Descendents: Milo Goes To College 1982 + I Don't Want To Grow Up 1985

 

Descendents is an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California, by

guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson as a power-pop/surf punk band. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson's school friend Milo Aukerman as a singer, and reappeared as a melodic hardcore punk band, becoming a major player in the hardcore scene developing in Los Angeles at the time.
       

They have released eight studio albums, three live albums, three compilation albums, and four EPs.

Since 1986, the band's lineup has consisted of Aukerman, Stevenson, guitarist Stephen Egerton, and bassist Karl Alvarez. They gradually emerged as one of the most enduring and adored punk bands of their time. While the band seemingly celebrated their own immaturity in their most iconic music, they also found a way to grow up and continue to make music that pleased themselves and their fans well past 2020.
                   

                
1982's Milo Goes to College was their first and most enduring masterpiece, 2004's Cool to be You

was a strong, lively reunion effort, and 2021's 9th & Walnut looked back to their earliest days, revisiting a handful of forgotten songs. For the recording of their debut album Milo Goes to College in June 1982, the band worked at Total Access Recording in Redondo Beach, California, with Spot, who had also engineered and produced the Fat EP. While still short and fast, the songs on Milo Goes to College were also melodic.
       

Aukerman later reflected: "It's interesting: we started very melodic, then moved to hardcore, but melded

the two at a certain point and became melodic hardcore." The album's title and cover illustration referenced Aukerman's departure from the band to study biology at the University of California, San Diego. The illustration was done by Jeff Atkinson, based on earlier caricatures by a high school classmate of Aukerman's named Roger Deuerlein, who had drawn comic strips and posters depicting Aukerman as the class nerd.
              

In 1985, the group re-formed, with SWA alum Ray Cooper replacing Navetta on guitar; after the release

of the more pop-flavored album I Don't Want to Grow Up, ex-Anti bassist Doug Carrion assumed Lombardo's duties. A sunnier perspective informed 1986's Enjoy!, as evidenced by the inclusion of a cover of the Beach Boys' "Wendy," but after 1987's All, the group split again; after Stevenson formed a new group, also dubbed All, the only Descendents products to appear for a number of years were a pair of live releases, 1987's Liveage! and 1989's Hallraker.
      

Somewhat surprisingly, Auckerman and Stevenson re-formed the Descendents in 1996 with All bassist

Karl Alvarez and guitarist Stephen Egerton; in addition to mounting a tour, the group recorded a new album, Everything Sucks. Following the tour, Auckerman once again returned to his life in the chem lab until 2004 when the guys were back with two new releases, both issued on Fat Wreck -- February brought the EP 'Merican, and the full-length Cool to Be You followed a month later.
         

For the following decade, they would remain relatively quiet, save for a few significant events. In 2008, founding guitarist Frank Navetta unexpectedly passed away. The band also reunited for a few gigs in

2010, but it wasn't permanent.  In 2020  the band began reworking material recorded in 2002 with Bill Stevenson, Frank Navetta, and Tony Lombardo, in which they put to tape fifteen songs they had written between in 1980 but had never released. With Auckerman recording new vocal tracks for the material, these unique recordings from the "classic" Descendents lineup were issued by Epitaph Records in July 2021 on the LP 9th & Walnut, named for the address of their first rehearsal space.
                

DESCENDENTS - MILO GOES TO COLEGE 1982

            

Milo Goes to College is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Descendents, released on September 4, 1982 through New Alliance Records. The playing of the core band is even better than

before, never mistaking increased skill with needing to show off; the Lombardo/Stevenson rhythm section is in perfect sync, while Navetta provides the corrosive power. Add in Aukerman's in-your-face hilarity and f*ck-off stance, and it's punk rock that wears both its adolescence and brains on its sleeve. The album's mix of fast and aggressive hardcore punk with melody and semi-ironic love songs led to it being considered one of the most significant albums of the early 1980s southern California hardcore movement.
                       

