LONDON STYLE 2016

A video I put together of images and videos of me and Dave strolling and bussing it around London town....

Dave Davies of the Kinks in Soho London - Iphone pano shot

Fabulous fashions from Italian designer Bucobianco from Official Made In Italy pop up shop in Covent Garden 2016

Boots cosmetics salesgirl Trafalgar square

Dave Davies of the Kinks in Ben Sherman suit at BBC

punk couple Camden

rockabilly couple Soho London

doll umbrellas at Pylones shop Covent Garden

dapper man with cane Victoria station

tube rider with gold metallic rat purse

Felix Griffin of D.R.I. and other Texas Punk Memories

This post originally appeared in 2011

photo by Ken Miller

Texas Punk Memories - Offenders, Dicks, M.D.C. and Felix Griffin - drummer for D.R.I. and Blunt Force Trauma 

I was supposed to be reviewing a stack of Texas punk rock and bluesy or cornpunk music cds sent to me tonight - The Rock Garage Texas Live Concert Series, Hickoids, Churchwood and T. Tex Edwards and the Swingin Kornflake Killers but I got sidetracked reminiscing about Texas. I had driven through there once on tour in the late 80s with my old roommates M.D.C. It was so flat there, driving forever without seeing anything or anyone. The punk clubs were high ceilinged, huge and sweaty. There was graffitti scrawled on the ladies restroom wall in Houston about Verbal Abuse singer Nikki Sikki, just like there was in S.F. We were all squished in an R.V. together, a band, a girl (me) and a big fella named Monterey Mark. Mark was a skinhead but he was touring with a punk band. Dave said the promoters paid up more quickly with Mark along on the tour. His stout, cross armed presence onstage also seemed to mellow the aggression of antagonistic skins M.D.C. encountered at many concerts.



After we got back from tour to S.F. I returned to singer Dave Dictor's pad where I lived in a punk commune of sorts although it wasn't officially called anything other than the Rathouse. Others who lived there were Joe Britz - zine publisher of Tales From the Rathouse and Lawrence Livermore who started Lookout Records and discovered Operation Ivy and Green Day. I wrote for Lookout zine once in a while. My first review was of Redd Kross' record Neurotica. Dave introduced me to his old friends from Texas like Mikey Offender Donaldson, the bass player from the Offenders and M.D.C. and then songwriter/bass player for Sister Double Happiness and his girlfriend at the time Tammy (who had also been Dave's and M.D.C. guitarist Ron's girlfriend at one point, although I can't remember who was first.) Tammy was THE muse for M.D.C. and so many bands from that time and place. She was a beautiful blonde heartbreaker with a big round derriere, a tattoo of a feminist fist on her right arm and, rumour had it, webbed toes, which only seemed to add to her mysterious allure to men. "Webbed toes?" I asked, "there's a part of Texas where that sort of thing is common," a Texan ex-paramour informed me. This was my first inkling that Texas and its inhabitants were "different."

Dave also introduced me to Gary Floyd, singer from the Dicks and he told me what an inspiration Gary was, that he had come out of nowhere and shocked everyone at the University of Texas campus crossdressed and curvy with a mohawk, being flagrantly homosexual in the late 70s/early 80s conservative Texas climate. Dave had moved from New York to study at the University of Texas. He wanted to be a lawyer before he got into punk rock. They were heady times but I had a falling out with Dave over something and decided moving out was best and next became roommates with Ron Posner, the guitarist from M.D.C. Soon after me moved in the craziest and funnest roommate ever, a guy named Felix Griffin. Felix was the drummer in D.R.I. He did not come from a poor family but he did come from Texas, run away to live on the streets of San Francisco with the punks and skins before becoming a bonafide crossover punk metal superstar. 

Felix fascinated me for many reasons. His crazy drinking yet talent that kept him on tour drumming with a successful world famous band. He was a musclebound handsome guy with huge blue eyes, sandy blonde hair and a boyish charm about his face. Yet, for all his macho prowess and strength he was so sensitive, reduced to a rubble of tears if he played the right Johnny Cash or Merle Haggard song. I was from New Jersey and had never heard Johnny Cash before. I was an ignorant fool who thought Johnny Cash was a funny, old guy and I couldn't understand why Felix didn't just listen to thrashcore music all day long considering that was what he played. His exgirlfriend had become a junkie, so out of touch with him or anyone she could feel for, that it hurt me to see Felix hurt. The dramatic highs and lows of his mood swings and relationships with his girlfriends was difficult to witness. There was a lethal pattern I noticed that began with a six pack, tears and country music and ended with a disaster. There was the night he crashed his truck through someone's garage door and spraypainted something mean on it afterwards.



