A (Stolen) Video History of Black Flag

The development of punk in America wouldn’t have taken place if not for the Ramones and the rest of the loosely affiliated CBGB’s crew. But the bands that came after the Ramones, inspired by their nonsensical simplicity and shocking intensity, were the ones that created the independent music network that exists in the country to this day. If not for that second crop of punk bands, the DIY ethic couldn’t have been spread through the nation. And as a result, whatever underground band you might like, probably would’ve had a tougher time getting exposure if they existed at all.

The group most responsible for cementing this nation wide network was Hermosa Beach’s Black Flag. Most often associated with the nascent Henry Rollins, the band existed for around five years before Rollins entered the picture and was founded by guitarist and SST label head Greg Ginn.

The term hardcore hadn’t really been applied to anything in 1976 – well accept for porn – but the approach Black Flag took, incorporating noise and oddly structured songs work to disallow that term from being used. Of course their earlier songs clocked in at less than two minutes and were a blur of thrashing drums and intensely screamed vocals.

Beginning its recorded legacy with the Nervous Breakdown EP in 1978 while still fronted by future Circle Jerk Keith Morris, it gave the band something to hock at shows. And as their music spread, it became clear that not only was there not another band like Black Flag, but touring could potential support group members in the most meager sense.

Their tours, though, created scenes in every town that it stopped in. When returning to the same town on subsequent tours, a variety of bands, inspired by the glorious noise of Ginn and company usually awaited them as opening acts. In this manner, Black Flag served to create paths and venues for other bands to follow.

Due to a ballooning, grass roots fan base, Black Flag was courted by Unicorn Records, an MCA subsidiary, in 1981. The label and the band settled on a deal to release Damaged – the first full length with Rollins as vocalist. But when the album was delivered, the label refused to release it, because of its political and social commentary that along with the abrasive punk within made the disc seem less than commercial to Unicorn. And when the band decided to release the album on its own SST label, a court battle began which disallowed the band from releasing material for a number of years. Oddly enough, that disc would become the cornerstone of any punk record collection during the ‘80s.

But because of this denial of an artistic outlet, Black Flag began touring more voraciously than ever with each tour featuring some new embellishment on the classic sound that it had devised. Eventually, Ginn would dissolve the band and focus on the label which had released music by Sonic Youth, Husker Du and the Meat Puppets by the mid-80s. There hasn’t been a reunion, although there are more than enough of the 17 assorted members left to pull it off. But for a video history of all that’s just been recounted, head over to Arthur and take a look.