Born
Jan Paul Beahm in
Los Angeles in
1958. He was the last of
four kids. His mother
Faith had split up with husband
Harold Beahm, who was not Paul's (as he would
come to be known) father. Paul was the
bastard son of a man named
William Beorkland. He was raised by
stepfather Bob Baker who his mother joined in
holy matrimony in the year
1964. He died in
'71, and Paul went to search for his
real father, who he discovered had passed on. Paul also had an
big brother, who, in an eerily
prophetic way, had died of a
heroin overdose.
Paul met
friend,
guitarist and
companion Pat Smear when he was in
8th grade. They met thru a
speed dealer they both bought from. Pat was in
7th grade. They became friends quickly, despite some
differences of opinion - while Paul loved old
50s rock and roll, the more cutting-edge Pat was a fan the
New York Dolls,
David Bowie, and
Queen. Paul disliked this music at first, but would grow to appreciate it. At 13, Pat ran off and lived in a "Jesus commune" for a year. He came back and saw Paul again, and that's where the
story really begins.
The setting was the notorious "
Innovative Program School" at
University High in
Santa Monica. The school was designed to harbor
social miscreants, and, not surprisingly, both Paul and Pat were admitted to the experimental facility. Also found on campus was future
Black Flag bass player
Kira Roessler.
Kim Gordon of
Sonic Youth graduated from the school. Around this time, the two first got the notion of
forming a band. Originally it was just sort of a joke - they had the name "
Sophistifuck and the Revlon Spam Queens." Not much came of the idea until later. Paul and Pat were thrown out of
IPS - they accused Paul of trying to
brainwash students.
Soon the two became interested in
punk rock. The story of the early days is littered with familiar names and places -
The Whiskey a Go-Go, the
Licorice Pizza record store across the street, and the parking lot of the
Rainbow, where many of the people involved in this story and others from the same period would spend their time. Bands like
The Runaways and
The Ramones were a big influence, but the catalyst was the
bombastic glam /
arena-rock sensation,
Queen.
Queen was staying at the
Beverly Hilton. Pat and Paul arrived to look for
Freddie Mercury, and ran into two (they claimed) "
twins" from the
Valley. They were
Belinda Carlisle and friend
Lorna. They never thought they'd see each other again. Lorna later said she immediately liked Pat and Paul, calling them "the
weirdest guys we ever met!"
Now Pat and Paul were determined to
form a band for real. Soon the city was plastered with flyers asking for "
two untalented girls", and, as if by fate,
Lorna and Belinda answered. Belinda played drums, calling herself
Dottie Danger, but quit fairly quickly after getting
mononucleosis. She brought in her friend
Becky, who was named
Donna Rhia. Belinda continued to work with the band, doing such things as
making flyers and supplying Paul with
peanut butter. Reportedly the girls were disappointed with Pat and Paul's name for the band, which symbolized "
the germ of an idea", something that was there at the
beginning.
In no time the band had their
first performance, with
pointy-shoed Mexican kids The Zeros and "
LA's first punk band" The Weirdos. They "
made noise." Paul, who was now known as
Bobby Pyn, covered himself with
licorice and
peanut butter and threw himself around dramatically. In five minutes they were
shut down. This was the beginning. They also played at the audition for
Cheech and Chong's "
Up In Smoke", from which the best-known version of "
Sex Boy" is taken. They also played at
Kim Fowley's "
New Wave Nights", a performance recorded on the
Germicide album. They covered "
Sugar Sugar" and Bobby covered the audience in, well,
sugar.
They attracted the attention of
Chris Ashford, a record store employee who founded
What? Records and released the band's first single - "
Forming", with the live "Sex Boy" as a
B-side. Bobby included his
shockingly literate and intelligent lyrics on a lyric sheet. The eerie, unmistakable
echo on the
recording was apparently, according to Pat, a "
button left on by accident." The band, quickly deciding to "get more serious", went thru a series of new drummers, including
Cliff Hanger,
Don Bonebrake, and
Nicky Beat, who played with them on the
Slash Records 7 inch #SCAM-101 that included the songs "
Lexicon Devil", "
Circle One", and "
No God" and showcased the band's
impressive playing ability and skill, as well as Bobby's
lyrical prowess. It featured a cover with sinister,
Nazi-esque imagery for shock value. Paul also dropped the name
Bobby Pyn, adopting a
new moniker:
Darby Crash.
The Germs were born.
They had gone from a horrifying shock band to a
darkly powerful, dynamic group, and followers flocked to them like
lambs to the slaughter. The haunting
blue circle began to appear everywhere, and true loyalists of the band scarred themselves with a
Germs burn: a circular
cigarette burn on the
left wrist.
Darby said this when
interviewed: "You haven't asked me about
burns and
circles. You've gotta have them right here (points to inside of left wrist) . . . over
200 people have them, even in
San Francisco.
You can only get one from someone who already has one.
It all has to do with circles."
