I am 53 and always like X but never had a vinyl of them. I just got ain’t love grand and today I am getting Los Angeles delivered. On its way now. Can’t fucking wait.
i'm still mesmerized by how, in the midst of a relatively narrow field of musical sounds in the early punk years, X had a totally unique style, giving voice to a purely southwest vibe that had, 'til then, been unheard. Such things happen so infrequently in music, that one has to step back in awe at these rare occurrences and smile. It's still beyond me how a band, with members living in their specific zeitgeist, can summon up a sound so totally different. Bowie, Numan, Bauhaus, and.....X.
1982, I was 12, Exene was my idol, I wanted to be her. I lived an unexceptional life with unexceptional parents in unexceptional suburbia. I regret never having the opportunity to see them live.
It's July 22, 2023 as I type. I got into punk in 1983 when a friend dared me to go to a Black Flag show. I was born again that night. I went to see Exploited & UK Subs a few weeks later & was hooked. I still love this music & go to just about every hardcore punk show in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I didn't get into first wave punk bands except Ramones & Sex Pistols, but I did see Dead Boys play last year & they kicked ass. A few weeks ago I heard that X is still together & playing in Dallas on July 22. "Man! Aren't they old?!" Well, FEAR is old, Lee Ving is 73, but were SO GOOD on stage a few months ago! So are Circle Jerks, DRI, Black Flag, Murphys Law, Agnostic Front, Adrenalin OD, The original Misfits, GBH, and many other bands! They're old physically but still killing it on stage, often in front of sold-out crowds! I'm going to see X tonight & can't wait!
In some ways the world is better now W the internet & all as back in the day if you wanted to know the answer to something it was a very long process to find out ( I recall hitchhiking to the library miles away to learn about the 1960's ) - and now it is instant - on the other hand things were so much more pure back in the day - and real and genuine - i can vividly recall coming up with that very word "REAL" to describe those things that were good - EX pottery. stuff made in India, natural foods, Beatles music, etc etc.......that was 1977.... i was 12.....I just wish the values we had in those days could have come forward along with the content. For example I did not know anyone with divorced parents - now it is everywhere and I sadly am among the fallen. It was in so many ways a better time. But the young people of today will never really understand. Hard to know if we are really better off - and sadly those of us who recall those days before (1970 - 1985) will soon be gone....I bought my first X album in 1982 in a store in Kentville Nova Scotia based only on how they looked in the picture. (Under The Big Black Sun) I loved Excena's 1910's look & still do......A great investment.
I've loved 'em ever since I was a long-haired pot-smoking teenaged werebear growing up in suburban NJ somewhere around 15 going on 16 years old and had just bought the Los Angeles album after hearing some of it on one of the local college radio stations coming out of NYC and at the age of 55 I still think that they are one of the best fucking American rock and roll bands in the world who were always as good as Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead in their own inimitable right and nevertheless were hardly ever heard on any of the so-called progressive FM radio stations for whatever reason and I reckon that's their loss. As for me, I am always gonna love, honor and cherish them for the breathtakingly beautiful truth of their words and the soulful sincerity of their music. Unsolicited testimonial and I thank you kindly for posting this...🌹🇺🇸✌
I remember that I paid...like $60 for this movie the year it came out! I had to special order it from Tower Records and still after all these it's my all time one and only favorite movie! I've seen them so many times at different venues in LA Co. Orange Co. And San Bernardino Co. Seen them at The Cave in Big Bear, 2018 and 2019! Of course I was the only one there singing off key every single word from every song they sang...REAL LOUD! I love to see them live....intoxicated or sober they still kick ass! Met them twice, they signed all my albums from them.... #x #xlives #punksnotdead #exenecervenka #johndoe #billyzoom #djbonebrake #xforlife
" I like coffee and I like tea, I like a pretty boy and he likes me " . Thanks so very much for uploading this. I have loved this band so long and so much! Thank you!
greatest band ever. every song a classic. never a bad show in the countless times I've seen them. every time I've had a chance to chat with them all they have been natural and kind every time. my only wish is they had the recognition they deserved. still as an original in the scene I think it would have taken from the charm, mystique and fun of the shows. the X tattooed on my hand is the only fan boy thing I've ever done. and after all this time I regret it not.
Must be the most underated band ever, especially here in the UK where I can safely say I haven't heard them on the radio anywhere since John Peel first played Los Angeles in 1980. F*cking criminal! Have loved this band ever since.
I also agree..best documentary..and of all time I might add..One of the greatest bands I've loved since the very first time I heard "White Girl "..I knew then I wanted to be just like Xene..I knew at that very moment that I WAS A PUNK ROCKER...
