NYHC: New York Hardcore (1980-1990)

Known for its stylish 1970s punk rock scene, New York City matched the grim urban reality of the 1980s with a rawer musical uprising: New York hardcore. As bands of misfits from across the region gravitated to the forgotten frontier of Manhattan's Lower East Side. With a backdrop of despair, bands like Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Murphy's Law, and Youth of Today confronted their reality with relentlessly energetic gigs at CBGB, A7, and numerous squats in the area.

With a foreword by Freddy Cricien of Madball, who made his stage debut with Agnostic Front at age 7, Tony Rettman's ambitious oral history captures ten years of struggle, including the scene's regional rivalries with D.C. and Boston, the birth of moshing, the coming together of hardcore and heavy metal, the straightedge movement, and the unlikely influence of Krishna consciousness.

"NYHC: New York Hardcore (1980-1990)" slams the sidewalk with savage tales of larger-than-life characters and unlikely feats of willpower. The gripping and sometimes hilarious narrative is stitched together like the fabric of New York itself from over 100 original interviews with members of Absolution, the Abused, Adrenalin O.D., Agnostic Front, Antidote, Bad Brains, Bloodclot, Bold, Born Against, Breakdown, Cause for Alarm, Cavity Creeps, Citizens Arrest, Cro-Mags, Crumbsuckers, the Cryptcrashers, Death Before Dishonor, Even Worse, False Prophets, Gorilla Biscuits, H2O, Heart Attack, Inhuman, Into Another, Irate, Judge, Kraut, Leeway, Life's Blood, the Mad, Major Conflict, the Misfits, the Misguided, the Mob, Murphy's Law, Nausea, Nihilistics, Nuclear Assault, Numskulls, Outburst, Pro-Pain, the Psychos, Quicksand, Raw Deal, Reagan Youth, Rorschach, S.O.D., Sacrilege, Savage Circle, Sheer Terror, Shelter, Shok, Sick of it All, Side by Side, Skinhead Youth, Straight Ahead, the Stimulators, Token Entry, the Undead, Underdog, Urban Waste, Virus, Warzone, Youth of Today, and many more.

CONTENIDO:

Foreword: On my own authority, by Freddy Cricien
1. The Stimulators: loud fast rules!
2. Max's Kansas City: punk thursdays
3. The Mad: I hate music
4. Bad Brains: the big takeover
5. Even Worse: we suck!
6. Avenue A: 17IA
7. False Prophets: good clean fun
8. The Undead: my kinda town
9. The Nihilistics: kill yourself
10. WNYU: noise the show
11. The MOB: step forward
12. Reagan Youth: I am living proof of Reagan's lies
13. Kraut: kill for cash
14. The Zine Scene: give' em the axe!
15. D. C. Vs. New York vs. Boston: no one rules
13. Diy Vinyl: crucial changes
17. East Village Nights: A7 and 2+2
18. Urban Waste and Major Conflict: how do you feel?
19. The Abused: drug free youth
20. The Misguided: defy standards
21. Agnostic Front: united blood
22. Cause for Alarm: stand as one!
23. Apartment X: a place to crap and make coffee
24. Skinhead Youth: society's victims
25. Antidote: wake up to the real real
26. CBCG Matinee
27. Agnostic Front: victim in pain
28. Skank Yourself to Death
29. Hare Krishna: in search of .
30. The Cro-Mags: everybody's gonna die
31. Place Punks: fallout of our being
32. Heavy Metal: united forces
33. Crumbsuckers: life of dreams
34. Murphy's Law: fun!
35. The Birth of Unity
36. Youth of Today: break down the walls
37. Warzone: don't forget the streets
38. Youth Crew: better than you
39. Straight Ahead: we stand
40. Rock Hotel presents
41. Underdog: not like you!
42. Some Records: v.s. Hardcore and not much els
43. Breakdown: life of bullshit - just another raw real
44. Revelation Records and Gorilla Biscuits: together
45. Blackout: just can't hate enough
46. NYHC on the road: represent New York City and Dance Hard
47. Judge: New York crew
48. Asc no Rio: no racist, sexist, or homophobic bands will be booked
49. Sick of It All: harder than you
50. Shelter: perfection of desire
51. Clean Slate
50. The legacy: set it off

Cast of characters
Source index
Essentials
Acknowledgments