Descendents – Milo Goes To College
Label: SST Records – SST CD 142
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1982    
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk

TRAXS

               

01. Myage    2:00
02. I Wanna Be A Bear    0:44
03. I'm Not A Loser    1:30
04. Parents    1:40
05. Tonyage    0:58
06. M 16    0:45
07. I'm Not A Punk    1:06
08. Catalina    1:48
09. Suburban Home    1:42
10. Statue Of Liberty    2:01
11. Kabuki Girl    1:12
12. Marriage    1:41
13. Hope    1:59
14. Bikeage    2:15
15. Jean Is Dead    1:32

LINE - UP

Bass – Tony Lombardo
Drums – Bill Stevenson
Guitar – Frank Navetta
Vocals – Milo Aukerman
Written-By – Stevenson (tracks: 1, 5, 8, 12, 14, 15), Navetta (tracks: 2 to 4, 10, 12), Aukerman (tracks: 6, 13), Lombardo (tracks: 2, 5 to 9, 11)

NOTES

Recorded June 1982 at Total Access Studio, Redondo Beach

I WANT TO BE A BEAR LYRICS

                     

Got your jourdache jeans
Got your pretty long hair
Dinner and a movie powder your nose
Take their honey for lay

Just like pay
You're just a human being on this planet
You're just flesh and blood like all the rest
You'll get old and have a wrinkled ass

Humans are ses I want to be a bear
I want to shit in the woods
In my cave hunt my prey
Could be you, I want to have food

Burgers not berries
Ladies are women but women are ladies
Got a baited hook you are calling it your cherry
You wanna settle down and you wanna get married

I don't want to smell your muff

PARENTS LYRICS

                  

Parents, why won't they shut up
Parents, they're so fucked up
They treat me like a tool
They take me for a fool

Parents, why won't they shut up?
Parents, they're so fucked up
Oh they're so fucking dim
They look into the past
For future reference

Parents, why won't they shut up?
Parents, they're so fucked up
They don't even know I'm a boy
They treat me like a toy
But little do they know
That one day I'll explode

I'm a boy and not a toy
I will kill and I'll destroy
I'm a boy and not a toy
I will kill and I will destroy

Parents, parents, parents
They don't even know I'm a boy
They treat me like a toy
But little do they know
That one day I'll explode

I'm a boy and not a toy
I will kill and I'll destroy
I'm a boy and not a toy
I will kill and I will destroy

Parents, parents
Parents, parents

Flac Size: 162 MB

DESCENDENTS - I DON'T WANT TO GROW UP 1985

                

I Don't Want to Grow Up is the second studio album by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released in 1985 through New Alliance Records. It marked the end of a two-year hiatus for the band,

during which singer Milo Aukerman had attended college and drummer Bill Stevenson had joined Black Flag. I Don't Want to Grow Up was the first of two albums the Descendents recorded with guitarist Ray Cooper, and their last with original bassist Tony Lombardo, who quit the group because he did not want to go on tour. Though recorded quickly and without much rehearsal time, I Don't Want to Grow Up received positive reviews from critics, who praised its catchy songs, strong melodies, and pop-influenced love songs.
                  

Descendents – I Don't Want To Grow Up
Label: SST Records – SST CD 143, SST Records – SSTCD 143
Format: CD, Album, Reissue Feb 20, 1988
Country: US
Released: 1985    
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk, Hardcore

TRAXS

               

01. Descendents (Lyrics By – Descendents/Music By – T. Lombardo)   1:42
02. I Don't Want To Grow Up (Lyrics By, Music By – T. Lombardo)   1:19
03. Pervert (Lyrics By – M. Aukerman/Music By – T. Lombardo)   1:45
04. Rockstar (Lyrics By – F. Navetta/Music By – T. Lombardo)   0:35
05. No FB (Lyrics By, Music By – M. Aukerman)   0:33
06. Can't Go Back (Lyrics By, Music By – B. Stevenson)   1:43
07. GCF (Lyrics By, Music By – T. Lombardo)   1:57
08. My World (Lyrics By, Music By – M. Aukerman)   3:27
09. Theme (Music By – T. Lombardo)   2:12
10. Silly Girl (Lyrics By, Music By – B. Stevenson)   2:21
11. In Love This Way (Lyrics By, Music By – M. Aukerman)   2:30
12. Christmas Vacation (Lyrics By – M. Aukerman/Music By – B. Stevenson)   2:36
13. Good Good Things (Lyrics By, Music By – B. Stevenson)   2:19
14. Ace (Lyrics By, Music By – B. Stevenson)   3:54

LINE - UP

     

Bass – Tony Lombardo
Drums – Bill Stevenson
Guitar – Ray Cooper
Vocals – Milo Aukerman

NOTES

Recorded April, 1985 at Music Lab in Hollywood.

