Inside Out - "Undertone" live at City Gardens, Trenton, NJ 1990

Riot on the Dancefloor

Greetings all.

Just wanted to let you know that we launched the official website for the upcoming film "Riot on the Dancefloor: The Life and Times of Randy Now and City Gardens".

Thanks for taking the time to check it out. If you are interested in being involved in this project, feel free to contact me. - Steven DiLodovic

www.citygardensfilm.com

Merry XXX-Mas from DCXX

SANTA CLAUS: The Man, The Myth, The Slam Dancer.

Robb Nunzio - Antidote

Nunzio with Antidote at the Gallery East Reunion Show 8/29/10, Photo: Return To The Pit

Antidote guitarist Nunzio delivers some NYHC history to us and gives the inside scoop on the origins of the legendary ANTIDOTE. Much thanks to him, and plenty more to come. Be sure to make it out to Antidote's show with DYS at Bowery Electric, in NYC on January 2nd! -Gordo DCXX

I grew up in Hell`s Kitchen NY across the street from the old MSGarden on 50th St. and 9th Ave. My earliest musical influences were the Beatles / Jackson 5 / 3 Dog Night/ The Who`s Tommy/ Elvis Presley / and Snoopy and his friends the Royal Guardsmen was an early favorite when I was a kid. I read Archie comics, collected Hot Wheels cars and went to Yankee and Rangers games with my Uncle. Then as a preteen, I ran wild in the streets of the westside and created havoc with my friends like most born and bred city kids wind up doing.

I started getting in trouble and my grandma fell ill so we moved over the bridge to Queens. That's when I got bored and picked up the guitar at around 14. My musical tastes also broadened as I was listening to Kiss / ACDC/ Black Sabbath etc. Then I found the Ramones Rocket To Russia and the first Clash album and Never Mind The Bollocks and started teaching myself those songs on the guitar. Getting heavily into early punk shaped my adult life from that point on. And it is still some of my favorite music to this day. What better way was there at the time for bored / confused and growing teens to express themselves in those days?



Before I started Antidote, I had started several bands after graduating high school. Those bands were formed with friends from Jackson Heights mainly. The Lust Scabs and Vas Deferens were the 2 bands I did where I started to try out the early songs I had written. After those bands I had a better idea of what a group should consist of and I wanted to form a more professional type of group that could play in the New York club scene which at that time was Max's Kansas City, CBGB, Hurrah, the Mudd Club, Danceteria, Irving Plaza and the Peppermint Lounge. Remember, this was BEFORE the NY Hardcore scene happened.

Antidote was formed after I had met the guys in the Bad Brains. I saw them open for the Clash at Bonds and knew that I had to meet them. One of the guys in Vas Deferens lived downtown and knew they rehearsed at 171 A on Avenue A. So I went down there and booked us a block of rehearsal time. The guy who ran the place was Jerry Williams, and we got along well enough so that he let me hang around the place while he was recording their infamous ROIR cassette. So I got to know H.R. and Dr. Know as friends and they kind of took me under their wing so to speak.

They were playing at Trudy Heller's on 6th Ave. one weekend, and they invited us to get onstage after they played and do some songs, and that's what we did. Tommy Victor was in the audience and approached me after the show with some feedback. I liked what he was saying and my girlfriend at the time who played bass for a group named Neon Leon knew him and told me he was a very talented dude. I wound up sharing an apartment with him on First Avenue and 1st Street and we immersed ourselves in music.


Original Antidote lineup at CBGB, NYC, Photo courtesy of: Nunzio

Tom taught me a lot of shit and knew everyone on the downtown music scene because he was in a few bands. Arthur Googy was a good friend of mine from Jackson Hgts. Him and I and a couple other people were the only 'punks' in the hood at that time and he was having time off from the Misfits, so I got him to play with me and Tom and that was the earliest lineup of Antidote.

The songs we played then were a mixture of hardcore, punk, and British Oi type shit and some Ska thrown in. We did songs that I wrote and songs that Tom wrote and a couple of collabarations. When Tom split the band and Googy and I moved on and got another bass player, I wrote a whole new batch of songs strictly in the hardcore vein. I was listening to mostly HC shit like Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Fear, the Descendants, Minor Threat and lots of British shit like GBH and the Business, the 4 Skins and any kickass Oi shit.

