Catholic Discipline was a short-lived Southern California punk band. Most of the band members were better known for their own personal ventures. They formed sometime in 1979 and disbanded sometime in 1980. One of the few documentations of the group is a couple of segments in The Decline of Western Civilization by Penelope Spheeris, a documentary film about the L.A. punk scene, released in 1981. The two songs featured are Underground Babylon and Barbie Doll Lust. Their sound was less abrasive than most punk bands, a kind of Gothic reggae sound but their lyrics could be quite scathing. Band member Phranc played guitar with Nervous Gender before joining up with Catholic Dicipline. Two of Nervous Gender's band members had been raised strictly catholic. One of the two, Edward Stapleton, an Irish Londoner had written a sacrilegious song called Cardinal Newman while with the band Paul is Dead possibly influencing the origin of Catholic Discipline's moniker. Band Members: Claude Bessy aka Kickboy Face - Vocals
Phranc - Keys? , Rhythm Guitar
Robert Lopez - Drums?
Craig Lee - Guitar Claude Bessy was a French foreign exchange student who stayed behind in California in the late 1970s . He was instrumental in the startup and editing of punk magazine Slash. After Catholic Discipline he moved to London and worked for Rough Trade records. He eventually moved to Barcelona, Spain. He died Oct. 2, 2000 of lung cancer. Phranc was born in Mar Vista, California. She came out while in high school and moved to San Francico after dropping out. Intent on joining the gay community she discovered the punk scene. After short stints with Nervous Gender and Catholic Discipline she turned to folk music which she still does today. Robert Lopez also played for The Zeroes and managed a Mexican folk-art gallery in Los Angeles. One of the openings featured Elvis impersonaters. Lopez felt that he could do much better and developed El Vez,The Mexican Elvis. He still tours and visits Graceland every year for "Elvis Week" where he has become quite a celebrity. Craig Lee was also a guitarist for The Bags. He died in the early 1990s of AIDS. Sources:
deathrock.com (http://www.deathrock.com/catholicdiscipline/)
Woodstock.com: Punker passes (http://www.woodstock.com/html/bessy.shtml)
EL VEZ (http://www.rockabillyhall.com/ElVez.html)
Phranc Biography (http://www.hrmusic.com/bios/pbio.html) | 
