AGNOSTIC FRONT- United Blood 7″EP (AF, USA, 1983)
Some guy has just bought the mentioned bootleg version of this for 300$ on eBay. Check this. So for a short time, I’ll leave this as top post for educational purposes. Original post from November 8, 2007, educational version posted June 11-13, 2008.
Primitive, raw and reactionary HC grandezza from AGNOSTIC FRONT, the notorious skinhead band MRR loved so much. I remember how difficult it was was for me to find a modus operandi with this band. Right upon its release, I loved “Victim in Pain”, the band’s second release, a very short Mini-LP with an absolutely pointless gatefold cover with brutal photos from the Nazi “Vernichtungskrieg” in Eastern Europe. Still, it beats me how a band which does not all reflect the historical context of such pictures, still uses them in such a drastic manner and on the contrary actually chooses a very irrititating (to put it mildy) political standpoint (from the omnipresent fascistic blood-metaphor to the often idiotic gang violence lyrics etc.). No wonder everybody here thought it was a neo-nazi band (which I don’t think was ever the case; it was just a very typical Hardcore band …).
Though still pretty far from the musical glory of “Victim in Pain”, “United Blood” has a lot of drive and energy and a loveably fuzzed out guitar. Haven’t heard the CD which featured these tracks, but I remember some people complaining about the dull sound it had.
Some folks from southern California bootleged this and the CAUSE FOR ALARM 7″ in the end of 1988, pressing 500 each. Haha, one day, somebody has to tell that story …..
No one rules.mp3
Final War.mp3
Last Warning.mp3
Traitor.mp3
Friend or Foe.mp3
United Blood.mp3
Fight.mp3
Discriminate me.mp3
In Control.mp3
Crucial Changes.mp3
daniel wrote:
Very generous of you!
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 10:46 am | Permalink
rivethead wrote:
Thanks for this! As usual fucking A quality. Never heard this before but I fell in love with it right after the first track. Massive!
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 10:47 am | Permalink
Eddie wrote:
One of my punk friends in ‘83 who is Native American bought this EP when it came out and he was the first punk in Hollywood, CA to write to Agnostic Front.
When he first played me “United Blood” I was blown away by it.
My Native American punk friend mostly communicated with Vinnie and Roger and they used to send him AF flyers, stickers, and the original T-shirt that had the stomping doc martins on it. My friend also sent them a pic of himself and they paid no mind of his heritage as opposed to what those PC idiots at MRR were saying about AF!
When AF went on their first west coast tour in ‘85 as soon as they arrived in Hollywood they showed up at my friends house and drank a few beers with his dad but Roger didn’t have one cuz he didn’t drink alcohol and then they drove my friend to a gig where they were playing with a skinhead band called the Bully Boys. AF gave my friend a few T-shirts and a free ticket to their Olympic gig with the Exploited. My friend did tell me that one of AF’s roadies had an SS tattoo on his arm.
That was a killer show at the Olympic too and I remembered a riot was erupting with the police outside so I got to leave before it got violent.
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 1:33 pm | Permalink
Eddie wrote:
Btw, my friend visited NYC and was at CBGB’s farewell gig and he ran into Vinnie Stigma and the first he said to my friend was “Man, I haven’t seen you in 20 years!”
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 1:36 pm | Permalink
Eddie wrote:
The original front cover of AF’s “Victim in Pain” was taken from the Nihilistic’s booklet from their LP cuz they had the same photo in it.
I do remember in ‘88 when the AF EP and CFA EP were bootlegged. All I remember was they were being sold in a punk record shop off Melrose Ave across the street from Fairfax high school in L.A. I don’t remember the name of it but I remember a chick ran the record shop and maybe she was the one who bootlegged them. She was pretty cool though, I remember she gave me a tape of ‘82-’83 HC from her record collection.
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 1:45 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Thanks Eddie!
The front cover shot is not taken from the NIHILISTICS booklet – they probably just used the same source (a u.s. photobook about ww2 atrocities, most likely). And no, it wasn’t a girl who made these, haha – I know who it was, I know who it was.
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 1:56 pm | Permalink
OTTO wrote:
I have a (tenuous) connection to AF, as two later members of the band were originally in a Pittsburgh band that practiced in the basement of the house where I lived…
Anyway, got to interact a bit with Vinnie and Roger (and Kabula). Never found them ‘racist’ in the white supremacist sense. But they were very ‘working class’ and would remind you of it all the time.
