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SEPTEMBER '84

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Dear MRR,This is in response to a letter in #15

by Jim Kilborn from Mass . I agree that itsa good idea to listen to other forms ofmusic . If not, you'll miss a lot of greatmusic and besides it's a hell of a lot offun! But suggesting only jazz and classicalis gonna turn off more MRR readers thanit turns on

. Personally, I listen to many,many types of music(and some that has no"type" or category) but jazz and classicalare low on the list . I'd like to urge peoplewho only listen to one kind of music, be itHC, HM, classical, jazz, or whatever, tocheck out as many different musical stylesas possible . Try starting with rap ;socaand calypso ; R+B ; funk ; blues ; C+W ; bigband ; Japanese, Korean, Javanese, Indian,Middle Eastern + other world folk music;surf ; 60's punk + garage atmospheric;experinemtal ; reggae ; ska ; African ju-ju +hi life ; Latin/Salsa ; soul ; and the list/thebeat goes on and on . Nancy/Newsshortfanzine/PO Box 1028/NY,NY 10028

Dear MRR,This letter is to correct a certain Bill

Martinson's "Northwest" scene report in#15 . Specifically, his Seattle report.

Point #l : this is the most blatant ofhis errors . Bill, STALAG 13 is fromOxnard, California, not Seattle.

Point #2 : The reason why NAKEDINCUBOYS haven't gotten much publicityis because they have never played a gig;that is, if they even exist (I've neverheard of them).

Point #3 : MARCH OF CRIMES isslower punk? M .O .C . are manic thrash atits best . Real fast stuff . But at least Iagree, as they are our local favorites.

Point #4 : Another new band is FALSELIBERTY . They've only done 2 shows sofar, but are enthusiastic and anxious formore . You forgot us, Bill.

Just wanted to fiv a couple of things,that's all

. Keep up the good work MRR,and good luck on your zine too, Bill.

Weetie, F .L.P

.S . Any bands wanting to play ourscene, call me (206)364-0337 . Please!

Hello,I read Bale's "Knowledge Empowers"

column in #15 and have a footnote to hisideas about the state's subtle repression : 2pieces of legislation are trying to be putthrough

Congress

by

the

Reaganadministration

. The "Anti-terrorist"legislation and the travel ban to Cuba.The former, if put into effect, would makeit illegal to associate with groups orcountries considered by the Secretary ofState

to

be terrorist

(which

wouldprobably include the Committee inSolidarity with the People of El Salvador(CISPES) and the Nicaraguan Task Force.So any art exhibit or gig benefitingso-called "terrorist" (dissident) groupswould be against the law . The latter wouldmake it illegal to use U

.S . currency to get

to and/or vacation in Cuba . The mainpurpose of this legislation is , of course,to prevent U .S . citizens from finding outwhat Cuba's like and thus taking as gospelthe Administration's and the mass media'sportrayals of a country a lot of peopledon't know about . We're lucky to live insuch a free country, aren't we?

I publish an art/poetry journal calledCreate . It's not a "scene" zine, not a HCzine . Unfortunately, a lot of HC and punkhas turned into a thrash/conformistquagmire (not all of it though ; there areexceptions) . Punk has lived forever fromthe first caveman that played an anti-socialnote on his primitive instrument and hadfun doing it, to Beethoven to Zappa toBeefheart to the DKS to the MUTANTS toCale to the guy who does original stuff byhimself.Ron Create/ 16642 Dearborn St/ SepulvedaCA 91343.

CONVENTION UNCOVERAGETo whom It May Mean Something,

I guess you can count this astestimony ; I watched the news reportsabout the Democratic Convention forhours . And then, there was a 30 seconditem about "7 visual punks" being arrestedoutside the Hall of Justice in S

.F . Theentire crowd demonstrating wasn't evenshown ; only the most flamboyant peoplewere shown being arrested . The impressionthe news reports gave was of a "lunaticfringe demonstration" that was "potentiallyviolent" against a weapons-makingcorporation (not specific) somewhere out inEdge City where no one ever sees . Thiswas merely insinuated in the patronizing'Big Brother' attitude of Mr . Newsman.

But even in those 30 seconds, I couldtell the arrests were bullshit

. I saw no oneso much as throw a rock, nor saw evenany intent of pushing or shoving . As faras I saw, no one even resisted arrest.

I didn't have any idea that thosecorporations had donated money sogenerously to the Democratic Party (nevermind the Republicans)

. I found out a lottoday by listening to the punks (whoparticipated in the War Chest Tours) onyour radio show

. I've been putting moreand more pieces of the puzzle togetherrecently

. Hell, for a long time I didn'teven get into listening to punk because allI got was the brainwash hype of themedia--the surface noise, so to speak.

I think life would be a little bereftwithout punk today

. Thanks to all who tryto get information out about what's really_going on

. . . .because we're all so isolated.Never say die :

Barbara Stepp / lone, Ca

Dear MRR,I'm a soon-to-be-seventeen-year-old

high school student and I'm gettinguptight about registering for Ronnie'sdraft . I know this is a worn issue, butit's finally starting to strike home for me.I've got a year to figure out what I'mgonna do.

I don't want to register because Ithink it sucks and I can't support themilitary . The one government institutionthat I hold the most hatred for is themilitary

. But- the government has done agreat job in intimidating me to register.They're yanking financial aid for collegefor people who don't register and makingthe "punishment" for not registeringsomething like five years behind bars, and$10,000 . That doesn't sound too cool tome .

So here I sit . Do I succumb toRonnie's world police, or do I wipe mybutt with the registration card?

I'd love to hear from some people whohave made that decicion already or havesome suggestions . Thanx.Pete/625

N .

Riley

St . /

Kendallville,Indiana 46755

Dear MRAt the risk of making Florida sound

like a real hotbed of activity (no, notyet), here comes another letter from theland of sunshine and closed (old) minds.There are several things I would like toshare with your readers, OK?

First off, I manage a record store(big chain kind) in a mall . Recently I'vehad a rash of Christian do-gooders andconcerned parents raise hell over myhardcore/punk section . My first reactionwas, "fuck 'em" . Upon investigating mylegal rights to carry and sell anyrecords/tapes I want, I discovered that iflocal authorities saw fit, they could (A)confiscate "obscene" product, (B) throwme in jail . As a result, I have had to pullcertain records and stash them so my rightwing adversaries wouldn't take action.Artistic freedom? Free enterprise? Nah.Just stupidity . Think about it : when wasthe last time you got I .D .'d just to buy arecord?

Also related to my job, I feel theneed to respond to Paul and Julie ofAffirmation Records, and their decision toby-pass the indie distribution system.Although I can understand your position, Imust disagree that your solution isworkable or profitable . As a retailer, I sellbetween 30-75 pieces of indie HC/punk aweek in a very small market . (Including,in the past, some of your product) . OK,so Upstart fucked up . Why not dealexclusively with one distributor whom youcan trust and monitor closely? I (andmany, many others) cannot order productfrom whomever I wish . You thereforeautomatically cut yourself out of everymarket except the local independent recordstores . Granted this is your bread andbutter, but if other labels follow suit,retail exposure of real music will vanish . Ialso stated that your solution wasn'tworkable . Why not? Tell me how manysmall record companies are operatingtoday, putting out good shit? How is anyretailer expected to order 5 or 10 piecesfrom 100 different sources? Exclusivedistribution can and does work . AskImportant.

Next on the agenda . Hmm. This is foranyone thinking about renting a hall toput on shows . I had no problem until lastmonth . I put together the "HardcoreHolocaust" and am being sued for damagesby the American Legion here . Be surethere is nothing around that might getbroken at your shows--because it will.

Time to jump on a bandwagon for asecond . WARNING TO ALL BANDS : do notopen for the EXPLOITED . These dicksshowed up at Flynn's in Miami Beach withnothing but their mohawks and theircocaine . They proceded to destroy all ofour (DISORDERLY CONDUCT and BEYONDTHERAPY) equipment . All the money theymade went up their noses, so norepayment . And since we don't do coke(we're not rock stars), no nothing! TheEXPLOITED suck musically, ideologically,personally, and intensely!

Finally (whew!), I want to thank allthe bands who are supportive of the scenedown here . You know who you are, butjust so everyone else does too, I'm goingto list my favorite Florida bands, OK kids?Here goes (no order) : BEYOND THERAPY(fucking great!), SECTOR 4, DISORDERLYCONDUCT (Casey Chaos is God), RATCAFETERIA (sorry you couldn't play the

ri

"Holocaust"), PAGAN FAITH, FOULEXISTENCE, NAT KING KONG, AMERICANWASTE, F, GENERIC DEATH, and NOPOLICY . Florida may be a bit isolated(i .e .-behind), but as a friend of mine isfond of saying, "Things are happening! "

Write back with comments, deaththreats, etc.Scot Lade! Orange Blossom Man/ 4118Okeechobe Rd/ Ft Pierce, FL 33450.

