Anti Nowhwere League: We Are... The League 1982 + We Are... The League Un-Cut 2014

Formed in 1980, in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, by Nick Culmer (vocals), Chris Exall (guitar), Persian John (drums), and Clive Blake (bass), Anti-Nowhere League released its debut on May 7th of 1982 through their own label, WXYZ Records.

From contemporary reviews, Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the album a four star out of five rating stating that it was "the most viscous mean-spirited, gratuitously violent punk band to come down the pike in a long time." and stated the album was for "mature adults, this is the best hard-core punk record England has yielded since the Sex Pistols era. Every song features a slamming, inescapable beat to match the freely flung obscenities."
                                                                       

[ Artist Biography by Mark Deming

Even when judged by the often confrontational standards of U.K. punk, the Anti-Nowhere League were a band committed to offending people. Looking less like a group of bohemian rebels than an especially unsavory biker gang eager to stomp someone (frontman Animal admits to being a former member of outlaw motorcycle clubs), the Anti-Nowhere League made an immediate impact when they burst onto the British rock scene in 1980. They were heroes to hard-boiled U.K. punks, and to nearly everyone else they were an affront to all decency -- which, of course, made the punks love them all the more.
                                                            

                                                                               
The Anti-Nowhere League formed in Turnbridge Wells, England in 1980. The group's initial lineup

featured Animal (aka Nick Culmer) on lead vocals, Magoo (aka Chris Exall) on guitar and vocals, Bones (aka Tony Shaw) on drums, and Chris Elvey on bass. Elvey was soon dropped from the lineup, with Winston (aka Clive Blake) taking over on bass. In 1981, Bones left the group, and Gooky Hopper was a short-term replacement until PJ (aka Persian John, born Djahanshah Aghssa) came aboard on drums, solidifying the Anti-Nowhere League's first definitive lineup.
                                               

                                                                                  
After touring with major second-wave U.K. punk acts such as the Exploited, Discharge, and Chron

Gen, the group landed a deal with British punk label WXYZ Records. The ANL's debut single was a punked-up cover of Ralph McTell's "Streets of London," but it was the B-side that got most of the attention. "So What" was a three-minute torrent of four-letter words and grotesque sexual boasts that was foul enough that one pressing was confiscated from the distributor's warehouse by the Metropolitan Police's Obscene Publication Squad.
                                                        

                                                                               
We Are... The League

As so often happened in British punk, the scandal only raised the Anti-Nowhere League's profile, and in 1982 the band released its first album, We Are...The League. The album fared well on the British charts, and by the end of the year the ANL made their American debut in a joint tour with U.K. Subs. A visit to Southeastern Europe was documented on the 1983 LP Live in Yugoslavia, and the Anti-Nowhere League expanded to a five-piece with second guitarist Gilly (aka Mark Gilham).
                                                     

                                                                                
After PJ left the ANL in 1984, the band focused on live work, with PJ initially replaced by Michael Bettell, and next by JB (aka Jonathan Birch), who signed on in 1986. It wasn't until 1987 that the Anti-Nowhere League finally delivered their second album, the significantly more polished The Perfect Crime. By the end of the year, the ANL decided to call it quits, though they regrouped to play a farewell show in Turnbridge Wells in 1989.
                                                   

                                                                                  
In 1991, Metallica recorded a cover of "So What," which appeared as the B-side of their "Sad But True" single. In 1992, when Metallica were headlining London's Wembley Arena, they invited Animal to sing "So What" with them, and after that the song appeared regularly on Metallica's set lists. This sparked a new interest in the group, and Animal reassembled the Anti-Nowhere League, with Magoo and Gilly rejoining the group.
                                              

                                                                                
In 1995 they recorded a studio EP, Pig Iron, and a full-length album, Scum, appeared in 1998. By this time, the Anti-Nowhere League's membership became quite fluid, with Animal the only consistent member, though the band continued to tour regularly well into the 21st century.
                                                     

                                                                                   
Along with releasing a wide variety of live albums, the group showed a new dedication to recording in

the new millennium. They released Kings & Queens in 2005, The Road to Rampton in 2007, We Are the League... Uncut in 2014, and The Cage in 2016, all of which showed that the ANL were still capable of generating the grimy thunder that made them famous. With 2017's League Style, the band put their own unique stamp on a set of reggae and rocksteady covers.]

