Posted by Dr Grey

RAGE:
20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style
Directed by Michael Bishop, Scott Jacoby

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Format: avi (xvid) | Size: 699mb
Runtime: 67mins
Language: English
Year: 2001
Source: solvent
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Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock, West Coast Style loosely chronicles the rise and fall of the first wave of D.I.Y. (Do-It-Yourself) practitioners and their impact as an underground phenomenon on mainstream culture.

During the 1970’s, popular music took a turn for the worse. A wasteland of soft rock and overproduced, bloated art rock dominated the airwaves. U.S. teenagers were left longing for something that reflected their aggression and anger at the perceived betrayal by mainstream performers of the values of rock and roll. Enter the Sex Pistols - a snarling, bratty unit who could barely play their instruments, but shook up the British continent with their blatant disregard and disrespect for contemporary rock and for British social conventions. The group lit a fire under the youth in England, launching a musical revolution whose influence has become so prevalent and accepted that a Mohawk haircut hardly turns heads anymore.

For West Coast musicians like Jack Grisham (TSOL), Don Bolles (The Germs), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Keith Morris (Circle Jerks) and Gitane Demone (Christian Death), the music came as a revelation. Teenagers all over the West Coast rushed to form bands. The only problem was there was no place to play and the major labels weren’t listening. Soon, clubs began to spring up in major cities all over the U.S. featuring the new music, setting in motion the means to plot out independent nationwide tours. Enterprising youth like Gregg Ginn (founder of the group Black Flag and of SST Records) set up independent labels for punk bands, thus spawning the D.I.Y. movement. While major labels could no longer ignore sellout crowds and best-selling independent records, they were ultimately scared off by the ferocity of the subject matter and the maverick stance of the groups unwilling to compromise their way of life to fit in a corporate mold. The major labels gave up trying to tame them and began pouring money into promoting watered down versions of punk, adopting the general fashion sense while tinkering with the music to created more palatable fodder for mainstream tastes. Thus was born New Wave.

Like most trend breakers, the original wave of Punk Rockers sacrificed financial security in order to hold steadfast to their artistic vision, only to see popular, tamed versions of their style (Green Day and Offspring are the bands most cited) succeed wildly in the musical marketplace. Rage lets some of the original artists air their views and tell their side of a tale that has been steamrolled and assimilated into mass acceptance. — Joe Pettit Jr., imagesjournal.com