta see WTF Greg Ginn is doing in person. I want to know who the fuck Mike Vallely is. Yeah, he's a "skater", a "tough guy"...big fucking deal.
    I know the Art of War. LOL I saw the REAL Black Flag last year. Chuck Dukowski's SuperGroup named FLAG, and there isn't any way that Greg Ginn & Mike V. (ag) can top what I saw at Toronto's Opera House at NXNE. I just need to see Greg Ginn's SuperEGO in person.

    Black Flag are also playing Montebello Quebec in June, with, as it happens, Henry Rollins on the same bill!
    I'd go to Montebello to rock out to Cypress Hill and the Vandals and other cool groups on that massive line-up but I heard from a friend who went last year that the only way to do Montebello right is to camp out and plan for it NOW. Like, yesterday. The concert is so freaking massive that you have to plan for it months in advance. I'll skip it this time and just go see Black Flag in Toronto. (and the Stanley Kubrick exhibit at TIFF in October).
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  2. #77
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    Re: Black Flag

    The "new" Black Flag record arrived in Ottawa, and I bought it as " Exhibit A" to illustrate the evolution of my favorite band (after The Doors).
    WHAT THE... (2013) is SST Records release number 391.
    I've listened to it and I was a little surprised and was left asking questions. I'll elaborate soon.

    I asked Facebook friend (and punk musician/filmmaker) David Markey what he makes of Black Flag's "resurgence" and Greg Ginn these days.
    He replied that Black Flag nor Greg Ginn are worthy of his respect.
    The reason I asked David is because he is in a certain qualified position to speak of the band and Greg. He went on tour with Black Flag and Gone, with his band Painted Willie in 1985, and documented the whole thing on Super-8.
    It became the highly revered (never-before-released) doc REALITY 86'd.
    David tried to release the film as a DVD release, with encouragement from Henry Rollins, who seems to be in favour of the film.
    But Greg Ginn put the ki-bosh on that. He threatened to sue David over it, told him to destroy copies he had.
    I think the main reason for Greg not wanting the film to be put out is it shows him and others smoking weed and it doesn't show Greg doing much lifting of equipment. From what I could see, Henry Rollins and two other guys were the main "roadies", unloading & loading & setting up the gear .
    Greg just seems a little goofy and aloof in it. But I don't know what he's so upset about- his consumption of the cannabis is a modern legend/myth.
    If you smoke the ganja then you smoke the ganja. The Hughes Brothers said it's an aid to creativity.
    I don't judge. I smoke the shit myself. If it's part of your vida then it's part of your vida.

    The music on "WHAT THE..." sounds like Black Flag. No question. It's Greg's guitar. Duh. And believe it or not, I started to really dig a couple songs on this record. Which made me wonder WTF is up with this album? Ron Reyes actually sounds good on vocals. His level of commitment is there. A friend of mine only listens to psychobilly music. He's getting Nazi about it. I played a couple punk CD's at my place the other day and he was like "Punk Sucks. It's just a cliche. It always was a cliche. It has no balls". And I was like, Hey....Punk Sucks? It's a cliche?
    Whoa whoa whoa..
    Black Flag is no cliche. Dead Kennedys is no cliche. Crass are no cliche. Misfits are no cliche. SO many punk groups aren't a cliche.
    Green Day is a cliche. Blink 182 is a cliche. Nickleback is a cliche.
    Certain groups are cliches. But certain ones aren't as well. Like Black Flag.

    Which brings me back to the "Legacy" of this group that I hold in severely high esteem.
    Greg Ginn said recently that the new line-up with Mike Vallely on vocals is the perfect line-up to bring Black Flag into the future.
    That makes me think that Greg isn't merely doing this to piss off former members of BF.
    He has a vision for the group and always has. The music has a trajectory, and it goes above the heads of every person who was in the band except Greg Ginn. He is the sole survivor, the sole member who went through everything and oversaw everything. He is the most stubborn, complex, stoned musical genius I've ever heard of. He's using a theremin on this new album and it works.