ANTI NOWHERE LEAGUE: "WE ARE... THE LEAGUE"  1982

TRAXS

01. We're The League     
02. Animal     
03. Woman     
04. Can't Stand Rock'N'Roll     
05. (We Will Not) Remember You     
06. Snowman     
07. Streets Of London     
08. I Hate...People      
09. 'Reck-A-Nowhere     
10. World War lll     
11. Nowhere Man     
12. Let's Break The Law     
13. Rocker     
14. So What

MP3 @ 320 Size: 90.5 MB
Flac  Size: 267 MB

ANTI NOWHEE LEAGUE: "WE ARE... THE LEAGUE UN - CUT   "  2014

                                              

                                                                           
Animal & the boys return with brand new & rowdy, re-recordings of The League's classic debut LP plus bonus tracks! Re-recording of the complete 'We are the League' album using original lyrics. This was exactly how the album was written before being confiscated and never been put together in its entirety since 1980.

TRAXS

01. We Are The League     
02.  Can't Stand Rock'n'Roll     
03.  Animal     
04.  I Hate People     
05.  Nowhere Man     
06.  Woman     
07.  Streets Of London     
08.  Wreck A Nowhere     
09.  Snowman     
10.  World War III     
11.  Let's Break The Law     
12.  We Will Not Remember You     
13.  So What     
14. This Is War     
15.  For You

MP3 @ 320 Size: 102 MB
Flac  Size: 321 MB    

WE ARE... THE LEAGUE   LYRICS

We are the League!
Another boring night and I'm feeling pissed
My head's fucked up and I'm in a mess
Too many drugs, they make me high
I wanna cause havoc, I wanna die.

We are the League, and we're the extra man
We are the League, and we are the anti-band
And don't you say you're feeling bored
The League are here and we are scorned.

We are the League
We are the League
We are the League
The Anti-Nowhere League.

You criticise us, you say we're shit
But we're up here and we're doing it
So don't you criticise the things we do
No fucker pays to go and see you.

We are the League and we are mad
We are the League and the music's bad
Fuck-up noise like you've never known
We'll make you wish you'd stayed at home.

We are the League
We are the League
We are the League
The Anti-Nowhere League.

But we ain't no dogs, we ain't no man
We hate the things we don't understand
A time for love, but that ain't class
If you don't fucking like it stuff it up your arse.

We are the League and we are mean
We are the League and we're obscene
Don't give a toss what you think
And all your views they fucking stink.

We are the League
We are the League
We are the League
And don't fuck with the League!

WOMAN LYRICS

Woman
I'm in love in you
My love is deep
My love is true
To you, woman, I'm in love.

Your hair's so soft
Your eyes are blue
Your skin is warm
And I'll be true to you
Woman, I'm in love with you.

You came to me in a dream, I'm sure
You gave your love, you gave much more to me
Woman
Will you marry me?

"Do you take this woman
To be your lawful wedded wife
To love and to cherish
And in sickness and in health
Till death do you part?
I do."

Till death us do part [6x]
What's that you just said to me
You didn't love me like this yesterday
Woman
I don't understand.

And what's that you did say to me
I guess this love is just more to me
Woman
You're annoying me.

Yeah, you're sitting on your arse in your dirty clothes
You're looking a mess, you're picking your nose
Woman
You're a fucking mess.

Your tits are big but your brains are small
Sometimes I wonder you got any brains at all
Woman
Ah stuff yourself.

Well fuck you, fuck you
Don't you tell me what to do
Woman
Ah fuck off.

I've got my deed, I've married you
What did I do to deserve you?
Woman
Why me?

Woman
Woman
Woman
Woman
Woman
I hate you.