IS THIS FOR REAL?Dear MRR ( and faithful readers) :

As a lot of you already know, thereseems to be an upsurge of skinheadviolence on the East Coast . But as I havefound out, the problem is much more'Widespread and serious than we realized.Having spent the last 8 weeks traveling allover California and checking out thevarious punk scenes . I have found it veryencouraging to see, many, many friendlyand helpful people involved in the scenes,punks or not . However, I did run intosome unexpected troubles in Southern Cal.After having seen flyers about someskinhead gig being labeled "Destroy theFaggots" and some other stupid fascistslogans, we (several traveling companionsof mine - all from Alaska) decided to reallycheck out how fascist and stupid they (theskins) were . Just the names of the bandsmade us laugh out loud - (at first!) . Thebands listed on the flyer were somethinglike this : SS PATROL ; SKINS, SKINS,SKINS ; SKINHEAD WARNING ; ARYANJUSTICE, JEWISH SHOWERS, etc . Ha -what a bunch of disturbed kids!! Anywaysince the place and time of the gig werenot listed, we "asked around" like theflyer suggested, but not too many punksknew about it . Finally, some drunkenskinhead gave us further details on how toget there.

Fuck!!- it was the most fascist eventI have ever been to in my entire life . Myearlier prejudice against skinheads turnedout to be TOTALLY justified . The placewas like a convention of Nazis andKKKers . When we got there, a skinheadband had just finished their set . (I don'tknow

which

band

exactly,

thoseL~

`Aple . I want to talk about two things,

This is an open letter to a

eother fanzines and other involved peo-the first ie what apathy and a mono-polistic environment has done to thePhoenix scene . The second topic ishow I feel about punk in general.

The Phoenix punk scene in in trouble.It has the stifling combination of anapathetic following and a promoter whomonopolizes the shows . Tony Victor isthe only person in phoenix who regular-ly promotes punk/hardcore shows . Doings punk show is a risk, but the risk isgreatly reduced when your the only gamein town. I have two main complaintswith this monopoly situation . The firstis that there is a small group ofbands that are " in" with Tony or thathe happens to like that get a dispro-portionate number of the local bookings.Other bands get little chance forexposure . The other complaint is thatthere is no incentive to increase the.uality of the shows . The people inrhoenix will keep going no matter how

ad the P .A . or hew big of dicks theeeople at the door are or how hothe venue is becase it's the onlyhing to do . The shows hew become

.uite routines the same faces the-ame local bands and the same L .A..andsover and over . There is no incentive'r effort for improvment . The peoplein Phoenix are too apathetic to do any-hing about it . Even when ticket prices

-tart creeping up there is littleomplaint . The local bands have gotten'redictable too . The same bands have'een playing the same sets weekend

ter weekend . No band seems to wanto take any real risks . They don't,nt to pct on there own shows and

cementheads all look alike) and people weregetting really rowdy and drunk . It lookedlike the skinhead singer was giving ahundred and one reasons on why gaysshould be wiped off the face of the earth.Everyone there, about 150-200, had shavedheads . The five of us walked in and alleyes were soon on us . Several skinsstarted yelling out threats and throwingbottles at us . My boyfriend, Tom, tried toshield me from the barrage of flyingbottles and politely asked them to stop andwe will attempt to leave . For no reason atall, the drummer of the band that justfinished playing dove from the stage andonto Tom, punching and kicking like awild man and yelling for all the otherskins to join in on the attack . Thank godsome skinhead girl convinced those animalswe weren't worth the trouble . The five ofus managed to crawl outta that Naziheadquarters back into the street . Westumbled for several blocks, leaving a trailof blood, before some semi-punks saw usand drove us to a nearby hospital.

Well, all that is history now, but themessage remains clear . A lot of thoseso-called "Proud" skinheads are both amenace and a threat to the punk scene.They seem to get their pride and childhoodfantasies from beating up gays and otherswho don't look like them . Right now, fromthe mindless slogans of they fascist flyers,their most immediate victims seem to begays and mods, but its just a matter oftime before their fist extends to includeyou and me . Remember, the Holocausthappened because people remainedindifferent to the miseries of others aslong as they themselves were not on theimmediate hit list . I urge all you punks woreally care for the scene that you workedso hard to create, to unite against thesefascist skinheads . One, two, three, oreven a dozen punks will not do, it takes acooperative effort to stop these Nazisbefore they get too big . It takes all of usto fight their violent ways . From the factthat not too many punks know about theseskinhead gigs, they seem to be prettymuch underground. Don't let these animalsruin our scene . It's bad enough that their

really get involved . The bands rarelymake their own fliers any more . Thebands all sit back and wait for Tonyto ask them to play a show . It seemsthat slot of creative energy has fallento the wayside . I think that it hasbecome too easy for a band to sit backand do nothing yet still get gigs.The bands haven't challenged themselvesto do more than the basics.

Overall this has led to a dead andboring scene . The only solution tothis situation is for the bands to getoff there asses and really get involvedwith the whole thing . The message ofthe band must be expressed creativlyon all levels . A band should createits own art, music, mode of dress andlanguage . The bands must work to bringtheir music to as many new people aspossible . It is wasted effort to playto the same faces all the time . Newpeople mean new energy and new ideas.In Phoenix there is no effort to bringnew people into the scene and theenergy is getting all used up and theideas are getting worn out.

Latley I find myself thinking"What is so great about all this? ' Iremember when Phoenix had slot morepeople really involved . I told a friendof mine that I was thinking of gettingsome people together to put on showsand my friend said "But Tony won'tlike that . " I said "My god, Tony hasnever been exclusive rights to put onpunk shows in phoenix.! ' People arenow so passive it is pitifull . Peoplehave forgotten about what the scene wasabout ; creativity and involvment.

I find that punk in general hasgotten too predictable, too defined .

mindless violence has been stereotyped as anormal punk lifestyle by others on theoutside looking in . Stop fascism ; it will onlydestroy.

ANARKY UNITES!! - Carol/Juneau,Alaska

CREATIVE ANARCHIST STATEMENTDear MRR,

Gang mentality promotes forcedconformity, brutality, and repression offreedom . Gangs do not respect humanrights and therefore (although on a smallerscale ) are no different than governments.Gangs are no different than governments.Gangs operate on the same principle asHitler's goon squads. The similarities arestriking! Actually then, gangs make goodcops + marines . They are pawns (whetherthey know it or not) of the police and theU .S . government . They help destroy thepunk community for the police andgovernment . They do the dirty work(knowingly or unknowingly) for thepresident, just like the Nazi goon squadsdid the dirty work for their fuhrer . Thereis no doubt that right wing extremistgroups see an opportunity to infiltratepunk through these gangs . This isdangerous.

The gangs' goon squad actionscondemn them as being very fascistic.Their words of "@narchy"are nothing buthollow lies to cover-up the truth : they arepawns of fascist interests . Boycott all gigsof bands with gang followings.

VIOLENCE GROWSDear MRR,

At the J .F .A. gig at the Mab, somejoker named Mark Dagger punched out akid 7 times smaller than him for landing onhim after doing a stage dive . First of all,this guy himself was dancing sodangerously that he kept a lot of peoplefrom having a good time . Secondly, he wasdeliberately jumping up onto a lot ofpeople, attempting to get on the stage(which wasn't at all necessary because itwasn't that crowded) . After he got on thestage, he would pile off, bringing 5 peopleto the ground . That isn't unusual at agig, but when another .uy jumped off,

Over time rules have been acceptedthat define and limit what punk andhardcore should be and very few bandsare trying to break down the walls andbring in new ideas . To quote WHITEFLAG 'Punk rock has become what punkrock had set out to destroy ' . So nowit is time to reject the label . Itis time to invent new words and newideas to express what we feel . But howmany punks are ready to say punk isdead? Not many and for many reasons;"Punk is the raddest, what else isthere?" It's not that the music isdead it is that it's time to smash downall the accepted ileals and start freshLet me compare punk to a cue ball ina game of pool

. Punk has changed alotof the look and the sound of musictoday, yet punk itself is basicallyunchanged . Like the cue ball it setalot of things in motion yet it remainsthe same. Without punks influencemany of todays stars would be nowhere.

CULTURE CLUB, ADAM & THE ANTS, BILLYIDOL, THE GO-GO'S, X, THE STRAY CATSand many others cell trace their rootsback to an early exposure to, orinvolment in punk as a basis for theirstyle and/or sound today . But punk isthe same as it was in 80-81 . Now itstime to change the shape, color andeverything else about the 'cue ball "and see how the game changes.

This letter is being sent tomany fanzines and people all overthe U .S . and abroad. Publish thisletter if you want in your fanzine.All responses are welcome andthe interesting ones ,ill be publishedlater . Thanks

352'/z E . Windsor AveMichael C .