    Greg Ginn has caused a lot of heartaches to a lot of people in the punk world. He's not paid royalties to bands or nurtured their catalogs on SST Records, he has not protected the "brand" of Black Flag by suing those who make knock-off merchandise. Greg has a huge ego and a huge inferiority complex. Anyone who treats people the way he does/did is nothing less than paranoid.
    If Black Flag means Anarchy as you said in 1980 Greg, then how does Anarchy apply to the band as it is today?
    I ask you this as a genuine fan of your music and ethos.
    I'm not questioning that it is there, I just want to know how it applies to the band as it is in 2014.
    You are embarking on a tour with yet another new bass player and another new drummer with Vallely on vocals.
    I hope to see you in Toronto at El Mocambo. The tour is called '"The VICTIMOLOGY" tour, and I'm curious about that name.
    Who's the Victims, Greg?
    Black Flag?
    or the fans?
    or is it former bandmates?
    Last edited by Johann; 04-03-2014 at 05:18 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  3. #78
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    I've been doing more research on the Black Flag saga, and I've learned that Ron Reyes said "Greg threatened my family" with regards to Ron's departure from the band. That's a pretty serious allegation, yet Ron doesn't or didn't elaborate on what it means.
    What do you mean Greg "threatened your family", Ron?
    Explain this! You should write your own book of your experiences with Black Flag Ron. You seem to have a lot of stories to tell.
    Mike Vallely says Ron made it clear many times before the Australian tour that he was leaving the band after the tour.
    And that Mike and Greg were merely preventing Ron from quitting onstage again. Apparently Ron said he would book a flight out of Aussie Land ASAP if tensions within the band didn't ease. They took him at his word and did a cowardly pre-emptive strike.

    Henry Rollins said that toward the end, Greg told him that he was ruining the band. Henry replied "Why? Because I'm the only one who won't leave?"
    And in no uncertain terms Greg said he didn't like Henry. Henry said it made playing Live interesting, knowing that you aren't liked within your own band, but that at least Greg told him to his face.
    Greg Ginn's thought processes are mysterious.
    I've only really been a Black Flag fan for a little less than a decade and I'm still trying to get a grip on what this band stands for/stood for.

    Items like this throw me a curveball:
    - Henry singing "Thirsty & Miserable" & "TV Party" on the first record: Henry wasn't a drinker and was never a partier. Yet he's singing about his brother needing" a ride to the liquor store" and "what do they know about partying? Or anything else??" Greg wrote those songs. Henry did his duty and sang 'em. For the Team. How do I place that information?

    -"Your Last Affront"- Instrumental track on THE PROCESS OF WEEDING OUT. Who's last affront? Greg! Who has been affronting you so much that you needed to express it on an instrumental album with no lead singer? I think the answer is obvious.

    -Raymond Pettibon. (Greg's brother)
    Greg is still using the Black Flag name and 4 bars logo- on concert posters and his website and it is on the WHAT THE...(2013) album.
    Raymond apparently still has severe rage and contempt for his brother using his artwork for Black Flag. The new album is obviously sporting a cover that Raymond did not create - it was created by Kill City graphics. And rumour has it that Greg is regretting using that album cover idea, as it was Ron Reyes's concept. And Ron and Greg aren't on speaking terms anymore. If Raymond and Greg are not on speaking terms, like most ex-members of Black Flag, what do their parents think about it? I've read that the whole Ginn clan are Geniuses.

    I could go on and on with things that don't seem Jake with this band.
    I am still fascinated by the group and always will be. Black Flag is my #2 favorite band.
    "MY WAR" is the greatest song ever written, as Henry Rollins says. The album cover for their second album is also the greatest album cover art I've ever seen. A puppet head with a boxing glove holding a knife against a blue background. That is the most Incredible album cover I've ever seen. Everytime I look at it I get stoked. MY WAR. YOU SAY. THAT YOU'RE MY FRIEND. BUT YOU'RE ONE OF THEM. I think I'll get a tattoo of that image to go with my 4 bars....



    I know I'm alone in the woods discussing this band, as no one here seems to know anything about the group or why they are fascinating.
    Maybe someone will join who likes hardcore punk music and we can wax poetic about Black Flag and what it all means.
    Maybe it means nothing.
    Maybe it means everything.
    Last edited by Johann; 04-03-2014 at 10:13 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  4. #79
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    After reading more articles on Black Flag, I don't think I will be seeing them in Toronto.
    I just read that Ron Reyes told Greg to take the high road on FLAG, the "other" Black Flag, when they found out Flag were going to tour.
    He told Greg not to disrespect those guys in public, that it would make them seem like bitter old men.
    Greg's reply? "Fuck it. I Am Bitter".

