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The Teen Idles

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For the Nashville pop punk band, see Teen Idols.
The Teen Idles

The Teen Idles were an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C. in August 1979. Teenagers Nathan Strejcek, Geordie Grindle, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson were the band's continual members. Their recorded output consists of two demo sessions and one EP—1981's Minor Disturbance—released prior to their breakup in November 1980. The Teen Idles were the first band to be signed to the influential independent record label Dischord Records. They were an early landmark in both the straight edge and D.C. hardcore movements, while MacKaye and Nelson would later form the seminal punk outfit Minor Threat.

The Teen Idles were among the first punk rock groups from the early 1980s hardcore movement to break out of their regional scene to tour and sell nationally.[1] Inspired by other American punk bands like The Cramps, Bad Brains and Black Flag, The Teen Idles' music was an early version of hardcore punk, and an attempt, in the words of MacKaye, "to get away from a really corrupted music".[2] Their appearances, lyrics and musical style sought to revive a punk movement that they believed had lost its original zeal.

History

Formation

In 1978, Washingtonian Ian MacKaye discovered punk rock through a local college radio station, Georgetown University's WGTB.[3] He met Jeff Nelson, a classmate of his, after Nelson set off a pipe bomb outside their school and MacKaye went to investigate. The two became friends and quickly discovered their shared interest in punk. MacKaye and Nelson saw their first punk show in January 1979—a benefit concert by The Cramps for WGTB.[4] The concert inspired the pair; MacKaye later admitted, "It blew my mind because I saw for the first time this huge, totally invisible community that had gathered together for this tribal event. [...] I thought, 'This appeals to me. This is the world I think I can breathe in. This is what I need.'"[5]

After seeing a Bad Brains concert, teenagers MacKaye and Nelson began playing in a punk band, The Slinkees, with school friends George Grindle and Mark Sullivan.[6] The Slinkees played a single show before Sullivan went to college. After a failed attempt to recruit MacKaye's friend Henry Garfield, the band recruited Nathan Strejcek as a vocalist. The Slinkees soon renamed themselves The Teen Idles.[7] After touring and practicing for several months, the band recorded two demo sessions at a local studio in February and April 1980, despite the engineer and a visiting band openly laughing as they recorded.[8] They also began playing at house parties and pizza parlors, as well opening for Bad Brains at an art gallery called Madam's Organ.[9]

To revive the fervor of punk rock, which the band felt was being distorted by New Wave, The Teen Idles sought to make their appearance as intimidating as possible.[2] They shaved their heads, grew mohawks and wore various punk accessories; Nelson and MacKaye would even drive nails into the soles of their boots so they would make an "ominous clacking" sound when they walked. The band's visual presentation was at odds with their demeanor; according to MacKaye, "in our shows and within our own community, we were totally goofy guys. We were painfully honest — we didn't shoplift, we didn't vandalize, we didn't spray-paint. [...] We don't do anything — everybody just hates us because of the way we look."[9]

After a number of concerts in D.C. opening for bands such as the Untouchables, The Teen Idles decided to tour the US West Coast in August 1980.[9] Along with roadies Garfield[7]—later Rollins—and Sullivan, the band travelled to California. They were immediately hassled by police upon their arrival, and after challenging the police, Nelson was handcuffed for an hour. The Teen Idles eventually began their tour, but were refused entry at Los Angeles' Hong Kong Cafe because of their age. Originally due to open for the Dead Kennedys and the Circle Jerks, they settled for playing the next night, opening for The Mentors and a band called Puke, Spit and Guts in exchange for just $15. The Teen Idles impressed those at the venue; MacKaye later admitted, "People were freaked out by how fast [we played]."[10]

Upon returning to Washington D.C., The Teen Idles were asked by Skip Groff, owner the Washington record store Yesterday and Today, to record some tracks at Inner Ear, a small recording studio in Arlington, Virginia. They were introduced to engineer and owner Don Zientara (the studio consisted of just a a four-track recorder at Zientara's house). The Teen Idles played live in the basement while Zientara engineered and Groff produced. Seven tracks were recorded in total. However, the band were undecided about what to do with the tapes and eventually shelved them.[11]

Breakup and Minor Disturbance

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"Fleeting Fury"
"Fleeting Fury", from the 1981 album Minor Disturbance
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In late 1980, The Teen Idles decided to break up the band, mostly due to the fact Grindle had fallen out with Nelson. Grindle's new girlfriend, a born again Christian, disapproved of the band, causing Grindle to question his role. Tensions between Grindle and Nelson, who was an outspoken atheist, escalated until Grindle decided to quit the band.[12] Their last show, on November 6, as opening act for SVT at the 9:30 Club, was a key event for the popularity of all-ages shows—where alcohol was not for sale, and thus no age restriction for admission. Before playing at the Mabuhay Gardens in California, the band were only allowed entry to the club once big Xs, to show that they were under the legal drinking age, were drawn on their hands. They suggested this idea to the 9:30 club management back in Washington, and vowed that if youths were caught drinking, the club could ban them. The management agreed; The Teen Idles' final show passed without incident.[13]

