Teen Idles

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Biography

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 (musician)|Jeff Nelson were the band's continual members. Their recorded output consists of two demo sessions and one extended play|EP —1980's Minor Disturbance —released prior to their breakup in November 1980. The influential independent record label Dischord Records was originally created with the sole purpose of releasing The Teen Idles 7" record.They were an early landmark in the Washington, D.C. hardcore|D.C. hardcore movement, 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.Lahickey, 100 Inspired by other American punk bands like The Cramps and Bad Brains , 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."Azerrad, 123 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 . He met Jeff Nelson (musician)|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.Lahickey, 96 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.'"Azerrad22

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. The Slinkees played a single show before Sullivan went to college. After a failed attempt to recruit MacKaye's friend Henry Rollins|Henry Garfield (later Henry Rollins), the band recruited Nathan Strejcek as a vocalist. The Slinkees soon renamed themselves The Teen Idles.Lahickey, 99 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. They also began playing at house parties and pizza parlors, as well opening for Bad Brains at an art gallery, in a dilapidated row house in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood, called Madam's Organ (not the blues bar currently operating under the same name).Azerrad, 124

To revive the fervor of punk rock, which the band felt was being distorted by New Wave music|New Wave , The Teen Idles sought to make their appearance as intimidating as possible. They shaved their heads, grew Mohawk hairstyle|mohawks and wore various punk accessories. Nelson and MacKaye even drove thumbtacks 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 graffiti|spray-paint . We don't do anything — everybody just hates us because of the way we look."

After a number of concerts in D.C. opening for bands such as the Untouchables (D.C. band)|Untouchables , The Teen Idles decided to tour the US West Coast in August 1980.Azerrad, 124 Along with roadies Garfield and Sullivan, the band traveled 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 ."Azerrad, 125

Upon returning to Washington D.C., The Teen Idles were asked by Skip Groff, owner of 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 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.Azerrad, 126–7

Breakup and Minor Disturbance

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 (Christianity)|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.Andersen, 70 Their last show, on November 6, as opening act for SVT (band)|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.Azerrad, 127

After a year, 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.Azerrad, 131 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 Records|Touch and Go , which meant that Dischord now had enough money to release records by other bands.Azerrad, 132

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.Azerrad, 129 Strejcek became involved in the running of Dischord Records, until Nelson and MacKaye, disappointed by his lack of effort, "decided to take it back."Azerrad, 143 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 (EP)|Teen Idles in 1996, comprising the two demo sessions the band had recorded in February and April 1980.

Musical style and outlook

According to journalist Michael Azerrad , The Teen Idles "played proto-hardcore tunes that skewered their social milieu". MacKaye later explained in the hardcore documentary Another State of Mind (film)|Another State of Mind : "When I became a punk, my main fight was against the people who were around me — friends." 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."

The graphic emblem most associated with the Straight Edge movement is a black "X," typically drawn onto the wearers hands with a marker. According to MacKaye, "We were in San Francisco, and we played a place called Mabuhay Gardens. They figured out we were underage, and they wouldn't let us play. We worked out a deal with their management that we just wanted to play and we weren't going to drink, so they got a marker and put a big 'X' on our hand, 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.'" 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."

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 (band)|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". The Teen Idles were strongly influenced by punk bands in Washington and California, such as Bad Brains , Black Flag (band)|Black Flag and The Germs . These band's influence is reflected in The Teen Idles' songs, which 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

Minor Disturbance , Dischord, 1981

Teen Idles (EP)|Teen Idles (1980 demo). Dischord Records|Dischord , 1996

Notes

Copyright Citations

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