Taking a ride down Beach Blvd.

So (I know you’re not supposed to start sentences with “so”).... So, I was all set to put this post up last night when my power goes out. Actually, the power for the entire complex went out for about an hour-and-a-half. I think someone is trying to prepare us for hurricane season. Keep your fingers I can get the hell out of South Florida before the season starts in a couple of months.

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Before I get started with my own post, I want to direct your attention to the Culture Bully’s blog. Monday, he posted an awesome recording (great sound quality, too) of Amy Winehouse live in Amsterdam. Ms. Winehouse is at the top of my current rotations and I highly encourage you to check this out.

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On to the matters at hand. In 1979, Posh Boy Records, one of California’s seminal new wave and hardcore labels, issued the Beach Blvd. compilation. This album featured three bands representing what they called the “Orange County beach-hardcore sound.” KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer picked up on the album and started playing tracks, making local stars of The Crowd, the Simpletones, and Rik L Rik.

Jim Decker from The Crowd

Rodney also wrote the notes for the back cover of the original Beach Blvd. release:

Our Suzy, a headbanger no more, has grabbed her board and headed towards the shore. Presenting The Crowd, Huntington Beach’s first and foremost surf-punk band, in their vinyl debut.

The pride of Covina High, 18-year-old Rik L Rik, has of late sung lead for the now defunct F-Word ... If you wore out your copy of Raw Power, try “Meathouse” on for size.

Rosemead’s own Simpletones have been labeled “The Village People of punk” by Slash magazine ... Included on Beach Blvd. is the Simpletones’ first single “California.” I’m proud to say that I gave them their first airplay on KROQ.

That’s all for now, kids. Just remember to put on your bikinis, leather jackets, and go-go boots and DANCE. So catch a wave... catch a NEW wave... catch Beach Blvd.!!

I did a little bit of searching around and found that Beach Blvd. was reissued in 1989, I think, with more thorough liner notes written by the Adolescents’ Tony Montana, and including about eight additional songs beyond the 15 on the original release. Of the three bands on the disk, The Crowd are the only survivors. They have a dotcom, with history, pics, etc., etc. Rik L Rik (real name Richard Brian Elerick) unfortunately passed away in 2000. A place you can read a little more about Rik is on Alice Bag’s blog, Diary of a Bad Housewife. Alice, by the way, was also part of the SoCal hardcore scene in the late ‘70s.

Suzy is a Surf Rocker.mp3 The Crowd
Meathouse.mp3 Rik L Rik
California.mp3 Simpletones

posted by aikin @ 9:04 PM