Reagan Youth
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| Reagan Youth | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Hardcore punk, anarcho-punk |
| Years active | 1980–1989 2006–present |
| Labels | R Radical New Red Archives LoveCat Music |
| Associated acts | Nausea, Samhain |
| Members | |
| Al Pike Javier Madriaga Paul Bakija Pat McGowan |
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| Former members | |
| Dave Rubinstein Andy Bryan Charlie Bonet Steve Weissman Rick Griffith Victor Dominicis |
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Reagan Youth is an American punk band formed by singer Dave Rubinstein (Dave Insurgent) and his friend and guitarist Paul Bakija (Paul Cripple) in Queens in early 1980. They have been labeled a peace punk band, but are more commonly cited as a pivotal band in introducing the style of hardcore punk to the East Coast punk scene. Their name is a word play on Hitler Youth. An important group in the New York/New Jersey hardcore scene, they performed very regularly at CBGB and toured the U.S. extensively, often with other early punk bands such as the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains and The Misfits. The Beastie Boys and Rancid, among other significant successful punk rock and alternative rock groups, have cited Reagan Youth as an influence.
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[edit] History
[edit] Initial career (1980–1990)
Formed while Rubinstein and Bakija were still in Forest Hills High School, Reagan Youth played their first gig on August 22,1980, with original bassist Andy Bryan (Andy Apathy) and drummer Charlie Bonet (Charlie Tripper). Reagan Youth quickly gained a following and were soon playing the punk clubs of Manhattan. Bakija's physics teacher Jack DePalma shaved his head and became a roadie for the group. After the band recorded a four-song demo in 1981, Bryan was replaced by Al Pike. Bonet departed soon after; after the band briefly rehearsed with Rubinstein filling in on drums, Steve Weissman joined full time. The band was signed to the R Radical imprint, and later, to burgeoning punk/hardcore label New Red Archives.
After graduation and the release of their first album, Youth Anthems for the New Order (later reissued on New Red Archives with three outtakes and renamed Volume 1), they began touring nationally and were regulars at the Sunday afternoon hardcore matinee shows at CBGBs. In 1984, prior to a significant US tour, Pike and Weissman left the group. They were replaced by Victor Dominicis (Vic Venom) and Rick Griffith (Rick Royale) respectively. Griffith was later replaced in 1985 by Javier Madriaga (Johnny Aztec.)
By the late 1980s the extensive touring had taken its toll on the group, both physically and emotionally. Despite the many shows played and the relatively large album sales for a hardcore punk band, the members of the band continually found themselves broke. When Reagan left office, the band split up. Bakija (playing both guitar and bass), Madriaga, and Rubinstein recorded a final album, Volume 2, in 1990 after the band's 1988 demise.
[edit] Post-breakup (1990–2006)
Madriaga, Rubinstein, and Bakija briefly continued making music together, performing in a psychedelic rock group called House of God, but the band was short lived and failed to record. Dominicis played in the band Nausea, whose fast and metallic sound helped define the crust punk genre. Pike was briefly a member of Glenn Danzig's group Samhain.
By 1990 Rubinstein had become a heroin user and occasional dealer. In a conflict with another dealer, he was severely beaten with a baseball bat, requiring weeks of hospitalization. In 1993 he began seeing a girl, Tiffany Bresciani, who supported both of their drug habits by prostitution. Later that year his mother was killed in a car accident. Soon after, Rubinstein and Bresciani were on Houston Street looking for customers and drugs. A familiar customer in a truck hired Bresciani and the two of them disappeared. A few days later, police on Long Island stopped the same truck and discovered Bresciani's body in the back. The driver was Joel Rifkin, later convicted as a serial killer responsible for the murder of several prostitutes. Despondent over his continuing drug addiction and the loss of his girlfriend and recently deceased mother, Dave Rubinstein committed suicide in 1993.
A version of their song "Degenerated" was used as a song performed by "The Lone Rangers", the fictional rock band portrayed in the 1994 comedy Airheads.