Phoenix, AZ 85004Phenix Fanzine

' 6 ;

It

f/1

`''

A

111

hitting him, he got up and slugged himpretty hard . Again, this guy was a lotsmaller than him . As if that wasn'tenough, he followed the kid into a cornerand smacked him again, this time flooringhim .

When another guy about his size"fought back" to this monster (whilethrashing), the guy tried to pick a fightwith him and said something like "I'm justtrying to have fun!" . SO ARE WE! ! ! ! JSIJ .S ./ San Francisco CA

TIME TO SPEAK OUT

I'd like to bring up a subject thathas been invading shows for some timenow . This being the attitude of someindividuals who like to literally fling theirfists in the direction of some poor slob'sunsuspecting head or face while thrashing.There is, of course, a certain amount ofharm that is expected if a person is goingto thrash, but when it comes to these fewindividuals, I feel I have to wait untilthey're finished thrashing until I feel it'ssafe enough to not get thoroughlysmashed . The point is, I don't want to bestanding on the sidelines when I want tobe thrashing, all because of a fewshit-faced 250 lb . gorillas . The 'pit' isthere for everyone, and if some peoplecan't realize the harm they can causebecause they're too fucked up, then theyshuldn ' t go into the pit at all.

I've seen a lot of good friends comeout after a show, including myself, lookinglike the Elephant Man, because of thosefew who swing their "beef" around (I say"been" because it's obvious they have nobrains or consideration for how hard theyhit, or who. It's a kind of prime exampleof the "American Way" ; you have to be ontop . We are the ones that are hurting fromsociety's evils, and yet we are fightingamong ourselves within the scene . Weshould all have a little more respect forourselves as well as others, in order toget somewhere.E .M . / Berkeley CA

DEAR MRR:I try to make my thoughts and feelingsplain to see in fucked up society . I'mstrongly against racism, society as awhole, and war . We should be worryingabout these and other issues, but what thefuck is thiz!? Gangs?! Now everybody istoo scared to go anywhere, in fear ofbeing jumped by a gang, just because youhave SUICIDAL TENDENCIES on the backof your jacket . It doesn't mean you're atrendy jerk just because you happen tolike a band who is actually getting moreexposure than just playing in clubs, suchas the DK's.

There are no skins, punks, no Oimovement, no CRASS, everybody is aPUNK! Don't sit there and fuck withpeople who like the DKs, fuck with peoplewho wear "REAGAN/BUSH 84" hats! We'vealready got 280 million people against us,we don't need to fight in our own littleworld, we have enough problems as it is.

Go to a protest, shake a "skin's"hand, don't punch him. What's next aftergangs? the punKKK! ? Be strong, resist,fuck society . Butch Pyro, The Creeps, 7Ute Trail, Manitou Springs, CO, 80829.Dear Tim,

Two things (corrections fromwhat you said in MRR #16) . First, therewere plenty of punks at the punks/skinsfootball game, and they were "nodummies" . We started with touch, and thesecond half was tackle, with skins andpunks (people) playing on the same team.We all beat the hell out of each other andhad a great time . Second, during theconvention there were skins arrested . Itwouldn't have done any good hitting everydemonstration (there's lock-up for 3 daysafter the second arrest) . We made quite a

few. No borders, no boundaries, no

stereotypes, one world! A guy with ashaved head . Carl/ S .F.

Dear Carl,I stand corrected, both for my

inaccuracies in reporting, and in mystereotyping

. My fuse got lit by all themindless violence I've seen lately (like oneof the kids who was heavily involved inthe War Chest tours getting the shitkicked out of him at a gig by skins, theevening after he got out of jail

. He gotcreamed for trying to break up a fight

. Hegot more of a beating from 'his scenebrothers' than he did from the cops!) . Butthat's not a good enough excuse forstereotyping . I should have been morespecific, and accurate.

Next issue, MRR is going to devote abunch of space to the 'gang mentality'thing that's happening in many scenes.Hopefully, we won't be refering to a 'skinsvs . punks' thing, but to the contradictionof being involved in a scene, for wantingunity, but using brutality, physicalintimidation, and bully tactics to "rule".That's the opposite of what most of usbelieve

. Finding that common ground, andtrying to overcome that gang mentality(which, you're right, is just the same aswhat the state exerts on us) is going tobe a tough nut to crack, especially whiletrying to not stereotype

. The problem isnot punks vs . skins . It is thinking vs.thuggery . Tim

Dear MRR :This is a letter from a socially isolatedperson in out- state Nebraska . I'd like tocomment on the last issue of MRR.Scanning through the letters page, itseemed to me like almost all of the letterswere from people who thought thathardcore attracts an undesirable element.I'm speaking of the mindless violence andfights which seem to often occur at shows.All of the letters I read condemned this,and rightly so, but the question which Iwould like to pose is this : can the peoplewho write those letters think that theyrepresent the majority of the hardcorescene? Those people who cause theviolence at shows and etc ., are part of thescene too

. In spite of a large group of'thinking punks' who hold up an idealizedview of the whole hardcore scene as anintellectual forum with a potential for socialchange, I think we have to face the factsthat there are many people who are onlyattracted to the music and the scene ingeneral because of the violence angle.

The point in all this is that there isan element of the scene that doesn't careabout social justice or about creating anideal society ; they just want to satisfytheir desire for violence I don't want tosupport this kind of behavior, but I'd liketo point out to your readership that thepeople who organize the shows and promotethe scene have a responsibility for theactions of these people.John VonSeggern /THE BOAT PEOPLE/ POBox 366/ Grand Island, NE 68802

Dear MRR,I'm trying to get a zine goin' in

Alabama. You probably think there are no

punks in Alabama, but there are a lotmore here than where I'm from(Kankakee,Ill)

. In Illinois, people would say I wasstupid, and put me down for wearingBLACK FLAG and ' KENNEDYS' t-shirts.They haven't even heard of them

. Butwhen I moved here last month, I was inpunk heaven

. Groups don't play here, butthat's what we're trying to get them to do.And we got to get out zine going

. Sendstuff to-Joe Krecioch/ 954 Carlyle Way So

. #550/Mobile, AL 36609

Dear MRR and MRR Readers:I'm a 16 year old punk who is

trapped in the juvenile justice system . I'mwriting this as a warning to all youths whothink that they are "free" . You are not!At any time before you turn 18, yourparents can put you away! They can throwyou up to the courts or put you in amental hospital

. They can make up liesthat can put you away for the rest of youradolescent years . Once you do a crime orget thrown in, the system owns you! Thatmeans that they can make you ao anythingthat they want you to do! Most of theplastic people (system people) are fascistsand like to make you dress conservatively.You can't even listen to certain kinds ofmusic . And they can force religion on you,too! They have the choice to do it all.

After you stay in juvenile hall for awhile, they can stick you in boys' andgirls' homes and into institutions . Theyuse the lame excuse that you are "unfitfor society" and they put you in the"non-profit" homes that charge $50 or morea day! Some can run up to $800 a day for"intensive treatment".

I live in a unique home that makesthe "group" the rulers and gives eachindividual the power to punish you . Thesekids can run your life here . Most kids arecorrupt with their power and can do unfairthings to you. The rest of the "group"condones these things and they don't wantto interfere . I've been stabbed

cut,strangled,

hit,

kicked,

and nothinghappened to anybody!

You can't fight against their fascismbecause they say, "Well, that's the policy,and if you don't like it, we can send yousomeplace else ." and that means juvenilehall with a "shit mark" on your record.That mark means that your next "home" isgonna be considerably worse. If you domake it through a home, you'll be onprobation 'till you're 18, with the option of'till you're 25 years old . If you disobeyyour parents or do something your P .O.dislikes, you can do 6 months time andyour probation sentence is longer!

One way to get out of the system fora while is to run away! The pigs don'thave the time to chase the runaways whenthey have murderers and speeders tochase around . They'll only put a benchwarrent on you, so as soon as you do acrime, they stick that on you with thecrime . There is no other way to fight thesystem except for unity through protest.We must stand up for our rights and fightthe system! V .O .F . is "Victims of Fascism"- it's my organization to fight thenazi-system . Join us by writing in anssaying you want ' to join and help . Untillater, Chris Hobbs/ PO Box 1145/ Corona,CA 91720

Dear MRR:HI! My name is Ginah . I'm 16 and havebeen into punk (whatever you wish to callit) for about 5 or 6 months

. I'm sorry tosay that I've only been to one show inthat amount of time . Why, you might ask?Because of my mother, that's why . Beingthe daughter of a "Born-again" Christianmy activities are very limited

. The onlyway I get to hear the music is by tapingoff of the radio! She won't let my buyanythins that has to do with punk

. Ibarely get by getting zines! She says thatshe doesn't approve of them at all becausethey all encourage rebellion, hatred,vulgarity, etc . I don't know what to do! Ihave no friends, I mean friends who areinto the scene, mainly because I can'tcommune with any

. It's like I'm beingimprisoned! I have no freedom! I will beseventeen on the 1st of September . I knowthat I won't be able to do anything!