'X' -- Still My Favorite L.A. Band of All Time ..... Told Everyone, all my Friends, and their Friends Too about This Great Unique Band X ----Saw Them Back When They Started & Played The Whiskey w/ Ray Manzarek on that Fateful Horrible Night .....They are Truly , The Only Band That Matters .......! " I Play Too Hard When I Ought To Go To Sleep "...... They Still Do .
Saw them in 1983 at a free show on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. As soon as word spread that X was doing free show at the college, it seemed every kid in high school for miles around who knew good music (or just wanted an excuse to ditch school, drinks some beer, smoke some weed, loh yeh and some some good music, was there. The pit was one of the biggest and best I've seen. (maybeThe Clash opening for The Who the year before at LA Colosseum (that pit erupted as soon as the band ran on stage and launched into London Calling. I was 14, about 125lbs, and actually got a little scared it became so fucking aggro!! lol) (don't say shit!! I just told you I was a skinny 14 yr old about 125lbs, 5'7".) X was touring for the More Fun In The New World album. It's so long ago, can't remember if they were good that afternoon? Pretty sure they must've been, I would've definitely would've remembered if they weren't. lol Saw them again a few years ago at the free concerts in the park at Pershing Square in downtown L.A (which btw, if you're a X fan? they've been closing out the summer free concert series the last few years. X for free in a park, nice summer night? You can't beat that!!). The Clash were great, The Sex Pistols were great, Ramones could take em or leave em, but X deserves a place in Punk history as possibly best American punk band!!
I've seen them 2 or 3 times most recently in 2018 at Marina Del Rey but as far back as 1983 or 1984 I can't remember and I think it was at the Roxy or the Whisky. I wish I could remember. What I do know for a fact is that they are, in my opinion, one of the best acts to catch live and also one of my all time favorite bands. So glad Billy is in remission and I hope the band plays on as long as they can. Btw, I was at the Colosseum when the Clash opened for the Who. It was suppose to be the last tour for the Who and me and a couple of friends ditched school to go see them both. I look back and think that was a pivotal moment in my life as far as bridging the old with the new in my musical tastes.
I went to see Raging Speedhorn at Brighton Concord ii as a 14/15 year old girl with my best girlfriend and I was scared that day AND I LOVED IT 😂 some old hell's angel looking dude spilt beer all over me (but was very sweet and apologetic as soon as it happened 😂) the pit was crazy, it was the loudest thing i'd experienced up to that point! What a night, thanks for reminding me ❤️🌞x
...and: X is one of the bands having released the no. 1 masterpiece in their field of music, being the "Los Angeles" album. This is post punk L.A.'s "It Takes a Nation to Hold Us Back", "Sergeant Pepper's" or "Among the Living". It is an album to hear over and over and over and over and so on and so on...
So grateful for you posting this documentary; also so happy to have spent the 80s with X and living through it all. It was a special time in the history of punk/new wave ... the Los Angeles sound.
I saw them once make a big deal about Billy Zoom singing the next song. A stagehand put a microphone stand directly in front of him: no boom, top pushed down, mic pointing straight up. Billy, in his ever wide stance, just put his chin to his chest and sang. Cracked up the whole place. As heavy as some of their songs and story can be, X is a fun band too.
Damn.. that Edsel ad was savage. The MCA dude is talking about how X would be a flop/low sales and how his "company favorite" band Point Blank was going to be huge and was very promising. This was the same premise for the car, the Edsel. It was going to shape the way people bought cars, new, revolutionary and high sales and all that bullshit. Well, as it turns out, the Edsel was a complete flop. So let me ask you this, does anyone remember who Point Blank is 40 years later?? Also, the Edsel ad with the awful "man talk stuff", what a metaphor for the toxicity of the big record industry.
That advertisement is no different than any of the ads on Television today. The message is the same but the tactics they use to sell are more direct and not as subtle as the techniques marketers use to sell products today. If the record industry is so toxic why is fame and success such a worthwhile dream for a lot of musicians? Jon Lydon is famous for being infamous and he is riding his fame to this day and banning squatters from living on his wealthy property. He doesn't care about anything except himself which is a good metaphor for how the promise of punk slowly died and burned out with deaths of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Kurt Cobain in 1996 and 1994 respectively. Nirvana wanted to (at least Cobain) to sign with Geffen because Sub Pop could no longer fulfill his needs for acceptance and stardom. History seems to be repeating itself as there aren't many youth subcultures in existence as everything including people have been commodified.
