Circle Jerks: Group Sex 1980 + Wild In The Streets 1982

Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson.                                                                                                          

Lead vocalist Keith Morris was an original member of Black Flag, co-founding the band with

guitarist Greg Ginn and recording the Nervous Breakdown EP with them before suddenly departing the group in December 1979. Morris formed Circle Jerks as the Bedwetters along with guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson (a classically-trained guitarist) and drummer Lucky Lehrer (a jazz-trained drummer). Lehrer did not like the name the Bedwetters, so Morris looked through a dictionary of slang words and renamed the band the Circle Jerks.
                                                                 

The band's first recordings took place in spring 1980, including the original version of "Wild in the Streets", which appeared on Posh Boy's first Rodney on the ROQ compilation. In July of that year, the

band recorded their debut studio album, Group Sex, which was released in October 1980 on the Frontier Records label; its 14 songs totaled just 15 minutes. The album featured several songs that Morris had written while in Black Flag. 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 appeared on the movie's soundtrack.
                                                      

Their second LP, 1982's Wild in the Streets, continued the intensity while injecting a humorous slant into the music by covering '60s pop hits "Just Like Me"/"Put a Little Love in Your Heart," applied with their slamdancing aggression. The joke was expanded on Golden Shower of Hits, their third album,

released in 1983. The second time around they tackled "Along Comes Mary," "Afternoon Delight," "Having My Baby," and "Love Will Keep Us Together." Golden Shower also marked the incorporation of a few longer songs that hovered around the three-minute mark, including "Under the Gun," "High Price on Our Heads," and "Rats of Reality." At this point the band took a two-year break, which found Hetson joining the newly formed Bad Religion, taking on guitar duties for both bands well into the next decade.
                                                             

In 1985 the Circle Jerks returned with two new bandmembers, Keith Clark on drums and bassist Zander

Schloss, releasing the metal-tinged Wonderful album on the Combat label. By 1996 the years of rough touring caught up with the bandmembers and once again they went on hiatus. Morris in particular had been plagued by serious health problems, including a back injury that forced him to wear a brace, colon and stomach problems including appendicitis, and a 1999 diagnosis of adult onset diabetes.
                                                           

Since Morris had no health insurance, benefits were held to curtail his enormous medical bills, allowing the now dreadlocked lead singer to begin recuperating. In 2003 Morris was well enough to play live gigs with his spoken word jazz-punk ensemble Midget Handjob, and also tour with the Circle Jerks and the Rollins Band.
                                                   

To date, Circle Jerks have released six studio albums, one compilation, a live album and a live DVD. Their debut album, Group Sex (1980), is considered a landmark of the hardcore genre.

The band has broken up and re-formed several times, sometimes with different bassists and/or drummers. They disbanded for the first time after the release of their fifth album VI (1987), allowing Hetson to focus on Bad Religion (where he had been a member from 1984 to 2013) full-time. The Circle Jerks first reunited in 1994 and released their sixth and last studio album to date, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, the following year before separating for the second time.
                                                            

The band reunited for the second time in 2001 and spent the next ten years performing live periodically;

this reunion lasted for only one new song, "I'm Gonna Live", which was released on their MySpace profile in 2007. Tensions among its members and failed attempts to record the follow-up to Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities resulted in the Circle Jerks breaking up yet again in 2011. However, the band announced in November 2019 that they will reunite in 2020 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Group Sex with live shows.
                                                    

On November 22, 2019, it was announced that the Circle Jerks were going to reunite in 2020 for a

number of shows by celebrating the 40th anniversary of their debut album Group Sex, including that year's Punk Rock Bowling. Then COVID-19 struck and caused performances to be postponed until 2021. Three-fourths of the final lineup – Keith Morris, guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Zander Schloss – will be involved in the reunion.
                                             

On July 15th 2021 it was announced that former Queens of the Stone Age and Danzig drummer Joey Castillo would be joining the Circle Jerks on drums.
Many groups and artists have cited Circle Jerks as an influence, including Flea, Anti-Flag, Dropkick Murphys, the Offspring and Pennywise.
                                                                                           

Circle Jerks – Group Sex / Wild In The Streets
Label: Frontier Records – 31002-2
Format: CD, Compilation, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Rock
Style: Hardcore, Punk

GROUP SEX  1980

            
01. Deny Everything   (Written-By – Morris, Rogerson)  0:27
02. I Just Want Some Skank   (Written-By – Circle Jerks)  1:09
03. Beverly Hills   (Written-By – Morris, Rogerson)  1:06
04. Operation   (Written-By – Lehrer, Rogerson)   1:30
05. Back Against The Wall   (Written-By – Circle Jerks)  1:35
06. Wasted   (Written-By – Hetson, Morris)  0:43
07. Behind The Door   (Written-By – Circle Jerks)  1:25
08. World Up My Ass   (Written-By – Morris, Rogerson)  1:17
09. Paid Vacation   (Written-By – Circle Jerks)  1:28
10. Don't Care   (Written-By – Dol, Ginn, Morris)  0:35
11. Live Fast Die Young   (Written-By – Hetson, Morris)  1:33
12. What's Your Problem   (Written-By – Morris, Rogerson)  0:57
13. Group Sex   (Written-By – Circle Jerks, Jeffrey Pierce)  1:03
14. Red Tape   (Written-By – Hetson, Morris)  0:56

WILD IN THE STREETS  1982

15. Wild In The Streets   (Written-By – G. Jeffreys)  2:33
16. Leave Me Alone   (Written-By – Morris, Rogerson)  1:18
17. Stars And Stripes   (Written-By – Hetson, Morris)  1:39
18. 86'd (Good As Gone)   (Written-By – Hetson, Lucky)  1:54
19. Meet The Press   (Written-By – Lucky, Rogerson)  1:19
20. Trapped   (Written-By – Circle Jerks)  1:39
21. Murder The Disturbed   (Written-By – Circle Jerks)  2:01
22. Letter Bomb   (Written-By – Hetson, Morris)  1:13
23. Question Authority   (Written-By – Rogerson)  2:00
24. Defamation Innuendo   (Written-By – Morris, Lucky, Rogerson)  2:21
25. Moral Majority    (Written-By – Hetson, Morris)  0:54
26. Forced Labor   (Written-By – Rogerson)  1:16
27. Political Stu   (Written-By – Circle Jerks)  1:36
28. Just Like Me      1:46
29. Put A Little Love In Your Heart   (Written-By – DeShannon, Holiday, Myers) 2:12

LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG  LYRICS

                                                                                 

I don't wanna live
To be thirty-four
I don't wanna die
In a nuclear war

Go on out
Get some more
Go on out
To the bar, the market or the liquor store

I don't wanna live
To be forty-three
I don't like
What I see going on around me

Go on out
Get some more
Go on out
Get fucked up and pass out on the floor

Go on out
Get some more
Go on out
To your favorite liquor store

Go on out
Don't worry about it no more
Go on out
Get fucked up on the floor

I don't wanna live
To be fifty-seven
I'm living in Hell
Is there a Heaven?

Live fast! (Fast!)
Die young! (Young!)
Live fast!
Die young!
Live fast, die young!

MP3 @ 320 Size: 94 MB
Flac  Size: 278 MB