I have a pen pal who lives inPennsylvania . He's the only punk I reallyam in touch with

. I have to hide his

letters from you know who ." He sends meflyers and stuff . It's nice but not quiteenough . There are so many things I wantto do to get involved, but I can't . I'm sosheltered . I have to eat, drink, and sleepChristianity . I'm miserable.

I would leave home, but uh, okay,I'll admit it, I'm scared . I mean, where doI go? What'll I do? Like I said, I don'tknow anyone.

I can't really express my emotions inpeace .. If I get angry about something, Ihave a demon . If t have a miserableexpression on my face, which most of thetime I can't help, I have an evil spirit inme! I mean come on! "I'll pray for you"she says!

Ugh!!!I know this is a long letter, but I"ve

got to get this off my chest! Pleaseunderstand!

Oh yea, I missed my Junior year inhigh school because she didn't want mecorrupted by the punks at Santa MonicaHigh . I don't know if I'm going this yearor not . What'll I do? I really need help!Please!

She's a hypocrite! A couple of monthsago she used to go down to the Cathaywith some Hollywood Christian group and"street witness" . She used to come backtelling me that those punks didn't reallywant to be punks, that it was just peerpressure . She said that not one punkdown there who had muhawks wanted one.Is that true? I hope not!

Look, I'm proud that I'm punk, ifthat's what you want to calf it . I am . Iwant to get more involved but I needsupport . I try to do as much as I possiblycan, really I do!

Well I suppose I've said everything Ican . I'm partially relieved . I don't think Ican stand it any longer.Ginah/

1705 Pico Blvd .,

#149/ SantaMonica, CA, 90405.P .S . If anyone is interested incommunicating with me, write . I hope youwould print this . I need to know thatsomeone really cares.

ON THE POSITIVE SIDEMRR :

I'm writing to tell the readers aboutan incident that occurred at my school . Itmight give people spine inspiration thattheir efforts towards changing things forthe better are not futile.

I consider myself tucky to be astudent (financial aid pays for my tuition).But, I attend a shitty, money-hungrycommunity college that opened 3 yearsago . It reminds me of a fast foodrestaurant or something . The art dept.there had 2 rooms--they lost one toanother computer lab! Now there is 1 artroom, okay, a pretty limited facility.

Well, my friends and I decided to jointhe Arts and Humanities club there thatputs out newsletters and organizes the artshows (about 10 people) . Most of us didn'thave much money so we painted on woodwe found in the garbage or condemnedbuildings (the town has a lot of coolgarbage) . And, some people decided to puton a show called "transformations," or inother words, 'art from found objects'.Someone built a 15-ft . DNA molecule out ofwood piano keys, and other misc.sculptures and assemblages were made.

We got permission from the Dean andAdministration to have the show for only 1week. He had everything against usbecause of our threatening looks, andbecause we liked to hang around the artroom door . Needless to say, when he sawthat the signs for the show were beingpainted on an old car hood and usdragging all kinds of "offensive" stuff upto the art room he stopped the wholeshow . He told our friend (the Art andHumanities club president), that our stuffwas GARBAGE and it was to be censored!

Meanwhile, a lady I did some art workfor wanted to write up some local

newspaper articles on the club's activitiesand the show . She thought it was a greatidea, and what we were doing was good.We had good intentions . Our city wasbeing rebuilt and we found a lot ofunusual objects laying about the town, likedebris . A lot of stores burned down, andsome were condemned because a freeway iscoming through, others are remodelingbecause it's becoming a "college" town . Wewere just taking the debris, and making itinto something worthwhile, tar the peopleto look at and wonder about.

Well, we sent copies of the articles tothe Administration and they changed theirmind . Plus, my teacher told the Dean thatthe only time an art exhibit was censoredwas in Nazi Germany!

The opening night of the"transformations " show was a victory! Allof our motley friends were there, and allthe passerby said : "It's about time theyhad an interesting art show up here!" (25pieces in all).

It was a great feeling to be able toshow a close-minded administration theywere completely wrong . And we used novandalism or violence to achieve ourrequest . We played it smart and won!

So, being involved with a system canhelp change things, anything is possiblebut you have to start somewhere, nomatter how small, like what we did, but,it's a start . Carrie Kelly, age 19/ 219 N.Center/ Royal Oak, Michigan, 48067

To the FEEDERZ, in response to their LP,Ever Feel Like Killing Yer Boss?Now boys,

Your sexual hate isn't cute or takenas just a joke . Many of your lyrics distortthe subtle underlying sexist positions ofthe Situationist International . Previously, Iconsidered it either my imagination or notdistinctly dangerous enough to eclipse myopenmindedness towards their "valid"viewpoints

. Even though the S .I . werepredominantly all men, their chauvanismdidn't pop up too often . You, however,spend half your time insulting people'sbodies and sexual behavior

. I thoughtcalling someone a "bitch" was reserved forshallow, submissive sheep who haven'tbrains exercised enough to stand back andlook at the totality of the situation, andhence, with swollen tongues, lash backwith irrational absurdity . If your eruptionsof hatred and violence is directed to apersonal experience (notice, you're beinggiven the benefit of the doubt, eventhough there isn't much benefit in doubt)then why do you express it with suchdangerous generality and vagueness? Bydoing so, you are suggesting that menshould consider women as pillaging toysupon which it is OK to stick "brokenbottles" . You also, in "Jesus EnteringFrom The Rear", slag homosexuals . I don'tmean to hurt your "feelings", but youroutward impression suggests that you tooprefer men's rather than women's company.Factions (sexual, racial, geographic, etc)are tools of the spectacle, and to breedfactions is counter-revolutionary . Granted,boredom is equally as counter-revolutionarybut you're raising your standard ofboredom at

the

expense

of

truesubversion.Paul Prayer (ex-HEART ATTACK) / 176Schenck Ave/ Great Neck, NY 11021.P .S . I was attracted to the FEEDERZ byyour great comic strips and was reallydisappointed by your lyrics.Disappointment, not spite, is this letter'smotivation.Dear MRR,

I've often read in MRR letters that golike this : "Your ideas are OK, but youseem to be like Communists" . McCarthystill seems to be in these people's heads.

There is a badge here in Germanywhich reads, "Say just one thing right,

and they'll call you a communist". I can't

understand why punx are afraid ,ofcommunism

. Look, the things happening inthe U .S .S .R

. Poland, East Germany, etc .,are called "communist" or "socialist", butin truth it's just capitalism, like in theU .S ., West Germany, or Japan.

In West Germany, commies have a lotof discipline and organize demonstrations,etc . They are very important for doingpolitical work, but they don't influencemany people . I think they are isolated,just as the anarchists are (who are freerin their thoughts and in the way theyfight for a free society--a society withoutany police, authority, repression, power,religion)

. And why do punx havesomething against this goal? I still believewe can all stand together against thepeople who want us to live like zombies.Agi

Zours(

Warmsdorfstr

33/

2350Neumunstr/ W GermanyP

.S . I run a zine and am looking for someindividualistic punk bands to write aboutthemselves for my seventh issue . Write ifinterested.

Dear MRR,As is the case with many others, I am

moved to reply to Mykel Board, specificallyto a couple of sentences in the 8thparagraph of his column in #15 : "Women,homosexuals, commies, anarcho-punks, arejust collections of individuals who are noless (often more) fucked up than the restof us . By defining themselves as belongingto this group or that, they cut themselvesoff from the rest of humanity ." Gee whiz,Myke! Females are "defined" as "belongingto . . . .that group" due to the mere chanceof fate of being born with a puss ofpleasure instead of a veined flagpole!Hardly do they "define themselves" aswomen--it's not something over whichthere's much choice

. You should know thatby now, y'old fart!N . Breslow/ NY NYP .S .

. . .the rest of us ."???Dear MRR,

Mykel Board's column in #15 wasexcellent

. I can see high school andcollege students reading "The CompleteWorks of Mykel Board" in 400 years, justas Shakespeare's writings are read today.But I still think that Jonathan Swift wasserious about eating babies.D Void/ 16 Wawaloam Dr/ Quoanachantog,RI/ 02891.

Hi MRR,After reading Mykel Board's last

column where he puts down his opponentsinstead of answering their questions, Itruly feel he is a sexist with an assholefor a mouth-- because all that ever comesout of it is shit.

I'd like to deal with some of hisstupider answers. He answers JulietBelman and says that "violence (rape) isincited by feminism . not by pornography ."What a bunch of bullshit . Feminism has notbeen around too long (maybe 20 years),but rape has been around for a long time.Sexism is the main cause of rape, andporno can make the "sexist" individualmore violent towards women and childrenby degrading them to the extent that he"knows" he is "better than them" . Whenfeminism finally came about, it was notthat there was more rape, but that therewas more reported.