Exciting how this film reveals how great and rare talents all 4 members are and why and what makes them great and rare. DJ , Billy , and JOHN AND EXENE finding that harmony through ol' Hank numbers.... And they're so cool. So it elevated my appreciation of the band
One of my old friends had an X tattoo, she was a lot of fun!!! Now she’s just an ex.:) ) I love this documentary, I haven’t watched it or seen X in a few years. I felt it was time to change that, so this Friday can’t get here fast enough!!!
X is such a great band from when I was a teen -- the 80s. Other bands like the Ramones -- love and respect -- take a backseat to X, in my humble opinion. Los Angeles is an awesome album too!
I partied there from '78 to about 1990. Hangin' out in the artist downtown warehouse district. Got to watch all those awesome bands start up and take off.
Love this documentary. They put a lot work into this video and it showcases their live sound. I saw them in L.A. by flying down there in 2000 and then they came to my area in Seattle a year later and played the E.M.P with a big screen in the background with eyeballs and lots of weird graphics but they played amazing! Billy gave me his pick after the gig after me friend asked him for it. It was just a regular Fender oversized pick. I now have a Gretsch jet and play with oversized Fender picks. He is my guitar teacher since I was 17 with the album Wild Gift back in 1984. Great band.
Songs in order of performance "Los Angeles" 1:40 "Year One" "We're Desperate" "Because I Do" "Beyond & Back" "Come Back to Me" "Soul Kitchen" 34:00 "White Girl" "The Once Over Twice" "Motel Room in My Bed" "The Unheard Music" "Real Child of Hell" "Johnny Hit & Run Paulene" 1:08:00 "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" 1:14:00 "The World's a Mess; It's in My Kiss" "The Have Nots"
Great documentary - great band! The sum of the parts is greater than the whole...so much talent in every department...they can really play - real musicians...yet still keep it accessible and somehow maintain a kind of DIY feel ( could that be down to Exene and those slightly unconventional harmonies?) with a direct appeal and no pretension. Unfortunately they did not get enough exposure here in England....if they had they would have been hugely popular. Top band.
I found it interesting that when I saw GREAT BALLS OF FIRE...that they did the song BREATHLESS and when I saw J.D. on bass I laughed my ass off thinking "HA! YOU'VE PLAYED THAT BEFORE!" lmfao
THANK YOU♥ I have the DVD. Ive had the film for quite some years now but THANK YOU for uploading this on CZcams for ALL the world. Man! Its important. Its us, as we are. And it is a band but it goes beyond "just a band"...ya know? I am a 16.. or..17 year old girl again and I still fucking FEEL for people. Lets live and love. THANK YOU♥ Blessings to you. I mean that. Pure life here. X for LIFE.
Tl;dr It's crazy how John Doe and many of the Narrators telling their punk stories mentioned The San Fernando Valley more than a handful in the audiobooks. Which is where I'm from. We had a Ska punk scene that played shows every week for quite some time until cops raided them every time. The most memorable show for me is when the police copter flashed the circle pit as the whole backyard was fully packed and flipping the finger up in sun valley. This was in 2015 It was crazy. I can't believe a few of my friends missed out. I know the 80s was a very violent time yet it was much more impactful and groundbreaking era for rock n roll imo. Which is what i wished for quite some time to be part of. But atleast I got to experience this era.
Want to hear something crazy? I was at that show in Cleveland that the band sings about on their Big Black Sun album. I didn't even have to pay to get in as I was on the warmup band's guest list. The Adults warmed-up that show. I knew them then. The show was at what had been Pirate's Cove in the Cleveland Flats. It was a good show despite the fact that there only 50 people left by the end of the show. It was like a private party. One of my moments of fame in rock history. They knew me as Bigfoot then. Now I am 64.
there is also an Australian band called X, Ian Rilen from Rose Tattoo, Ian Krahe, Geof Holmes, Steve Lucas, and Steve Cafiero, unreal band, one of Sydney's greatest
I saw them in Detroit at Bookis lounge. A dive bar in a rough area of Detroit. On 6 mile East of Woodward. That bar was completely off the hook. Anything went. I would think comparable to The Troubador in LA or CBGB in N.Y. It had to be late tos or early 80s.
When I was 13 ,I was having a bad day.lSo I walked out of school and beat feet to the downtown area to gaze longingly at the covers of magazines.On impulse I grabbed the only magazine I could grab without getting caught and hurried to aremote area on my trodden trail back home.And as I scoured the pages of my new favorite source of immoral behavior ,I read a few paragraphs about a new band...X. The rest is history. Where would I be without them and The Door's. (Which I discovered. Years later.
