Lead vocalist Keith Morris was an original member of Black Flag, co-founding the band with Greg Ginn and recording the Nervous Breakdown EP with them before suddenly departing the group in 1979. Morris formed Circle Jerks along with guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson (a classically trained guitarist), and drummer Lucky Lehrer.
Their debut album, Group Sex was released in 1980 on the Frontier Records label; its 14 songs totaled out at 15 minutes. It featured some songs that Morris had written while in Black Flag (Black Flag claimed the songs were "theirs"). That same year, the group was one of several California punk bands to be immortalized in the Penelope Spheeris documentary The Decline of Western Civilization; live versions of five songs from Group Sex appear on the movie's soundtrack.
In 1981, the group signed with IRS Records subsidiary Faulty Products and recorded their second release, Wild in the Streets, the title track of which is a cover version of a Garland Jeffreys tune. Faulty Products ceased operations several months after the release of the album, forcing Circle Jerks to find their third record deal in as many years. While they regained the copyright to Wild In The Streets, the original stereo master tape was lost, forcing the band to do a remix from the multi-track tapes when they reissued the album, along with Group Sex, on CD in 1988.
They signed a management deal with War producer/manager Jerry Goldstein's Far Out Productions, and recorded their third album, Golden Shower of Hits, in 1983, the album was released on Goldstein's LAX label. The title track is actually a medley of six cover versions (of artists as diverse and unexpected as The Association, The Carpenters, and Tammy Wynette) strung together to create a story line of two people who fall in love, have an unplanned pregnancy, rush into marriage, and end up divorced. Another song from the album, "Coup d'État", was used in the soundtrack of Alex Cox's early film Repo Man, and the band makes an appearance playing an acoustic/lounge version of "When The Shit Hits The Fan".
Not long after Repo Man had concluded its first-run release schedule, Rogerson and Lehrer left the band. They were replaced by Zander Schloss (who also appeared in Repo Man) and Keith Clark respectively. The band also changed labels for the fourth time, signing a deal with Relativity Records' metal imprint Combat Records, which had started a punk sublabel, Combat Core. The newly revamped group recorded Wonderful, and released it in 1985. Their newfound stability allowed the lineup to record a second album for Relativity, VI, not long afterward. One track from VI, "Love Kills", had been commissioned by Cox for the soundtrack of the movie Sid and Nancy, and can be heard early on in the feature.
Chris Poland played with them briefly after being fired from Megadeth. Zander Schloss had left the band.
A long period of inactivity ended in 1994, when the Circle Jerks – along with the Wonderful-era lineup – reunited and signed a major label deal with Mercury Records, a move that had a few business complications: Hetson was still with Bad Religion, who had signed a long-term contract with Atlantic Records, while Schloss had been part of a band contracted to Interscope. After ironing out these difficulties, the band recorded Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities and released it in the summer of 1995. To date, it is the band's last studio album recorded by any line-up. One track on the album, a cover of The Soft Boys' "I Wanna Destroy You", features backing vocals from pop singer/songwriter Deborah Gibson, who had just wrapped up a solo album with the same producer the Circle Jerks were using. Gibson later made a surprise appearance at the Circle Jerks' performance at punk mecca CBGB's to perform "I Wanna Destroy You" with the band. Despite such media attention, the group suddenly imploded three weeks into a tour behind the album. The breakup would not be totally permanent, but Clark left music for good afterward.
MYSPACE
LOCATION:Hermosa Beach, California, USA
YEARS ACTIVE:1979–1989,1994–1995,2001–present
MEMBERS:
Keith Morris
Greg Hetson
Zander Schloss
Kevin Fitzgerald
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1.Deny Everything
2.I just want some skank
3.Beverly Hills
4.Operation
5.Back Against The Wall
6.Wasted
7.Behind The Door
8.World Up My Ass
9.Paid Vacation
10.Don't care
11.Live Fast Die Young
12.What's Your Problem
13.Group Sex
14.Red Tape
15.Wild In The Streets
16.Leave Me Alone
17.Stars And Stripes
18.86'd(Good As Gone)
19.Meet The Press
20.Trapped
21.Murder The Disturbed
22.Letter Bomb
23.Question Authority
24.Defamation Innuendo
25.Moral Majority
26.Forced Labor
27.Political Stu
28.Just Like Me
29.Put A Little Love in Your Heart
I still remember the first time they played in San Francisco. It was early 1981 I think, at the Mabuhay Gardens. I remember this little guy setting up the guitar equipment and thinking "what a skinny little roadie they have." Of course that turned out to be Greg Hetson. His band and their followers who made the trip with them showed us what the L.A. hardcore sound was and how to thrash (think of their little thrasher man cartoon -- that's how they really danced back then!).
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