And his answer to Liz Plazo, sayingshe associates sexual liberty with violence.In her examples I see no sexual liberty,but a lot of sexism and violence in suchweird ways (girl who's family is shot andshe is beaten and raped) that pornographydefinitely glorifies as by saying "the girlenjoyed it" . Pornography glorifies sick anddisgusting violence, not feminism . I betthose kids in Sri Lanka will love the ideain 5 or 6 years_Chris Marth/ 3840 Lakecrest Dr/ BloomfieldHills MI 48013

Dear MRR,The addition of Debbie Dub to the

zine has caused me to renew my interest inMRR . Up until this issue, the politics inthe publication have been incoherent (suchas Mykel Board's crypto-conservatism) orinconsistent (Tim Y's wavering betweenauthoritarian

anti-capitalism

andanti-authoritarian

capitalism) .

I

lookforward to more consistentanti-authoritarianism from Debbie . I wouldalso like to see more articles about thetrials of those busted at the DemocraticConvention (of which I'm one), and moreby Louise Billotte (whose piece "FriendlyFascism" was great).

The article by Gerry Hannah on thePeace Movement is made up of mostly goodanalyses, although my question is this:how can an anti-statist be a supporter ofnationalist statist movements such as theI .R .A. and A .N .C . ? Anti-statists, inorder to maintain integrity, must opposeall states, no matter who runs them ; thisopposition

also

needs

to apply

tostates-in-embryo . the Irish RepublicanArmy and the African National Congressare certainly statist organizations, as theirown names and objectives testify . Thesituation of anti-statists seems to be thehope that during the crumbling of thestatus quo, the resulting power vacuumwill allow the people to organize by andfor themselves without the "benefit" of anyhierarchical imposition from above.

On the subject of voting--everytime Ihear the "lesser of two evils" argument, Ifeel like puking . All voting for the lesserevil has done throughout history is tocloak the repressive institution of theState in a "progressive" disguise . Formarginalized dissenters, every form thestate adopts is just as nasty as the last.Bourgeois wimps and liberal democrats willurge you to vote for "their" candidate orfor a worthless nuclear freeze, but it onlyperpetuates and legitimizes the existingsocial order.

To get to specifics, is Tim implyingby his statements that Mondale will notmurder "thousands of Latin Americanpeasants and freedom fighters"? Does hethink that Mondale is not a "democraticfascist"? Or that he will cut off aid to theContras in Honduras and Costa Rica?C'mon Tim, wake up! Mondale helpedinitiate : the MX, Cruise, and Pershingdeployment plans ; the Rapid DeploymentForce ; U .S . military aid and advisors to ElSalvador, just to name the more outrageousactions of the Democrats . Let us not forgetthat it was the Democratic Party thatbrought us WWII, the Atom Bomb, Korea,Vietnam, Watts, Chicago, and the recentrepression here in liberal S .F.

Let me put the anti-voting positionanother way . If you vote, you are sayingthat dissent and attempts to swaydecision-making in this country is onlylegitimate one or two times a year . To votealso means that you believe in majorityrule . If a majority of those voting chooseReagan, then they will expect the rest ofthe voters to abide by their decision, orelse be a hypocrite.

As to the assertion in both Tim's andJeff's columns that we must use everymeans at our disposal to influencedecision-making, I say bullshit . Voting isminimally influential ; what is moreinfluential than the barrel of a gun or anuclear missile? What they are presumablysaying is that we need to use every meansat our disposal to "legitimize" ourselves inthe eyes of the media and Middle America.Again, I say bullshit . You can't changeanything by voting any more than you canbreak people out of a deliberately inducedapathy by being afraid of scaring themwith a blue mohawk . Social relations won'tchange if we refrain from engaging inactivities that some people consider to bein bad taste .

Life won't change if we stay at home.So get out on the streets, where allimportant decisions should be made (by thepublic, in public) to agitate for what you(we) want . On the streets, we are allleaders, so there are no followers andtherefore no leaders . we need to reclaimour lives and to destroy the things thatwould destroy us . Down with bosses andcops! For a creative social revolution!

Blueberry/ P .O . Box 40400/ S .F., CA94140

Dear Blueberry,Can you chew gum and walk at the

same time'? Gimme a break! If voting"legitimizes" the existence of the state, toyou, then that's your problem, and inyour head . I went to great lengths toexplain that it's what's in the mind of the"voter" that dictates such an axiom : Idon't think voting will change thefundamental structural problems that existin a capitalist society . But I do think thatin case like this election, my vote mayhave a small affect . Perhaps Mondalewouldn't be able to move as fast anddeliberately

against

Third

Worldrevolutions (caught in his own liberalrhetoric,

as

was

Carter

who'sadministration saw the revolutions ofNicaragua and Iran reject U .S . influence).That's just a "maybe", not a given . Andfor me, that "maybe" makes it worthvoting, makes it worth breaking out fromthe self-limiting dogmatic straight-jacketyou're in . It's one thing to want to be"ideologically pure", and another to berealistic about the state of affairs we livein . I have no illusions about the Democratsbeing anything but a front for certainsectors of the ruling class, but until "thepeople" are in a position to challenge thatclass, I refuse to be relegated solely to thestreets (where little is happening,decisionwise), and will agitate there, aswell as anywhere else I can think of . Tim

Dearest Debbie Dub,I was disappointed to read your debut

column concerning the sensitive subject ofvoting.

I felt you said a lot of fucked upwords that sounded splendid together, butyou neglected to really say anything thatwas backed with subjective (never mindobjective) intelligent thinking . Forinstance, "Each person holds the key tofreedom in their hands . Use it! Don't lookto Walter Mondale, or Jello Biafra, orDebbie Dub to lead you to salvation."Come on Debbie, wake up to the realworld! If we all held the key to freedomand were (more importantly) able to use itas you instructed, 'punk' music, and theattitude that accompanies it, would notexist . I spend every day of my liferescuing my key from the pits of society!

And furthermore, as far as voting isconcerned, yes, I play the game! I feel aslong as I can find things wrong with thisseverly fucked up government of ours, itis ! obligation to utilize every possibilitythat may bring about some kind of change.

In your own words, Ms . Dub, "Thechange will not happen overnight"

..."the

fight won't be fair" . . ."but we can win ."Holly Page/ 5233 Shilato Wy/ CarmichaelCA 95608To all punks and other people who don'tvote,

I'm really sick of reading "Reagansucks" in fanzines and on walls, and thentalking to punks who say, "I don't vote : Idon't believe in the system ." Listen,you're in the system, like it or not.

Part of the Republican re-electionstategy is to say that Reagan was electedby the largest landslide since F .D .R.That's true, of people who voted . But 50%of eligible voters didn't vote! Reagan waselected by only 27% of all eligible voters,

and that's disgusting . Now, many peoplewho voted for Reagan in 1980 aredisillusioned and won't vote for him againin 1984 . That means that if only 30-35% ofvoters vote against him, he will lose . Youmay not think that Mondale is perfect, butdo you like Reagan more?

If you haven't registered to votebecause you're afraid of getting drafted,don't worry . The Selective Service andvoter registration bureaus are completelyseperate organizations . They can't get youlegally for registering to vote . The waythey get you is by Social Securitynumbers.

Most of the time, when you feel likeyou can't accomplish anything, it's becauseyou're not trying. Writing songs iswonderful . now, back them up with yourvote! Remember, not choosing is a choicetoo . If you are eligible to vote, anddon't . . .it's like voting for Reagan! Youhave no right to complain-11 you refuse tomake a change.Rain Perry/ 3875 Telegraph Rd #a-171/Ventura CA 93003Dear MRR:(and Mike Zabo, Montreal, Canada)In early June, while standing safely to theright of the diving zone at a large NYClub, I was dived on by a friend andsuffered the same injury as Mike, with thesame plates, screws, and bone grafts . Iwent from a good job to welfare . From adancer to crutches for nine months.F)ardcore can be dangerous when peoplecan't handle their various highs, and, inthose states, can't see who or where theyare smashing . The same is true of highwayand sidewalk . Now I hang out and go't'oshows on crutches . The accident hurtbody and mind, but being deprived of themusic would be much more damaging . Isympathize with Mike stitch by stitch, pinby pin ; but my sister broke her legstepping off her porch stoop in suburbanNew Jersey. JJ/ 83, Clermont Ave ./Brooklyn, NY 11205Hey MRR:In response to the pro meat-eatingarguments expressed in a couple of lettersin MRR #16 and anywhere else, I'd justlike to say that I personally don't eat meatbecause when I look at an animal I seemyself . When I look at a plant I don't.That is it in a nutshell

. Pro meat-eatingarguments about teeth, nature, historyetc . are irrelevant because human beingsin today's world have the power to chooseto eat meat or not

. Nothing stands in ourway but our tongues . Let's not fog theissue with lame excuses . Dennis Worden/P .O

. Box 192/ San Juan Capistrano, CA92693

Dear MRR,My name is Anthony, and I put out

Raveup fanzine . The reason I'm writing isbecause I recently lost my mailing list andI owe a lot of people copies of my latestissue . Since I don't want people to getcheated, please, if you haven't gotten ananswer to what you've written, pleasewrite again . Sorry! Anthony Illarde/ 4229W Roscoe/ Chicago IL 60641

MRR,Here goes what will probably go down

in history as the saddest, least excitingscene report ever submitted

. But I'mhoping that by writing this, some bandsout there will realize that a scene doesexist here in Moscow, Idaho.

