Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} I Shithead A Life in Punk by Joe Keithley I, Shithead: A Life in Punk by Joey Keithley. Now that a globalist Reaganite regime reigns in the US — spreading NASCAR-dad nationalism, masterminding deficits, waging illegal war — today’s mainstream cultural and political landscape isn’t much different than it was 20 years ago. The Soviet “evil empire” has been replaced by the “axis of evil.” “The Rock” has taken over for Rambo as Hollywood’s symbol for reactionary American might. Toby Keith is the new Lee Greenwood. But where’s the current opposition industry’s anti-Reagan-style punk rock? When Ted Koppel and the Dixie Chicks are arguably more “punk” than most politically lazy Generation-Y rock bands, you know something’s amiss. Unless you count the efforts of aging ’80s holdovers like NOFX (and a few other bands on Fat Wreck Chords), mixing political content and power chords seems like an increasingly unpopular venture among latter-day punks. So what better time for the reemergence of politico-punk exemplar Joey “Shithead” Keithley, sometime Green Party candidate, Sudden Death records founder, family man, self-proclaimed “shit-disturber,” and 25-year frontman for legendary Canadian hardcore outfit, D.O.A. I, Shithead chronicles, in Keithley’s own words, his pre-punk beginnings in small-town working-class British Columbia, and the pre-history and subsequent rise, fall, and rise again of D.O.A. We get accounts of the first paying gigs (as Stone Crazy, and later, The Skulls) at motor inns, raucous biker parties, local “Gong Shows,” and at Vancouver’s sleazy Smilin’ Buddha nightclub. Thus began the perilous and tragi-comical road to punk heavyweight status — touring and playing with the Clash, Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, and dozens of other first- wave punk/hardcore bands. Keithley’s political activism began in high school, when he marched in a 1,500 strong demonstration against nuclear testing. His early songwriting combined a piss-taking gonzo approach (hence the first single, “Disco Sucks”) with the more outraged political rants, until the rise of Reagan Republicanism in 1979-80. This was around the time D.O.A.’s “W W III” and “General Strike” were recorded, and “Fucked Up Baby” became “Fucked Up Ronnie.” This more focused political path led to the groundbreaking album Hardcore 81. Canadian prime minister Bill Bennett’s Social Credit party and Reagan’s trickle-down economics gave D.O.A. plenty to protest in the 1980s. The band played every “Rock Against” benefit around: Rock Against Reagan, Racism, Radiation, Globalization, etc. — over 200 benefit shows in all. Much of I, Shithead is Keithley’s graphic retelling of D.O.A.’s tour-or-starve lifestyle. It’s a daily struggle for sanity and solvency which makes for a high turnover rate, both with band members and the unreliable vans that lurch and sputter from gig to uncertain gig. Sometimes a McDonald’s parking lot served as a makeshift RV park — the band “showering” in Mickey D’s bathrooms and snoozing al fresco. It wasn’t uncommon to drive thousands of miles only to find certain shows mysteriously rescheduled, or gigs canceled due to riots. With minimal to no label support, you sense that D.O.A. gained a substantial following almost solely through ‘zines, word-of-mouth, college radio, and sheer ubiquity. Although Keithley and Co. aren’t as antagonistic as you might assume, anyone setting off their bullshit detectors could expect swift retribution — spray-painted vans, trashed dressing rooms, or sundry adolescent scare tactics (as even the Clash find out). But it’s often senseless violence that becomes an ongoing occupational hazard. They fend off angry lumberjacks in Canada, belligerent bikers in England, drug-seeking border guards in Italy, racist rednecks in Texas, and skinheads in France and Germany. As the ideologically divided 80s hardcore scene unfolds in the book, we begin to get plenty of variations on the same observation: “ before long, a bunch of racist skinheads showed up “ Keithley’s attentions seem particularly focused when describing the anarchic European hardcore scene. Overseas, the band finds itself smack-dab in one heated political atmosphere after another — whether it’s the rising youth fascism in Germany, or class-related turmoil in England. His accounts of the economically destitute Eastern bloc countries — the “black market” economy, the bread lines, squats, and scam artists — are among the most vivid and compelling observations in the book. Oddly enough, the Eastern Bloc police seem like fair-minded diplomats compared to the average punk-baiting North American flatfoot. Unlike many similar rock n’ roll memoirs, I, Shithead isn’t merely a glimpse