...and by the way (and I am actually talkin' "broadway" here), this should be on the big screen in a major hd remaster criterion version, this IS a REAL full blown movie!!!
I think they are at their best in "under the big black sun" (1982). I remember buying the lp when i was a punk teenage in nyc sometime around 1983 and it litterally blew me out. Never saw them live though... pity. The only west coast band that came frequently to nyc was black flag with Henry Rollins in his skinhead era. I didn't like the "los Angeles" album, apart from the fantastic title track. The keyboard sounds too much like the doors and I mean...punk is a different thing! It had nothing to do with that rock stardom jim Morrison sex drugs and r'n'r shit. Billy zoom is supercool with his rockabilly look and prob the best guitar player of the scene together with adolescents' rikk agnew and tsol's emory. Also john doe with his melanchonic country western voice is something special and exene! Cannot get more punk than that!
...and: I hate to say "punk", "grunge" or "Neue Deutsche Welle" or any industry invented term for made up categories. Outstanding music defines these categories for those narrow minded out there, but these categories are only for industry profit. Free your minds and make great art! Free music! No more prejudice!
Great art isn't free. Unless of course you wait until the artist is dead to glorify their art. Then it is free. And that is fucked up but happens all the time
PS..once a punk rocker..ALWAYS a punk rocker!🎵🎼🎶✊
fecking aye
I am 53 and always like X but never had a vinyl of them. I just got ain’t love grand and today I am getting Los Angeles delivered. On its way now. Can’t fucking wait.
i'm still mesmerized by how, in the midst of a relatively narrow field of musical sounds in the early punk years, X had a totally unique style, giving voice to a purely southwest vibe that had, 'til then, been unheard. Such things happen so infrequently in music, that one has to step back in awe at these rare occurrences and smile. It's still beyond me how a band, with members living in their specific zeitgeist, can summon up a sound so totally different. Bowie, Numan, Bauhaus, and.....X.
1982, I was 12, Exene was my idol, I wanted to be her. I lived an unexceptional life with unexceptional parents in unexceptional suburbia. I regret never having the opportunity to see them live.
Not too late, perhaps, I saw them about 8-9 years ago and they were amazing
i seen them live 2? years ago at punk rock bowling in vegas, was awesome! not to late to see them
Yup. Definitely still RELAVANT AND ABLE you can see them my friend!
I saw them a few years ago at the Roxy in LA. You'll be able to see them still.
the fact that you live in suburbia, yet you know about and appreciate this band renders you exceptional in my onion!
It's July 22, 2023 as I type. I got into punk in 1983 when a friend dared me to go to a Black Flag show. I was born again that night. I went to see Exploited & UK Subs a few weeks later & was hooked. I still love this music & go to just about every hardcore punk show in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I didn't get into first wave punk bands except Ramones & Sex Pistols, but I did see Dead Boys play last year & they kicked ass. A few weeks ago I heard that X is still together & playing in Dallas on July 22. "Man! Aren't they old?!" Well, FEAR is old, Lee Ving is 73, but were SO GOOD on stage a few months ago! So are Circle Jerks, DRI, Black Flag, Murphys Law, Agnostic Front, Adrenalin OD, The original Misfits, GBH, and many other bands! They're old physically but still killing it on stage, often in front of sold-out crowds! I'm going to see X tonight & can't wait!
In these endless lists of great guitarists I never understood why real, lifeblood slingers hardly get mentioned. Billy Zoom is phenomenal.
In some ways the world is better now W the internet & all as back in the day if you wanted to know the answer to something it was a very long process to find out ( I recall hitchhiking to the library miles away to learn about the 1960's ) - and now it is instant - on the other hand things were so much more pure back in the day - and real and genuine - i can vividly recall coming up with that very word "REAL" to describe those things that were good - EX pottery. stuff made in India, natural foods, Beatles music, etc etc.......that was 1977.... i was 12.....I just wish the values we had in those days could have come forward along with the content. For example I did not know anyone with divorced parents - now it is everywhere and I sadly am among the fallen. It was in so many ways a better time. But the young people of today will never really understand. Hard to know if we are really better off - and sadly those of us who recall those days before (1970 - 1985) will soon be gone....I bought my first X album in 1982 in a store in Kentville Nova Scotia based only on how they looked in the picture. (Under The Big Black Sun) I loved Excena's 1910's look & still do......A great investment.
I hadn't listen to X for quite a time and i had forgotten how incredibly good their music was/is....i really like their first three albums...