Kak: Kak - Ola 1969 (Reissued 1997)

Although formed in Davis, California, Kak were based in San Francisco for a good part of 1968, when they recorded their only album. Lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Gary Lee Yoder and lead guitarist Dehner Patten had been in the Oxford Circle, an obscure early Northern Californian psychedelic band that had cut one garage/psych single ("Foolish Woman"/"Mind Destruction") and played some shows on the San Francisco psychedelic circuit, while bassist Joe Dave Damrell had been on a 1965 single on Scorpio Records with Group "B".
                                                           

                                                                               
The self-titled Kak LP was minor-league San Francisco psychedelic rock colored by a lot of influence from bigger Bay Area bands, particularly Moby Grape; the vocal harmonies and curling guitar work on

tracks like "Disbelievin'" and "Everything's Changing" in particular sounded like a more pedestrian Moby Grape. There were also more distant echoes of Quicksilver Messenger Service (in the guitar work) and the Grateful Dead (in faint traces of country-blues-rock). Kak were best, and least derivative, at their quietest, as on the gentle country-tinged rocker "I've Got Time, " the good-time wistful psych-folk-rock of "Lemonade Kid, " and the harpsichord-decorated ballad "Flowing By, " which was as derivative of Donovan as much of their other songs were of Moby Grape.
                                                     

                                                                           
Kak-Ola
Kak's album was barely promoted and sold little. It didn't help that the band played less than a dozen shows before breaking up in early 1969, Damrell having already quit prior to the split. Yoder did a single for Epic and then joined Blue Cheer. The Kak album eventually became a pricey collector's item, and was reissued on CD by Big Beat (with the new title Kak-ola) in 1999 with plenty of bonus cuts, including previously unreleased acoustic demos and Yoder solo tracks from the late '60s.
                                                  

                                                                        
Gary Lee Yoder (born 1946) is an American musician who was part of several 1960s San Francisco psychedelic rock bands, including Kak, the Oxford Circle, and Blue Cheer.
                                                           

                                                                                
Loder was born in Pasadena, Califormia. Oxford Circle (formed in 1966) and Kak (formed in 1968) were both formed in Yoder's hometown of Davis, California, and featured the same nucleus of

members. While Oxford Circle frequently shared the stage with greats such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin, they did not achieve the same level of fame and never got a record deal. In 1997, a live album, Live at the Avalon 1966 was released. It made #6 on Record Collector's list of Top 50 reissues of 1997, ahead of reissues of Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, and Santana, and also received a favorable review in Mojo.
                                                     

                                                                                 
Kak would release only one record in 1969, the eponymous Kak, which has become a collector's item. It was reissued by Big Beat Records in 1999 as Kak-ola. This recording additionally contained unreleased solo work by Yoder. In 1999, Kak would be reissued on CD as Kak-ola with a host of unreleased demos and Gary Lee Yoder solo recordings that featured Paul Whaley on drums.
                                                          

                                                                                
[Although this is actually the Kak album with a bunch of bonus tracks, it merits a separate entry both because this version boasts a different title (Kak-Ola), and because the bonus tracks make this disc twice as lengthy as the original LP. Those curious about the original Kak because of its high reputation among some collectors might be disappointed by its average, often derivative (particularly of Moby Grape) San Francisco psychedelic rock. Some of the more folk-rock-oriented numbers are pleasant, however, especially "I've Got Time," "Flowing By," and "Lemonade Kid." The ten bonus tracks do much to round out the picture of the little-recorded band.
                                                  

                                                                                
These include the 45 version of "Rain" (which is different than the one that appears as part of the "Trieulogy" medley on the LP); 1968 acoustic versions of four songs from the album that may actually be more attractive to some ears due to their folkier bent, along with one acoustic rendition of a song ("Bye Bye"/"Easy Jack") that was not included on the album; Gary Yoder's solo single "Flight from the East" and "Good Time Music"; and three Yoder demos from late 1967 with Blue Cheer's Paul Whaley on drums and Bruce Stephens on guitar. The Yoder solo material is pretty routine heavy late-'60s San Francisco rock, and not up to the level of the Kak stuff.
Richie Unterberger]

DISCOGRAPHY

Kak (Studio Album) (1968, Epic)
Everything's Changing (Single) (1968, Epic)
I've Got Time (Single) (1969, Epic)
Lluvia (Rain) (EP) (1969, Epic)
Kak-Ola (Compilation) (1999, Big Beat)

