Wasted Youth - Reagan’s In L.P. 12″
July 21st, 2008 at 12:16 pm
All these cheapos at Skivborsen in Stockholm/Sweden: Zero Boys, F.U.’s, Hypnotics, Reagans Youth etc etc. And of course Wasted Youths Reagan’s In. All used LPs where like 25-35 swedish crowns. About 3-4 dollars. It was easy to be a poor little punk kid then. When the TV Eye // Drummer and I where on gigs we always ditched the pizzas cause they where too expensive and if we bought some yoghurt and bread we could save a couple of crowns to spend on records instead. Always counted how many records we could get if we didn’t buy this or that. Cheap bastards!
Ok, what about Wasted Youth? Maybe not as classic as many of the other early HC releases. But considering it’s released in 1981 it’s pretty darn good for being that early. The usual punk stuff gets a good treatment in the lyrics coupled with energy and simple but inspired hardcore. Fave track Fuck Authority. Fave lyrics Uni-High Beefrag.
Country: USA
Year: 1981
Label: Ici Sanoblast
Format: 12″
Songs:
Reagan’s In.mp3
Problem Child.mp3
Teenage Nark.mp3
Uni-High Beefrag.mp3
Born Deprived.mp3
Fuck Authority.mp3
You’re A Jerk.mp3
We Were On Heroin.mp3
Punk For A Day.mp3
Flush The Bouncer.mp3
July 21st, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Wasted Youth were a fun band to see. Scrannys father was at a few of their gigs…he totally supported what they were doing. My wife is actually in the picture on the back of the record…pretty funny shit! Lyrically, stupid, but musically incredible. Thanks.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:28 pm
July 21st, 2008 at 11:53 pm
GRRRREAT ! Best track is “teenage narc”…
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:33 am
Good record. I love how they used that Art without Pusheads permission.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:14 am
I agree, great playing on a stupid record. Lucky Lehrer’s brother Chet on guitar, right, with a whiplash lick on Reagan’s In. Since I like it for having stupid lyrics, I like You’re a Jerk best.
A little comedy I remember was once seeing the singer, Danny?, I think, playing pinball at the Starwood, when some moron walks up to him and stands there, singing his goofy Uni-High Beef Rag song at him, proving that he knows the words, I guess. Danny just ignored him, at least that was cool. Made me bust a gut.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
Damn,
this is so much better then I remembered it to be. I have to pick up a copy of it again, and that as soon as possible!
Sounds a lot like Keith Morris vocal wise, but that’s perfectly fine by me.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:06 am
GREAT FUKIN’ RECORD!!!!!
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:04 am
Am I the only one to play this record B side first? I think it’s cos I have the repress on Medusa & they have side one starting with “Fuck Authority.” I couldn’t get used to the LP not finishing with “Born Deprived.”
Pretty much the same as the DRI “Dirty Rotten” LP always starting with I Don’t Need Society” rather than “Sad To Be” for me. Someone taped it for me like that & when I got the LP that’s the way I always play it.
Anyhoo, I think this is a great record & incredibly fast for 1981. Pity they sucked the big one after this.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:45 am
As simple and stupid as this may be: It’s exactly the kind of music that I never get tired of in the long run. Just don’t overdo it, Pawnk! Your Hardcore Doctor.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:46 am
PS: What always puzzles me are those band photos. I mean, I used to think these guys were OLD. :-)
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:36 am
I made a Wasted Youth t-shirt with a marker pen (the one my mother used to write my name on clothes when I was an infant) when I was about 15.
When I put the shirt on, the logo was in the wrong spot, but I wore it anyway.
This record may not be THE best, but it is the epitome, the sythesis, the most archetipical early L.A. hardcore record you can get. If someone made a fake band for a movie set in the L.A. punk scene of 1981 they should try and make it like this.
That said, everything else they did was pretty horrible. That second LP is as bad as american 80’s punk can get without going new wave or metal or whatever. Yuck.
The non-Slash guitar player in Velvet Revolver used to play for them, by the way and sometimes uses this fact in interviews as a credibility move.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I sure do miss the Starwood…it was the greatest club to see bands in. Thanks for reminding me Fred. Now, how’s about Mad Society???
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:02 pm
This record was recently booted with a slew of demos and live tracks at the end. I’ve got it, it’s actually pretty solid stuff.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I liked them better when they were the Runns (sp?)
July 24th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
“Problem Child” continues to be my favorite track after 20 years of being familiar with this record- the bass intro in it is so great. A friend of mine let me borrow this in high school and I proceeded to dub it onto a Maxell cassette on the worst stereo ever that created a lot of hiss. I finally found a cassette reissue of this about 15 years ago at some 2nd hand store, but I’ve always longed for some rips straight from the original vinyl so thanks for posting it. Er, but as a whole, the entire LP never really grabbed me and I always thought some of the songs sounded kinda flat and generic. But maybe that’s just me. For me, there are soooo many other L.A. punk records that help define SoCal punk and HC in a much more powerful manner- TSOL “Superficial Love” 12″, Social Distortion “Mommy’s Little Monster” LP, etc, etc.– check the list of my Top 250 Songs on my blog for more examples if you are so inclined. But this “Reagan’s In” LP has very cool early Pushead art on the front and such a great photo on the back. I remember seeing that picture in high school for the first time and thinking “Whoa! Punk shows look completely nuts!” Singer Danny is in a totally classic picture with blood running down his face that was used for the cover of the mediocre “American Hardcore” book. Jay Thurston– very funny that your wife is in the back cover photo!
July 26th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
August 1st, 2008 at 10:41 am
I may be going crazy, but I thought I remembered hearing a record by these guys that had more reggae influence. I’m not sure if it was a whole LP–it might have been a few Wasted Youth songs on a compilation–but I can’t find any reference online to them doing anything between this record and some late 80’s metalcore stuff. Does anyone out there know what I’m talking about?
August 21st, 2008 at 7:47 pm
hey chris you r talking shit dude!!!
wat thurston sez:Lyrically, stupid
kamon dude cos ur fricken old doesnt mean u cant relate the lyrics
dont be stupid dude! think twice
August 26th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Found it for $20 in NY a week ago. Feels good to own as we Moderåtter says.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:02 am
To own or not to own. That’s the meaning of life.