Underrated band
LOVE THEM. They are a huge influence. I want to cover [Because I Do].
By 100%
I'm seeing them tonight. They are opening for the Violent Femmes but we're going for X!
They checked so many boxes of what I dig. Quintessential LA band. So glad I saw them in the small clubs.
"The World's A Mess.."..Prob the Greatest Song Ever. A Classic Song which upon hearing for the first time made my heart skip a couple beats
I've loved 'em ever since I was a long-haired pot-smoking teenaged werebear growing up in suburban NJ somewhere around 15 going on 16 years old and had just bought the Los Angeles album after hearing some of it on one of the local college radio stations coming out of NYC and at the age of 55 I still think that they are one of the best fucking American rock and roll bands in the world who were always as good as Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead in their own inimitable right and nevertheless were hardly ever heard on any of the so-called progressive FM radio stations for whatever reason and I reckon that's their loss. As for me, I am always gonna love, honor and cherish them for the breathtakingly beautiful truth of their words and the soulful sincerity of their music. Unsolicited testimonial and I thank you kindly for posting this...🌹🇺🇸✌
Amen brother ‼️
64 and this is one of my favorite bands of all time, just an extension a punk Doors!
I think I love you!!
I remember that I paid...like $60 for this movie the year it came out! I had to special order it from Tower Records and still after all these it's my all time one and only favorite movie! I've seen them so many times at different venues in LA Co. Orange Co. And San Bernardino Co. Seen them at The Cave in Big Bear, 2018 and 2019! Of course I was the only one there singing off key every single word from every song they sang...REAL LOUD! I love to see them live....intoxicated or sober they still kick ass! Met them twice, they signed all my albums from them....
#x #xlives #punksnotdead #exenecervenka #johndoe #billyzoom #djbonebrake #xforlife
Marlene...I did the same thing...paid 60 bucks for the film.
" I like coffee and I like tea, I like a pretty boy and he likes me " . Thanks so very much for uploading this. I have loved this band so long and so much! Thank you!
greatest band ever. every song a classic. never a bad show in the countless times I've seen them. every time I've had a chance to chat with them all they have been natural and kind every time. my only wish is they had the recognition they deserved. still as an original in the scene I think it would have taken from the charm, mystique and fun of the shows. the X tattooed on my hand is the only fan boy thing I've ever done. and after all this time I regret it not.
Billy Zoom is a madman on the clarinet.
So impressed with his VAST musical talent‼️‼️‼️
Must be the most underated band ever, especially here in the UK where I can safely say I haven't heard them on the radio anywhere since John Peel first played Los Angeles in 1980. F*cking criminal! Have loved this band ever since.
Radio is dead... 📻...the State killed it off yrs ago
bands from clangoring aka: california, although probably tough guys, never seem sincere - maybe that's the sarcasm...?
My first concert ever was X for free at Magic Mountain. I think I was eight...
I also agree..best documentary..and of all time I might add..One of the greatest bands I've loved since the very first time I heard "White Girl "..I knew then I wanted to be just like Xene..I knew at that very moment that I WAS A PUNK ROCKER...
Not only is "Because I Do" a great song, but the visual concept for the song is fantastic. Exene looks so beautiful.
The great magic band of bands. X and Alley Cats were simply the greatest L.A. bands that ever existed.
My favorite band of all time. Their music never gets old.
'X' -- Still My Favorite L.A. Band of All Time ..... Told Everyone, all my Friends, and their Friends Too about This Great Unique Band X ----Saw Them Back When They Started & Played The Whiskey w/ Ray Manzarek on that Fateful Horrible Night .....They are Truly , The Only Band That Matters .......! " I Play Too Hard When I Ought To Go To Sleep "...... They Still Do .
Saw them in 1983 at a free show on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. As soon as word spread that X was doing free show at the college, it seemed every kid in high school for miles around who knew good music (or just wanted an excuse to ditch school, drinks some beer, smoke some weed, loh yeh and some some good music, was there. The pit was one of the biggest and best I've seen. (maybeThe Clash opening for The Who the year before at LA Colosseum (that pit erupted as soon as the band ran on stage and launched into London Calling. I was 14, about 125lbs, and actually got a little scared it became so fucking aggro!! lol) (don't say shit!! I just told you I was a skinny 14 yr old about 125lbs, 5'7".)