into an egoist’s troubled psyche. Keithley is part hard-ass workaholic and part merry prankster; but rarely does he resemble a seething Nietzschean uber-jerk like Henry Rollins. For Keithley, it’s often unspoken forms of communication that resonate most effectively with bandmates: “I hefted my half-full can of beer and hurled it across the bar at him [guitarist Dave Gregg] nailing him in the forehead soon he became a good guitar player.” Keithley’s unedited stream-of-unselfconsciousness narrative, much like his lyrics, reads like graffitti sprayed on the side of a building. With handwritten lyric sheets conveniently scaled-down and included in the book’s margins, you find Keithley’s conversational prose to be a logical extension of his simple, direct song lyrics. Often in the span of a single page, you’ll get soft-hearted sentiments, punk sloganeering, eagle-eye reportage, and bust-a-gut hilarity. One moment he’ll recount breaking his guitar over a skinhead’s skull, observing “the guy obviously had a hard head,” the next he’ll be touting the joys of parenthood. Description. Joe Keithley, aka Joey Shithead, founded legendary punk pioneers D. O.A. in 1978. Punk kings who spread counterculture around the world, they've been cited as influences by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Rancid, and The Offspring, and have toured with The Clash, The Ramones, The Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Nirvana, PiL, Minor Threat, and others, and are the subject of two tribute albums. But punk is more than a style of music: it's a political act, and D. O.A. have always had a social conscience, having performed in support of Greenpeace, women's rape/crisis centres, prisoner rights, and anti-nuke and anti-globalization organizations. Twenty-five years later D. O.A. can claim sales of more than 500,000 copies of their eleven albums and tours in thirty different countries, and they are still going strong. I, Shithead is Joe's recollections of a life in punk, starting with a bunch of kids in Burnaby transfixed with the burgeoning punk movement, and traversing a generation disillusioned with the status quo: stories of riots, drinking, travelling, playing, and conquering all manner of obstacles through sheer determination. And through it all, Joe reveals that the famous D. O.A. slogan, talk - action = 0 is, for him, more than a soundbyte. With an introduction by music producer Jack Rabid, publisher of seminal New York music magazine Big Takeover. D. O.A. 25 years 3000 shows 500,000 records sold 10 vans 331 tires 30 countries 938,000 miles travelled 28 punch-ups 212,000 beers consumed 9 riots 13 CDs 33 releases 9 lives (not used up yet) 27 busts 15 roadies 12 deaf soundmen. * Voted one of the Top 25 Non-Fiction Books of the Year on Amazon. ca * National Bestseller * BC Bestseller. German-language rights sold to IP Verlag; French-language rights sold to Rytrut. Joe Keithley, lead singer of the seminal punk rock band DOA, is featured prominently in the 2006 feature-length documentary American Hardcore . Now in its third printing. Awards. Winner, Amazon.ca Best Book of the Year 2003. Reviews. There are countless other stories told in I,Shithead that will hold any DOA fan's attention for hours on end. - Reflector - Reflector. Joe Keithley, lead singer of the seminal punk rock band DOA, is featured prominently in the new feature-length documentary American Hardcore, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is now in limited release across North America. - American Hardcore - American Hardcore. Good stuff about an under-appreciated anarchistic act. - Booklist - Booklist. I, Shithead : A Life in Punk by Joe Keithley (2004, Trade Paperback) С самой низкой ценой, совершенно новый, неиспользованный, неоткрытый, неповрежденный товар в оригинальной упаковке (если товар поставляется в упаковке). Упаковка должна быть такой же, как упаковка этого товара в розничных магазинах, за исключением тех случаев, когда товар является изделием ручной работы или был упакован производителем в упаковку не для розничной продажи, например в коробку без маркировки или в пластиковый пакет. См. подробные сведения с дополнительным описанием товара. D.O.A.'s Joe Keithley writes Eulogy for Randy Rampage. Recently, punk rock titan Randy Rampage passed away. Rampage was a key figure in D.O.A. during their earliest releases and played bass on the seminal albums Something Better Change and Hardcore 81 . Rampage would go on to join other bands including Annihilator, though he would return to perform and record with D.O.A. over the years. D.O.A. frontman Joe Keithley has penned a tribute to the remarkable bassist. You can read that below. Joe Keithley's tribute to Randy Rampage. This is always a hard thing to