After a year of touring, the band had earned a total of $700. They were now faced with two options: to divide the money between each member, or press the recordings they had made with Don Zientara at Inner Ear. Choosing the latter, Nelson, Strejcek and MacKaye formed Dischord Records with Groff's help to release the recordings.[14] Released in January 1981 with an initial pressing of one thousand copies, Minor Disturbance was a local success, receiving radio air-play and reviews from fanzines such as Touch and Go, which meant that Dischord now had enough money to release records by other bands.[15]

After The Teen Idles disbanded, Grindle chose not to pursue a career in music. By the time of Minor Disturbance's release, Nelson and MacKaye had already formed Minor Threat. The band's first show was on December 17, 1980.[16] Strejcek became involved in the running of Dischord Records, until Nelson and MacKaye, disappointed by his lack of effort, "decided to take it back."[17] The Teen Idles appeared on a number of hardcore compilations throughout the 1980s and 1990s: Dischord, to celebrate their one hundredth release, issued Teen Idles in 1996, comprising the two demo sessions the band had recorded in February and April 1980.[18]

Musical style and outlook

According to journalist Michael Azerrad, The Teen Idles "played proto-hardcore tunes that skewered their social milieu".[2] MacKaye later explained in the hardcore documentary Another State of Mind: "When I became a punk, my main fight was against the people who were around me — friends."[2] When MacKaye was thirteen he moved to Palo Alto, California for nine months. On his return, his friends had begun taking drugs and drinking. He remarked, "I said, 'God, I don't want to be like these people, man. I don't fit in at all with them.' So it was an alternative."[2]

Cover art for the 1981 EP Minor Disturbance, featuring the distinctive "X" marking which later became an emblem of the Straight Edge movement[7]

The graphic emblem most associated with the Straight Edge movement—a black "X" typically tatttoed onto the wearers hands—originated from the artwork of The Teen Idol's first single. According to MacKaye, "We were in San Francisco, and we played a place called Mabuhay Gardens. They asked if we were going to drink and we said 'no', and they put an 'X' on our hands. So we came back to Washington D.C. and went to this nightclub, the 9:30, and said 'Hey look, we're not going to drink and we will put this 'X' on our hand. If you see us drinking you can throw us out forever. We are not going to drink, we just came to see the music.'"[7] The band adopted the marking, and though it was initially meant to signify youth, it became a wider emblem for bands prepared to play to audiences under the legal age to be served alcohol. MacKaye noted that at the time the symbol "wasn't supposed to signify straight edge—it was supposed to signify kids. It was about being young punk rockers...it represents youth."[7]

Most of the band's lyrics were written by MacKaye. Like the group's appearance, their lyrical subject matter reacted against the then dominant New Wave scene, and the perceived complacency that many first wave punk bands, including The Clash and The Damned seemed to have fallen into by the early 1980s. In "Fleeting Fury", Strejcek pleads, "The clothes you wear have lost their sting / So's the fury in the songs you sing".[2] The Teen Idles were strongly influenced by punk bands in Washington and California, such as Bad Brains,[19] Black Flag[7] and The Germs,[10] and this infulence is reflected in their music: The Teen Idles' songs consisted mostly of Strejcek shouting over a one-two hardcore beat with MacKaye and Grindle providing short and speedy riffs, interspersed with quick guitar solos from Grindle.

Discography

Notes

  1. ^ Lahickey, 100
  2. ^ a b c d e f Azerrad, 123
  3. ^ Khanna, Vish. "Ian MacKaye - Out of Step". Exclaim. Retrieved 2007-10-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Lahickey, 96
  5. ^ Azerrad22
  6. ^ "Dischord Records: Teen Idles". Dischord Records. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Lahickey, 99
  8. ^ Teen Idles (Media notes). Dischord Records. 1996. {{cite AV media notes}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |albumlink= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |bandname= ignored (help)
  9. ^ a b c Azerrad, 124
  10. ^ a b Azerrad, 125
  11. ^ Azerrad, 126–7
  12. ^ Andersen, 70
  13. ^ Azerrad, 127
  14. ^ Azerrad, 131
  15. ^ Azerrad, 132
  16. ^ Azerrad, 129
  17. ^ Azerrad, 143
  18. ^ Rabid, Jack. "Teen Idles > Overview". All Music. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Foster, Patrick. "The Teen Idles > Biography". All Music. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

References

  • Andersen, Mark. Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital. Akashic Books, 2008. ISBN 1-8884-5144-0
  • Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life. Little, Brown and Company, 2001. ISBN 0-316-78753-1
  • Lahickey, Beth. All Ages: Reflections on Straight Edge. Revelation Books, 1998. ISBN 1-8897-0300-1

External links

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