We don't get many gigs here, but theones we do are sold-out shows . So, ifthere are any bands that might beinterested in playing here and would careto make Moscow a better place to survivefor us social misfits, please write me:Tess/ 1061 Hwy 95 N/ Moscow ID 83843, orcall (208)883-0770 . Thanx .

Dear MRR,To everyone who sent me something,

asking for I REFUSE IT! stuff in return : Idon't want to swindle anyone

. I planned tosend all of you our 7" EP, but it is takingmuch longer than I expected to be ready.I will send it out as soon as possible.Sorry.

Also, I have some questions for a lotof guys around the U

.S ., for instanceContempt tine : what about the $12 I sent?I'd at least like the "Cleveland : Dead AndAlive" tape. And what about Chainsawfanzine in Pennsylvania? I've been waiting2 years for their stuff . And Mykel Board(I like your columns in MRR ; they're a"different" voice from out of the crowd),the U .S . Postal Service has of to befaster than the Polish PostalService.Stefano Bettini/ Via 27 Aprile 4/ 50124Firenze/ Italy.

Dear MRR,I have a big problem . I'm sentenced

to die in the Maryland state gas chamber.I appealed this to the court, but theyupheld my sentence and said it's OK toexecute juveniles . I don't like this one bit.I was 17 when I got in trouble andshould've been treated as a juvenile . Nowour fair government is trying to kill meand no one seems to care . I don't thinkthat's right . How do you feel? write andlet me know . A subscriber.Jim Trimble/ 161658/ MD State Pen B546/954 Forest St/ Baltimore MD 21202.

Dear MRR:I've only recently been reading MRR or Iwould've written before about this . This isto let you know about what is really goingon in Boston, MA . The ONE VERY SADFACT is "there is no punk scene ." That'sright, and by punk I mean there's noscene that promotes individuality orawareness or concern for any of today'sissues.

Seems to me like all the kids whogave a shit a few years ago are now sickof not earning any money

. At 6165 theyplay heavy metal because it's the new coolmusic . What really kills me is that the kidswho go to the shows not only have letthem get away with it, they eat it up.

In Boston, being a rock star iswhat's cool

. Even with the people who saidthey used to care about what happenedand about what society was doing to them.

So I'm calling to people in the Bostonarea! Or anywhere! I want to know ifanyone still believes that what you do canchange things a little . Please write tome--we need a scene in Boston that canrise above this rock star shit and givepeople some music to think about again!Thanx, Alexander/124 Glenville Ave, #3/Allston, MA, 02134

Dear MRR:In response to "Is this Boston, NotL .A.?", #15, July '84:

Rat : you have got problems! Seems tome that you are more into the way youlook than anything else! Who cares whatpeople look like? What does it mean? Irecently moved to Boston but that's not

the only place I'm disappointed with.So-called "punk rock" has been twistedand turned from something real into justanother trendy fad where there is noindividuality in either personality, way ofthinking, or appearance

. These peoplethink and act like all the assholes thatthey say they are rebelling against

. Theyuse labels like hippies, punks, grits,fags, skins Are they describingthe way someone looks or are they tryingto make everything fit into some certainorder they have been conditioned to? Whycan't people just wear what they want, saywhat they feel and make up their ownminds about different issues and musicinstead of thinking, dressing, and doingas whomever they think is the coolest? Itseems more logical, don't you think?

Tired of writing. Too much to say.Page/9 Anderson St ., #2-F/ Boston, MA02114 P .S

. Chris, if you read this pleasewrite!

Hi Max R'n'Roll,I'm

one

of the

musicians

thatappeared on the West Berlin cassettecompilation, Inferno II . I was heavilydisappointed in your reaction/review . atfirst my band had a good laugh when youcalled the '77 punk of the FUCKERS "coolblasts " . Ha Ha . Funny joke, though Ireally like their stuff and most of themusic on the tape. That's the secondimportant point . You (Tim Y) slagged offthe rest of the bunch of bands because oftheir quality and non- perfection of themusic . I think most of the songs havegood/great ideas . Maybe you prefer theldunnohowmuchchannel-studio-crap of theheavymetalrock'n'rollcultpunkand so onbands, who practice 20 years, but then itseems that you're wrong . Punk was, andis, the 5 minute fame, quality ' s mediocre,and the rejection by people who listen tothe ROLLING STONES, BOWIE, etc . Punk,in the very meaning of the word.

I don't write because we want to makemoney (we get none for appearing on thecomp) . It's your attitude in condemningeven a tape for being amateurish . What thefuck? Punk isn't perfection!!! Don't listenjust once to a tape and fire it out thewindow . We put some hope into what wedid . You, as a worldwide mag, have a bigresponsibility to encourage punkseverywhere . But don't expect everybodyto go running to expensive studios,wasting money for shit that no oneneeds . . . .just because you like HUSKERDU's Metal Circus LP production . That's aload of shit . If someone has the chance tospend a lot of money, fine . We don't . Andafter all : it's punk, not heavy metal.

Oh yeah, you even forgot to mentionthat the sampler contains (a) ado-it-yourself info/lyric shhetbook, and(b) the price, of $3 .50, including postage.Did you think that after your review noone would want the tape? Spell thatU . N . F .A . I . R.Bruno/ guitarist for the CRAPSCRAPERS

Dear Bruno,I merely said that "I think" that most

of these bands recorded too early on intheir existences. I still feel that way . Asyou might be able to tell from otherprevious reviews, I'm not a big sticklerfor high-priced production . But with'garage' quality tapes and records, somecapture a certain 'charm' of grunginess,and some don't . Sure punk is at its bestwith spontaneity and innocence, but thatoften can only appreciated by 'being there 'or knowing the people in the bands . Itdoesn't necessarily translate well ontovinyl or tape . I can only say that you feelone way, and I feel otherwise.

But, for those who want to find outfor themselves (and then perhaps write inwith their impressions on this issue of'garage tapes'), here's the address again .

It's :

S .F .V./

c/o

Andreas

Thorne/Heidereuterstr . 11/ 1000 Berlin 20/ WGermany . Let us know whether you feltthis is a meaningful addition to yourcollection, or not worth the price, etc.Bruno, I sincerely hope that you areright .

Tim

To any and all bands:Hi, I'm a 15 year old punk from Eugene,OR . We have a decently sized scene herewith only one problem : not enough shows(as most scenes are) . I'm trying to curethis problem by promoting shows in myarea with local and out of town bands . Ifany band would like to play Eugene,please contact me and I'll try my best toarrange a gig for your band . The gigs Iput on I make absolutely no profit from formyself . All of the money we make goes tothe bands, P .A . system, advertising, etc.So please contribute to our scene and playin Eugene . Thanx a lot Bryan Dunn/ c/oUnderground Productions/ 3662 VineMaple/ Eugene, OR 97405

Dear MRR,When I first got into punk, my folks

didn't care--thought it was a phase orsomething . Well, now they're worried . Sonow I'm cut off from my "punk" friendsand can't go to shows, even though Ihaven't lost touch with what's happening.

My folks sat me down recently andasked me what the 'movement' is for andabout . Well, I couldn't tell them . I tried totell them what it stood for and I foundmyself asking the same question . I toldthem we were against war, racism, and forpeace . They asked what we were doingabout it . I had to say I didn't know . Inmy mind's eye, all we're doing is tellingeach other what we already know . And wecan't make a difference when no one elseknows what we're doing . --if we're doinganything . When I stand back and look at abunch of punks, all they look like is thepeople who go to Salvation Army forsupper.

So, I sat myself down to have a goodthink . I thought, "how can you makechanges on the outside?" You can't . Myfolks think we're all nazis or something,and we're going to overthrow thegovernment . Even if we were going tooverthrow the government, we'd have tobe on the inside . A judge has almost asmuch power as the President . We have tostop looking like shit and get up in thoseplaces . When I was in London, I saw guyswith mohawks in 3-piece suits . Sure itlooked kinda funny, but it made me thinkhow the movement is slowly dying overthere . At least I feel it is . But they playthe SEX PISTOLS on the normal radio . Ifwe could get our music on commercialradio, if one person could hear the lyricsand start thinking for him/herself, maybewe could actually make some changes inthis damn world . The hippies had theright idea, but everyone knew they tookdrugs and most people thought they werecrazy . The same way with us . Who's gonnalisten to a person who looks like they justsurvived a nuclear war?

