Forming

FORMING
 
 
“Forming”  is the debut single by American punk rock band Germs (band).  Released on What?, an independent start-up label, in July 1977, it is regarded as the first true Los Angeles punk record.   (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
What Records? is a good example of the Do-It-Yourself spirit that brought punk to life in the first place:  By the mid-1970’s, the technology was good enough and vinyl was cheap enough that bands could put their own records together without going through the corporate record labels; and there were enough independent record stores around that getting shelf space was also doable.  In this case, Chris Ashford was a friend of members of the Germs; in the great 1970’s tradition, they had just made a crude two-track recording of a song called “Forming” in the guitarist’s garage, so Ashford released it as a 45 and distributed it all by himself.  The release date of July 19777/77 – would resonate with those of us in a casino area like Biloxi.  The B-side, “Sex Boy” was a live performance made during the filming of the first Cheech and Chong movie Up in Smoke
 
(July 2010)
 
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The Eyes is a first-wave punk rock band with an all-star line-up:  Bass player and vocalist Charlotte Caffey later was lead guitarist for the Go-Go’s, while DJ Bonebrake became the drummer for X.   My earlier article on the Eyes mentioned that members of the Go-Go’s had deep roots in the Los Angeles punk rock scene, but I didn’t know the half of it.  I recently picked up an LP called Germicide (oh, yes, they are still making new LP’s – I get them all the time) of the first live concert in June 1977 by the Germs (I also mentioned that band in the article); their first single on What Records?, “Forming” b/w “Sex Boy” is regarded as the very first punk rock record that was released in LA.   The woman introducing the band at the beginning of the concert was “Belinda”; and sure enough, I was able to pin that down as being Belinda Carlisle, the lead singer of the Go-Go’s
 
(July 2012)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021