Felix couldn't spell for s**t and didn't seem to read much but he was a musical genius and a really good drummer by music snob standards, going nuts with his amazing rhythms on a double bass set. He loved music and didn't just play his records through speakers, he blasted tunes through a motherf

**king p.a. in our apartment in the quickly gentrifying Haight Ashbury district. I will never forget the hysterical yuppie from upstairs shaking at the door with a policeman next to her as she hissed in a furious whisper that we turn the music down. "It's not me," I tried to explain, "it's my roommate." You could tell the yuppie lady was not used to being ignored. She seemed like someone who had always gotten her own way. "I have to work in the morning!" she snarled. Felix Griffin did not care. When he decided to drink and crank up the tunes, nothing could stop him. The cop said,"Well someone's going to jail and it's gonna be YOU if your roommate doesn't turn down the music." So I went back into the apartment and screamed at Felix at the top of my lungs, "The fucking cops are here and if you don't turn it down someone's going to jail and it's not gonna be me!" He would barely turn to acknowledge my screaming since he was usually in the middle of telling a joke to a friend and then finally he would turn it down and then the cops would leave and then the whole scenario repeated itself a couple more times in the evening, cops and all!

Felix could also be incredibly funny and made the most insightful observations about people, he described Ron M.D.C. as someone who couldn't turn a corner without walking in a right angle. When not playing/touring with M.D.C. Ron ran a shop called Fogtown Skates. He didn't skateboard himself but sold a lot of boards and shirts there. Ron's room was clean as a whistle and he liked nothing better than to kick back playing classical music on an acoustic while puffing a fatty. Ron could sight read music very well and loved musicians like Andreas Segovia.  In some ways, Ron and Felix were best friends and in many ways, their friendship had a Mutt and Jeff like quality of opposites to it. Ron was a brilliant Jewish intellectual who never cracked a beer and Felix was a bible belt good ol' boy who never cracked a book but they shared a sense of humor. There was always a laugh to be had but Ron wasn't laughing the time Felix and his old skinhead friend Sonny cooked a pound of bacon in vegetarian Ron's pan and Ron said it couldn't be scrubbed clean enough and threw the pan away.  But you know how sometimes it's human nature to make assumptions about the pieces fit together and the more you get to know people the smaller you find out the world is.   



When I caught up with Felix over the phone recently, I realized the connection between Ron and him was not only that they were roommates but that they were band brothers through the revolving doors of band line ups. I asked him about his D.R.I. days and he told me, "the two best records are D.R.I. Dirty Rotten LP, Dennis played bass on it, the first one is classic no doubt about it and Dealing With It. Mikey Offender played bass on that. That era was super punk and straight up, we tweeked it. It was my idea to get Mikey to play bass." I had never realized that Mikey "Offender" Donaldson was a thread running through the sounds of so many of these great early Texas punk bands. I remembered Mikey sitting down and showing me the chords to John Wayne Was a Nazi and telling me how he had composed the intro to classic punk hard hit. Felix added that he had toured with M.D.C. as a drummer in 2008 in Europe for the Mikey Donaldson memorial. Felix also expressed sadness over the recent suicide of Chumley, who had been playing bass for D.R.I. Felix told me he plans to bring his daughter up to a November 26 concert in Oakland to see Attitude Adjustment and other bands play in homage to their departed friend.

Talking about the old days, Felix explained that much of his frustration was fueled by his feeling financially burned by Rotten Records who managed D.R.I.,"they ripped us off!" he told me about his old manager.  "D.R.I. getting ripped off like that, it fucked me up.  He stole the whole record company and embezzled tons of money.  He was having the cds printed up in Singapore or someplace like that so they couldn't keep an eye on how many were being sold.  After Crossover I called it Corrupshover, hell, we didn't even know what royalties and publishing were.  All of the street punks that crossed over to that scene got ripped off."

Like many drummers, Felix also feels like he didn't get the compositional credit and royalties he was due. He was the force behind changing D.R.I.'s sound to the crossover punk/metal legends they became.  "I helped compose Nursing Home Blue and I wrote the intro to Yes Ma'am on Dealing With It which is the record that changed everything.  I was turned on to Venom, early Metallica and early Slayer and I brought that to the band."



Since Felix quit playing with D.R.I. he has played in a Texas band called Roger's Porn Collection which released one album.  For the past three-four years he has played drums in an old school punk/Northeast hardcore influenced band called Blunt Force Trauma.  The band's themes , he explained, deal with new world order, Big Brother and antigovernment.  Last year they toured Europe with Napalm Death and Sick of it All.  He added about one band member,"Craig Holloway is a bass player from the Detroit area.  He's a great artist."  Blunt Force Trauma has two records out Good Morning America and Hatred for the State.  They are working on a new album called Let Them Eat Red, which Felix added, has the same elements as Dealing With It.  