MEMBERS

Gary Lee Yoder - Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals
Dehner C. Patten - Guitar, Vocals
Joseph D. Damrell - Bass Guitar, Sitar, Tambourine, Vocals
Christopher Lockheed - Drums, Tabla, Harpsichord, Maracas, Vocals

Kak ‎– Kak-Ola
Label: Big Beat Records ‎– CDWIKD 187
Series: Nuggets From The Golden State
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 1999
Country: UK
Released: 1969
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Folk Rock

TRACKS

01. HCO 97658     1:40
02. Everything's Changing     4:07
03. Electric Sailor     3:08
04. Disbelievin'     4:00
05. I've Got Time     3:41
06. Flowing By     3:58
07. Bryte 'N' Clear Day     3:47
Trieulogy     (8:12)
08. I  Golgotha     
08. II  Mirage     
08. III Rain     
09. Lemonaide Kid     5:56
10. Rain (Single Version)     2:06
11. Everything's Changing (Acoustic Demo)     2:54
12. I've Got Time (Acoustic Demo)     2:06
13. Medley: Bye Bye / Easy Jack     4:14
14. Bryte 'N' Clear Day (Acoustic Live Version)     6:10
15. Medley: Mirage / Rain (Acoustic Live Version)     5:53
Gary Lee Yoder
16. When Love Comes In     2:50
17. I Miss You     3:59
18. Lonely People Blues     4:16
19. Flight From The East     4:13
20. Good Time Music     2:20
 
Credits

Arranged By – Lockheed, Patten, Yoder, Damrell
Art Direction – Bob Cato, John Berg
Backing Vocals – Billie Barnum (tracks: 19, 20)
Bass – Jim Keylor (tracks: 16, 17, 19, 20), Ralph Burns Kellogg (tracks: 18)
Bass Guitar, Sitar, Tambourine, Vocals – Joseph D. Damrell (tracks: 1 to 15)
Compiled By, Liner Notes – Alec Palao
Design – Gary Grelecki
Drums – Paul Whaley (tracks: 16 to 20)
Drums, Tabla, Harpsichord, Maracas, Vocals – Christopher A. Lockheed (tracks: 1 to 15)
Engineer – Robert Breault, Rafael Valentin, Terry Dunavan
Flute – Richard Berger (tracks: 17)
Guitar – Bruce Stephens (tracks: 16 to 18), Bryn Haworth (tracks: 19, 20)
Keyboards – Pete Sears (tracks: 19, 20), Ralph Burns Kellogg (tracks: 18)
Lead Guitar, Vocals – Dehner C. Patten (tracks: 1 to 15)
Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Gary Lee Yoder
Painting [Cover] – Edward Kaspar
Producer – Gary Grelecki (tracks: 1 to 10), Kak (tracks: 1 to 10), Milan Melvin (tracks: 19, 20)
Written-By – Chris Lockheed (tracks: 1, 3), Dehner Patten (tracks: 1, 3), Gary Grelecki (tracks: 1, 2, 6 to 7, 8.II, 8.III, 10, 11, 14, 15), Gary Lee Yoder, Joseph Damrell (tracks: 1, 3)
                                                                

MP3 @ 320 Size: 185 MB
Flac  Size: 423 MB

Minor Threat: Complete Discography 1989

What's to be said about Minor Threat that hasn't already been said? Although they weren't the first

hardcore punk band, they would become the model for hundreds of bands that came after them would follow. They were fronted by Ian MacKaye, a man who espoused a strict D.I.Y. philosophy free of rock and roll clichés that had sunk many early punk acts. And unlike many others who claimed to have the same ideals, Ian practiced what he preached (and continues to do so today). The band's brief discography is one of the most intense collections of music ever committed to vinyl (or, these days, plastic).
                                                            

                                                                                        

Minor Threat was formed in 1980 by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson, two friends from high school who had made up the rhythm section of the Teen Idles, one of the first hardcore punk bands

from Washington DC. MacKaye, the son of a religious editor for a DC-area newspaper, was a fiercely independent spirit who was dedicated to the idea of a completely underground music scene. He was also fiercely opposed to the consumption of drugs and alcohol, although it was an idea that he lived himself and did not believe in forcing upon others. As part of their dedication to an underground and independent music system, MacKaye and Nelson had started Dischord Records using money the Teen Idles had saved during their existence (the Teen Idles posthumous 7" was the label's first release and former Idles vocalist Nathan Strejeck helped MacKaye and Nelson run the label for a brief period).
                                                      