I DON'T WANT TO GROW UP LYRICS

                 

I don't want to grow up
I don't want to grow up

If growing up means being like you
Then I don't want to be like you
Recycled trash
It's deja vu

I don't want to grow up
I don't want to grow up

You're grown up told what to do
Your suit can't hide the truth
You're a fool
And I refuse to be like you

I don't want to grow up

MY WORLD LYRICS

            

Stop knocka-knocka-knocking
Stop knocka-knocka-knocking
Stop knocking
Stop it

Went to the No Nukes rally
The Don Quixotes made me feel silly
Went to the punk rock show
Nobody that I know did go
Went to my university
Boys and girls dress up and look pretty
Went to the party last night
I was there, but it was really out of sight

My world is my mind
I'm locking myself inside
People, they can't get in
Oh I have no use for them

Well I just came from my girl's bed
Don't think I'll ever forget what she said
I tried to show her my song
She laughed and said the chords were all wrong
Went out to look at the moon
Blood red and the water was too
Just ran away from her house
Not another word from her pretty little mouth

My world is my mind
I'm locking myself inside
People, they can't get in
Oh I have no use for them
Not my world

So stop koncka-knocka-knocking
Stop knocka-knocka-knocking
Oh stop knocking
Stop it

Stop knocka-knocka-knocking
Stop knocka-knocka-knocking
Stop knocking
Stop it

Well let me tell you what I did
I went to the toilet and sat down
There was no one else around
I went inside my closet
Took my guitar and strummed upon it
Went out to run 10 miles
Sifted through my personal files
Went to my desk to study
There's no world, no love, nobody but me
And that's the way it's gonna be yeah
That's the way it's gonna be yeah
That's the way it's gonna be cuz'
My world is my mind
I'm locking myself inside
People, they can't get in
Oh I have no use for them
Not my world

So stop koncka-knocka-knocking
Stop knocka-knocka-knocking
Stop knocking
Stop it
Knocking on my world

Flac Size: 211 MB

The Visitors: Visitation '79

The Visitors were an Australian rock band formed in 1978 after the breakup of popular punk rock band Radio Birdman. The songs were written by Deniz Tek but unlike many other Tek bands,

Tek did not sing vocals in The Visitors. Instead the vocals were sung by long-time friend of the band Mark Sisto. The addition of Sisto's vocal alongside a predominantly ex-Birdman lineup, created what many [who?] believed as the next generation of Birdman, with a vocal which mirrored that of The Doors. They played only 12 shows in the Sydney area starting in late 1978 and continuing into August 1979.
                 

It was from an intense desire to play that the energy came to form The Visitors, the same desire fuelled

the live performances and recording of the album. From 1978 to 1979 The Visitors were Deniz Tek on guitar, Mark Sisto on vocals, Ron Keeley on drums, Pip Hoyle on keyboards and Steve Harris on bass. Their style was a dark mixture. The band being 3/5ths Birdman, including the chief songwriter, was almost like the next phase of Radio Birdman had that band continued on. At the same time, the sound of the band was more like the early Birdman days with the single guitar plus keyboard format.
               

Visitation '79 by the Visitors is a legitimate follow-up to the two classic Radio Birdman albums

that preceded it. The material certainly stands with guitarist/writer Deniz Tek's other work, and although Mark Sisto's singing certainly isn't better than that of Rob Younger, it is very similar in style and holds up well by comparison. This is the only album the Visitors made, and this reissue has been remastered to great effect by Tek and keyboardist (and fellow M.D.) Pip Hoyle.
                  

The songs are pretty dark and pure rock & roll. The moody opener, "Living World," sets the tone with Hoyle's Manzarek-like organ work. A song about John Needham, "Brother John," follows.

Needham became Tek's manager, but was then just a friend of the band who issued the album as the first release on his own Citadel Records, a label that probably put out more great music than any other indie label in the '80s. "Haunted Road" is next, a song about North Territorial Road near Ann Arbor, MI, Tek's hometown. Other highlights abound. "Sad TV" is absolutely devastating, and a song many should relate to.
               

"I'm going home to watch my Sad TV" pretty much sums up life for many in this world. "Let's Have Some Fun" is an upbeat rocker in the tradition of Radio Birdman's "More Fun." "Hell Yes" is a hair-

raising footstomper that sounds like a good show closer. Appearing for the first time on the reissue is "Skimp the Pimp," a song by Tek that dates back to his first Australian band, TV Jones. The version here is chaotic (in the best way possible) and fully realized. Several of these songs were performed by New Race on its one and only tour; that band elevated the material to an even higher level. [Note: the original Citadel album cover had an Easter Island motif and was seriously cool.]
                  