I'm not saying we have to be clonesof each other, just wash your hairsometimes . I know a girl who hasn'twashed her's in 2 years . That'sdisgusting . I can't say I hate her, but Iwon't get close enough to her to find outwhat she thinks . Am I coming across here?I hope I don't have 3 million enemies now.It's just that I'm confused about whatwe're for and what we want . I'd like someresponses to this, and maybe someanswers . Thanx.Angeli Modjeski/ 12904 Grandview Ct/Burnsville MO 55337

also available:(on Insane Industries)DECRY 5 song 7"epand the HALF-SKULL 7"compwith M .I .A ., LOVE CANALDECRY, & BASIC MATH

Distributed By:Rough Trade,Important, Dutch East India,:Systematic, Greenworld, and RECORD DISTRIBUTION/ 714-620-6255

The -government is worried . ..It

area is breeding radicals ~~'qoMF T HE

PORT CARSON 'n

Q

NOR AD

COLUMNS opinions expressed are thos~~~~~of the columnists

fiOtIGHT

R'Member Gene Autry, the singin'

cowboy?

Well,

here's

MRR's

latestcolumnist, Dave Scott, the singin'punkeroo . Dave, drummer of ADRENALINO .D . and singer of PLEASED YOUTH,promises to compose a new, topical dittyevery so often for us--direct from thecomfort of his own couch back home in" .oisey" . Rock on, Dave.

IRRATIONAL FRONTYou really think it's pretty radTo jump on to the latest fadBut now you've stuck your foot in too deepBeating fags won't make you tough'Cause one big fag will call your bluffAnd you'll feel the comfort of a permanent sleepIf following leaders is what you deem coolThen maybe you should go back to schoolAnd learn to swallow oders instead of beerOr if love for country and might makes rightIs your truest need to fightThen Uncle Sam has just the careerNow England has its share of problemsAnd lord knows we have oursBut bigotry and hatred just set our goals apartBecause you're the only victimWhen your mind is a closed doorAnd if you enjoy a victim's lifeVOTE REAGAN IN '84

You've seen in this issue, and inprevious issues, a lot of letters/scenereports dealing with in-scene violence . Thenature of it varies from scene to scene,but the phenomena has undoubtedlyspread . New York seems to be the mostwracked by it . The "N .Y . Skins", throughbeatings, intimidation, and even killings,are running rampant . The scene iscompletely fractured, with few gigs andmany bands breaking up . Not only that,but the N .Y . Skins apparently haveembraced the British National Front'sracist and nationalist attitudes . This hasled to a Nazi-chic trend that recentlymanifested itself in a skin-Puerto Ricanrace war . N .Y . is a mess.

In Philly, some Maryland/D .C . skinsbeat up a local for being Jewish . Thatcommunity has united in its anger at thatbrutality, and seems prepared to deal withit, perhaps in kind.Denver has a Nazi-chic problem, andLos Angeles is rife with territorial gangs.Detroit has 2 Nazi skin gangs.In San Francisco, there has been agang mentality developing among certainskins . Although not blatantly racist, it isalso based on physical intimidation,threats, etc . The most reliable places forgigs have closed their doors to Hardcore.Attendence is down at the remaining

shows, and lots of bands are breaking upor losing motivation.

MRR Radio did a panel discussionrecently with some skins and punksagainst the violence and bully mentality.This included a few members of bands,and call-ins from listeners . There will bemore follow-ups to that program in weeksto come, and in this zine . We intend tomake this not only a journalistic effort,but an attempt to nip the violence in thebud here . Hopefully, this kind of dialoguecan work . It better, because this internalstrife is really sapping our strength andkilling the scene, and at a time when ourenergy should be spent countering thelarger problems in the world.

Our focus will be on theresponsibility of the alternative media(zines, radio shows, etc .) in trying toorganize such dialogues ; on theresponsibilities of bands in dealing withviolence at shows (especially bands thathave "followers" who tend to run ingangs) ; and on the responsibility of themajority of people in the scene, who areagainst this violence, in getting organizedin opposition to the "fascism" that's takingover .And fascism it is . Fascism is based ona minority controlling the rest throughphysical intimidation, violence, nationalism,and

mindless

emotional

responses tocomplex problems . It implies someone"ruling" over others by force . Soundfamiliar?Besides the obvious political and"health" considerations here, there is avital economic one too . By scaring peopleaway from gigs, this "hardcore" has alsoreduced the number of gigs at "alternativevenues " (not very economically feasible),caused lots of damage to the venues (moreexpenses), caused more intense policeharassment ' d scrutiny because of thedrink . . and trashing that takes placeoutside the clubs (Cathay de Grande justlost their liquor license) . This in turn isboth causing lots of bands to break up(either in disgust, or because there aren'tany gigs to play anymore), and forcingthe "bigger" bands into the hands of"traditional" promoters (and their brutalbouncers) . . . .the Bill Graham's of theworld . BLACK FLAG recently played forBarry Fey in Denver, and played the Ritzin N .Y . for $13 .50 . Some of the biggerbands perhaps are glad at the chance to"go big time", and now have the excuse of"we don't have anywhere else to play";others may be genuinely forced in thatdirection.

In any case, this is an indirectconsequence of the violence, and one thatultimately may have a larger devestatingeffect on the grassroots nature of thescene and the integrity of the scene as awhole . Needless to say, watch for a lotmore here in future issues, and p e,get involved, get organized, and stayhealthy . And to those who want to "rule"in the name of "unity", neither ishappening : more likely, you're presidingover your own isolation.

"Life" in America is not based inreality ; it is an illusion supported by acomplex series of myths . The myth offreedom, of happiness, of success, defeat,

rebellion, love and hate . Most of the majormyths are fairly transparent ; it's not toohard to see through the lie that happinessis acheived by responsible concumerism.But there are many more lies that aren'tso easy to spot, lies that creep their wayinto consciousness like a poison . LIESTHAT YOU BELIEVE.One of the great myths of the sixtieswas the idea that taking drugs was arevolutionary act . Turn on, tune in, anddrop out . Millions of middle class teenagersexpressed their rebellion against theirparents by blowing their own minds . Thosethat didn't turn into vegetables becamemodel consumers, exchanging theirparents' two cadillac cars and a color TVfor a pair of Jordache jeans and a mirroradvertising cocaine.

Then came the seventies and a newbreed ; a kind of youth that had seen thesellout of the sixties and would not getfooled again . My generation . I rememberthe early days of the punk rock scene asa constant rush of new ideas, of peoplegetting together who were smarter thanthe rest of society, who had seen throughall the lies and all the tricks and whowould not get sold down the river . Wewere cocky and idealistic ; it was a wholenew game and the old set of rules nolonger applied . And we did a lot of speed.

It wasn't too hard torationalize . . .most things aren't . I decidedthat doing speed was a revolutionary act.Sound implausible? At the time it was avery popular theory . It went like this:speed has gotten a lot of bad pressbecause the government was afraid of itsliberating nature and was trying tosuppress it . You know, like Wilhelm Reich.In truth, there was nothing wrong withspeed at all . It wasn't bad for you and itdidn't cause paranoia . It made you seethings like they really were, plus it was agreat tool for staying up all night andwriting manifestos . I supported that insaneand fatal theory in the face of enormousevidence to the contrary ; while I watchedmyself and the people I loved and caredabout waste away till there was nothingleft . . . .while the scene that I once believedin so strongly disintegrated . We hadacheived 'no future' via suicide.

And so by the eighties you wouldthink that the few of us left would've seenthe error of our ways and taken steps tochange things . Wrong . With the eightiescame a new myth : the jaded, world-wearyrevolutionary . . .and the drug to go withit, heroin . We'd seen it all and done it all.We'd fought the good fight and lost . Theonly thing left for us to do was to try toease the pain . It wasn't quitting or givingup ; it was admitting defeat . This was aparticularly appealing notion, as it allowedyou retain the image of being outside thesystem, while in reality you were giving into the system . After all I'd been through,I felt entitled to a little peace. And if Ifound my peace in the bottom of a burntspoon, that was my fucking business andnobody else's . All it cost was my soul.

What's the point of all this? There isno point . The entire experience waspointless . So why am I telling you all this?I don't really know . It's part warning,part exorcism . I had intended to write thiscolumn in the third person, but Tim felt itwould carry more weight if I did it in thefirst . And he was right, because whilemyths are created by society, it'simportant to remember that WE ARESOCIETY . A guy that used to hang aroundin the early days of punk once thanked mefor having changed his life, for openingup to him a new way of seeing things anda different way of life . And then he asked

D EBB jE bub

Of course,

the final means ofrevolting in the 80's is : FUCK! I'vewritten about that so much in previouscolumns, that I don't feel like repeating itall here. If you're interested in thereasons, write to me care of MRR, be sureto enclose a photo.