start, writing a eulogy about a fallen comrade who has now left this world, but it’s my duty and honour to tell you about Randy Rampage. We set out to conquer the world together, we didn’t quite do it, but at times we thought we came close. Randy was unique, like a super nova, burning red hot. This is what I remember about my friend. I had just come back from Toronto in February of ’78, my first punk rock band The Skulls had moved to Toronto in the hopes of being successful, it never happened and we broke up. So when I got back home in Vancouver I wanted to start a new band, so I put an ad in the Georgia Straight weekly, “Looking for a drummer and a bassist for punk rock band. Wimps should not apply.” Soon I started getting a few phone calls about the band. One of the first calls was from a guy named Randy Archibald, he said he was a drummer in a band called Looney Tunes (taken from the Alice Cooper song I suppose). He came over to audition and he wasn’t bad, one thing, he was a lefty, so he could play the hi-hats open handed or cross handed. Growing up as a drummer myself I thought that was cool, Randy also sensed how to play it cool while trying out, not bad for a 17 year old. Not long after that, I got word that Chuck Montgomery, who was the little brother of Dimwit (drummer of The Skulls) wanted to try out. Chuck turned out to be really good and only 15 years old! But at that point I knew that my new, as yet unnamed, band had a drummer, but we did not have a bassist. So I came back to Randy Archibald, I thought OK, this guy’s a drummer, he understands rhythm, I bet I can teach him how to play bass, so I called him and told him the news that he was in but he would have to learn bass, he jumped at the chance and said sure. I also had the hunch that he had some sort of crazy hidden charisma. So the three of us rented some gear from the local Long and McQuade and started rehearsing at a dirty old warehouse on Vancouver’s waterfront called 343 Railway. The bass training with Randy went pretty quick and we soon had three songs. During our third rehearsal a guy by the name of Harry Homo walked in wearing a faux fur coat, he had a girl on each arm and a bottle of rye in one hand, they stopped and listened to us rehearse. After a few minutes, Harry said to us “Hey you guys are pretty good, how about this: you guys be the band, I’ll be the singer, and we’ll call ourselves D.O.A. and make a million bucks.” Chuck, Randy and I had a conference that lasted about two minutes and we told Harry. “OK let’s do it!” and D.O.A. was formed. We played our first show in February 1978 at the Japanese Hall in Vancouver, there was a punk show set up, I talked our way onto the bill, and we were allowed to borrow the other band’s equipment. We only had 3 songs, so when we finished those, we started playing them over again. The other bands quickly realized this and a wrestling match ensued on stage as the other band wanted their gear back, we all jumped off the front of the stage into the audience and looked at each other and started laughing, we knew we had started something weird and crazy. As I was the only one who been in a punk band before and I had already had the nickname Joey Shithead, I thought those guys needed nicknames. Coming up with punk handles was always fun. We started up with Chuck and said, well to chuck is kind of like puking, so how about Upchuck? But he had to upchuck something, so then we came up with Biscuits, then shortly after Chuck Biscuits. Randy was this skinny guy from North Vancouver, kind of a partying swim champ, as his parents could afford a pool, and he had the last name Archibald, which was one the most un punk names ever, sounds like a stuffy English lord “Sir Archibald” bleaaaah. So I thought about for a while over a beer and thought: hmmm….. How about Rampage, yes Randy Rampage, the two R’s went together and you could remember it, just like Shithead and Biscuits. Harry only lasted the one show as our singer, but the band took off quick, Chuck and I wrote about another 12- 13 songs in a couple of weeks and Randy was really starting to get a handle on playing them. We had played five shows in Van and stated to get a rabid following, 15 year old Chuck had the blazing speed on the drums , I had the snarling vocals and guitar and Randy started jumping all over the place like a madman. For our sixth gig we got a real break, the Georgia Straight asked us to be part of their “battle of the bands” in June 1978, we of course agreed to play. It was at this weird club called The Body Shop, which was really just an 80’s glitzy pick up joint. There were some DOA fans in attendance, but mostly really straight people who did not like punk at all. We got on stage and stared acting really