X was touring for the More Fun In The New World album. It's so long ago, can't remember if they were good that afternoon? Pretty sure they must've been, I would've definitely would've remembered if they weren't. lol Saw them again a few years ago at the free concerts in the park at Pershing Square in downtown L.A (which btw, if you're a X fan? they've been closing out the summer free concert series the last few years. X for free in a park, nice summer night? You can't beat that!!). The Clash were great, The Sex Pistols were great, Ramones could take em or leave em, but X deserves a place in Punk history as possibly best American punk band!!
I've seen them 2 or 3 times most recently in 2018 at Marina Del Rey but as far back as 1983 or 1984 I can't remember and I think it was at the Roxy or the Whisky. I wish I could remember. What I do know for a fact is that they are, in my opinion, one of the best acts to catch live and also one of my all time favorite bands. So glad Billy is in remission and I hope the band plays on as long as they can. Btw, I was at the Colosseum when the Clash opened for the Who. It was suppose to be the last tour for the Who and me and a couple of friends ditched school to go see them both. I look back and think that was a pivotal moment in my life as far as bridging the old with the new in my musical tastes.
I was standing next to Kosmo in L.A. for a couple songs. Then went inside the barrier up front. INSANE day.
I went to see Raging Speedhorn at Brighton Concord ii as a 14/15 year old girl with my best girlfriend and I was scared that day AND I LOVED IT 😂 some old hell's angel looking dude spilt beer all over me (but was very sweet and apologetic as soon as it happened 😂) the pit was crazy, it was the loudest thing i'd experienced up to that point! What a night, thanks for reminding me ❤️🌞x
Hahhaa...I was at both shows you mentioned!
X and The Clash were my teenage years!
The Best!!
...and: X is one of the bands having released the no. 1 masterpiece in their field of music, being the "Los Angeles" album.
This is post punk L.A.'s "It Takes a Nation to Hold Us Back", "Sergeant Pepper's" or "Among the Living".
It is an album to hear over and over and over and over and so on and so on...
Love this band, so glad I grew up in LA with all the great music that came out of there in my teenage and early 20's .12/15/2019
THANK YOU I have been listening to them since 1981!!!!!!
Same here!! X has always and will always have my Heart🖤
So grateful for you posting this documentary; also so happy to have spent the 80s with X and living through it all. It was a special time in the history of punk/new wave ... the Los Angeles sound.
I saw them once make a big deal about Billy Zoom singing the next song. A stagehand put a microphone stand directly in front of him: no boom, top pushed down, mic pointing straight up. Billy, in his ever wide stance, just put his chin to his chest and sang. Cracked up the whole place. As heavy as some of their songs and story can be, X is a fun band too.
when this was released I used to go three nights a week to see this movie with my friend Dennis K (RIP) in LA, wow memories thanks for posting this
love from portugal...
The germs got me into x
Damn.. that Edsel ad was savage. The MCA dude is talking about how X would be a flop/low sales and how his "company favorite" band Point Blank was going to be huge and was very promising. This was the same premise for the car, the Edsel. It was going to shape the way people bought cars, new, revolutionary and high sales and all that bullshit. Well, as it turns out, the Edsel was a complete flop. So let me ask you this, does anyone remember who Point Blank is 40 years later?? Also, the Edsel ad with the awful "man talk stuff", what a metaphor for the toxicity of the big record industry.
That advertisement is no different than any of the ads on Television today. The message is the same but the tactics they use to sell are more direct and not as subtle as the techniques marketers use to sell products today. If the record industry is so toxic why is fame and success such a worthwhile dream for a lot of musicians? Jon Lydon is famous for being infamous and he is riding his fame to this day and banning squatters from living on his wealthy property. He doesn't care about anything except himself which is a good metaphor for how the promise of punk slowly died and burned out with deaths of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Kurt Cobain in 1996 and 1994 respectively. Nirvana wanted to (at least Cobain) to sign with Geffen because Sub Pop could no longer fulfill his needs for acceptance and stardom. History seems to be repeating itself as there aren't many youth subcultures in existence as everything including people have been commodified.
One of my fav bands. Love the imagery in this doc too.
Cinematography is X-tremely ARTFULLY done!!
Come back to me is my favourite song ❤😢❤😢😊😊
saw them last nite in NYC..... THEY ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!! Such an INCREDIBLE band!!!!! Luv them!!!
When X was young and cute! This was my introduction to them.
One of the best documentaries I've ever seen about one of the best bands ever.
Amen, without music life would be a mistake .
the Ghost on the Highway doc is pretty good too
Exciting how this film reveals how
great and rare talents all 4 members are and why and what makes them great and rare. DJ , Billy , and JOHN AND EXENE finding that harmony through ol' Hank numbers.... And they're so cool. So it elevated my appreciation of the band
Elevates my appreciation yeah
Great documentary, great band, great music.