    Bitter? About what, Greg?
    So if I go to Toronto for a few days (which will cost me much more than the price of your show ticket), I will be seeing a Bitter Old Man?
    You just made it a hell of a lot harder to get in your corner, Genius.
    Greg also said that he won't let one album give him any hang-ups, referring to his own recently released LP "WHAT THE..."
    So how much importance should we place on the new Black Flag, Greg?
    I mean shit, you are the Captain of that Mighty Ship. Tell us what your New World Conquering means in 2014! LOL

    To make my point even clearer, look at a photo of Black Flag circa 1980- those guys look serious. (Chuck, Dez, Henry, Robo & Greg)
    Then look at a current photo (you can see one on the Official Black Flag website) (Mike V, some doofus, some doofus & Greg)
    Those 4 guys look like rejects that you can't take seriously. The American Idol version of Black Flag if you will, just like Queen playing with Adam Lambert on vocals- an insanely retarded puke fest of an idea.

    Why am I thinking of seeing Black Flag live? I must be nuts. If I did, I think I might become an actual hardcore punk at the show and knock Mike Vallely out. Just climb right up onstage and KO the bitch. Just like 1981! Helicopters circling overhead!! Right Greg G? Suckin' on a Big D?

    Thank You Thurston Moore for that one...
    Last edited by Johann; 04-03-2014 at 04:58 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  5. #80
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    Yes, I think Greg Ginn should learn something about his fans. We're all for avant-garde punk rock. You bet your ass I want wicked-ass experimental punk rock music. That kind of music can lead me behind Lucifer into the Gates of Hell if it's got enough Zeal.
    And you provided the zeal in Black Flag, Sir. I give credit where credit is due. You are the engine of the Black Flag sound.
    Without you, what is Black Flag. The fans get it. But do you get that it makes zero sense to alienate everyone who ever set foot onstage with you?
    It makes no sense. Even if your reasoning is "I want the music to go in another direction...you guys aren't up to par. I have to find musicians who are up to par..." that doesn't wash. Every line-up had it's strengths to me, and I'm sure a lot of Flag fans would agree that the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. When you think about it real hard, who in their right mind would "vibe out" Chuck Dukowski?
    Chuck was the heart and the soul of Black Flag, and I know and many fans know that Chuck felt betrayed by Greg.
    He felt his life was over when Greg kicked him out of Black Flag. Henry wanted to leave the band, maybe start a new group with Chuck.
    But Chuck wanted Henry to have a career- an uncertain fate in a new venture with him might not work as well as the grind and experience of being in, making records with and touring with Black Flag. He told Henry he should stay in Black Flag. And he did. To the end. And the end was the album
    In My Head. It was the true Black Flag album, and arguably their best. Such moments of sheer barbaric intensity and honesty....

    It would be so awesome to see a Black Flag reunion tour with everyone who was there when the band was in their prime- and guess what kids? They are all still walking this Earth. They are all still alive and well. WTF is the problem here? It's one man. Greg Ginn. He's Bitter. But we don't know what about. He won't write a book on his life as a punk Icon, because, in his own words, "I WAS THERE. I DON'T HAVE TO READ ABOUT IT". OK Greg. Yes you were there. But are you there now? Are you at the very vanguard of music and anarchic thought/action?

    Or are you just venting a little rage at people copping to your game? And Black Flag is the perfect umbrella to do it under?
    You are bitter and you make your fans bitter. Bob Dylan said "Just because someone likes my music that doesn't mean I owe them anything", and I get that. You don't owe the fans anything, especially with the type of music you make. But to pay for alienation? To read about testimonies from ex-Flag members that do not shed flattering light on you make it hard. And you never address it head-on, in print, in interviews or elsewhere.
    Henry Rollins said you were so high sometimes you couldn't even turn your amp on.
    That he took a knockout punch from a fan that was intended for you, (onstage!) but you never saw it because you were so wrapped up in your guitar playing you didn't notice the guy from the crowd come up onstage or the punch that knocked him out! Henry said he came to with you waving at him, angrily, to start the next song in the setlist. Do you remember that? Greg?

    BLACK FLAG. Kills Bugs Dead.
    Last edited by Johann; 04-03-2014 at 07:47 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  6. #81
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    The Black Flag situation has a resolution of sorts.
    The trademark infringement lawsuit that Greg Ginn filed last year has been sorted out.
    Greg and SST records are the sole owners of the Black Flag name, logo and recordings. FLAG, Chuck Dukowski's touring group, are allowed to continue to tour but are not allowed to use the 4 bars logo in any way. (which is something I'm not sure I agree with).

