Editing Hardcore punk (section)

=====Los Angeles=====
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| quote = Hardcore punk drew a line in the sand between older and [[avant-garde rock]] fans and a new bunch of kids who were coming up. On one side there were those who considered the music (and its fans) loud, ugly and incoherent: to the folks on the other side, hardcore was the only music that mattered. A rare generational divide in rock music had arisen. And that's when exciting things happen.
| source = Music journalist [[Michael Azerrad]] in the book ''[[Our Band Could Be Your Life]]'' (2001)<ref>Azerrad, Michael. ''Our Band Could Be Your Life''. 2001. Little Brown Books. pp. 14.</ref>
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[[Michael Azerrad]] states that "[by] 1979 the original punk scene [in Southern California] had almost completely died out" and was replaced by punk music boiled down to its essence, but with faster tempos, which became known as "hardcore".<ref>{{cite book |last=Azerrad |first=Michael |date=2001 |title=Our Band Could Be Your Life |publisher=Bay Back Books|pages=13–14 |isbn=9780316787536}}</ref> Steven Blush states that the first hardcore record to come out of the West Coast was ''[[Out of Vogue]]'' by the Santa Ana band [[Middle Class (band)|Middle Class]].<ref>Steven Blush. ''American Hardcore: A Tribal Tradition''. Feral House, 2001. p. 19</ref> The band pioneered a shouted, fast version of punk rock which would shape the hardcore sound that would soon emerge. In terms of impact upon the hardcore scene, Black Flag has been deemed the most influential group. Azerrad calls Black Flag the "godfathers" of hardcore punk and states that even "...more than the flagship band of American hardcore", they were "...required listening for anyone who was interested in underground music."<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |last=Azerrad |first=Michael |title=Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991 |publisher=Underground Music |isbn=0-316-78753-1|date=July 2, 2002 }}</ref> Blush states that Black Flag were to hardcore what the [[Sex Pistols]] and [[Ramones]] were to punk.<ref>Steven Blush. ''American Hardcore: A Tribal Tradition''. Feral House, 2001. p. 56</ref> Formed in [[Hermosa Beach, California|Hermosa Beach]], California by [[guitarist]] and primary songwriter [[Greg Ginn]], they played their first show in December 1977. Originally called Panic, they changed their name to Black Flag in 1978.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Grad |first=David |title=Fade to Black |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |date=July 1997}}</ref>

By 1979, Black Flag were joined by another [[South Bay (Los Angeles County)|South Bay]] hardcore band, the [[Minutemen (band)|Minutemen]], with whom they shared a practice space until both bands were evicted, as well as the [[Circle Jerks]] (which featured Black Flag's original singer, [[Keith Morris]]).<ref>Steven Blush. American Hardcore: a Tribal History. Feral House, 2010. p. 61</ref> From [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], two other bands playing hardcore punk, [[Fear (band)|Fear]] and the [[Germs (band)|Germs]], were featured with Black Flag and the Circle Jerks in [[Penelope Spheeris]]' 1981 documentary ''[[The Decline of Western Civilization]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-decline-of-western-civilization-punk-documentary-review-germs-x-black-flag/|title = The Decline of Western Civilization Captured the Chaos of L.A.'s Early Punk Scene|website = [[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date = July 29, 2020}}</ref> By the time the film was released, other hardcore bands from [[Los Angeles County]] were also making a name for themselves including [[Bad Religion]], [[Descendents]], [[Red Kross]], [[Rhino 39]], [[Suicidal Tendencies]], [[Wasted Youth (American band)|Wasted Youth]], [[Youth Brigade (band)|Youth Brigade]], and [[Youth Gone Mad]].<ref>Steven Blush. American Hardcore: a Tribal History. Feral House, 2010. p. 82-91, 108-</ref> Neighboring [[Orange County, California|Orange County]] had [[the Adolescents]], [[Agent Orange (band)|Agent Orange]], [[China White (band)|China White]], [[Social Distortion]], [[Shattered Faith]], [[T.S.O.L.]], and [[Uniform Choice]], while north of Los Angeles, around [[Oxnard, California|Oxnard]], California, a hardcore scene known as "nardcore" developed with bands like [[Agression (band)|Agression]], [[Ill Repute]], [[Dr. Know (band)|Dr. Know]], and [[Rich Kids on LSD]].<ref>Steven Blush. American Hardcore: a Tribal History. Feral House, 2010. p. 95-107</ref>[[File:Mike Watt 2013.jpg|225px|thumb|right|Mike Watt, formerly the bassist for the [[Minutemen (band)|Minutemen]] in a 2013 show]]