Nice to see the Seattle footage. I saw this Documentary at the Market Theater Pike Place as a teen....
One of my old friends had an X tattoo, she was a lot of fun!!! Now she’s just an ex.:) ) I love this documentary, I haven’t watched it or seen X in a few years. I felt it was time to change that, so this Friday can’t get here fast enough!!!
Reeeeeally miss those days. These days are "no fun at all".
RB
dennis Rock Bottoms kelly death 💀 of technology I know it well
X is such a great band from when I was a teen -- the 80s. Other bands like the Ramones -- love and respect -- take a backseat to X, in my humble opinion.
Los Angeles is an awesome album too!
Also the best band portrait ever made...
Just stumbled upon this...Glad I did.
The sublime clash of Excene & John Doe's voices is what heaven sounds like!!
I watched this yesterday and now I'm going to watch it today too.
John Doe did a show at small club in Denver (Herman's Hideaway) and just blew the walls down.
What a great band...man!
X RULES!!!!
Loved and lived LA during the scene and will never leave LA. I Loved , and still do..... X
nchls69 man , el lay is like a giant suburban mall nowadays ....
I partied there from '78 to about 1990. Hangin' out in the artist downtown warehouse district. Got to watch all those awesome bands start up and take off.
Love this documentary. They put a lot work into this video and it showcases their live sound. I saw them in L.A. by flying down there in 2000 and then they came to my area in Seattle a year later and played the E.M.P with a big screen in the background with eyeballs and lots of weird graphics but they played amazing! Billy gave me his pick after the gig after me friend asked him for it. It was just a regular Fender oversized pick. I now have a Gretsch jet and play with oversized Fender picks. He is my guitar teacher since I was 17 with the album Wild Gift back in 1984. Great band.
Haven't seen this since 1985 on mtv. Thanks for posting!
one of the greatest bands of all time
The "We're Desperate" collage video fucking rules! Probably Exene's work
never heard of them until Uncut dec 17 in a letter amazing great doco fred NZ
Piece of L.A. HISTORY and history in general classic.
Blown away. Thank you
Songs in order of performance
"Los Angeles"
1:40
"Year One"
"We're Desperate"
"Because I Do"
"Beyond & Back"
"Come Back to Me"
"Soul Kitchen" 34:00
"White Girl"
"The Once Over Twice"
"Motel Room in My Bed"
"The Unheard Music"
"Real Child of Hell"
"Johnny Hit & Run Paulene"
1:08:00
"I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" 1:14:00
"The World's a Mess; It's in My Kiss"
"The Have Nots"
Thanks mang!
I'm crying... So beautiful raw and intelligent.
Amazing. So creative.
I've been lucky to see them live twice, both times in Denver, Colorado.
Fantastic musicians! Also love Rozz Williams/Christian Death/Shadow Project, etc... Rikk Agnew, fucking great gitarist!
Fantastic documentary!
Punk GOATs.
Great documentary - great band! The sum of the parts is greater than the whole...so much talent in every department...they can really play - real musicians...yet still keep it accessible and somehow maintain a kind of DIY feel ( could that be down to Exene and those slightly unconventional harmonies?) with a direct appeal and no pretension. Unfortunately they did not get enough exposure here in England....if they had they would have been hugely popular. Top band.
The Clash of their voices is heaven for me!!
I found it interesting that when I saw GREAT BALLS OF FIRE...that they did the song BREATHLESS and when I saw J.D. on bass I laughed my ass off thinking "HA! YOU'VE PLAYED THAT BEFORE!" lmfao
THANK YOU♥ I have the DVD. Ive had the film for quite some years now but THANK YOU for uploading this on CZcams for ALL the world. Man! Its important. Its us, as we are. And it is a band but it goes beyond "just a band"...ya know? I am a 16.. or..17 year old girl again and I still fucking FEEL for people. Lets live and love. THANK YOU♥ Blessings to you. I mean that. Pure life here. X for LIFE.
Oh I'm really hating! It's nice to see other people who share the same love for this particular and awesome band..god bless.
👀👁👁John Doe played with the eyes. ♥️
Thank you🙏💓🍀
Great band. Still a go-to.
...Rhythm and Blues!!!
Still regret not naming my first daughter Exene.
