Flyer - Friday March 27, 1987

DayGlo Abortions "Here Today, Guano Tomorrow" LP

Chris Walter writes in his book on the Dayglos about this record "the new material was fast and heavy. While the songs were still short blasts of nihilistic energy, Cretin had upped the ante, and the level of musicianship was higher. If Feed Us a Fetus had been offensive to some, the gross out factor on the new album wasover the top. Song titles such as "Fuck my Shit stinks" made it abundantly clear that the DayGlo Abortions had not mellowed with age, and that the group would not be seeking radio play. Even die-hard DayGlos fans would have difficulty comprehending the vileness of songs such as "Hide the Hamster", which, as the title suggests, was about the insertion of live rodents into the anal cavity for sexual pleasure. It was almost as if Cretin was deliberately writing nasty songs just for the sake of writing nasty songs. Did "Kill Johnny Stiff" have any redeeming qualities at all? Johnny Stiff was the promoter who had swindled the band on a previous tour. The song expressed the band's dislike for booking agents and promoters." Chris continues that "the corrossive lyrics were matched only by the dazzling guitar work and metal influenced ferocity. This was an LP designed to scare listeners away or draw them in as committed fans. there would be no in-between, no middle ground, and for the DayGlo Abortions it was all or nothing." Nev the Impaler came up with the riff for "Fuck Satan to Death" which cretin encouraged out of him. A local musician / recording technician named Scott Henderson helped write "Shred Central", which was a song about Dave Dork's skate shop. Scott and Cretin also worked on "The Spawn of Yoth Sogoth" and "Drugged and Driving". Walter goes on to describe Cretin's writing on this record like this "His satirical powers and caustic observations were poison dipped darts, each guitar riff and snarling lyric a blistering attack on everything good and decent. Punk perfection, in other words." About how metal sounding the DayGlos had become Walter counters "the album actually broke new ground as a vicious blend of crossover thrash and speedcore. Mostly, the sound on Guano was an inevitable progression that occurred as cretin truly began to master his guitar." Not only were the songs solid, but with three guitars, the DayGlos were able to build a monster sound like never before. Both musically and creatively the band was at a high-point, honed to a razor's edge from long months of touring. These were the ideal conditions that the DayGlos cut this new record. Fringe Product would fund the release. The band recorded at Legacy Studios in Victoria and Tony Moskal would be the producer of the record. The recording took less than two weeks to record and less time to mix. "Worried that the lyrics weren't offensive enough on their own, the DayGlos struggled to come up with a cover that people would instantly notice. To this end, Spud hatched a concept, took photographs to demonstrate what he had in mind and mailed them to Fringe in Toronto. The record label liked Spud's idea, but used their own artists to produce a high quality version of the concept. The front cover, which depicts a cute little hamster nibbling at a box of chocolates, wouldn't be disturbing at all if it weren't for an anonymous hand pointing a big black gun at the unsuspecting rodent from outside the frame. The back cover shows the aftermath of the gunshot in all its bloody glory. When Here Today Guano Tomorrow hit the stores in the spring of 1987, the reaction was wift and furious. The cover art alone was enough to make music critics gasp in horror, and the lyric sheet had them shaking their heads in disbelief. This would be a record to shock the hell out of your parents. On June 18th, 1988, the police had executed a search warrant on the warehouse of Fringe Product Inc. The daughter of a Nepean Ontario cop named Jim Fitzgibbons asked her father to record borrowed copies of Feed us a Fetus and Here Today Guano Tomorrow. The officer was outraged by the artwork that he was being asked to illegally copy. the cop took the art and lyrics to his superiors who whole heartedly agreed that these releases were the most disgusting and offensive things they had ever seen. A month later the police seized thousands of copies of both records and any paperwork related to the releases. On August 24th, 1988, criminal charges were brought against Fringe and their distribution arm, the Record Peddler. The band started to realize how important this case was. If Fringe was found guilty, artists and distributors alike would have to seriously limit themselves or risk criminal charges. A number of civil liberties groups got involved and Jello Biafra did a fundraising event for their defense fund. Fringe wound up deducting $90,000 in royalties to the band in defense of the case. Spud claims that when all was said and done Ben Hoffman actually made money on the case and received three times more money than was spent on the case.

- this information is informed by "Here Today, Dragged Through the Courts Tomorrow" chapter in Chris Walter's book "Argh Fuck Kill: The Story of the DayGlo Abortions" that can be bought through www.punkbooks.com.

Flyer - Saturday March 21, 1987

I remember this show because I piled in a van with the two bands. The Jockey Club was in Newport, Kentucky and both bands were looking forward to playing thsi show, partially because Active Ingredients were on the bill, partially because none of us had ever been to Kentucky. Our expectations were hightened when we realized that Newport was a border town with Cincinnati and we were all fans of WKRP growing up. The other thing we learned was that that the Jockey club had hosted bands as is as Jimmy Hendrix back in the 60's and DOA the week before. Sadly there was only twenty kids that came out to this show and that might have included all the folks that were in the MSI/Sons of Ishmael convoy. I have other memories of Newport which weren't so nice.

Flyer - Friday March 20, 1987

Flyer - Friday March 20, 1987

This was the first of two nights that made up the Ohio tour. This show was in Kent, Ohio and the club was a place called JBs. I forgot that Half Life headlined the show. They were from Pittsburgh.

