PDF EPUB} I Shithead a Life in Punk by Joe Keithley I, Shithead: a Life in Punk by Joey Keithley
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
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 The Soviet “evil empire” has been replaced by the “axis of evil.”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.