Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Poison Idea

Pig's Last Stand
Sub Pop



Portland's Poison Idea was my first ever punk show. I saw them shortly after the released Record Collector's Are Pretentious Assholes (still my favorite record by them). PI had the heaviest, most blistering sound, thanks to some amazing guitarwork and singer Jerry A's powerful bellowing. They managed to retain the nihilism of punk without succumbing to it's limitations and pitfalls - musically, that is. Earlier this year, guitarist Tom "Pig Champion" Roberts succumbed to a lifestyle that was hedonistic to the extreme. When not ingesting drugs and alcohol, Roberts managed to pack away enough calories to amount to nearly 500 pounds. He died of kidney failure just as PI were about to release a new album, ironically titled Last Will and Testament. I have to say that I wasn't particularly surprised. I had run into Tom and Jerry at shows back in the day, and even talked to Tom (about some damn movie), and a friend once had a very drunk Jerry threaten to beat him up over a shirt he was wearing. Tom also hosted a great radio show in the early-to-mid eighties which was my only lifeline to the world of hardcore punk. Sometimes I used to wish that I'd gotten to know him better, but when I hear tales from friends who did, I'm kind of glad I never had the opportunity.
This album - Pig's Last Stand - was recorded in 1993, the first of PI's many 'farewell concerts'. It's an amazing document to the power and fury of Poison Idea and a fitting epitaph for someone who lived and died for excess.

Death, Agony And Screams

Yeah, I've kinda lost interest in most punk.
I don't really like it much anymore, except for some exceptional bands who managed to transcend the genre's orthodoxy.
Most of my punk LP's and CDs have gone to my oldest son Zack, who turns eighteen today!

Happy Birthday. Love ya, kid!

5 Comments:

Blogger Slobodan Burgher said...

"Record collectors" one of the best US punk records ever. Still listen to it near-daily (got it back in the 90s when I was looking similar to your kid).

Nice post.

:)

5:36 AM  
Blogger Chardman said...

No, I'm out of the shot, holding my camera.
But I am proud of him.

12:35 PM  
Blogger Slobodan Burgher said...

Lol!

9:27 AM  
Blogger Chardman said...

Right to left:
Upper two-thirds of his stepbrother Noah's arm, middle; Zack, Right; PFC Elijah, another brother-from-another-mother.
We are a Brady family - only with Anarch-syndicalist leanings.

9:49 AM  
Blogger Chardman said...

We're a Post-nuke sitcom family.

1:39 PM  

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