Punk rock may have started in the big cities but it was made for the suburbs. It was a lifeline for suburban kids who were bored out of their skulls with miles of block walls and the occasional mini mall. It was in this teenage wasteland 2O some  years ago that the Adolescents came to fruition. Too young to fully grasp the world in turmoil and the dawn of Regan they were more concerned with the personal politics of growing up in a place where individuality was frowned upon and conformity was becoming a time honored tradition with which you could make your parents proud.
Steve Soto was a founding member of Agent Orange whose song “Bloodstains” had been getting some radio play on “Rodney on the Roq” Rodney Binginheimer was an LA scenester who was making a small splash around the southland by playing punk rock and the kids in the suburbs were listening. Not only was he playing songs by the Ramones and the Sex Pistols he was playing local bands too like the Germs and the Bags. Agent Orange started playing in Hollywood and when they could in OC.
It was at one of these shows that Steve met Tony Cadena. Punk rock could not have found a more perfect fit than in the life of  Tony Cadena a disenfranchised kid who was way to smart for his own good. As Steve recalls it “ Tony was the wildest kid at our shows the first person I ever saw do a stage dive, he was out of control… he also had a lot to say, before I ever heard him sing I knew he was going to front a band.” Figuring they may as well be in this band together and already fed up with the surf music that AO was tapping into Soto started the Adolescents with Tony.
Rikk Agnew who had been playing around the local punk scene first in Social Distortion and then with the Detours was the first person they asked to play guitar. He turned them down but suggested his kid brother Frank. After hearing the Clash’s “give em enough rope” LP Soto was convinced that they should have two guitar players so they recruited   John O'Donovan. Somewhere along the line they got a drummer who was dubbed Peter Pan…. He had a moustache…  punk drummers were hard to come by.
They did some shows and quickly started gaining momentum.The suburban kids came because they were cut from the same cloth. It wasn’t some hip guy from Hollywood onstage playing guitar it was the guy from 3rd period English…Rikk soon changed his mind and brought along the detours drummer Casey Royer (also a Social D alumni and totally opposed to facial hair) and a batch of amazing songs (exit John and Pan stage left) One of those songs “Amoeba” ended up on the Rodney on the Roq lp and was played not only on Rodney’s show but found it’s way on to KROQ’s top ten play list.
It was this line up, made up of the Agnew brothers twin guitar attack (whose influence can be heard on a majority of the punk that came after it) and the teen angst of Tony Cadena (relating directly to the teenage outcast who not only faced the daily grind of verbal and physical abuse from his or her peers for wanting to look and act differently but also had to look forward to dealing with the impending doom of adulthood.) that made the blue album for Frontier records and they did it in three days.From here on out it was a wild ride but as the shows got bigger so did the tension between members and as is true with most bands at some point the decided they didn’t want to be in the same room with each other much less play music together. Rikk left first and was replaced by Pat Smear who had been in the Germs and would someday find his way into Nirvana and then the Foo Fighters. Pat couldn’t tour at the time so he was replaced by Casey’s roommate( Steve Roberts) who could. This line up recorded the “Welcome to Reality” ep and were set to do a US tour but before the band could hit the road they split up… They regrouped in 86 without Casey and Frank and recorded the “brats in battalions” LP with Sandy Hansen on Drums and younger brother Alfie Agnew on guitar.Tony left in 88 and Rikk and Steve took over on lead vocals. They released Balboa fun zone the same year and Frank had returned to the fold but after 3 years of extensive touring the band called it quits again. They all continued to make music and went on to play in numerous bands such as DI, Christian Death, the Flower Leopards , Abandoned, ADZ  Legal Weapon, TSOL, 22 jacks and Manic Hispanic as well as providing backup work for solo projects by Joey Ramone and everyone’s favorite go go  Jane Weidlen.
