The Circle Jerks
are an American punk band, formed circa 1979 in Hermosa Beach, California. It was formed by Black Flag's original singer, Keith Morris, and future Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson. They were among the preeminent hardcore punk bands of the L.A. scene in the early 1980s.
The band broke up and reformed twice, sometimes with different bass players and/or drummers. They disbanded for the first time after the release of their fifth album, 1987's VI
, as Hetson decided to continue touring and releasing a number of albums with Bad Religion. However, they reunited around 1994 and recorded a reunion album, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities
, in the following year, then a tour followed. After that, the Circle Jerks once again parted ways as Hetson was still involved in Bad Religion, but reunited again around 2001. The band has continued touring ever since.
To date, the Circle Jerks have released six full-length studio albums, one compilation, live album and live DVD. Their last studio release, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities
, came out in 1995 and is the only reunion album the band has released to date. Rumor has it that the Circle Jerks are supposedly gearing up for a new studio album, but nothing has surfaced and little is known whether they have begun work on it. [1] If it is released, this will be their first album of new material in 14 years.
Many of today's punk groups cite the Circle Jerks as an influence, including Anti-Flag [2] [3], Dropkick Murphys [4], The Offspring
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CIRCLE JERKS TICKETS
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History
Early days and increasing popularity (1979–1982)
Lead vocalist
Keith Morris was an original member of Black Flag, co-founding the band with
Greg Ginn and recording the
Nervous Breakdown
EP with them before suddenly departing the group in 1979. Morris formed Circle Jerks along with guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson (a
classically trained guitarist), and drummer
Lucky Lehrer.
Their debut album,
Group Sex
was released in 1980 on the
Frontier Records label; its 14 songs totaled out at 15 minutes. It featured some songs that Morris had written while in Black Flag (Black Flag claimed the songs were "theirs"). That same year, the group was one of several California punk bands to be immortalized in the
Penelope Spheeris documentary
The Decline of Western Civilization
; live versions of five songs from
Group Sex
appear on the movie's soundtrack.
In 1981, the group signed with
IRS Records subsidiary
Faulty Products and recorded their second release,
Wild in the Streets
, the title track of which is a cover version of a
Garland Jeffreys tune. Faulty Products ceased operations several months after the release of the album, forcing Circle Jerks to find their third record deal in as many years. While they regained the copyright to
Wild In The Streets
, the original stereo master tape was lost, forcing the band to do a remix from the multi-track tapes when they reissued the album, along with
Group Sex
, on CD in 1988. The original can be found on Posh Boy Records' compilation 'Posh Hits Vol. 1'.
The final years (1983–1988)
They signed a management deal with
War producer/manager
Jerry Goldstein's Far Out Productions, and recorded their third album,
Golden Shower of Hits
, in 1983, the album was released on Goldstein's LAX label. The title track is actually a medley of six
cover versions (of artists as diverse and unexpected as
The Association,
The Carpenters, and
Tammy Wynette) strung together to create a story line of two people who fall in love, have an unplanned
pregnancy, rush into marriage, and end up
divorced. Another song from the album, "Coup d'État", was used in the soundtrack of
Alex Cox's early film
Repo Man
, and the band makes an appearance playing an acoustic/lounge version of "When The Shit Hits The Fan".
Not long after
Repo Man
had concluded its first-run release schedule, Rogerson and Lehrer left the band. They were replaced by
Zander Schloss (who also appeared in
Repo Man
) and Keith Clark respectively. The band also changed labels for the fourth time, signing a deal with Relativity Records' metal imprint Combat Records, which had started a punk sublabel, Combat Core. The newly revamped group recorded
Wonderful
, and released it in 1985. Their newfound stability allowed the lineup to record a second album for Relativity,
VI
, not long afterward. One track from
VI
, "Love Kills", had been commissioned by Cox for the soundtrack of the movie
Sid and Nancy
, and can be heard early on in the feature.
Chris Poland played with them briefly after being fired from Megadeth. Zander Schloss had left the band.
Hiatus (1989–1993)
The Circle Jerks dissolved around 1989 as Hetson left the band to continue playing guitar and release a number of albums with Bad Religion. Live recordings made during what would be their final tour at the time were immortalized in the live album
Gig
in 1992, their third and last release for Relativity.
During the hiatus, Hetson would continue playing in Bad Religion; Schloss played guitar and bass with various acts; Clark initially
retired from music; Morris worked menial jobs, battled health problems, and kicked a longtime dependence on drugs and alcohol.