The Visitors – Visitation '79
Label: Red Eye Records – RED CD 39, Polydor – 517 017-2
Format:    CD, Compilation 1994
Country: Australasia
Released: 1979
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Punk

TRAXS

           

01. Living World
02. Brother John
03. Haunted Road
04. Life Spill
05. Journey By Sledge
06. Sad TV
07. Miss You Too Much
08. Euro Girls
09. Let's Have Some Fun
10. Hell Yes
11. Disperse
12. Skimp The Pimp
             

LINE - UP

                   

Bass – Steve Harris
Drums – Ron Keeley
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Deniz Tek
Piano, Organ, Backing Vocals – Pip Hoyle
Vocals – Mark Sisto

Flac Size: 320 MB

       

RADIO BIRDMAN on Urban Aspirines HERE

Dodge Main: Dodge Main 1996

 

"Dodge Main" was a band made up of Detroit and Ann Arbor musicians from the old days. The band was a loose and variable collection of players, but each lineup and project that Dodge Main did was

WAYNE KRAMER

notable and worthy. In the early '90s Patrick Boissel began a crusade to resurrect the late 60's-early 70's Detroit Sound through a series of reissues and new releases of obscure live performances, outtakes and other material, doing for the MC5, the Rationals, the Up, and John Sinclair what had already been done by Revenge and Skydog Records for the Stooges. Patrick managed Alive and Total Energy Records, offshoots of Bomp! Records, the label created by Greg and Suzy Shaw in 1974.
                      

Song selection was a mix of new originals and old standards. The MC5 songs that we did were "Future/Now", written by Rob Tyner, and "Over and Over", written by Fred Smith - both from the great "High Time" album. I think Wayne wanted to do the other guy's songs as a tribute to them - may they rest in peace. Wayne chose "I-94" as the Radio Birdman song, and the Jimmy Cliff tune

SCOTT MORGAN

"The Harder They Come". Because Scott Morgan was there, we did "City Slang". I suggested that we do the Stooges tune "I Got A Right". Some songs were written on the spot, others in my motel room. The new originals were Wayne's "Citizen Of Time", my newly penned "Fire Comin" and a co-write, "Better Than That". I also contributed "100 Fools". The band rehearsed minimally, and the songs went to tape with very little preparation. The entire album was done in less than 5 days. Wayne told me that the album, and the group, was going to be called "Dodge Main" - named after the huge, abandoned Chrysler assembly plant in Hamtramck, the burned out heart of north central Detroit.
              

MC5

Various line-ups under the name "Dodge Main" have gotten together for occasional live performances since then. The first, in February '97, was a benefit concert at the State Theatre in Detroit held to help pay fellow Detroit musician Greasy Carlisi's medical bills incurred following a heart attack. The band played free, and we paid our own expenses getting to Detroit for the show. The lineup was Wayne and

PAUL III

myself, with Dennis Thompson and Gary Rasmussen on drums and bass, respectively; and Scott Morgan (American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known for his work with the Rationals and Sonic's Rendezvous Band. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan) on guitar and vocals. Now this, truly, was an all-star Michigan lineup ! We rehearsed at Dan Hurley's house, in his basement. Wayne had brought  his Stratocaster, but Dan pulled out a beautiful mid-60's Epiphone Wilshire that had once belonged to Wayne. I guess Dan had been keeping it since the old days, and it was a happy sight to see it back in the hands of Wayne Kramer. With only the one brief rehearsal, the show was rough and chaotic, but the energy level was high and the crowd of about 2000 people lost their minds.
                

RADIO BIRDMAN

The second show was a gig at the Euclid Tavern in Cleveland, in conjunction with the release of the paperback version of Please Kill Me, the oral history of punk by "Legs" McNeil and Gillian McCain. After a book reading at the R&R Hall of Fame museum, the gig went down, this time with Scott Asheton from the Stooges on drums. It was at this show that the band hit its full potential, causing a

RADIO BIRDMAN 1978

near riot in the tiny, packed club. Despite Gary Rasmussen repeatedly complaining about my guitar volume, I had a great night. We were joined on stage for the last four songs by a very loose Jimmy Zero, guitarist for the Cleveland legends The Dead Boys. Tapes of this show were reviewed by Wayne and Don Was. Because the performance was so wild, and in retrospect, historically significant, there were tentative plans to produce and release a recording from them. But the tapes remained unreleased in the archives of Muscletone Records - and for all I know, they may still be there.
(DENIZ TEK)