In 2001 the “ Blue Album “ line regrouped to play a few shows… they have been at it ever since . Casey and Rikk didn’t last too long being that their interests lie elsewhere. Casey was replaced by Derek O’Brien  the original drummer for Social Distortion  He and Frank had played in their first punk band together (the inhumaners ) back in the late 70’s .Besides  S.D. ,DOB  had played  in Legal Weapon , DI, Agent Orange and extra fancy. According to Steve  “we had to get DOB he had played with every other band in Fullerton  so why not us”  Rikk’s shoes were a little harder to fill. Starting out with a few legendary “temps” (Greg Hetson of Bad Religion/Circle Jerks fame and  Johnny “two bags “ Wikersham of  Social Distortion and the Cadillac Tramps) the band finally settled in with Franks son Frank Jr. taking over  where his uncle had left off.In  2005  the Adolescents were back in action playing their songs to a whole new group of teenagers who missed the glory days of punk but got the message all the same.  For it’s 25th anniversary the band came out with some new releases. Frontier records  released a compilation of demos from the early years including a previously unreleased Adolescent’s version of “Richard hung himself” and the band  finished a record of new material titled “OC Confidential” a return to the power and intensity of the “blue album” while keeping both feet firmly planted in the now. A tribute to the blue album featuring bands such as Nofx, Dropkick Murphy’s, Pennywise, Pully  and the Bouncing Souls  to name a few is also in the works…  the band  spent  the second half of 2005 and 2006 on the road . Frank Jr returned to school and was replaced by Matt Beld (Los Infernos , Cadillac Tramps) Steve had produced the first Los Infernos cd and had been a “Matt” fan ever since . His playing and energy help make an already powerful live show that much better. 2007 has them writing new material readying for a new release and  another summer tour  where they will be  bringing their brand of alienation to a town near you.
www.myspace.com/theadolescents

Brian James was heavily influenced by American rock bands The Stooges and the MC5. This interest led him to joining a number of bands, the most influential of these being The London S.S., a band that also featured future Clash guitarist Mick Jones.Brian first came to major public prominence as a member of the Damned. The Damned were signed to Stiff records and released the first punk single "New Rose" in the autumn of 1976. The band included vocalist Dave Vanian, bassist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. They went on to record and release their debut album "Damned Damned Damned" for Stiff Records in early 1977. Seen as the vanguard of the Punk Movement, the Damned were one of the most in-demand bands of the era and played many dates both in the UK and abroad. The band's second album "Music For Pleasure" was produced by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. Following the album, the band split, although the original line up would reunite a number of times over the next twenty five years. Brian and Rat celebrated the 30th Anniversary of their first gig on July 6, 2006, by playing the 100 Club, the venue that first hosted them in 1976. They were joined by singer Casey Chaos of Amen and bassist Mani of Primal Scream.
Following his departure from the Damned, Brian James formed Tanz der Youth. The band was made up of Brian, alongside former members of Hawkwind (Alan Powell) and Warsaw Pakt (Andy Colqhoun). The band recorded one single for "Radar I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry" and were recorded by John Peel for the infamous John Peel Sessions. The band also performed a number of key gigs including a support slot on the Black Sabbath Tenth Anniversary tour, which they left after seven dates, and appeared at that year's Reading Festival. Additionally, Brian recorded a solo single entitled "Ain't That A Shame" that featured Police drummer Stewart Copeland.
From here, Brian was recruited to Iggy Pop's band alongside former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock. Brian toured extensively as part of Iggy's band but did not record in the studio with him. Live recordings that feature Brian have subsequently been released. The Lords Of The New Church were formed in 1981 and featured former Dead Boys vocalist Stiv Bators, Sham 69 bassist Dave Tregunna and former Barracudas drummer Nick Turner alongside Brian James. They released several well-recieved albums, securing a cult following. They went on to do many TV performances and music videos, including working with director Derek Jarman. Tragically, Stiv Bators passed away in 1990 after sustaining injuries in a road accident in Paris.
Since then Brian James has busied himself with a number of projects including his current band The Brian James Gang. The band have recorded an E.P. which includes a re-recording of "New Rose" and a full-length album due September 11, 2006.
For a more detailed history, please visit www.myspace.com/thebrianjamesgangm

PVC was founded straight after the first punk rock concert ( 25.02.1977 The Vibrators )
in Berlin by Knut Schaller bass/voc., Raymond Ebert guit./voc. and Gerrit Meijer guit./voc..