Back in the day, Felix would always reminisce about Texas, the state that spawned him, saying,"Where I come from it's so boring, all there is to do is get drunk and beat up your best friend. " So when people talk about England, poverty, misery and anger spawning punk rock I think of the desolation of Texas, a flatland peppered with bible belters, gun nuts and madness inducing pockets of isolation spawning its own special brand of punk rock (all those bands came from there M.D.C., D.R.I., Dicks!) and Felix Griffin.



As far as Felix's wild lifestyle goes he had racked up 10 years clean and sober a while back but had slipped for a while.  He hasn't had a drink in a month but added he is taking his life one day at a time.  You can't change somebody.  About D.R.I. he added,"I would still play for them." 



Reviews coming soon, I promise.

Felix in center holding cigarette in black special forces t-shirt/street kids photo by Ken Miller

Met Punk Show Trip Report - Metropolitan Museum of Art - May 2013

This post originally appeared on another site in 2013

It was hard to decide how to dress for Punk show preview at the Met but decided on a fuchsia chiffon new romantic ruffled blouse, ska houndstooth plaid jacket, a skinny black wiggle skirt and vintage 80s patent zebra pumps . . . 

Vivienne Westwood designs and bondage video tape loop

I loved the show!   I can see people being fed up with all of the celebrity attendance but that was just to give it mainstream press. The actual show is really edgy and fabulous with  painted black walls and giant Sid Vicious and Jayne County video screens  playing image/music loops of Jayne County singing Toilet Love and Sid Vicious with Nancy Spungen audio loops saying all she fears is fear, she doesn't fear death.  I loved the book Nancy Spungen's mom wrote about her "I Don't Want to Live this Life". I've never understood why people don't like Nancy Spungen. She was an addict but so were lots of punks. Aside from that . . . why hate her? Richard Hell singing Blank Generation music played in one of the rooms also which was great.  Then the clothes were mostly high end couture and it was fantastic to see the punk ethos executed with such amazing workmanship, a black dress stapled together, sequined Stephen Sprouse graffiti dresses, ball gowns out of garbage bags, early Vivienne Westwood SEX shop frayed sweater tunic mindresses etc.  The title of the show is from Chaos to Couture and I thought it really captured that!

Vivienne Westwood designs

An Interview with Alice Bag On Her L.A. Punk Autobiography Violence Girl

This article first appeared in 2011

By Rebecca G. Wilson

I recently caught up with Alice Bag, singer from legendary Los Angeles punk band the Bags, during her book tour for Violence Girl. Violence Girl - From East LA Rage to Hollywood Stage is Alice's explicit memoir of her life from her Mexican American roots to her glam rock days to her punk days in late 70s Los Angeles. It was published by Adam Parfrey's Feral House in 2011.

RGW:
Any chance of a Bags reunion?

Alice Bag:
Craig Lee and Rob Ritter are dearly departed and Patricia lives in England. I don't think a reunion is likely but I won't say never because I would love to jam with Terry and Patricia if we all happened to be in the same place some day.

RGW:
You mention the ups and downs of punk friendships in your book. Are you still close with any of your friends from back in the day? Which ones and why?

Alice Bag:
I keep in touch with most of them off and on, mostly online these days because I live in Arizona. I think we'll always have a special bond because we went through such a special time together.

RGW:
You mentioned to me in Oakland that you enjoy writing and want to continue with it. What are your future writing plans?

Alice Bag:
I enjoy writing when I make time to do it. Lately it's been difficult to find time to sit down in front of a computer without life interrupting me. I don't mind. I love being busy especially since much of my work is related to the book. I am often reluctant to start writing but it's like exercising, I feel so good after I do it!

RGW:
How do you feel about the book banning law in Arizona which has resulted in writing by Native American and Latino authors being banned in schools in Tucson?

Alice Bag:
I think it's un-American! Fuckers! I heard that in Tucson they even banned Shakespeare's The Tempest and any book that deals with race, ethnicity or oppression is at risk of being banned. History has always been biased, I think it's just more obvious now because we live in an age when information is so readily available. It just makes the one-sided history advocates look bigoted. I always think that people who are afraid of different points of view must have a very tenuous grasp on their own beliefs.

RGW:
What are your thoughts on the drug war tragedy affecting Mexican towns like Juarez where you visited relatives as a child?

Alice Bag:
It makes me really sad. I can't look at that photo in my book, the one that I labeled Don't mess with the little girls of Juarez. I can't look at it without thinking that it could be one of them or one of their daughters that has gone missing. I wish I could fight back with them like I did when we were children.

RGW:
You discuss your friendship with Darby Crash in the book. Did you see the Germs film and what did you think of it?

Alice Bag:
I did not see the film. I moved out to a somewhat remote part of Arizona when the film was first released and then I just never got around to seeing it.

RGW:
Is punk dead?