Foreign hardcore is on the currentrise of interest, but most of the product isvery hard to get here in the states . Youcan always write directly to the individualbands/labels, but sometimes it can bedifficult to get what you really desire . Yousee the reviews, so the curiousity flaresup, but if you can't get the product it canbe very frustrating for you and the shopowners . With everyone's cooperation, wecan get this product in our possession'retail shops, radio shows, etc.

I was recently employed by RoughTrade's wholesale department . It's a newjob for me, and a big move, but it will bea fun experience . Which brings me to . . ..

Attention

all

foreign

hardcorebands/labels across the globe : are youinterested in having your productdistributed here in the states? If so,please send a copy of your vinyl release,along with complete information likewholesale costs, shipping costs, how youwill ship it, etc . Shipping costs can behigh, so please check into what'savailable . The purpose is to keep therecord price so everyone will be able toget it . Shipping always brings up theprice, so please quote the price either'shipping included' or 'shipping addedseperate' . So bands/labels, please send asample of your product addressed to mec/o Rough Trade, and I will reply back assoon as possible, forRough Trade is very much interested incarrying this exciting music . And shops,please contact myself or Allison with anyquestions or inquiries about ordering.Here's the address, and thanks a lot.Pushead/c/o Rough Trade/ 326 Sixth St/S .F ., CA 94103.

if I knew where he could cop some dope.So long as were exposing myths, let's getrid of "Debbie Dub, revolutionary" . Attimes, "murderess" seems like a morehonest appraisal . But trying to weigh thedamage I've done against any good onlydrives me crazy . Hopefully, by admittingand accepting responsibility for the errorsof the past, I can put them to rest andget on with trying to create a betterpresent and future.

This has been the most difficult thingI've ever written, without a doubt . I feellike an emotional dishrag . I hope it doesn'tcome off as righteous, as that certainlywas not what I intended . But if anyonelearns anything or thinks twice about whatthey're doing because of this, then I willfeel justified . . .not only in writing thecolumn, but also in that my ownexperience has more meaning than just thepain it caused.

As a footnote, in the past year I'veseen a few of my friends pull themselvesout of the nightmare and start living theirlives again . I can only hope more willfollow suit . And through it all, my originalideas and beliefs in human potential havenot only remained, but are stronger thanever . In fact, I think that's what savedme . It's not been easy, certainly has beenno fun, and it's not over yet . . .but there'sa light at the end of the tunnel.

I've already written a lot about thestupidity of so-called punks falling intothe 60s fake revolution trap . Of coursethere's more to it than that . You can takemost anything and give it enough hype,call it "revolutionary" and it will sell . Justlook at how many "revolutionary" laundrydetergents and clothing fashions there'vebeen . People are so easily convinced thatthe dumbest things (funny haircuts sittingdown in the middle of the street, breakingwindows, singing about Ronnie Reagan)are "revolutionary" . The Yippies saysmoking marijuana is revolutionary . MDCsays it ' s eating vegetables . THE CRASSsays it ' s being for peace and love andhating the pope . Some people are sayingthat just being a punk is revolutionary.Okay, adults have their laundrydetergent, kids have their punk rock.Maybe it's possible, if you have a goodenough line, to convince anybody thatanything is "revolutionary " .

So what's revolutionary? When peopleask me that, I remind them of FredrichNietzche, that famous German clothingdesigner, who said that the true test of agreat man would be not if his biographywere called "So and So And His Times",but instead "so-and-so AGAINST his time".This provides a clue to the three things ittakes to be a REAL revolutionary in 1984.

The first is : SMOKE! Everywhere youlook people are telling you not to smoke.TV has anti-smoking commercials . Citieslike San Francisco are passing stricter andstricter anti-smoking ordinances . Now,there ' s one that says if one person in anoffice of 500 doesn't smoke, they eitherhave to build a special, private room forhim/her, or prohibit the other 499 peoplefrom smoking . I even heard a news reportabout how preachers in tobacco growingstates are calling the crop "a sin" . What'sbehind all this?

The U.S . has decided to sacrifice oneindustry to preserve the rest . They want

you to believe if you get cancer it's yourfault and if people would stop smokingthey would have nothing to worry about.In this way they can ignore the microwavebombardments the industrial smoke stacks,the nuclear power plants, all those thingsOUTSIDE that you have no control over.Instead they say if you get cancer : It ' syour own fault . You shouldn't smoke.

What are the facts? The U .S . hasmore non-smokers than any country in theWestern world . Anyone who has been toEurope, especially France, knows thatEuropeans smoke like a Rick Gossagefastball . Yet, the U .S . has the highestcancer rate of ANY country in the entireworld . Something is wrong here . Maybeit's not smoking that causes cancer, butsociety . If you're aware of this, you haveto make a statement . You have to refuse totake the blame for the effects of thesociety outside . If you really want torebel, you'll light up a Marlboro.

The second way to rebel in 1984 is:DRINK! Lately, nationally-sponsoredanti-drinking commercials seem to havecaught up with the anti-smokingcommercials . There is federal legislation tomake 21 a national drinking age and moreand more constitutionally illegal roadblocksare set up to catch drunk drivers.

The only reason alcohol isn't totallyprohibited is the failure of prohibitionduring the 20's . Much of this anti-alcoholfuror

is actually disguised anti-youthfuror . MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNKDRIVING has much of the same attitudeand membership composition as PARENTSAGAINST PUNKERS . It is a bit subtler inits approach, but many of the effects arethe same. Close down clubs . Keep kids offthe street . "Protect our youth!"

Drinking is made to define who youare . When they ask for your ID at thedoor, they're not interested in your name,but only if you can drink . In Americayour ID is not valid unless you can drink.You're a person who drinks or you're nota person.

Again we can compare America withother countries . The U .S . is the onlycountry I know of where the voting ageand the drinking age are not the same . Ifwe look at Scandinavia, we see that inDenmark, drinking is very much a part oflife . A beer with a meal is normal . Alcoholis cheap and looked on as nothing special.In Sweden and Finland, alcohol is heavilytaxed and difficult to get . It is a novelty,a forbidden item with low social status.Guess which countries have the worstproblem with alcoholism ? (Hint : it's notDenmark).

By drinking, you can stand up in theface of the growing totalitarianism thatsays STOP . In today ' s world, downing asix-pack makes you more of an outsiderthan getting a skinhead . Oh, you may stillcling to the cliche of the drunken fratboys or the fat factory worker in front ofhis TV with a beer, but the reality ofthese cliches is quickly fading . Thatfratboy is now sniffing cocaine at theI-Beam or some other New Wave club . Thatfactory worker has just thrown off hisboots and put on his Addida's and is goingfor a jog before he works out with JaneFonda . Drinking is not "in" . It's notmodern . It is revolutionary .

'In! n InI n InIn 11I n1~1 n ~n~ n uuulnI~In~~(~I n In111nI n ~nI n In1 n In I n 11I n 11I~111~~~~ n I nnInI n InIn I n InI nI n ICInI n In1 n In ~n(11nI n InI n I n Innl~l n InI n In ~n ~ n ~~~ n ~nn (nI n 11~~I nIn InI n InI n In1 n InI~I~IW InI n InI n InIi

HERE IS SOME MORE FOLLOW-UP TO THE CONTINUING DISTRIBUTION DEBATE'nn In I nI n I nnI n IIInI n InI n I~I~~ n~ n ~ n ~n~ n In1 nIM!nI~1n1!!n NInIn ( n ~nj n ~~j nuu( n ~ nin ~ n~ n ( n u( n u~ n uu(n ~n ~ n(n ( n ~~( n(n(~in ~n( n (n( n I n~ n (n) n (n) n (n( n (~~~~nu~n~ n (n~ n ~~l~l nuI n In InI n I nIn I n l~l n u(~ records on extended terms . We do work on

(D,E .'s "label" that "isn't theirs) debts . 1---

= = = close profit margins and it is sometimes should think that a discussion of the

T.= TX I=

D f S T R I B U T I 0 N

difficult to pay every person as early as

degree of connection would be most -

they would like . Most distributors will

germane to the questions at hand . You ~i:Dear MRR,

even take some goods C .O .D . When we

chose not to elaborate . If Enigma is an I have been a reader and supporter turn around and sell them on terms, we "indie", then what is the Enigma/E .M.I . =: of MRR and the types of music and culture are creating negative cash flow . I am not connection you've been advertising?G it

writes

about

since

its

inception .

complaining by any means . It is the reality

And as far as MRR keeping its

However, I have been saddened to see the

of the business .

attempts at debt "collections private " as a

atype of mud- slinging journalism that has

Boycott Rough Trade? Cut them off

sign of "integrity", I say bullshit . MRR

m- - been appearing in the last few issues

as

distributors?

That

seems

very

prints its finances once a year because we

regarding the state of independent record

counter-productive . Should a magazine get

feel the readership has a right to know, a

a distribution . Editorial opinion is good for a

involved in the persone