After trying out different drummers, Jürgen Dobroczek showed up at the and of ma,
to complete the first line up. In this combination, PVC existed till february 1979 . During that time, in march 1978, the group created the term WALL CITY ROCK,
wich gave them more freedom to develope their musical spectrum.
After the departure of Jürgen D., PVC found new accompaniment in singer Trevor Watkins
and drummer Uli Kukulies. Only six months later, they gave up. Trevor and Gerrit formed
WHITE RUSSIA. Together with drummer Uwe Hoffmann and bassist Piers Headley, they released two albums (1981 East Side Story, 1982 Language And Noise).
Knut and Raymond carried on with new guitarist Jimmy Voxx and after a short intermission with original drummer Jürgen D.,
Torsten Kühnemann on percussion. This formation lastet from late 1979 –1984.
In autumn 1988, Gerrit had the idea for a christmas special with the original members.
It only took about 30 minutes to call them all back. The big success of the two concerts, encouraged the group, to continue. After the release of a single with Bela B. ( DIE ÄRZTE ),
they recorded their own new material. But things went wrong with the management and 
the whole concept. Knut’s weak constitution made it necessary for him, to stop any activities in february 1990 (he died 14.10.1990). 
Piers Headley, now with CONTINENTAL RED filled the gap.18 months later, Jürgen D. lost interest and was replaced by Derek Ballard. 
Despite musical skills PVC lost the original intention more and more and became just another rock band. In this situation it was an easy step, to split in december 1991.
In 2004, Gerrit got in contact with THE SHOCKS, to form a PVC cover band called GERRIT AND THE R’N R’STALINISTS.
Because of idiological reasons this project came to an end in september 2005.
Since november 2005, Gerrit plays with Tom Petersen (ex MARQUEE MOON) drums and „Steiff“(ex STONE COLD AND CRAZY ) on bass.
After a couple of gigs as GERRIT AND THE.....he decided to call the group, PVC again, because this band shows the right intention and spirit of the original formation. 
Since november 2006 Robbi Linke is the current bassist.
www.myspace.com/pvcoffiziellebandseite

Huw ‘Shugs’ Davies (bass), Paul Guiver (guitar), Mark ‘Sybs’ Seabright (drums), Gavin King (vocals), From ebay.co.uk May 2007 Item Title Price Shop PRIVATE DICKS she said go 7" uk heartbeat 1979 (pulse6) US $160.44 Vinyl Tap Mail Order Music With thanks to Alex Ogg 'No More Heroes' Cherry Red Publishing Long-lost pop punk from Bristol, as featured on Heartbeat’s epochal Avon Calling compilation. Reviewing ‘Green is in the Red’ from the album for the NME, Rick Joseph praised the band’s ability to marry the “unique vocal timbre of the Hollies (it’s so uncanny) to a gloriously Buzzcockian nursery rhyme, complete with scattered nonsense lyrics and a teasingly impatient backbeat”.(Actually the song was about being skint – think about it). The Private Dicks were a decent band (decent? cheeky git Oggie - ed.) and there’s plenty to like about the five-song repertoire that emerged on Heartbeat, swift tempos spiced with fetchingly arch vocals and a panoply of deft rhythmic twists. Gavin King had spent a few years playing in pub rock bands in London, including a formative version of the Wasps, before moving to Bristol. The Private Dicks came about after he left Uncle Po. “Quite embarrassingly, we’d won a BBC contest called Quiz Kids, a half hour Sunday programme with Fluff Freeman. Jerry The Ferret came second. They became the Leyton Buzzards! We released a single for the Beeb, ‘Screw Your Friends’, which was about my ex-girlfriend getting back at me by giving my best friend a blow job, but the BBC insisted we change it to ‘Use Your Friends’. In that band was a girl called ‘Spike’, who would become Helen O’Hara in Dexy’s Midnight Runners. I left that band in ’78 for a fresh start and I was looking for someone to play with.” King’s head had been turned by punk after watching a young fan - and later Stranglers manager Sil Wilcox - play in his Bath punk band at 90mph – a band which incidentally featured a bass player who was the other half of the notorious GBH case involving ex-England rugby international Jeremy Guscott.