But my old Punk and early Metal influences like Sabbath and KISS were still inside my head so that's why Thou Shalt Not Kill sounds the way it sounds...

Double Cross future project fund raiser

Gordo and I have been talking about some future projects here at Double Cross and I thought if selling off a few of my extra records could help fund the projects, I might as well do it. Both of these records are up on eBay right now and the auctions end 12/23/2010. Check them out if you're interested, thanks. -Tim DCXX

Double Cross eBay Auctions

Mouthpiece - 1st 7" Middlesex cover
I originally created and printed a small handful of these covers for a Mouthpiece show at Middlesex County College sometime around 1992. The idea was to create a limited cover to help sell the remaining copies that we had left over of our first 7".



After all these years, I've managed to hold on to the original paste-up artwork and just recently printed up 6 more covers. 1 of these re-printed covers went to a long time friend of the band that desperately wanted one for his collection. The other 5 copies went into my own collection and I used them for some extra copies of the 2nd pressing that I still had.

What you have here is one of those 2nd pressing out of my personal collection, with the limited re-printed Middlesex cover. I have no reason to own all 6 copies, so I thought I'd put one up on eBay for any collectors that might be interested.



Hands Tied - 1998 Euro tour limited PX cover pressing
For our 1998 European tour, we had 300 orange vinyl 7"s pressed and I created and printed these limited edition Project X style covers to go with them.

I held on to the last 4 copies (#297-300) of this Euro tour orange vinyl pressing and just recently dug up the original paste-up layouts and printed 4 more covers to go along with my personal copies. I stamped all 4 of my personal copies with a Double Cross stamp, to differentiate these re-printed covers from the originals (the originals were printed on an off-white paper, these are just white).

Again, I have no reason to own all 4 copies, so I'm putting one up on eBay for any collectors that might be interested.

Frontier Records poll wrap up with Lisa Fancher

Our buddy Ben Merlis got Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records fame to deliver her answers to the Frontier Records poll. Big thanks to both of them! -Gordo DCXX

I guess it shouldn't be a big surprise that Suicidal Tendencies won the Double Cross poll since it is a classic LP and definitely the most well-known Frontier Records release. But I don't really consider it one of the early ones myself, that period to me was 1980 to 1982 before diverging with Choir Invisible, Christian Death or the Salvation Army. Picking a favorite of those four would be impossible for me but Frontier probably wouldn't have continued if I didn't release "Group Sex."



The first release -- Flyboys -- didn't sell well enough for me to recoup the funds, but the Circle Jerks was something of a local blockbuster.

The Adolescents "Blue" album followed close on its heels in the first half 1981. We recorded TSOL and China White in the same week in summer in the same studio in Manhattan Beach. Both releases concluded 1981... Suicidal was released in mid-1983 when I finally came to terms that I was going to run a record label for a living!



I can't tell you how proud I am that people still love these four records after all these years. - Lisa Fancher

Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies - 163
Circle Jerks - Group Sex - 123
Adolescents - Adolescents - 95
T.S.O.L. - Dance With Me - 22

DYS goes City To City

Citizens Arrest live at the Knitting Factory, NYC, 12/17/2010

Sue Cosby's basement finds

Sick Of It All at CBGB, NYC, Photo courtesy of: Sue Cosby

Inward Monitor Fanzine co-editor, Sue Cosby, did a little digging through some twenty plus year old boxes in her basement and uncovered these gems. I thought it would make for a nice little DCXX entry, so I asked Sue if I could share them here, which she gladly obliged. Big thanks to Sue and I hope you enjoy these. -Tim DCXX


Absolution at CBGB, NYC, Photo courtesy of: Sue Cosby


Turning Point set list circa 1988


A freshly inked Adam Thompson from Device, Photo courtesy of: Sue Cosby


H.R. and the Bad Brains at City Gardens, Trenton, NJ, Photo courtesy of: Sue Cosby




