Pure Punk Picks
Richie Dagger’s Crime – The Germs
I first became aware of this band from the amazing movie “Decline Of Western Civilization” back in the eighties. It’s a documentary about the early L.A. punk bands and scene.
Darby Crash, the singer of The Germs, seemed such a mess. The whole L.A. early punk scene seemed a mess, as well.
But by going on how punk was perceived at the time, as a totally inept, chaotic, nihilistic onslaught of aggression and rude behavior with no redeeming social factors or musical value- the English scene fared well at this depiction- but the L.A. scene wins, hands down in my opinion.
I purchased The Germs live cassette in the later eighties called “Germicide” recorded at one of their earliest shows at the famous Whiskey-A-Go-Go. They were actually introduced at this show by their former drummer, Belinda Carlisle, who went on to become the lead singer of The Go-Go’s! The intro is on the recording!
Listening to it at the time, I thought that the tape was utter garbage. The performance is definitely the poorest live show I’ve ever heard. Though I could sense there were some great songs in the dross.
Several years later I even grew to enjoy the tape, ’cause I realized that amongst the poor performances, this tape had punk attitude galore. And along with the great songs there was some great lyrics as well. I would find that out from their only studio album called “G.I.” that they played extremely well on and that is excellently produced by Joan Jett.
I am never jealous of someone’s wealth or fame. But I sometimes covet my neighbor’s words. And there’s some lyrics by Darby that I wish I could call my own.
“I’m Richie Dagger. I can stomp and swagger. I can take on all your heroes…I’m young and haggard, the boy that nobody owns…he sits in the corner like a child despised. A crazy sort of cast comes over his eyes- that’s Richie Dagger’s Crime.”
Isn’t it kind of ironic that I’m writing about a band called The Germs during a pandemic?
And though the Corona-19 is a killer and certainly, worthy of our concern and care.
I’d like to wipe out the more long-lasting and deadly germs that emanate from our current government. That I won’t bore you with the long list or details.
In society, it has always sought to squelch the outcast, the rebel, the individual. To point them out as different, to make them the scapegoat, the germ, the virus, the cause of what ills.
Now, it’s used on the immigrants but the list of wealthy politicians blaming the ills of society on those who have the least is a long, favored tradition.
Darby Crash was a talented, young artist who also happened to be gay. “His life was such a mess. And his friends weren’t quite the best. But he was satisfied.”
I’m satisfied with claiming that The Germs were a great punk band even if they couldn’t play live for the lives of them.
They had the songs, the music, the lyrics that they pulled together for one classic studio album.
And the child that sits in the corner feeling despised? Well, that’s Darby who felt he had to keep his gayness hidden afraid of how it would be accepted in the macho, aggressive, hardcore punk scene.
I just read that Darby, who was also know as Bobby Pyn for a short while, once considered taking Richie Dagger as his stage name. I didn’t know that when I, originally started this essay.
But Richie is Darby is whatever his real name was. And his crime? Well, that was his homosexuality that was consider a crime and a mental illness only a decade or so before this song was recorded.
So I guess you could say depression and drugs did Darby in, but I say this is just another example of society killing off its best and most potential artists, ruthlessly.
Young people are prone to mistakes, that should be accepted and forgiven. But the old are knowledgeable and are plotting how to steal the young futures away.
But the intelligence, the adventure, the creativity, the freedom expressed in this song- lives on.
I feel it’s most alive when the music pauses and Darby sings, “Woh-oh, oh,” just like when Little Richard sang in his falsetto voice or when someone stubs a toe.
Such a small ailment, but such a scorching, sore on ones’ young soul.
Darby and The Germs are just one small part of punk rock history, but they reflect the craziness and the creativity and the sadness and the joy of what punk rock was and is, and what punk rock is now and will be.
We will always be outcasts but we live more boldly and true than most of the others, we will meet more obstacles but our victories will be sweeter in the end. We will always be on the right side of creativity, of caring, of living life to the fullest and of being open and aware.
And though we die, what we all believe in lives on, righteously.
(Slimedog)