“I couldn’t believe it – this kid is totally out-doing me! Sod this, I thought, I really want to get involved in this. And that was the change.” In the summer of ’78 he attended a gig by the Wild Beasts, whose bass player Andy Franks became Robbie Williams and then Coldplay’s tour manager, while the drummer, Kenny Wheeler, owned Sound Conception Studios. “I was watching them and a couple of guys I knew carried this bloke over to me – he was drooling and couldn’t stand up. And they asked if I was still looking for someone to write with. ‘This guy’s brilliant’. They said he would come over to see me next week. Sure enough, next week I saw this bloke with a guitar outside my flat. I thought, I’m not letting him in, he’ll soon go away. But he didn’t. And I let him in and he stayed till about three in the morning, and we wrote half a dozen songs that night, including ‘She Said Go’. That was Paul Guiver.” They needed some collaborators though. Uncle Po’s ex-drummer, Jimmer Hill, ended up playing in Sneak Preview, who also appeared on Avon Calling. The main man behind that band was Neil Taylor, now Robbie William’s lead guitarist. “Neil often played with the Dicks live and on a few recordings. Jimmer’s girlfriend cautiously mentioned that her young brother was in a band called The X-Spurtz and that they had parted company with their singer. They were very much a three-chord punk band, 15 or 16 years old. They recorded one notorious single I believe, ‘Rape’, about a serial rapist at large in the Clifton area of Bristol. Guivey and I drove down to see them in Somerset but weren’t particularly optimistic.
However the rhythm section blew us away. They were shit hot. Sybs - the drummer - was stunning, even though he was only 16. And Shugs, the bass player, played a Gibson Grabber with the treble turned incredibly high, like Jean-Jacques of the Stranglers. The guitarist was a bit arty, and he was more into Siouxsie And The Banshees – which was ironic because later on, one of the guitarists who used to jam with us a lot was Jon Klein. Anyway, we rehearsed down at The Docklands in St Paul’s, and the other guitarist decided to move to London. The rest of us were sat in the bar and Guivey said, ‘Look, we’ve been trying to accommodate this guy, but Gav and I have a ton of material. Do you want to give that a try? We finished our pints and went downstairs and gave ‘She Said Go’ a shot. Twenty minutes later we all went, ‘Wow, this is shit hot’.” Enthused, they worked out about a dozen songs before choosing the most likely three and booking into Sound Conception Studios for eight hours. “I made them all go to bed the night before and got them up for breakfast in the morning, and in eight hours we laid down ‘She Said Go’, ‘Forget The Night’ and ‘Green Is In The Red’. Then we went back on Tuesday and mixed for four hours, and that was the demo. I rang up Simon Edwards at Heartbeat and gave him a tape. He rang back and said I’m doing this album, Avon Calling, can I put ‘She Said Go’ on there. Brilliant. About two or three days later, the guys were round at my flat when the phone went. It was Simon – ‘I’ve been listening to it, it’s far too good to waste on the album, I want to put it out as a single.’ Everyone went crazy.” The band drank regularly at the infamous Dug Out. “It was great. We used to get laid all the time. You could say to a girl there, where do you work? ‘Oh, I’m at the BRI, I’m a nurse.’ ‘Do you want to fuck now or later?’ That was exactly what it was like. It just went totally to our heads.” But the Bristol music scene was still sharply divided. “There were a lot of bands in Clifton – the Clifton Trendies we called them. Big fringes flopping down. We used to take the piss out of them. We once had a band called Cliff Ton and The Trendies. There really was quite a rivalry. And you can still see certain things written – take Gerard Langley’s liner notes, for example.” Langley, of the Blue Aeroplanes, would cite them as “reclaimed pub-rockers with skinny trousers and ties” on the 2005 re-release of Avon Calling. King considers this a hangover from the old rivalries between ‘The Clifton Trendies’ and Bristol’s less art-bound, working class musicians. The Private Dicks were playing the Music Machine in 1979 when the single came out. “We’d done the soundcheck and went across the road to a kebab house, and as we were waiting, Mike Read played the single. We went apeshit.