    Henry Rollins and Keith Morris gave all interest in Black Flag back to Greg Ginn, and I can see that. I don't think Henry or Keith ever had it in for Greg. I think they just wanted to light a fire under his ass. And they did. So much so that Greg resurrected Black Flag and released a new record. (With Ron Reyes on vocals!)
    I'm still kind of stunned that there even IS a new Black Flag album, let alone that they are on a North American tour this year. It's kind of surreal. And it may seem blasphemous to punk rockers, but I'm actually really digging WHAT THE... as a record. (Especially the song "Down in the Dirt"). Greg says this music is the music Black Flag fans need right now, and the more I listen to it, I get what he's saying. The next album with Mike Vallely on vocals had better blow my fucking mind.
    I had to buy "WHAT THE..." and listen to it to really be critical of Greg Ginn. But he's cut me off at the knees. I actually hear the old Black Flag sound on a few songs on this new record. Blasphemy?
    No. It's the Truth. If the music didn't sound how Black Flag should sound to me then I would definitely rip Ginn up. But the music stops me in my tracks. He's given us enough to make him an easy target, but the fact is, the music is where the real buck stops in the Black Flag saga. And this new album isn't as bad as the bad press makes it out to be.

    I've found (at least in Ottawa Canada) that Black Flag "fans" don't listen to the records. They are more fans of the "image" of Black Flag than the actual music. No one I know plays Black Flag records at home. I'm the only one it seems. On Chez 106 classic rock radio over the weekend they said that an online poll found that over 70% of vinyl record buyers buy those records to impress their friends, to show off their record collections, not to actually LISTEN TO THEM. To me that's a bunch of stupid hipster bullshit. And a waste of time and money.
    I would never buy a record that I wouldn't listen to. Why would you throw your money away like that? It's retarded. It's everything that a pure music lover should be against.
    Last edited by Johann; 04-22-2014 at 02:22 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  7. #82
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    In the aftermath of 420, I'd like to let you know that Henry Rollins is on the "legalize and decriminalize" bandwagon.

    Even though Henry believes marijuana is a waste of time and doesn't smoke it himself, he says on his website that if he were to be afflicted with some illness that could only be alleviated with weed, he would like to have the option of using it. Very cool of him to support the cause. He has created a very cool new t-shirt (up for sale on his website for $25). It depicts his famous "Search and Destroy" sun logo/tattoo with some pot leaves sprouting out behind it. I laughed when I saw it. I love it. Another reason why Henry is a supremely cool motherfucker.
    He also did a radio show with an all-weed theme this past week- check it out. Roll up a fatty and listen to some killer tracks he put together- a wild version of "Dopesmoker" he was given, for one, (that song was in Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers). He also has a rarely played track from Ween, one of my top ten favorite bands. What can I say? Henry is so cool it hurts.

    Henry will be at Montebello Quebec this June, the only tour date he has this year it seems. Support the man. He's a Teacher.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  8. #83
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    I will be in Toronto to see Black Flag. But I am only going for historical reasons.
    I e-mailed Henry Rollins a couple days ago about Black Flag, and he replied, decent man that he is, and told me he has no clue what Greg Ginn is doing with that old music. He said I guess it's up to you to find out. He ended with Caveat Emptor.
    So I have the Pope's blessing. Henry is on the same bill as Black Flag in Montebello the next day. He also said he only lives in the present.

    I am not going to this show on June 19 to see a great band. I'm going to see what happened to that great band. To see "what Greg Ginn is doing with that old music". I'll be sure to post here and let you know what I witnessed. I read an interview with Mike Vallely, and the knives were out over Ron Reyes. Mike said he "doomed the reformation from the start". Ron says it was never a "reformation", that the drummer sucked, Greg could barely play his own music onstage, and that the What The.. LP is merely Dale Nixon and Ron Reyes' pet project, with the bars and Black Flag logo slapped on for better sales. OUCH.

    So my conclusion is Black Flag does not really exist as a band in 2014. We'll see if that show at Coda will change my opinion on this.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  9. #84
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    After watching a video performance of "TV Party" at the House of Blues, I decided to say "FUCK THAT!" and not go to the Black Flag show.
    That performance was pedestrian. It had no juice, no aggression, no ATTACK. KEN MODE? Fuck no. HEN MODE!

    I even said so on the official Black Flag Facebook page. (they deleted the comments the same hour I posted them)
    And seeing all these teeny-bopper hipster kids at that show just made me recoil in disgust.
    What Greg Ginn is doing is beyond any sane punk music fans comprehension. He is Black Flag, Inc. as Henry Rollins said he was. (And is illustrated on the October Faction album cover). He's a complete sellout. He sold out his own formidable legacy for wooden nickels.