                                                                                
Nelson and MacKaye first recruited Lyle Preslar to join their band. Lyle had sung for a band called the

Extorts (also known as Vile Lyle and the Extorts) for the group's only show but was better known as a guitar player. Lyle suggested 15 year-old Brian Baker as bassist. There are conflicting stories about Brian's entry into the band. Preslar attended the same high school as Baker but they were not friends, and MacKaye knew of him as a bratty kid who was also a talented musician (as a 12 year-old living in Michigan, Brian had once actually jammed on stage with guitar legend Carlos Santana).
                                              

                                                                              
Baker has said that he believes that he was asked to join the band because he was the only person left in the scene that wasn't in a band and played a string instrument. MacKaye, however, has said that Baker begged to be in the band. Whatever the story, the line up was now set and the group began practicing and playing out. Immediately, the music was impressively tight, much more so than many of their peers, bands like S.O.A., Government Issue, and Youth Brigade, who were starting out around the same time.
                                           

                                                                               
Like many of the early hardcore bands on the east coast, they were influenced by British punk, but they

had also come under the spell of the Bad Brains, who, like Minor Threat, were from DC. The Bad Brains influence not only resulted in tighter musicianship but also a much faster tempo than the early DC punk bands had. MacKaye, the group's lyricist and main songwriter, articulated an anger and aggression that was matched by few in those days. The combination of aggression and impressive musicianship made Minor Threat stand out.
Band History written by Patrick. READ HERE.
                                                  

                                                                          
[ AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine 

Complete Discography compiles Minor Threat's entire body of recordings on a single compact disc. Hardcore, as a rule, wasn't particularly musically diverse, but Minor Threat were one of the genre's groundbreaking acts and their music has held up better than most of their contemporaries.
                                                 

                                                                                   
As the de facto leaders of the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, the band pioneered the straight-edge

mentality by emphasizing impossibly fast tempos, brief songs, political lyrics, and a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle. Besides setting the precedent for several generations of punk rockers with their music and ideals, Minor Threat were simply a better band than most hardcore groups. They had a tight, distinctive sound that wasn't as heavy as their Californian counterparts and, therefore, were often more bracing and effective.
                                             

                                                                                
Although some of the music on Complete Discography, like much of hardcore in general, hasn't aged particularly well -- with its cheap production, rigid song structures, and political concerns, it is very much a piece of the early '80s -- the sound remains invigorating; the band possessed a visceral energy matched by only a handful of their peers. Complete Discography, in fact, is not only one of the cornerstones of any hardcore collection, it's not a bad way to become acquainted with hardcore.]
                                      

                                                                            
This group of songs is some of the strongest, loudest, most emotional, guitar-driven rock'n'roll ever

recorded. It equals the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, Iggy and the Stooges combined. But even more than that, it ushered in an entire genre of rock and roll, hardcore (which never improved upon this imprint). It is a blueprint for early Replacements, Husker Du, and yes even REM who followed.
Minor Threat could be considered the definitive Hardcore Punk group. Fast tempos, Heavy Metal guitar riffs floating from all directions and the shocking out-of-tune inane vocals of Ian MacKaye were all the elements lots of band used to make their records.
                                                

                                                                                
The label "Dischord" compiled all of Minor Threat's records onto one CD, which is not only one of

Dischord's best sellers to date, but also is one of the few hardcore CDs that can truly be considered essential to any collection. Complete Discography is a 1989 compilation album released by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat on the band's own Dischord Records. As the name implies, it contains the band's entire discography at the time, including their three EPs, the Out of Step album and Flex Your Head compilation tracks. Some tracks were unreleased at the time and didn't appear on this compilation, but were later released. This includes the songs "Understand" and "Asshole Dub" from 20 Years of Dischord.
                                               

                                                                                
The cover is very similar to that of Minor Threat, featuring the same photo of singer Ian MacKaye's younger brother, Alec MacKaye. The album was released with the cover in multiple colors, including red and green and a 2003 remastered version in blue and yellow.
                                               

                                                                                 
In 2018, Pitchfork ranked it the 23rd best album of the 1980s.