Bear, Steve and Rich from Insted on tour, hanging with some East Coast locals, Photo courtesy of: Sue Cosby


Jon Inward Monitor, Steve Insted and Billy get some gas, Photo courtesy of: Sue Cosby




Kevinsted faces the CB's crowd, Photo courtesy of: Sue Cosby


Billy and Steve Insted, hangin' tough, Photo courtesy of: Sue Cosby

Some early Mouthpiece flyers

New Cro-Mags / Harley's War track

Harley Flanagan posted this new Cro-Mags / Harley's War track on his Facebook page and said he'll be releasing something new in 2011. Pretty solid track, thought I'd share it. -Tim DCXX

Negative Approach poll wrap up

The plan was to have "Why Be Something That You're Not" Detroit Hardcore book editor, Tony Rettman, wrap up this Negative Approach poll, but Tony's knee deep in multiple projects right now and didn't want to keep us waiting any longer, so I'll take a stab at it.

As you can see, "Tied Down" took the crown, but only by a mere 14 votes. I know plenty of people that are extreme in their opinions about these two releases, but personally I think both are flawless in their own way.



The 7" is a perfect example of raw, no frills, grab-you-by-the-throat-hardcore. Had I never heard "Tied Down", and only heard the 7", I'd think that there was no way Negative Approach could out do themselves. I mean, let's face it, "Ready To Fight" might be one of the greatest hardcore songs ever written… period.

Then you hear "Tied Down" and you realize, the unthinkable has been done. Negative Approach took that same grab you by the throat sound, gave it an ever so slight polish and delivered what could very well be one of the heaviest hardcore albums of all time.



I can still remember sitting on my bedroom floor, spinning the "Tied Down" vinyl for the first time and hearing the track, "Evacuate" and wondering how a human being could even sound like that. This may sound ridiculous, but while listening to this album, I felt invincible. I felt like I could stomp holes in my concrete basement floor, break my head through walls and tell every wannabe bad ass, dusted out, metal head that I went to Jr. High with that they had no idea what "heavy" music really was. You know the metal head that thought he was totally bitchin' with his "Bonded By Blood" Exodus shirt? Well that shit was pure panty waste in the wake of "Tied Down" or anything Negative Approach ever did.

So yeah, I've got nothing but love for the Negative Approach 7", but "Tied Down" ultimately is the release that brought it all home for me. Every song demolishes, and almost 30 years later, it's still one of the greatest hardcore albums ever made. - Tim DCXX

Negative Approach - "Tied Down" - 164
Negative Approach - 7" - 150

Youth Of Today in Brazil, 12/5/2010

People will say what they're going to say about Youth Of Today and their reunions, but one thing I'm going to say is, man… I wish I was there for this one. Look at this crowd and look at that energy, people are having the time of their lives.

Thanks to Iran from Brazil for sending me the link to this video. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get at least one more dose of this in the US. Take A Stand 2010... -Tim DCXX

Supertouch "Lost My Way" 7" pre-orders available now

www.reaper-records.com

Youth Of Today covering "Minor Threat" in Buenos Aires, Argentina 12/4/2010

Gorilla Biscuits in the Nickel City

Gorilla Biscuits at the Pipe Dragon, Buffalo NY, Spring 88, Photo: Geoffrey Nicholson


Stage dives make this dude feel more alive, Photo: Geoffrey Nicholson


Civ, Walter and Alex with GB doing it Buffalo style, Photo: Geoffrey Nicholson

Eerie Von limited-edition prints at Generation Records

In true holiday season form, the legacy of Lodi, New Jersey is the gift that keeps on giving! As the final act of Misery Obscura, Eerie Von’s highly-acclaimed retrospective photography collective, Generation Records and Von again team up to release a series of limited-edition photographic prints.

Approved by Von himself, each image is available in a strictly limited, numbered and signed edition. From the live set and basement to the studio and fast food joints, this final series of images truly captures the legend of both the music itself and the personalities behind it.

These fine-art prints will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis so be one of the few with a piece of punk and hard rock history with these limited-edition prints.

To buy prints, please go to Generation's online store they are available now.
www.generationrecords.com