Which brings us to this month. I decided to go looking for punk sites about old-school bands. I'm talking about the original bands, not current bands trying to act old school. As such, I have a few sites dealing with 70's and early-80's punk for your enjoyment. I'm sure that there are more sites than these, but these are the best of the lot that I found.
A good place to start would be "Music From Before You Were Born", as that might as well be the title of this month's column. Lotsa great stuff here, with lyrics, photos, and music of a bunch of old hardcore bands. You'll find stuff here on Negative Approach, F.U.'s, Negative FX, DYS, and more. Visit the site at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/7143/ .
Going back to an earlier time, the Totally Damned website is the best site I've found on The Damned. You'll all kinds of information about the band here, from their early history to what they are doing today. There are also sound files, original photos, and more. Check it out at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/4359/damned.html . Don't forget, Dave Vanian is the punk rock Elvis.
Speaking of punk rock Elvii, Evilive's Misfits Page has just about everything you'd want to know about the early Misfits (pre-83). Included here are photos, sound files, a timeline, and some other fun stuff. Future plans include a discography and more. If you're a fiend, visit the site at the very appropriately named http://www.onethirtyeight.com/ .
I was checking out mp3s on mp3.com the other day, and ran across some classic punk rock in the form of the Alan Milman Sect, and ManKazaM. You can listen to the classic seven inch "Stitches" as well as a bunch of other first wave NY punk. They even have CD comps available for 6 bucks. Visit their site on mp3.com at http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/44/alanmilmansect_mankazam.html and check out their homepage via the link from that site. Cool.
Jumping to a band that is still going strong today, the UK Subs page at New Red Archives is an interesting read. Including a bunch of writing by Nicky Garratt, including a history of the early years, tour diaries, and more. Be sure to read the diary of the Social Chaos '99 tour. You'll also find a discography, photos and sound files, guitar tabs, and, believe it or not, sheet music. Visit the Subs at http://www.newredarchives.com/bands/uksubs/index.html .
Speaking of the Social Chaos tour from last year, TSOL also played, and put on a damn good show the night I saw them. A fan has put together a killer site on this SoCal band, including tour dates, news, pictures, audio, links, and more. You'll find the TSOL website at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Cabaret/7144/ .
As long as I'm talking about SoCal, I might as well mention 45 Grave. There is a small site that includes a discography, a small photo gallery, and a status on the members' current doings. Visit the page at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/4579/main.htm .
Also another quickie is the official Angry Samoan's site at http://www.angrysamoans.com/ . Not a ton of stuff here, but there is some classic stuff from Metal Mike's "scrapbook", as well as links to sound files, and Gregg Turner's view on the Samoans. Worth a look if you're a fan, and a history lesson for those too young to know.
Speaking of history, the Big Boys website at http://thebigboys.webjump.com/ has a ton of shit about these seminal Texas punks. You'll find more photos, flyers, and pictures than I've seen at just about any other archive for one band, as well as stories, articles, soundfiles, a discography, lyrics, and more. Visit it today.
Next stop is Pedro: Land of the Minutemen at http://www.photogumbo.com/minutemen/ . Not a ton of stuff here, but some lyrics, an incomplete discography, and some set lists. Worth a look.
A final site for this month is that of Phoenix old-timers, JFA. Still going strong, this site includes old and new art, band stories, a discography, links, lyrics, and stuff about skateboarding. Visit it at http://home.earthlink.net/~brianjfa/ .
That's all I have for you this month. Get me your websites, and give me something to write about! You can e-mail me at netpunk@diehippiedie.com, or you can always send me mail at PO Box 8059; Santa Cruz, CA 95060. See ya.