DODGE MAIN - DODGE MAIN 1996

                               

Wayne Kramer opened on Radio Birdman's Australian reformation tour of January 1996. During the

tour he and Deniz had discussed the idea of working together. Patrick Boissel from Alive Records had been trying to organize a Motor City supergroup recording for years. The following July when both Deniz' and Wayne's schedules lined up, Boissel booked a small studio in North Hollywood. There was no preparation or planning for this record whatsoever. With Wayne's expert rhythm section and gallons of coffee, Dodge Main was cranked out in just 4 days.
              

It's little more than a jam session of tunes old and new from various sources by a group of friends, but what a group of friends to have around! Legendary MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, fellow Detroit music figure of renown Scott Morgan, and Motor City-via-Australian Deniz Tek of Radio

WAYNE KRAMER

Birdman make up Dodge Main, with help from bassist Paul Ill and regular Kramer drummer Brock Avery. With Kramer overseeing production, the result is a hearty celebration of Detroit's rock music history, along with a few surprising but fun detours along the way. The three lead members all tackle main vocals at various points, with the others providing backup as they go. Arguably the originals in all cases should be chased down first, but in the hands of the group everything sounds like they're ready to kick butt and take names, while the new numbers are energetic, great romps.
                

"City Slang," originally recorded with Morgan in Sonic's Rendezvous Band, sets the tone from the start, Kramer and Tek more than adequately filling the shoes of the departed Fred Smith. He also takes the lead on gloriously loud and in-your-face takes on the MC5's "Future/Now" and the album-concluding

Stooges cover "I Got a Right," Tek and Kramer's guitars as blasting as they need to be. Tek's moments of vocal glory occur with the blasting, tough grooves of "I 94," his spoken word sections on "Fire Comin'," and the short snap of "100 Fools." Kramer, meanwhile, contributes a fantastic solo composition -- "Citizen of Time" -- which could have easily fit on his series of '90s solo albums, burning with righteous anger while the Ill/Avery rhythm section hits a solid swing. His other vocal lead is an inspired winner -- Jimmy Cliff's reggae classic "The Harder They Come," given a distinctly Detroit musical revamp.
                  

DENIZ TEK

Deniz chose the MC5 tracks and Wayne chose the Birdman track. Deniz wrote Fire Comin' in his motel room on the second night, with Paul Ill contributing the middle 8 bars the next day. Wayne had previously written Citizen of Time and the band free jammed behind the simple riff. Better Than That

DENIZ TEK

was co-written by Deniz and Wayne while sitting in the studio with unplugged guitars. I-94 featured fresh lyrics, Deniz being tired of the old ones. Wayne added a ska beat with Brock Avery on African finger drums. The opening track is the Sonic's Rendezvous classic, City Slang, with Scott Morgan from that band on vocals. Scott happened to be in LA and was called over, ending up doing several songs. The City Slang mix is heavy on rhythm guitars. There is a lot of the soloing on this track but it is barely audible, a tribute to the late Fred Smith.
                

SCOTT MORGAN

Dodge Main – Dodge Main
Label: Alive Records – ALIVE 0025
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1996
Genre: Rock
Style: Hard Rock

TRACKS

           

01. City Slang   4:36
02. I.94   2:57
03. Citizen Of Time   3:48
04. Future/Now   3:01
05. Fire Comin'   4:11
06. 100 Fools   2:38
07. The Harder They Come   2:54
08. Over & Over   2:49
09. Better Than That   3:29
10. I Got A Right   3:38

LINE - UP

Wayne Kramer - Guitar and Vocals, Lead Vocals on tracks 3, 7  
Deniz Tek - Guitar and Vocals, Lead Vocals on tracks 2, 5, 6  
Scott Morgan - Vocals, Lead Vocals on tracks 1, 4, 8, 9, 10  
Paul Ill - Electric and Acoustic Bass  
Brock Avery - Drums and Percussion

NOTES

        

Produced by Wayne Kramer  /  Engineered by Mike Wolf and Jon Newkirk  /  Recorded at Music Box Studio, North Hollywood 1996

Flac Size: 230 MB

THIS POST IS FOR MY FRIEND "VIACOMCLOSEDMEDOWN ON YOUTUBE" AND HIS AMAZING BLOG " DOWN UNDERGROUND". THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT.