Templars have always been one of my favorite bands, and always will be. As a youngster I once drove 8 hours each way just to see them play. A few years back
when TKO Repressed the class "Dans Les Catacombs Du Studio de L'Acre"
collection by the Templars, I was all over it. I was then able to snag
the test pressing for this release, with the black and white sleeve. It comes on black vinyl with plain white labels.
The "Band Edition Test Pressing" had a red and white cover, and wasn't really a test pressing but more of a band only alternative cover. It came on the the clear vinyl with red and white black splatter which was the limited version out of /200 for the main release. There was also a bunch pressed on black vinyl for the main release.
The top left is the original pressing on Vulture Rock (clear vinyl), Top right was the main release, it is not shown that well in the picture but its like shiny tin foil front cover. Then the two test presses on the bottom. Make sure to check out the original pressing from my 50th post...
As evident in my second post ever on this website, I am a huge Reducers SF fan. Reducers SF are West Coast Oi!/Punk rock legends that have been mostly dormant over the last decade. I grew up on this band, and would go see them all the time. They were a huge influence on me to say the least. When Pirates Press records had their 10 year anniversary weekend, they announced a Reducers 20 year anniversary box set (Has it been that long? Jeez...). It came in a nice silver box with all three of their albums and a brand new "B Sides" style collection LP which I was thrilled to get.
There was three pressing versions, with a total of /500 pressed. TKO Records had the most limited press out of /50 with all of the records on gold vinyl. Revelation had the largest pressing with /350 and each record on a solid different color (blood red, bronze, royal blew and piss yellow). I opted for the over the top Pirates Press version out of /100 but by far the most unique.
Here is their debut LP (1999) and my favorite of their work. This is arguably one of the best Oi! releases ever made, a total classic. This version comes on "Bronze and Black A-Side with White & Beer Splatter vinyl B Side".
Here is the bands second release, "Crappy Clubs and Smelly Pubs" (2001). Many consider this is their best work, and this is also considered a classic Oi! album. I absolutely love this album and it has my favorite Reducers song on it (Empty Bottles). Also I love the nod to the Randumbs on here with a "Our Noise" cover. For those of you not familiar with the Randumbs, they were a really fast and angry punk band and the Reducers took the song and made it way slower and catchy, and they sound nothing alike. It's awesome. Randumbs version comes in at two minutes, Reducers version comes in at three minutes and twenty seconds. This is on "Royal Blue and White A side with Gold, Royal Blue, and Black Splatter B-Side vinyl".
On a side note I was lucky enough to go to the record release show for this album at the Pound in SF. Unfortunately, my 14 year old ass got beat up in the parking lot after the show. Oh, the good old days!
"Raise Your Hackles" was their latest release (2006). This is a good solid release, but I guess I never had the same love for it as it's younger brothers. Looking sharp on "Yellow and White A side with Gold, Yellow, Red, and Black Splatter b-side". This is probably my favorite looking pressing of the bunch.
I was most excited to get this out of everything. First thing I did was rip this thing open to get the digital download of this. Getting a download of Reducers covering "Situations" and "Last Train to Dagenham" is worth the price of admission for this box set alone. All of this stuff was either unreleased or incredibly rare, so I'm thrilled to get my hands on it. It comes on "Red and White A side with Red and Silver Splatter B side."
Looking good Reducers! Great job Pirates Press, and thanks for bringing one of the Bay Area's best Oi! bands to the fore front for a new generation to enjoy.
It was great to get some of these RSD releases... The UN album, the One Man Army album, and all the others were just sweet bonuses. But for RSD, I had my eye on the prize for one piece of wax... The Beltones "On Deaf Ears". The Beltones are arguably my favorite band and have been one of the major influences on me ever since I was 13 years old. I even chose The Beltones to celebrate my 100th post nearly 2 years ago. This release is an absolute classic. Unfortunately, when it was released in 1998 it was only on CD. It took 15 years to come out on vinyl but the wait was worth it!
I've been lucky enough to catch the Beltones live twice over the last few years, and both times I hounded them to release this on vinyl. I also hounded Mark from TKO Records at the One Voice Fest this summer to release this on vinyl. I was thrilled when I heard they would finally be pressing it for RSD. I like the little story on the lyrics sheet.
For historical reference (because no doubt someone will read this before they pay a bunch of money for one of these on Ebay in a few years...) The TKO Records version (Splatter) only has one sticker and is not shrink wrapped, with the sticker being on the poly sleeve. The black copies are shrink wrapped with two stickers.
The splatter vinyl is out of /300 and the black is out of /2000. The splatter vinyl is amazingly still available! Considering that old Beltones vinyl goes for big bucks on the bay, I figured these would be long gone. If you don't have a copy, go pick one up and I promise you will not regret it. Without a doubt this will end up being my favorite and most important release of the year, and I'm super thankful it's finally out on vinyl.
Check out this later 90's live footage of the Beltones playing "My Old Man".
"Another empty bottle thrown over your shoulder, another hazy morn grown another day older, another weekend gone and so are you. And all the bottles collecting up on the shelf are there to ease the pain but it just done help, so now you hate yourself and you hate me too.
Well lookin at you puts a lump in my throat and makes it hard to swallow my beer, there's a reason that it's giving me the fear. Cuz you're shaking like a leaf and I've seen that shake before my friend. I ain't giving you no shit just understand... You're looking like my old man!"
Here is one of the pieces of vinyl that I've owned the longest, and some of my most cherished pieces. When I was a kid, Sacramento's Pressure Point were my heroes. Their music really meant everything to me and they helped shape my life. I think I saw them for the first time when I was 12 years old, and being so inspired by their music and Mike's stage presence. I remember talking all kinds of shit in between songs (as he still does) to get people all pumped up. It was definitely more than alot of the punk music I was getting into at the time that didn't have a great deal to say. This split with United Blood was always one of my favorites with the original "Boots n booze" and a "Police on my back" cover. It's amazing to me that Pressure Point is still around like 20 years later, and still tearing it up.
United Blood's side is classic in it's own right. The song "Crossfire" will always be a Bay Area classic. Their singer Orlando was quite the character. I remember him always wearing these little dark glasses with tiny lenses and being super loud and boisterous. He was really loud and boisterous, and if someone was watching a band up front he would go up and start grabbing you and shaking you around and shit if he was into the band. And I also remember him doing alot of pirate impressions. Does anyone know what happened to him? I know he also played sang for Intrepid AAF who ruled as well.
My versions on black and I don't really know if they had any other pressings. Cold Front Records 1998... Wow. Haven't heard from them in a while.
Love the Big Chuck artwork. I was tripping on the "Big Chuck MHS 97" signature.
We also have the Pressure Point and The Randumbs split that came out in 1999. This is also considered an Oi! classic and a must own. The Randumbs were an awesome band that I don't think fully got their due because they were playing with so many other awesome bands at the time. There was alot of competition with that late 90's TKO Records crowd.
Pressure Point's "Chaos" cover was definitely the star of the show on this.
Also on black vinyl, and I don't know the pressing info on it either. All I know is that I have played the fuck out of that Chaos cover over the years, haha. I had to put it on to make sure it still plays. Posting stuff like this really makes me reminiscent and reminds me of a time in my life that is gone and will never come back. Yeah, I still get to relive that same feeling that first got me into this music all the time with all the new bands carrying it on and even the old ones that are still playing. However, I still miss the "Good old days" and everything that came with it... especially the music.
This is a post I've been waiting on for a while. One of my all time favorite albums and bands, The Bodies' S/T LP which came out on TKO Records in 1998. I've said it again and again, while most chase after Rev vinyl or other labels, I am all about early TKO vinyl. I'm not sure if I talked about it before but I'll tell the story again. When I was a kid I took a chance on some compilation CD that was selling for a few bucks at my local record store. It was the first volume of Punch Drunk by TKO Records. That damn CD single handedly changed my life and changed me forever. Ever since I first heard that comp, I have been chasing down nearly every band on that CD. The Bodies were on that comp, and there track was one of my favorite songs. Also on that comp was the Beltones, Anti Heros, The Templars, The Forgotten, Reducers SF, Swingin Utters, and a bunch more. In my opinion, this is the best compilation EVER made, Yes to me it is more important than any of the old classic compilations.
The first time I ever went to see the Bodies play in San Francisco, I got beat up at the show for being from San Jose. The Oi! and Street punk scene in the Bay Area was very violent in the early 00's, and crews had no problems beating the shit out of little kids coming to punk shows. Sadly for years I avoided Bodies shows because of all the drama and violence that surrounded them. It was really hard being from San Jose back then. If you were from San Jose then you would have to fight at almost every show that was out of town. Now things are so peaceful at shows, I can go anywhere and not have to worry about it. It makes me sad to think of all kinds of Bodies shows I missed as a kid. I would say from 1999 to 2003, gangs were such a problem at SF and Oakland shows that it wasn't even worth going. I'm glad those days are behind us now.
This album on glorious red is one of my most important pieces of vinyl. TKO Records only used to press maybe /100 on color and the rest on black. This red vinyl is out of /100 and is impossible to find. I think the black vinyl is out of /900, but I'm not positive on that. It took me years (and lots of money) to acquire this. What's amazing is that the Bodies never really toured that much and weren't that big, but have a huge cult like following that will pay retarded prices for their vinyl. These guys maybe play about once a year now, and whenever they do it is a big deal. I saw them last year in Oakland and they almost sold out the Uptown, which is a huge club. I was shocked at how many people came out to see them and were going totally postal. (You can watch the footage I shot of it here). This is my 2nd most important record, after my Beltones "Lock and Load" 7" on clear.
This album is an absolute classic. Every song fucking rules. One thing about the Bodies is that pretty much all their songs sound the same. That is fine with me, because they are all awesome. They are all simple as fuck and very catchy usually with an easy sing along chorus. Their vocalist changes his voice drastically on certain songs on this album, to the point where it almost sounds like two different singers. No matter how Abe sings, it sounds incredible. His voice has always reminded me a bit of old Glenn Danzig ala Misfits (think "Hybrid Moments"...). My favorite track on this is "Down the Drain", a song about him losing a friend to the world of drugs. "I saw another plane go down in the neighborhood tonight, Saw another friend spiral down out of sight..."
Instead of a standard white sleeve or an insert it comes with a printed insert containing the lyrics on one side and a live shot and some info on the back.
The Bodies are deffinitely one of the most fun and entertaining live bands I've ever seen. They usually play somewhere in between really drunk and blacked out drunk. They have been known to fall around the stage and act a damn fool. Their singer always seems to forget half the lyrics and will just start singing non sense, and everyone loves it! Most of their songs are real happy go lucky and their shows are always a blast. Despite for a few years over 10 years ago where they had a lot of shit heads causing problems at their shows, their shows now are a total blast and everyone just has a great time. Last time I saw them in Oakland, their guitarist poured a full beer right on top of my head. All in good fun! Check them out live below playing "California Republic" to see how much fun their shows are:
And the song that started it all for me. "Pack Your Bags" which was on this release and Punch Drunk vol 1:
I did not hesitate to jump on the reissue of "Skinhead Glory" by Iron Cross that TKO recently re released. An all time American Oi! Classic, how could I not jump at it? I've never owned a copy on Skin Flint as they are a bit hard to come by and well beyond my means, so I was happy enough to get these limited copies.
TKO originally put up their red and white limited version out of /200 and I'm glad I didn't buy it the first week. I waited a week and noticed on Facebook that they had put up a handful of test presses for $25, so I quickly headed over and grabbed a test press out of /20. About a month later, Pirates Press records revealed that they had a limited version on green /50 that they were selling. I did not hesitate to get the Pirates Press version because the last Templars reissue on TKO also had /50 come out on Pirates Press and by the time I found out they were long gone.
Here's the insert for the regular versions. Not a whole lot going on.
And my test pressing, #20/25. I was pretty stoked to get a test pressing of this, even if it is a reissue! I prefer the test pressing cover over the regular cover. On another note, I apologize that I've been lacking on the blog posts but I've been incredibly busy. I'm also running out of photos and need to take more. Listen to one of my favorite Oi! songs ever below, "Crucified for your Sins":
Surely to get slim to none views on this blog, here is another Templars record. It seems that whenever I post Oi! or Rap vinyl, I hardely get any views or comments. The people want hardcore, and their message is loud and clear. But, I have to keep it real too. This is the music that I have the biggest spot for in my heart, and I can't neglect it regardless of whats popular in cyberspace.
I don't have a complete Templars collection, far from it. The amount of vinyl they have put out over the past 20 years is incredible, and typically very expensive. However, I must say that I have a pretty impressive Templars collection at this point. This release is one I have had my sights set on for a while. A few years back I found this at a record store on black vinyl for $34.99 and I passed on it. I ended up kicking myself for it for a few years, as I saw black copies go upwards of a $100 dollars on ebay. Damn. I have seen a few of the limited gold copies float around too (out of /200) and those went for even more. As the prices and popularity of Oi! vinyl keeps falling and falling, I've been there to pick up the pieces where I can (That is, when Vinyl Noize doesn't sabotage me). I ended up scooping this one up for under $40, a record that once went way over $100 in this type of condition.
I kind of killed 2 birds with one stone on this one. Not only did I get a Templars record I've been wanting forever, but this is an early TKO Records release. Even more special, it's an early TKO Records color vinyl release. TKO Records never used to press more than 100 to 200 records on color vinyl, so old TKO on color is always nice to have. It has always been my goal to collect all the old TKO releases ever since I first heard "Punch Drunk Vol. 1" when I was 12 years old, and I've been working on it for years now. It will probably take me the rest of my damn life to get them all, but maybe one day!