Whilst popular traditional punk bands such as [[the Clash]], Ramones, and Sex Pistols were signed to major record labels, the hardcore punk bands were generally not. Black Flag, however, was briefly signed to [[MCA Records|MCA]] subsidiary Unicorn Records but were dropped because an executive considered their music to be "anti-parent".<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Flag |work=Sounds magazine |url=http://www.micksinclair.com/sounds/bf.html |access-date=May 27, 2006}}</ref> Instead of trying to be courted by the major labels, hardcore bands started their own [[independent record label]]s and distributed their records themselves. Ginn started [[SST Records]], which released Black Flag's debut EP ''[[Nervous Breakdown (EP)|Nervous Breakdown]]'' in 1979. SST went on to release a number of albums by other hardcore artists, and was described by Azerrad as "easily the most influential and popular underground indie of the Eighties."<ref name="ReferenceA"/> SST was followed by a number of other successful artist-run labels—including [[BYO Records]] (started by Shawn and Mark Stern of Youth Brigade),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.punknews.org/article/38406/interviews-shawn-stern-byo-records-youth-brigade|title=Interviews: Shawn Stern (BYO Records, Youth Brigade)|website=Punknews.org|date=May 25, 2010 |access-date=September 5, 2020}}</ref> [[Epitaph Records]] (started by [[Brett Gurewitz]] of Bad Religion),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1292-epitaphs-brett-gurewitz-on-buildingand-shiftinga-punk-empire/|title=Epitaph's Brett Gurewitz On Building—and Shifting—a Punk Empire|first=Eric|last=Ducker|website=Pitchfork.com|date=September 15, 2016|access-date=September 5, 2020}}</ref> [[New Alliance Records]] (started by the Minutemen's [[D. Boon]] and [[Mike Watt]]),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6K6l38haOK4C&q=new+alliance+d+boon&pg=PT54|title=Husker Du: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock|first=Andrew|last=Earles|date=November 15, 2010|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=9781616739799|access-date=September 5, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref> as well as fan-run labels like [[Frontier Records]] and [[Slash Records]].

Bands also funded and organized their own tours. Black Flag's tours in 1980 and 1981 brought them in contact with developing hardcore scenes in many parts of North America, and blazed trails that were followed by other touring bands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.punknews.org/bands/blackflag|title=Black Flag|last=Punknews.org|website=Punknews.org|date=July 26, 2006 |access-date=January 18, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222223049/https://www.punknews.org/bands/blackflag|archive-date=December 22, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Britannica|9105869|Black Flag}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090526210253/http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/black_flag/bio.jhtml |archive-date=May 26, 2009 |publisher=[[VH1]] |url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/black_flag/bio.jhtml |title=Black Flag}}</ref> Concerts in the early Los Angeles hardcore scene increasingly became sites of violent battles between police and concertgoers. Another source of violence in L.A. was tension created by what one writer calls the invasion of "antagonistic suburban [[poseur]]s" into hardcore venues.<ref>"Fantagraphics Books – Los Bros. Hernandez". Fantagraphics.com. Retrieved February 7, 2012.</ref> Violence at hardcore concerts was portrayed in episodes of the popular television shows ''[[CHiPs]]'' and ''[[Quincy, M.E.]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXyFAwAAQBAJ&q=chips+quincy+hardcore+violence&pg=PT1713|title=The Music Sound|first=Nicolae|last=Sfetcu|date=May 7, 2014|publisher=Nicolae Sfetcu|access-date=September 5, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref>

In the pre-Internet era, fanzines, commonly called [[zines]], enabled hardcore scene members to learn about bands, clubs, and record labels. Zines typically included reviews of shows and records, interviews with bands, letters, ads for records and labels, and were DIY products, "proudly amateur, usually handmade. A zine called ''We Got Power'' described the Los Angeles scene from 1981 to 1984, and it included show reviews and band interviews with groups including D.O.A., the Misfits, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies and the Circle Jerks.<ref name="avclub.com">{{cite web |last=Heller |first=Jason |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/with-zines-the-90s-punk-scene-had-a-living-history-104206 |title=With zines, the '90s punk scene had a living history · Fear Of A Punk Decade · The A.V. Club |publisher=Avclub.com |date=October 15, 2013 |access-date=August 20, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823033946/http://www.avclub.com/article/with-zines-the-90s-punk-scene-had-a-living-history-104206 |archive-date=August 23, 2014 }}</ref>