My life as a jerk

[Johann]

Greg mentions what interested him in punk rock in the first place: the fact that there was no division between the crowd and the artist.
Keith Morris says that the band was about having a good time: "Our day jobs suck! Life blows! Let's make some Noise! Have Fun!

Henry Rollins: All of a sudden, you are hearing a punk-rock album (GROUP SEX) with a rhythm section that is not only tight, but they've got CHOPS. There's Articulation. They're Swinging. It's like, Syncopated. We were used to bands that could kind of thrash and smash along, and even the Bad Brains, who were so tight and so great, were not clear. The Circle Jerks- you could hear every note. Ian MacKaye was fascinated with how the Circle Jerks "Locked up". There's so much power in that almost metric, building riff....

That first album was recorded on already used tape. They didn't have money to buy new tape to record on.
The deal was done with a bag of marijuana. The producer was never there. "The Invisible Man" as Keith calls him..
They inspired D.C. punks to wear boots and chains, just like the Jerks' fans were doing.
The Circle Jerks eventually played with Minor Threat in D.C. and played on the same bill as such bands as The Cramps, Flipper, Dead Kennedys, D.O.A., Bad Brains, Minutemen, Black Flag, the Descendents, the Alley Cats, playing for Cheetah Chrome, the Misfits, Saccharine Trust, Bad Religion (which Greg was also in- Bo Knows!), etc etc etc.


The Jerks had several line-up changes over the years, just like Black Flag, and my favorite lineup was with Earl Liberty (Mark Vidal) on bass and Chuck Biscuits on drums. The footage with those 4 guys is Awesome. Especially the Rock Palace '84 footage where Keith is wearing the Michael Jackson glitter glove and Captain Crunch uniform.
Sadly there are no recordings (LP's or tape) of this line-up. Keith tells us the only recording there is of this line-up is insanely ironic: they all lip-sych and play accoustic guitars to "When The Shit Hits The Fan" on the Repo Man soundtrack.