The Strange History of BLACK FLAG (they hated their fans)

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can’t believe they made the tattoo into a real band!!

You know the video is gonna be great when is starts with the legendary clip of Henry Rollins bullying a kid.

Wow, Black Flag were so influential they actually influenced themselves!! Amazing (see 8:44)

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I was born in 84 so I didn't get to experience Black Flag, but I was introduced to Rollins Band when they were on a late night show my dad let me watch. My dad was like "what the hell is this crap?", and I was immediately a fan.

Nervous Breakdown is basically the musical equivalent of a hand grenade

Also, I think it is impressive that with Kira Roessler, who besides being a fantastic bassist, was also an engineering student at UCLA while playing/touring with Black Flag when she wasn't in school.

As a kid in the 80s, A lot of times bands were discovered just from school/local graffiti (no phones or internet). I remember tons of “black flag” symbols and DK every where (Misfits and others but those 2 stood out most to me in graffiti). It left an impression even though I went the metal route (DRI was a favorite before I realized the roots were punk basically….along with any Thrash band). I always respected punk for what it is, and as I get older, it becomes more broad a term 😂. Going off course but yeah, many of us knew these bands way before we even heard a note from them. Sometimes for years, we just didn’t have it all in our face…all the time.

8:42 pretty wild how Black Flag began drawing from bands like Black Flag

One of the other things that was so influential about Black Flag was their adherence to a DIY philosophy. Between them and Dischord in DC they showed generations of bands that you didn't need a big label or huge promoters to get out there and play and put out records.

It's interesting how it is first 'Counter-Culture', Then eventually, one has to counter the counter-culture. I respect what Rollins and Black Flag did.

"Slip It In" is personally my favorite album by them. The line up alone was iconic.

As someone who loved the later WEIRD Black Flag albums, glad to see them get some more love. Because they deserve it

I got see Henry doing his spoken word recently. $55 to be in the third row in the pit. Best spent $55 in my life. He talked for two hours & barely took a breath as he sweated profusely. It was running down his arm and dripping off his elbow as he held the mic. He couldn’t have sweated anymore if he was singing for Black Flag that night. Such a unique and original soul. I highly recommend it. It’s one of those things you don’t know you need to see, until you actually see it. If you try to explain to somebody that it was entertaining to watch somebody rant for two hours. They probably look at you like you were crazy, but it was fucking amazing.

On the subject of poverty, Henry has told a story about his time in Black Flag where they were so poor that they would go into a diner and wait for people to get done eating and if they left any food on the plates they would rush the tables and eat the left overs before the waitress would remove the plates. Black Flag has always had the coolest album covers and band art. Every incarnation of Black Flag has is iconic hits. I'm actually a fan of all eras of the band, but the lineup I got turned onto and favored the most was with Henry, Kira Roessler on bass, Robo Julio Valencia of the Misfits/Bill Stevenson of the Descendents on drums, and Greg Ginn. From that lineup I backtracked and discovered all their previous lineups.

I love both the early and later Black Flag records but love them for different reasons. The later records I love listening to because it was no longer just straight-ahead hardcore punk, it was something else. When I listen to 'Loose Nut', I hear GBH meets Black Sabbath meets Yes meets Rush.

You said the album My War pulls from black flag…I feel like you meant to say it pulls from Black Sabbath? Right?

Loose Nut is IMO the most cohesive Black Flag record. Every song hits you in a different way but flows. Also, She's Black is the best song they ever did (and was written by Bill Stevenson).

At the tender age of 15, their Mi Casita gig was my first show of any kind, musically. Black Flag, Redd Kross, Descendents, Husker Du, St. Vitus - it was epic. First and last punk rock show at this little family Mexican restaurant, I'm pretty sure. It was my dad who came and picked up me and my friends after the show and drove us home. There were cops everywhere but thankfully nobody started a riot. And dad didn't even make a big deal about it. I think about that sometimes to this day; RIP pops, you were one mellow dude. (Also, LA Times music critic Robert Hilburn was at the show and spoke with us.)