It was one of those fabulous moments.” King remembers their best gig being a Cambodian benefit at the Granary in Bristol, alongside Apartment, Sneak Preview and Shoes For Industry (an “arty” band who featured later comedy writer Paul B Davies. “They wouldn’t get off. And Sneak Preview’s roadie was known as God (really called Rob - do you think God really is called Rob - ed.). He would shave off one eyebrow and one side of his moustache. And to get them off stage, he walked up and picked up one of the guys and threw them off. ‘Don’t every do that again!’ We went on stage, and the actual stage fell apart while we were on there. But we went down brilliantly. The crowd went completely mad. We thought we had it made.” They didn’t. Shortly thereafter, the played another show. “Simon Edwards was putting out our follow-up single, and he introduced us to one Mark Dean. He invited us to the Holiday Inn 10 o’clock the next day. He started talking about a management contract with his boss, Brian Morrison, who orchestrated the mod revival. He was saying, ‘I’ll get you a deal with the majors.’ He organised a date in the studio with a producer coming up from London.” Unfortunately, the band weren’t so sensible this time round, and his orders to get a good night’s sleep fell on deaf ears. “I went round to pick one of them up – speeding out of his skull, hadn’t been to bed. ‘You stupid bastard! Where’s the rest of them?’ ‘Erm. I don’t know.’” King finally traced the remaining duo to a notorious local squat, Elmgrove (see Blog 2 for this story - again many thanks to Alex Ogg - ed.). “It eventually got condemned in the end, the public health people found a dead badger in the kitchen. Paul didn’t have his amp. The other one was upstairs, in flagrante with someone he shouldn’t have been. I had to drag him out of there and the rest of them to the studio. So Mark Dean and the producer turn up and the band was completely out of it. I was going apeshit. It was a disastrous session, and Mark Dean was really pissed off with us.” The relationship was patched up, but then Dean started putting them on bills with mod bands like the Purple Hearts, which was anathema. “We played with the Purple Hearts in Exeter and we turned up, having borrowed money for petrol, and he made us borrow money to get home. There were all those scooters outside. We went on stage and played to total silence. They didn’t even throw things at us. They didn’t do anything. We ended up mooning at them. And they STILL did nothing. We kept telling Mark Dean we couldn’t do this any more. After the gig he said he wanted us to sign this contract. The contract was shite. I refused to sign it. The other guys were giving me grief about it, but it didn’t feel right. He said, if you don’t sign it - you’re dropped. So we were dropped. And he went off with a band called the Scars.” The Private Dicks fulfilled an engagement to do the Mike Read session they’d been offered, but that was that. Over two decades later, the Private Dicks reformed to headline at the October 2005 show to celebrate the re-release of Avon Calling. “We’d stayed in touch with Simon over the years, and the four of us are still very close mates. I knew the other guys would be up for it, and it seemed a shame not to have something to celebrate it.” Was there a mass of Private Dicks’ offspring in the auditorium? “Yeah, all my kids were there. The offspring of us all, quite scary! We’re all godparents to each other’s kids. It was a nice bit of ‘closure’. The most difficult thing about re-learning the set was the pace. You came off stage thinking, Jesus, how did we do this night after night? Otherwise, it was just like getting on a bike again. Very enjoyable.” In the meantime, the Japanese label 1977 Records has reissued their debut single and also packaged together two CDs of archived recordings, remastered by Guiver. Discography: She Said Go/Private Dicks 7-inch (Heartbeat PULSE 6 1979) (reissued by 1977 Records, SO27, in Japan in 2002) Don’t Follow My Lead/You Want It You Got It 7-inch (Heartbeat PULSE 9 1980) (Never actually released). Compilations: Avon Calling – The Bristol Compilation LP (Heartbeat HB1 1979; ‘Green Is In The Red’.