Reunion (1994–1996)
A long period of inactivity ended in 1994, when the Circle Jerks – along with the
Wonderful
-era lineup – reunited and signed a major label deal with
Mercury Records, a move that had a few business complications: Hetson was still with Bad Religion, who had signed a long-term contract with
Atlantic Records, while Schloss had been part of a band contracted to
Interscope. After ironing out these difficulties, the band recorded
Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities
and released it in the summer of 1995. To date, it is the band's last studio album recorded by any line-up. One track on the album, a cover of
The Soft Boys' "I Wanna Destroy You", features backing vocals from pop singer/songwriter
Deborah Gibson, who had just wrapped up a solo album with the same producer the Circle Jerks were using. Gibson later made a surprise appearance at the Circle Jerks' performance at punk mecca
CBGB's to perform "I Wanna Destroy You" with the band. Despite such media attention, the group suddenly imploded three weeks into a tour behind the album. The breakup would not be totally permanent, but Clark left music for good afterward.
Second hiatus, Morris recovers, and recent activities (1997–present)
Further Circle Jerks activity was suddenly held up when Morris announced that he had been diagnosed with
diabetes in 2000. A multitude of punk bands held benefits on his behalf.
The core of Morris, Hetson, and Schloss continues to tour to the present day, in between other commitments -- Hetson is still a full-time member of Bad Religion, Schloss also plays bass for the reformed first-generation LA punk band
The Weirdos, and Morris was an A&R director for
V2 Records until the label was suddenly shuttered by its owners in 2007. Original bassist Roger Rogerson died in 1996 of a
drug overdose. Lucky Lehrer became a sunglasses seller and is still living in Southern California.
In 2004, The Circle Jerks shot a live concert DVD as part of
Kung-Fu Records' live DVD series
The Show Must Go Off!
. The band plays many songs from all six of their studio albums, plus - in nods to Schloss' other current band and Morris' salad days, respectively - covers of The Weirdos' "Solitary Confinement" and Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown".
For several years, there has been a rumored Circle Jerks album to feature new material, which had been said to be imminent; although no further formal announcement has been made. In late February 2007, the band released their first new song since 1995 on their , titled "I'm Gonna Live", adding more anticipation to the possibility of a new album emerging. However, in an April 2008 interview, guitarist Hetson admitted that the Circle Jerks may never release any new studio material, saying that he does not know "what will happen in the future, but in the near future no Circle Jerks stuff will come out."
[5]
One of the reasons why the Circle Jerks have yet to release any albums since their last record in 1995 and reunion in 2001 is their various other activities, most obviously Hetson's. His band, Bad Religion, released a compilation in 1995, an album in 1996, a live album in 1997, an album in 1998, 2000 and 2002, another compilation in 2002, an album in 2004, a live DVD in 2006 and an album in 2007. Also in 2004, they released remastered issues of their albums between
Suffer
and
Generator
as well as their 1982 debut
How Could Hell Be Any Worse?
, where Hetson contributed one track on that album prior to joining Bad Religion.
More recently, the Circle Jerks have been featured on a television commercial for
XM Satellite Radio. They are the first band played in the commercial and the song is "Operation" from the album
Group Sex
.
They have recently posted a cover of "The Slave" originally by The Germs on their myspace.
Trivia
- The pornmovie "Circa '82" from Vivid has several Circle Jerks songs in the soundtrack and features cameo by Keith Morris.
- "Live Fast Die Young" was featured in the MTV television show "Rob & Big" during a skit and is also featured on Jackass: The Game.
- Keith Clark now has a tax preparation firm, "H.N.R. Clark", in Burbank, California, specializing in income tax services for entertainers (He originally worked part-time as a "tax-prep" when the Circle Jerks weren't touring).
- "Wild in the Streets" was used in the videogame Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. The song was also featured on the MTV television show "Jackass" during a skit.
- On 28 July 1995, the band was to perform at the Huntridge Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada. Several hours before they were to arrive, the roof of the theater collapsed. There were no injuries. Lead singer Keith Morris would later comment, "As soon as we got there, we were told that the roof had collapsed and the show was canceled. We didn't have anywhere else to go, so we just set up our equipment in the parking lot and played for the 30 or 40 people who were still there."
- The band was originally supposed to be called "The Runs," but when Keith and Greg looked through a slang book they found the term "Circle Jerk"
Band members
- Keith Morris - lead vocals (1979–present)
- Greg Hetson - guitar (1979–present)
- Zander Schloss - bass (1984–present)
- Kevin Fitzgerald - drums, percussion (2001–present)
Discography
For a more comprehensive list, see Circle Jerks discography.
- 1980: Group Sex
- 1982: Wild in the Streets
- 1983: Golden Shower of Hits
- 1985: Wonderful
- 1987: VI
- 1995: Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities
References
- Circle Jerks: New Song Online
- Anti-Flag at Allmusic.com
- Circle Jerks
- Dropkick Murphys at Allmusic.com
- Interview With Bad Religion