In 1998, New Red Archives released Live and Rare, a single CD compiling highlights from NYC-area Reagan Youth sets from the early '80s with the Pike/Weinstein lineup, along with tracks from the band's initial demo and a brief experimental demo for Volume 2. Pike and New Red Archives owner Nicky Garratt, also the guitarist for the British band the UK Subs, contributed liner notes for this release.
Original bassist Andy Bryan died of a heart attack in the late 1990s.
[edit] Reformation (2006–present)
In 2006, the band reformed around Bakija, Pike Madriaga and vocalist Pat McGowen (Pat SpEd) of the New York City hardcore band Distraction. They initially intended to play only a single show, but opted to continue after the project "took on a life of its own."[1] The group played several additional local and regional tours, and embarked on the "Resurrection Tour" in August 2007, with Boston hardcore band Mouth Sewn Shut.
The band has expressed interest in writing and recording a third record, and has suggested that it would be about the life and times of Dave Insurgent.[2] In 2008, the Reagan Youth MySpace page debuted a snippet of a demo recording of a new song, "In the Thirsty Hour". The band continued to tour extensively.
[edit] Music
[edit] Lyrical content
Reagan Youth is an aggressively anarchist, socialist, and anti-racist band, and often utilized Ku Klux Klan and Nazi Party imagery for satirical effect, much in the way of the Dead Kennedys on the West Coast. Their intention was to draw the audience's attention to the perceived parallels between the policies of Ronald Reagan and the Christian Right and the beliefs of the hate groups.[citation needed] The band expressed its left-wing politics through irony, using images from hate groups for their album/CD covers. Their songs included "Jesus Was a Communist," and "New Aryans," an anti-conservative/yuppie and also anti-racist anthem. It should be noted that both of Dave Rubinstein's parents were Holocaust survivors.
[edit] Musical style
Musically, the band was firmly rooted in the early hardcore/punk crossover tradition, but moved deeper into waters uncharted by punk rock as their career progressed. While their first record, from 1983, is mostly in keeping with hardcore punk convention, albeit with modestly ambitious flourishes on each instrument, their second, from 1990, features dense guitar work (replete with solos and overdubs), diversified tempos and several sonic experiments. In fact, the latter record draws comparisons to Black Sabbath and '70s album-oriented rock.
[edit] Band members
[edit] Current members
- Paul Bakija – guitar (1980–1990, 2006–present)
- Al Pike – bass (1981–1983, 2006–present)
- Javier Madriaga – drums (1985–1990, 2006–present)
- Pat McGowan – vocals (2006–present)
[edit] Past members
- Dave Rubinstein (deceased) – vocals (1980–1990)
- Andy Bryan (deceased) – bass (1980–1981)
- Victor Dominicis – bass (1984–1990)
- Charlie Bonet – drums (1980–1981, 1982)
- Steve Weissman – drums (1982–1984)
- Rick Griffith – drums (1984–1985)
[edit] Discography
Reagan Youth released only one album during their existence as a band (in 1984); originally titled Youth Anthems for the New Order, it was re-released as Reagan Youth (Volume 1) by the small independent label New Red Archives in 1989. This album eventually sold 40,000 copies. A second album, titled Volume 2, was completed and released in 1990, after the official breakup of the band. Both are still available on vinyl, as well as a CD titled A Collection of Pop Classics that combines both records. A collection of live recordings was issued in 1998 as Live and Rare.
[edit] Compact discs and vinyl
- Youth Anthems for the New Order (1984)
- Volume 1 (1989)
- Volume 2 (1990)
- A Collection of Pop Classics (1994)
- Live & Rare (1998)
- Punk Rock New York (2007)
[edit] Bootlegs
- Live At CBGBs August 7, 1982
- Live At CBGBs November 20, 1982 (Ratcage Records Benefit) [1]
- Live At CBGBs Vol. One 7" [2]
[edit] References
- ^ Reagan Youth official web site, History page
- ^ History page
