AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Germs

Artist:Germs

Song:Lexicon Devil

Album:What We Do Is Secret: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

In the late 70s, there were several punk bands that probably could have been successful if somebody  could get reasonable behavior from them. The Sex Pistols proved that but they imploded anyway. Germs was like that. They were popular in Los Angeles clubs but it's impossible to be successful when the music is incoherent. High school buddies Jan Paul Beahm and Georg Ruthenburg were kicked out of University High School in Los Angeles for anti-social behavior. Supposedly they were using mind control on fellow students. They decided to start a band though neither had any music experience. They were big fans of David Bowie's glam rock period. Maybe they wanted to play dress up. The band was formed in 1976. Beahm was lead singer and called himself Darby Crash. Ruthenberg played guitar and called himself Pat Smear. Lorna Doom (Teresa Ryan) played bass. The original drummer was Belinda Carlisle but she was sick at the time and brought in her friend Donna Rhea (Becky Barton). Becky left after three gigs. Belinda did not return as her new band The Go-Go's were starting to take off. She also didn't like the heroin use that was going on. They used various drummers though Don Bolles lasted the longest. At their first show, Germs were so bad they were thrown off the stage after five minutes. Their early shows verged on riots as the crowds were friends playing along with the band's shtick. Germs recorded on reel to reel tape in Smear's garage. The single went nowhere but eventually they signed with Slash Records, a label that specialized in Los Angeles punk bands. Lexicon Devil was released on a 1977 EP. It is generally considered to be their signature song. Ultimately Germs recorded the 1979 album (GI), appeared in Penelope Spheeris' documentary Decline of Western Civilization and recorded some songs with producer Jack Nitzsche for the 1980 film Cruising. So they were improving. But then they split up after conflict with Bolles and Beahm and Ruthenberg formed the Darby Crash Band. Germs reunited on Dec. 6, 1980 and on Dec. 7, Beahm committed suicide with heroin at age 22. Apparently Beahm told Ruthenberg he only wanted to do the show so he could buy enough heroin to kill himself. It was a threat that he had made several times so Ruthernberg didn't think he was serious. But this time Beahm went through with it. His death was overshadowed by John Lennon's murder the next day. Ruthenberg went on to play with Nirvana in the 90s. Director Rodger Grossman made the 2007 film What We Do Is Secret about Germs with Shane West from the ABC TV series Once and Again starring as Darby Crash. There was even a Germs reunion tour with West singing lead. The soundtrack CD has some Germs songs and other things as well. Here's the video of Lexicon Devil by Germs.