    The beauty of the whole Black Flag situation is that as time marched on, the truth emerged on what that band is and means.
    You can look at the individual members on their own, and see how they outshone Greg Ginn even while they were being set up for a snowjob "vibing out". I bought (and still listen to often) Black Flag records mainly for Henry and Chuck. I got into the band because of Henry. I learned of Rollins Band first, then I was hit with the absolute ANVIL of AWESOME with Black Flag. That was it after I heard them. The best L.A. band since the Doors. (And no I'm not dismissing X- they killed it too).

    Black Flag is no more. It WAS no more in August 1986. Greg Ginn quit the band. He left it to Henry, with one simple phone call.
    28 years later Ginn is a bitter old man, making victims out of whoever he thinks deserves to be a victim. But victim how Greg? You certainly don't play with the same intensity as you did from 1978-1986. There is no fire there. It's "Sweatin' to the Oldies", with Mike "Richard Simmons" Vallely and it's beyond pathetic. It is seriously embarassing.
    Did you know Keith Morris asked Greg during the prep/rehearsal for the 2003 reunion why the songs were being rehearsed way slower than the way they were always played? Greg said "Keith, we were playing these songs way too fast." Keith was like, "OH BOY, what the fuck have I gotten myself into here?" and he refused to do the reunion.

    Black Flag is nothing but a piggy bank for Greg Ginn.
    Buy the original records for the members who put their souls into it and got zilch. Even though they don't get a royalty. The karma will find them.
    Last edited by Johann; 06-25-2014 at 02:53 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  10. #85
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    Well Lord Almighty, you would not believe the recent events in the Black Flag saga.
    It's truly astonishing what has transpired. But it also has a very VERY happy ending.

    Greg Ginn's wife has filed for divorce, citing child abuse of his 2 daughters.
    Apparently Ginn denies them food, orders them around like Hitler, drinks in front of them, smokes copius amounts of weed in front of them, and the most shocking part is he's made "catcalls" at them, calling them "HOT!" and shit like that.

    This truly is disturbing, and it made me burn my Black Flag records in a garbage can behind my house. I only have 2 CD's now, and only because Damaged and MY WAR have Chuck Dukowski & Henry Rollins' indelible stamp on them. Black Flag is now a pariah, and Greg Ginn is nothing less than pure scum.

    The happy ending to all this?

    OFF!

    Keith Morris, Steven MacDonald and Dimitri Coates, with Monster drummer Mario.
    The LP they put out this year (WASTED YEARS) is the answer to Greg Ginn's Colossal Fuckery and Insane Behavior.
    Ginn is way more than paranoid and bitter. He's a fucking child abuser. Unforgivable.

    OFF! is the perfect antidote to Black Flag- both are insect repellants, but BF no longer kills. OFF! is the only hardcore punk band that still has the ferocity of the days back in that church in Hermosa Beach. And the topper of toppers is Greg Ginn's brother Raymond Pettibon did the artwork for the Wasted Years album cover. When I bought it I let out a shriek at the image. It's obviously Greg Ginn, shirtless, with dope smoke wafting from his nostrils, "wishing all boys were like his surfer boyfriend" BAM!

    As soon as I played that CD I was in heaven. Keith Morris has brought the whole thing full-circle, and it is GLORIOUS.

    Greg Ginn is a dead man. LONG LIVE OFF!
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  11. #86
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    One of the drummers for Rollins Band passed away yesterday: Jason Mackenroth.
    He was a very powerful drummer, as Sim Cain is/was for Henry.
    Cancer has claimed another one.
    Jason was the drummer for MOTHER SUPERIOR, a stellar band, and he played on the incredibly Awesome "Rise Above" West Memphis Three benefit album- a CD that I play all the fuckin' time. Buy it. And stand back in fuckin' AWE. It's got guest vocals by Lemmy (Goodbye you Badass Motherfucker!), Tom Araya, Iggy Pop, Hank III, Chuck D., Dean Ween, Chuck Dukowski and other galactically killer people.

    Rollins Band is no more, Henry said he doesn't know if he can do anything else with music. He did it all. In my humble opinion Rollins Band is the most underrated band in history. No one I know listens to them. No one I know has a single Rollins Band album.
    I guess it's just way too intense. Way too HEAVY.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  12. #87
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    Chameleon David Bowie has died. Henry Rollins said that Bowie's albums are just about the greatest records ever made.
    The man was a musical genius, one of the best performers to ever take a stage. (Some think he's THE best ever).

    He did a song inspired by Stanley Kubrick: "Space Oddity", and acted in some amazing films: Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, The Man Who Fell To Earth and The Hunger with Susan Sarandon, among others.

    He leaves a huge void. The man had Legions of fans...
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

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