What that meant (in the US) was that they weren’t politically correct. They liked to drink beer and get in the occasional scuffle. They didn’t have any time for squatters or other ‘freeloaders’, etc. They were reflexively patriotic in a typical beer drinking, hard working guy kinda way… you get the picture.
Nice guys, overall. Sometimes awesome, sometimes piss poor live. Inconsistent output over the many years… but this 7″ and Victim in Pain justify their positions in the hall of hardcore greats.
As usual, great sounding rips.
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 3:29 pm | Permalink
henry wrote:
eddie: the record store you must be talking about is called Headlines records great place to get really good records still anyways
for the AF ep its great sadly lost at ebay for it anyways i heard this was only a demo or something but just released as a ep as the same for NYC Mayhem anyways great demo
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 4:05 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Henry: This was AF first and official release, not a demo released on vinyl as with NCY MAYHEM.
Posted on 09-Nov-07 at 1:39 am | Permalink
Donofthedead wrote:
The record store Eddie is referring to was Raunch Records not Headline. Headline is on the same side of the street as Fairfax High. It was a transplant store from Boise Idaho. I think the owner’s name was Daphne. She got into heroin, hocked the stock of the store and heard she died of AID’s in San Francisco.
Posted on 09-Nov-07 at 3:52 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Raunch was great – nice mailorder list, you could get everything for a couple quid which nowadys sells for billions on ebay.
Posted on 09-Nov-07 at 3:58 pm | Permalink
Eddie wrote:
Yes! Raunch Records was the name of the store and Daphne was her name. I didn’t know she got into heroin and I’m sorry to hear she died of AIDS.
Posted on 10-Nov-07 at 3:54 pm | Permalink
adamski wrote:
This ep is ok in a generic kinda way, but the “Victim In Pain” LP is incredible. I remember getting into HC back in 1986 & my pal who introduced me to it telling me that AF were Nazis. Nonsense, of course, but they weren’t the most “forward-thinking,” shall we say…
Posted on 11-Nov-07 at 5:21 am | Permalink
mrpoopy wrote:
The story I used to hear was that these guys were homeless when they put this thing out but I have no idea if this is true or not. I liked the 1st LP but I wish these guys would hang it up and quit playing the “kiddie shows”–they must be in their 40’s!
Posted on 11-Nov-07 at 11:10 am | Permalink
Peter - KBD Records wrote:
Can’t wait for my M-Audio to arrive from Switzerland so I can get as great rips as this.
For some reason I never picked this one up back in the golden shower days. Think the Oi! and skinhead attitude kept me away. Still, this a great record.
Posted on 11-Nov-07 at 1:41 pm | Permalink
Schalke wrote:
Listen to NYHC is in a way to be a witness to an accident. Ugly but fascinating. Sometimes I like the songs but I fukking loath the Attitude. And don´t give me some mosh parts……FUKK! Victim in Pain is okay, so is The Age of Quarrel. I cant stand the fucking got no shirt on, flex your muscles, got a ton of tattoos, united we stand thing!! And before you get started I am GAAAY!! A Leather, Golden Shower, Nipple Torturing, Dirty Jock strap sniffin`,Fist Fucking GAAAY! You might even think I am part of the NYC scene. I like this one though….XXX
Posted on 11-Nov-07 at 2:27 pm | Permalink
henry wrote:
Admin: o i didnt know that thanks. and DonoftheDead: o wrong one then haha thanks for the correction
Posted on 11-Nov-07 at 6:20 pm | Permalink
Pär wrote:
“I liked the 1st LP but I wish these guys would hang it up and quit playing the “kiddie shows”–they must be in their 40’s!”
I saw them at CBGBs in 05 and they still deliver a great show even if they hanev´t released any good albums since the 80s
Posted on 13-Nov-07 at 1:33 pm | Permalink
hdvns wrote:
Here’s hoping that you will post ‘Victim…’ someday. Haven’t heard that since way back when. And just to be anal, Raunch Records was actually started in Salt Lake City, Utah of all places. The owners were Daphne and I think a guy named Brad. Great store. Hadn’t heard that it moved to LA, but who wouldn’t want to get out of Utah given the chance?
Anyhoo, thanks for the memories…
Posted on 15-Nov-07 at 11:39 pm | Permalink
Donofthedead wrote:
hdvns: Thanks for the correction. I was going off the top of my head. I knew it was from some small scene at the time.