DISCOGRAPHY

1. Minor Threat (EP, 1981)
2. In My Eyes (EP, 1981)
3. Out of Step (studio album, 1983)
4. Salad Days (EP, 1985)


TRAXS & ALBUMS

 

 

01. Filler  (Minor Threat EP)  1:32
02. I Don't Wanna Hear It  (Minor Threat EP)  1:13
03. Seeing Red    (Minor Threat EP)    1:02
04. Straight Edge  (Minor Threat EP)    0:45
05. Small Man, Big Mouth  (Minor Threat EP)    0:55
06. Screaming at a Wall    (Minor Threat EP)    1:31
07. Bottled Violence  (Minor Threat EP)    0:53
08. Minor Threat  (Minor Threat EP)    1:27
09. Stand Up  (Flex Your Head - Collection)    0:53
10. 12XU (originally performed by Wire)    (Flex Your Head - Collection)  1:03
11. In My Eyes    (In My Eyes EP)    2:49
12. Out of Step     (In My Eyes EP)    1:16
13. Guilty of Bein White  (In My Eyes EP)    1:18
14. Steppin' Stone (originally performed by Paul Revere and the Raiders)   (In My Eyes EP)    2:12
15. Betray  (Out of Step LP)    3:02
16. It Follows    (Out of Step LP)    1:50
17. Think Again     (Out of Step LP)    2:18
18. Look Back and Laugh     (Out of Step LP)    3:16
19. Sob Story    (Out of Step LP)    1:50
20. No Reason    (Out of Step LP )    1:57
21. Little Friend  (Out of Step LP )  2:18
22. Out of Step     (Out of Step LP )    1:20
23. Cashing In    (Out of Step LP )    3:44
24. Stumped    (Salad Days EP)    1:55
25. Good Guys (Don't Wear White) (originally performed by The Standells)    (Salad Days EP )  2:14
26. Salad Days    (Salad Days EP)    2:46

Total length:    47:10

Personnel

Ian MacKaye – vocals
Lyle Preslar – guitar
Brian Baker – bass guitar on tracks 1–14 and 24–26, guitar on tracks 15–23
Steve Hansgen – bass guitar on tracks 15–23
Jeff Nelson – drums
Cynthia Connolly – Drawing
Glen E. Friedman – Photography
Skip Groff – Mixing
Susie Josephson – Photography
Minor Threat – Producer, Mixing
Tomas Squip – Photography
Don Zientara – Engineer

FILLER LYRICS

 

 

What happened to you?
You're not the same
There's something in your head
Made a violent change

It's in your head, it's in your head, it's in your head
Don't look!
You call it religion, you're full of shit
Filler

Was she really worth it?
She cost you your life
You'll never leave her side
She's gonna be your wife

It's in your head, it's in your head, it's in your head
Don't look!
You call it romance, you're full of shit
Filler

Your brain is clay
What's going on?
You picked up a Bible
And now you're gone

It's in your head, it's in your head, it's in your head
Don't look!
You call it religion, you're full of shit
Filler

You never knew, you never will
Don't look!
You're not the same, fucking full of shit, man
Filler
What is going on?
Filler, filler, filler, filler in your head

BOTTLED VIOLENCE LYRICS

Get your bravery from a six pack
Get your bravery from a half-pint
Drink your whiskey, drink your grain
Bottoms up, and you don't feel pain
Drink your whiskey, drink your grain
Bottoms up, and you don't feel pain

Go out and fight, fight!
Go out and fight!
Bottled violence!

Lose control of your body
Beat the shit out of somebody
Half-shut eyes don't see who you hit
You don't take any shit!
Half-shut eyes don't see who you hit
You don't take any shit!

Go out and fight, fight!
Go out and fight, fight!
Bottled violence!
Go out and fight, fight!
Go out and fight!
Bottled violence!

MP3 @ 320 Size: 116 MB
Flac  Size: 328 MB