Flyer - Thursday March 19, 1987

Flyer - Wednesday, March 18th, 1987

Sons of Ishmael return home to put on a show at the Meaford Arena and they bring Dunnville's Problem Children in to play. Tim's younger brother, Rob, is playing in Flecks of Drool.

Zine - Severe #1

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This is the first issue of Severe. Severe was a zine from burlington done by Ian Fenton and Steve Wiltsey. Steve Wiltsey would go on to sing in Our War and publish a zine called Town of Hardcore. This first issue sees interviews with False Liberty from Seattle, Half Off from California, Hellwitch from Gainesville, Ludichrist from NYC, Wehrmacht from Portland, and No Fraud from Florida.

Zine - Pirates of Doom #2

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This is the second issue of this Mississauga zine. This issue starts out with an interview with Steve Goof from BFG. There was an interview with Sons of Ishmael. There is an interview with Don of Reuben Kincade who managed Hype. There is an interview with the singer and drummer from October Crisis. Hype gets interviewed, which makes sense given john was playing guitar in the band at the time. There is an interview with Charlie Brown's Wang who would become Missing Link. One of the few interviews with the amazing Social Suicide from Brantford. There are interviews with Samhain and 7 Seconds when they were through Toronto. There are some explanatory pictures of skateboard tricks and some pictures of Gang Green and SCUM.

Flyer - Saturday March 14, 1987

Flyer - Saturday March 14, 1987

This tour happend a year later after SNFU had done done bacing vocals for the "Technocracy" 12". Chris Walter writes about the shows on and around this date in California on page 87 of "SNFU...What No One Else Wanted to Say".

"Opening for Corrosion of Conformity at Fender's Ballroom in L.A. on March 7th, SNFU was in a fine form. "Devil's Voice" was the first song out of the gate, with Chi pid deploying his signaure aerial leap for the amazed spectators. Launching himself from the kick drum with one foot, the singer shot =triaght for the ceiling, creating one of those gravity-defying moments oft captured on film. looking back at those famous photographs, the viewer cannot help but wonder how the singer could possibly have lept so high. Chi's distinctive voice carried over the thunder of guitars and drums like bagpipes on a battlefield, occassionally causing the skinheads and the Suicidals' gang to stop fighting for a moment. With the furious guitars ringing loudly, and the rhythm section pounding hard enough to crack conrete, SNFU provided the ultimate but unwilling backdrop for the testosterone-fueled violence.

After kicking around L.A. for a week, the boys hit San Francisco for a show at the On Broadway with Corrosion of Conformity on March 13th, 1987. Both bands played in Sacramento the next night, and then doubled back to San Fran for a date at Gilman Street Project on March 15th. "Gilman Street was awesome," recalls Brent. he also remembers that Chi Pig refused to accept a cassette from Tim Armstrong, who was currently in Operation Ivy. "I took the tape and told him I'd listen to it all the time. I probably still have it somewhere," says Brent, who has been known to hang on to things."

Zine - Breach of Discipline #1

This is their first issue and it is impressive in that there are a lot of local bands. The interviews are brief, but they get down to the basics which were often missed in a lot of interviews. The cover says it all.

Flyer - Friday March 6, 1987

The bass player, Alisdiar Jones, made this flyer. Other flyers can be viewed at http://homepage.mac.com/alisdairjones/PhotoAlbum85.html.

Release - Various Artists "Born to Skate" tape

This was volume five of what would become seven compilations released by Thrasher Magazine. Most of the bands on here were of the crossover nature. SNFU were from Edmonton and they contributed two tracks. In Chris Walter's book "SNFU...What No One Else Wanted to Say" we learn that David Mockford recorded the two songs in Power Zone Studios. "Time to Buy a Futon" would be a huge song for SNFU thanks in part to this comp. The Stupids were the first band from the UK to have that American skate thrash sound demonstrating to hardcore kids that Thrasher knew something about the hardcore scene. No Mercy were a new band from the Suicidal crib. JFA were one of the original skate thrash bands from Pheonix and Alternative Tentacles did a discography of all their material in a Skate rock series. Excel were a crtossover band from California and Lookout Records would release their first single. The Dehumanizers were from Seattle. Condemned Attitude were the first Attitude Adjustment spin off bands.

01. SNFU - Visiting The Bad Again
02. Racer X-AZ - Happy Go Happy
03. The Stupids - Born To Built To Grind
04. Eight Days a Week - What's So Strange About Me?
05. Condemned Attitude - Homeless Crew 
05. No Mercy - Die Or Be Killed
06. Naked Lady Wrestlers - Scraping The Top Of The Barrel
07. JFA - 1-10
08. Excel - Insecurity" – Excel
09. The Dehumanizers - Shu Du Vwa
10. D.I. - Pray For Sur"
11. Condemned Attitude - When World's Collide
12. Racer X-AZ - Blarin' In The Chair"
13. Eight Days a Week - Different Worlds
14. JFA - Turkeys Carved By UFO's
15. SNFU - Time To Buy A Futon
16. The Stupids - Wipeout 
17. Beowulf - Hussy
18. The Dehumanizers - Halfpipe
19. Sreamin' Lord and his Friends - Kings Of Trash

There is a review of the comp found on the Kill from the Heart site to help situate what people were saying of the comp back in the day.  

A download of the comp can be found at Shiney Grey Monotone's blog.