Posted on 16-Nov-07 at 6:08 pm | Permalink
Mustard wrote:
Thanx for posting this, all I had was a worn out tape of it. I always liked AF and this really captured the energy they had. I was always up in the air about the politics of this band, even knowing the weren’t nazis, they seemed like the types that would kick your ass if they had a problem with you and that has been my experience with cops too. Oh well good music. Hey Erich could you drop me a line I have some questions about what it takes to run a site like this. Thanx again
Posted on 20-Nov-07 at 1:29 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Hi Mustard – will try and answer your mail soon. Very busy these days and loads of fan mail.
Posted on 21-Nov-07 at 1:02 pm | Permalink
Eddie wrote:
Peter-KBD Records
Why would the Oi skinhead attitude keep you away when you stated on this blog that you enjoy listening to Skrewdriver? Hmmmmm!
Posted on 21-Nov-07 at 4:42 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
It’s a weird, weird world we live in, Eddie ….
Posted on 22-Nov-07 at 12:01 am | Permalink
Peter - KBD Records wrote:
Eddie, you should’ve read my comment a little better. I said the Oi! attitude kept me away back when not that it does that now. As you can see from my latest post there’s an Oi! band right there: The Introze.
Posted on 22-Nov-07 at 1:31 am | Permalink
Steve wrote:
You people are still stuck in karl marx land! give it a rest already and enjoy music.
Posted on 08-Dec-07 at 2:42 pm | Permalink
Truly wrote:
Eddie….Vinnie Stigma is like that lol, if he hadn’t seen you in 20 years, it’s just that, he’ll remember you, no doubt. he’s crazy like that.
A.F. obviously weren’t Nazis as stated by that asshole Tim in MRR. The problem is, is that when you have a band that has regular right wing political views, all the ultra-left wingers, hippy punks, squatters, and what have you are gonna trash and bash their right to speak…Yea they talked about how they hate commies(especially I’m sure with Roger being Cuban), talked about being against public assistance, etc. That’s why I love New York back in the day, it was such a relief from all the hippyness that was going on everywhere else and especially today. BTW, you can actually thank Peter Steele and Billy Milano for writing A.F.’s first songs though, if you couldn’t get any right wing enough lol.
Posted on 01-Mar-08 at 7:10 am | Permalink
__(())__ wrote:
300$ for a lousy bootleg. Outch!
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 11:18 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Yeah – 300$ is “a bit” much for a bootleg, haha. Just realized that there was another one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140232504547&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 11:24 am | Permalink
adamski wrote:
Jesus! I have this bootleg & if someone offered me $50 for it, I’d bite their hand off! Record collectors are a bunch of psychos.
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 11:50 am | Permalink
Lesbian Whores.com wrote:
Adamski is a record collector!
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 2:52 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Asshole collectors are pretentious records!
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 2:54 pm | Permalink
SwePete wrote:
In my twisted mind I can see a connection between AF and VP!
Posted on 11-Jun-08 at 4:32 pm | Permalink
Chano wrote:
ok , A.F. were a bit controversial (just listen to the song “Public assistance” from the VICTIM IN PAIN lp…) but they were also one of the most powerful hc bands around back in the old days . Better than EU’S ARSE !!!! =)
Posted on 12-Jun-08 at 2:55 am | Permalink
Chano wrote:
Sorry , guys . “Public assistance” is from the CAUSE FOR ALARM lp….
Posted on 12-Jun-08 at 3:20 am | Permalink
Dave G. wrote:
Perfect. I was just telling a friend yesterday about these 2 bootlegs going for over $300 on ebay. I am thinking about bootlegging the bootleg and selling them on ebay lol…do your homework people.
Posted on 12-Jun-08 at 6:56 am | Permalink
Canochicano wrote:
Raunch Records was started by Brad Collins and Daphne Menden back in 1984 in Salt Lake City Utah. It provided a home away from home to all SLC punks and bands passing through town. You could get all the latest punk,HC, Thrash, and other oddities for low prices and pick up all the latest flyers for upcoming shows. Daphne went to Los Angeles to start a seperate Raunch records. Raunch Records remained opened until 1998 I believe in Salt Lake City. You can still visit Raunch ebay where Brad sells unique and interesting things.
Posted on 31-Oct-08 at 3:04 pm | Permalink