Darby Crash Band emerged from the destructive wake left by The Germs in the LA punk scene, a band who undoubtedly defined punk rock in the west coast, The Germs, responsible for landmark records, such as their infamous LP; “G.I.”, were and still are a band like no other. After the band split, frontman, Darby Crash and guitarist, Pat Smear enlisted the percussive stylings of Circle Jerks drummer, Lucky Lehrer, with Bosco tying down the bass, to play a selection of Germs favorites and newly written material. The band never entered the studio and played only a handful of shows before Darby’s death on December 7th, 1980. What you are listening to is a forgotten slice of punk rock history from the Darby Crash Band, playing live at The Starwood on the night of 27th of Auguest, 1980. It was recorded by an audience member with an old tape recorder and has now, 27 years later, been cleaned up and remastered by musician and producer, Mike Fury.
The disc Mike received contained an unedited, completely raw copy of the tape, the source of which is long lost, and as a Germs fan, Mike took it upon himself to go to work on this recording with the hopes of it resulting in an improved, yet still raw and energetic live recording that Germs fans would want to hear.
Working from a copy, and not having the source recording available, is a long and painstaking process. The initial job was removing the audible fuzz, which accompanied the entire show. This was most likely from dirt on the film of the tape, which would have deteriorated over time. Dirt can quite easily be removed and cleaned from a source but when it is burned into the copy in its state, it must be removed on the mixing desk. The other main issue was the sound quality itself, which of course cannot be changed from how it was originally recorded… with just a tape recorder in the audience! However, Mike used a restoration process where possible, in which you literally lift parts of the sound out, for example if Pat plays a lead part, there it would jump forward slightly to emphasize the part more. Needless to say, things such as feedback, Darby occasionally not singing directly into the mic, and so on, are all aspects which can’t actually be changed, but then again are familiar features of any punk or rock ‘n roll show! Through further processes, and of course editing the 11-songs into a flowing live album, here is a package that hopefully Germs fans, punk rockers, and music historians in general will want to check out!
Mike Fury is currently working with a label to release this recording. There is alot of work to do in the field of licensing and publishing but it is all in the name of a good, legitimate release that will properly acknowledge the band and ensure a complete package for fans everywhere. More news will be posted here as it becomes available, thanks!
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