Alice Bag:
Not at all. I think at some point in my life I might have answered that question differently but I was just looking in the wrong place for it. It's generally not found at the mall or on top 40 radio. The spirit of punk is very much alive. I see punk as iconoclastic and rebellious, so it takes many forms. I can detect punk in innovative teaching, creative cooking, subversive hacktivism, defiant protest and of course in music that is challenging, unpretentious, and daring!

RGW:
Your eye for detail and description of color and style gave your book a magical realism feel. Do you enjoy any Latin American authors such as Isabel Allende or Gabriel Garcia Marquez who are known for this and have they been an influence?

Alice Bag:
Thank you, I love Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. House of the Spirits and Love in the Time of Cholera are two of my favorite books. If you detect even a shred of their influence in my writing I would consider it an enormous compliment. I'm just a fan.

RGW:
Do the fortune telling birds still exist anywhere? Where?

Alice Bag:
Yes, I think they still do exist. You'll just have to take an adventurous journey south to find them but perhaps they'll reward you with something you need to hear.

RGW:
I was surprised you didn't mention Darby Crash being gay but mention him having girlfriends. Do you think his sexual orientation contributed to his depression and confusion? Were you and Darby ever more than friends? I couldn't help but wonder because you were both attractive punk rockers and so close!

Alice Bag:
When I met him I think he was still exploring his sexuality. Darby and I exchanged a few drunken sloppy kisses one night. I don't think it felt right for either of us. We had grown apart by the time his depression set in so I can't really say what caused it.

RGW:
Are you still a Cosmo girl?

Alice Bag:
No, but whenever I see one of my daughters reading Cosmo I have to smile inwardly. I think I've been very open with my girls about sexuality in ways that would make my mother blush. Sometimes I preface my talks with "tell me if this makes you uncomfortable or if it's too much information."

RGW:
I loved your exploration of your Catholic religious upbringing, Mexican folk magic influences and existential philosophy debates with Darby Crash. It was refreshing to see that your punk world view was not nihilistic. How has your spirituality changed? How do you see God?

Alice Bag:
I see God everywhere, I see all humanity and nature connected. I don't believe in inanimate objects. I think everything has a life force. I think my welfare and the welfare of every other being are interdependent. We are God.

RGW:
Any plans of resurrecting Elton Jane?

Alice Bag:
Not quite, but I have been covering an Elton John song during my recent readings.

RGW:
I love your Cholita band project with Vaginal Creme Davis and Fertile Latoya Jackson. Does Cholita have any recordings out or shows coming up? What do you think of Vag Davis' success as an art star in Berlin?

Alice Bag:
Ms. Davis is mega-talented, as is Fertile LaToyah Jackson. Fertile was my TA in my early years as a teacher. It was through Fertile that I met Ms. Davis. Fertile (whose real name is Greg) and I had gone to a faculty party, where we started drinking. Greg told me he had to leave early because he was performing that night with the Afro Sisters and he invited me to the show. When we got to the venue,
Ms. Davis stuck an Afro wig on my head and invited me up on stage. After that, I was hooked.

RGW:
Which Rocky Horror character did you dress up as?

Alice Bag:
I was a Columbia but I think I would have made a better Eddie. I still tend to sing and act out "my" parts when I catch the movie on TV now and then. I used to know all the dialogue, I don't anymore.

RGW:
Did you ever meet Cherry Vanilla and have you read her book "Lick Me" ? That was nice of you to devote a couple pages to her in Violence Girl. Her correspondence must have really had an impact on your friend and you. Any more thoughts on the fabulous Cherry Vanilla?

Alice Bag:
I've never met her in person but her letters and poetry were so honest and wise that they made a big impression on me. I didn't know that Cherry has a new book. I can't wait to read it, if it's Cherry Vanilla, I'll take two scoops!

RGW:
Your book deals a lot with violence, both the domestic violence in your parents' marriage inflicted by your father on your mother and also in the punk scene. What are your views on violence today? How do you think women should handle domestic violence? Do you think your mother should have left? Can violent men be rehabilitated?

Alice Bag:
Violence takes so many shapes. I think of it as a destructive force, I think of it as a dangerous yet powerful act that can be offensive or defensive. It's not always physical either, it can be psychological, emotional, financial. Anyone involved in a situation where domestic abuse is happening needs to get out and get help as soon as possible. My mother should have left, it would have been better for all of us.

I'm going to be very honest with you and tell you that if anyone hits me, they can expect to be hit back, and harder. I never turn the other cheek because in my experience that doesn't work. We are animals and some of us are more predatory than others. If you're near a predator, they can smell weakness, they can spot their prey coming a mile away. It's not a rational process for me - you hit me and my fists start flying, it's automatic. I think all women should take some type of self defense training. Violence, when directed at an attacker can be a very positive thing. I do think violent men can be rehabilitated, did you see the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? She's got a great success rate!
END.
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