Reissued in October 2005 on Cherry Red, CDMRED292, along with bonus track ‘Don’t Follow My Lead’, and ‘She Said Go’ and ‘Private Dicks’ from the accompanying Heartbeat Singles Collection) Killed By Death 20 · Underground Music (Blank Students, UK, 1979, from Earcom 1 12" compilation) · Donna Blitzen (V. Babies, UK, 1980, from Sent From Conventry compilation LP) · Do The Crabwalk (Cads, Canada, 1978, from only 7") · Manifestation Of Your Sickness (The Tenant, USA, 1979, from 1.7") · Someday You'll Be The King (MX 80 Sound, USA, 1980, from 2.7") · Renegade (Genocide, UK, 1978, from Identity Parade compilation LP) · Bored Christine (Deaf Aids, UK, 1980, from 2.7") · Growin' Up American (Colors, USA, 1980, from only 7") · Tie Me Up (Gizmos, USA, 1978, from 4.7" [Never Mind The Sex Pistols ... EP]) · What Can I Do? (Fast Cars, UK, 1979, from A Manchester Collection compilation LP) · Last Chance (End Result, UK, 1981, from Backlash compilation EP) · Cops Are Punks (Nails, USA, 1977, from 1.7") · Flasher (The Squad, UK, 1978, from Sent From Coventry compilation LP) · Green Is In The Red (Private Dicks, UK, 1979, from Avon Calling compilation LP) · Dime Que Me Quieres (Viva! Tequila, Spain, 1980, from only 12") · No Future UK (Clockwork Criminals, UK, 1982, from only EP) A pretty good LP of previously uncompiled material. Nothing too crappy here. Private Dicks particularly good. I guess all those Cads EPs people couldn't trade or sell before will suddenly be hot items. The idea of taking good tracks from compilation LPs full of otherwise uninteresting material is a good one. That should be good for a few more KBD volumes. Rating: 7.5. Archive Releases: Homelife CD (77 Records A005CD; Japan) Homelife/Want Some Fun/Don’t Follow My Lead/She Said Go/Catalogue Girl/Private Dicks/Green Is In The Red/All I Want Is You/You Want It, You Got It/Stitch ‘Em Up/5 Star Freezing/Forget The Night/Do You Remember? (This has sold out. Gavin would like to point out to Nobu, if he’s listening, that the band stands ready to tour Japan to support any re-release. He only has to ask - ed.) Live At The Marquee 79 CD (77 Records A007CD; Japan) She Said Go/Want Some Fun/Catalogue Girls/Forget The Night/Don’t Follow My Lead / Incest / Green Is In The Red / You Want It You Got It / Michael / Take Her Home / Do You Remember / Homelife / All I Want Is You / Over And Over (King: “When Nobu of 77 Records re-released the studio album, he asked if we had any live stuff. The only thing we knew about was a video that was recorded by our friend Willie Westlake, who knew all the Bristol bands. He filmed us at the Docklands Settlement in St Paul’s. We rehearsed in the basement there right next to door to a VERY heavy dub sound system often frequented by later members of Massive. Willie shot a good video. We got in touch and asked for a copy. ‘I would do,’ he said, ‘but I had my place broken into and the tapes nicked.’ Now, Willie was a renowned ladies man, who used to like to use his video machine with his ladies. Some husband found out he had these tapes, broke in and took the whole collection out. The bastard! (If you’re out there can we have it back). So we had nothing, and we asked Simon Edwards. He fished out three tapes out of his attic, one from Tiffany’s – which was reviewed in Sounds magazine – one from the Music Machine, and one from the Marquee. And Paul Guiver took it in and did an amazing job. On the album there’s a couple of tracks from the Music Machine and Dingwalls, odd ones that came from right at the beginning of our career). . . . and so to now. The new album to come followed by an album of Dicks songs that got lost along the way (but are so memorable Neil Taylor can still play most of them - we'll ask him how they go) couples with our verions of things that we used to slip in occasionally like 'My Little Red Book' etc. Private Dicks –
The Legend Lives on
www.myspace.com/privatedicks1979bristol