I keep waiting for DJ Bonebrake to start doing St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast
Tl;dr It's crazy how John Doe and many of the Narrators telling their punk stories mentioned The San Fernando Valley more than a handful in the audiobooks. Which is where I'm from. We had a Ska punk scene that played shows every week for quite some time until cops raided them every time. The most memorable show for me is when the police copter flashed the circle pit as the whole backyard was fully packed and flipping the finger up in sun valley. This was in 2015 It was crazy. I can't believe a few of my friends missed out. I know the 80s was a very violent time yet it was much more impactful and groundbreaking era for rock n roll imo. Which is what i wished for quite some time to be part of. But atleast I got to experience this era.
If you were in a punk band that played in Philly in the early 80s, I’ve probably videotaped you.
This is a superb documentary.
Such a great band…
Who else wins Album of the Year in NY and LA? We won't soon see another band this good.
N.Y. Dolls, a long time ago.
Want to hear something crazy? I was at that show in Cleveland that the band sings about on their Big Black Sun album. I didn't even have to pay to get in as I was on the warmup band's guest list. The Adults warmed-up that show. I knew them then. The show was at what had been Pirate's Cove in the Cleveland Flats. It was a good show despite the fact that there only 50 people left by the end of the show. It was like a private party. One of my moments of fame in rock history. They knew me as Bigfoot then. Now I am 64.
True punk-rock legends
there is also an Australian band called X, Ian Rilen from Rose Tattoo, Ian Krahe, Geof Holmes, Steve Lucas, and Steve Cafiero, unreal band, one of Sydney's greatest
I saw them in Detroit at Bookis lounge. A dive bar in a rough area of Detroit. On 6 mile East of Woodward. That bar was completely off the hook. Anything went. I would think comparable to The Troubador in LA or CBGB in N.Y.
It had to be late tos or early 80s.
Knowing too much=sadness
terrific doc
Oh yeah. Point Blank. GREAT band! Those guys, er, gals...uh, people? They were AMAZING!
They should be in R&R HOF!
Naw. They're an authentic, real band. They deserve BETTER than the HoF
Met John Doe thru my bud Jeff(Jeffe)Pettit at a club in Tempe Az called the Green Room(rip). He was super cool. So was John Doe.
Took a date to an X acoustic show. She knew little of the band. Afterwards, she told me "that was the darkest thing I've ever seen". lol
YES!
GREAT!!!! Thanks for the post!
When I was 13 ,I was having a bad day.lSo I walked out of school and beat feet to the downtown area to gaze longingly at the covers of magazines.On impulse I grabbed the only magazine I could grab without getting caught and hurried to aremote area on my trodden trail back home.And as I scoured the pages of my new favorite source of immoral behavior ,I read a few paragraphs about a new band...X.
The rest is history.
Where would I be without them and
The Door's. (Which I discovered. Years later.
One of the first bands to feature a DJ!
...and by the way (and I am actually talkin' "broadway" here), this should be on the big screen in a major hd remaster criterion version, this IS a REAL full blown movie!!!
X-actly!!! WHOEVER wrote, directed, and produced this film has OUTSTANDING artistic vision. Just incredible ‼️‼️
I think they are at their best in "under the big black sun" (1982). I remember buying the lp when i was a punk teenage in nyc sometime around 1983 and it litterally blew me out. Never saw them live though... pity. The only west coast band that came frequently to nyc was black flag with Henry Rollins in his skinhead era. I didn't like the "los Angeles" album, apart from the fantastic title track. The keyboard sounds too much like the doors and I mean...punk is a different thing! It had nothing to do with that rock stardom jim Morrison sex drugs and r'n'r shit. Billy zoom is supercool with his rockabilly look and prob the best guitar player of the scene together with adolescents' rikk agnew and tsol's emory. Also john doe with his melanchonic country western voice is something special and exene! Cannot get more punk than that!
Exene and Doe were and are, influenced by Morrison’s style and prose. A couple songs were also influenced by Manzerick as well. It’s an L.A. thing.
Just got into these guys today
Saw them several times....Fillmore west...the pit got going and the hippies asked who plays keyboard?
The first four albums, anyway . . .
First three for me.
The most under-rated band in American History.
COME ON MAN 'GERBILS ON SPEED' ARE AWESOME..
Still waiting for that Point Blank documentary to come out.
Billy Zoom is a great axe slinger
...and: I hate to say "punk", "grunge" or "Neue Deutsche Welle" or any industry invented term for made up categories. Outstanding music defines these categories for those narrow minded out there, but these categories are only for industry profit.
Free your minds and make great art!
Free music!
No more prejudice!
Great art isn't free. Unless of course you wait until the artist is dead to glorify their art. Then it is free. And that is fucked up but happens all the time