obnoxiously, which of course really infuriated the regular crowd and the judges. Randy was jumping around like a young Pete Townsend and performing his new stage trick, where he would spit up into the air about three feet over his head while playing and then catch the ball of gob in his mouth, which of course made some people sick. At the end of evening the MC Tom Harrison announced the winner of the “battle”, when our fans found out it was not D.O.A. they covered poor old Tom Harrison with a shower of gob and beer. We July ’78 we got our first record out, a four song 7” EP called Disco Sucks, we started mailing the vinyl around and it took off, we soon booked our first road trip to San Francisco. We got booked into the Fab Mab for a weekend with the Avengers. That really got the ball rolling, we knew we had to get out and tour and not just sit in our home town, so in 1979 Randy bought a ’67 green GM panel van so we could tour. We got booked to play a big Rock against Racism in Chicago in July 1979, so I organized a ramshackle tour around North America. We did a lot of miles in that old van, Randy and I would split the driving and it had a handy bench seat in the front, so when one of us was too tired to drive, the guy driving would jump into the back and the next driver would slide to his left and take over the wheel, all while doing 60 miles an hour. The van was in pretty rough shape, I remember Randy was driving through a snowstorm in Ontario and the windshield wipers would only go to the left, so we pulled over and tied a sting to the drivers wiper, so as Randy drove on, the wiper would go to the left and from the passenger seat with the window rolled down I would pull the wiper to the right with the string, meanwhile the guys in the back were getting covered with snow. In 1980 we got our first album Something Better Change released and Dave Gregg had joined the band as the second guitar player. We kept touring non-stop around North America. On a tour through the Midwest our manager Ken Lester had brought along his motorcycle to get ahead of the shows and help the promo. Well Ken got tired of riding his bike, so Randy took over, I was driving along and I lost sight of Randy, who was behind me on the bike. All of a sudden Randy came up into sight in my rear view mirror, he was blazing maybe about 80 miles an hour and not wearing a helmet. I soon realized as he got closer that he was standing on the seat of the Kawasaki and crouched over with his hand on the throttle. We all started pissing ourselves laughing, except for Lester, who said “My bike, my bike!” Randy pulled up level even with me in the fast lane and said “Hey Joe, grab me a beer!” I said sure. So our roadie Bob Montgomery (Chuck and Dimwit’s brother) handed me a beer, so as I am driving 60 MPH, I hand Randy the beer as Lester is grabbing my arm screaming and trying to stop me, Randy got the beer and hit the throttle and blazed ahead of us and out of sight. I, Shithead : A Life in Punk. Joey Keithley, aka Joey Shithead, founded legendary punk pioneers D.O.A. in 1978. Punk kings who spread counterculture around the world, they’ve been cited as influences by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Rancid and The Offspring; have toured with The Clash, The Ramones, The Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Nirvana, PiL, Minor Threat and others; and are the subject of two tribute albums. They are the band that introduced the term “hardcore” into punk lexicon and may have turned Nirvana’s lead singer Kurt Cobain onto a career in music. But punk is more than a style of music: it’s a political act, and D.O.A. have always had a social conscience, having performed in support of Greenpeace, women’s rape/crisis centres, prisoner’s rights, and antinuke and antiglobalization organizations. Twenty-five years later D.O.A. can claim sales of hundreds of thousands of copies of their 11 albums and tours in 30 different countries, and they are still going strong. I, Shithead is Joey’s personal, no-bullshit recollections of a life in punk, starting with the burgeoning punk movement and traversing a generation disillusioned with the status quo, who believed they could change the world: stories of riots, drinking, travelling, playing and conquering all manner of obstacles through sheer determination. “They rock out. They blow the roof off. Some of the best shows I’ve seen in my life were D.O.A. gigs. I’ve never seen D.O.A. not be amazing.”—Henry Rollins (Black Flag, Rollins Band) “The proper medicine growing young minds needed.”—Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) “Joey Shithead casts a long shadow.”—John Doe (X) “They’ve changed a lot of people’s lives.”—Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)