In
Phoenix, Arizona, musician
Don Bolles heard the
Germs early work and wanted to
join the band. He called Darby and Pat, but to no avail. Months later he travelled to
LA and in minutes he was the
Germs new drummer. With Don on board, the band released their masterpiece:
G.I. Produced by
Joan Jett, the album featured Darby's
brilliant introspective lyrics and some amazing songs. Released on
Slash Records, the tracklisting is as follows:
1. What We Do is Secret
2. Communist Eyes
3. Land of Treason
4. Richie Dagger's Crime
5. Strange Notes
6. American Leather
8. Lexicon Devil (note: This version is much faster)
9. Manimal
10. Our Way
11. We Must Bleed
12. Media Blitz
13. The Other Newest One
14. Let's Pretend
15. Dragon Lady
16. The Slave
17. Shut Down (Annihilation Man)
The
L.A. Times called it "the most
important album to come out of
Los Angeles since
The Doors' '
L.A. Woman.'"
The band was a lot
tighter and more
explosive and their
live shows became more and more
catastrophic, with
riots becoming more frequent. Darby becoming more involved with
drugs - when asked if he was a
junkie, he laughed and claimed he could never
afford it. Darby had also developed his habit of not singing on mic. The band became
notorious for their incredibly intense and destructive shows, and
Penelope Spheeris decided to film them for her documentary "
The Decline of Western Civilization." They appear performing what would become their signature song, "
Manimal." Director
William Friedkin (
The Exorcist) saw them and was so impressed he asked them to do some songs for his new film, "
Cruising." They recorded five tracks - "
My Tunnel", "
Throw It Away", "
Not All Right", "
Now I Hear the Laughter" (which
Lorna wrote with Darby), "
Going Down", and "
Lion's Share." The only one to appear in the contraversial film was "Lion's Share." The other four were never heard until 1993, when
Slash issued the truly fantastic "
MIA" compilation.
Darby had gathered a
certified cult of
acolytes and was a true
punk icon. He appeared with many girlfriends, but the facts of Darby's personal life were kept secret. Like
Bowie, he flirted with bisexual imagery. There are some cryptic references to
Hollywood punk Donnie Rose. In a later interview Donnie said: "
We loved each other a lot;
I just couldn't give him what he needed . . . it's
personal."
Things started to fall apart. Darby, for no reason other than he saw
Don wearing a dress while playing with side project
Vox Pop, fired Don and replaced him with the inept
Rob Henley. The "
Germs contingent" complained, but Darby would not relent. Soon Darby himself disappeared, running off to
England with a female friend named
Amber. He called Pat and Lorna and told them to practice with Rob while he was gone. It didn't work. Lorna quit. Darby came back in the summer of
1980, wearing a
mohawk,
leather bondage gear, a
blue stripe on his forehead, and some
blue feathers. He had become infatuated with
Adam and the Ants while in England for reasons still not totally clear. He put together
The Darby Crash Band, with "friend"
Bosco on bass and Pat filling in on guitar "until a
permanent guitarist could be found."
The band played fairly well, but it
didn't work at all. The chemisty and raw power wasn't there. It wouldn't fly.
Darby decided to play a
Germs reunion show. He wanted to
put things in perspective for the
kids new to the scene. Don was happy to do it, he said he thought Darby was "a
genius, like some
crazed LSD guru."
It was
December 3rd, and a
rainy night in
Hollywood.
The Starwood was packed with
wide-eyed punk kids eager to see
The Germs.
X was supposed to appear as a special guest, but they never showed, inciting
Darby's rage. He verbally sheared guitarist
Billy Zoom during "
Strange Notes." The set was fantastic. The band played
furiously, and Darby's singing was
on the mic more than anyone thought possible. Lorna and Don played a improvisational version of "
Another One Bites the Dust", recalling the band that helped the group formed. Darby addressed the new punks: "We did this show so
you new people could see what it was like
when we were around.
You're not going to see it again."
On
December 6th,
Darby Crash injected a
terminal amount of
heroin into his
bloodstream and died of an
overdose. He was found with his arms splayed out
in the shape of a cross.
John Lennon was killed the next day, eclisping the
young punk avatar's death.
The rest of the band moved on, doing other things. Most notably,
Pat Smear went on to play with
Nirvana and the
Foo Fighters.
Belinda Carlisle became lead singer of the
pop princesses the
Go-Gos.
Nicky Beat worked with
The Cramps and
Pearl Jam. They all went their seperate ways.
Darby Crash meant many things to many people. He was a
hero, a
free-spirited punk who didn't care what people thought. He was a
gifted poet and a deep, soulful person. He was a
dangerous,
self-destructive,
heroin-crazed lunatic. He was just
some guy who sang with the
some band called The Germs. People remember him in different ways. The truth is, the
impact he had on the people around him and the world of music in general is still seen today. He will
never be forgotten.
R.I.P. DARBY CRASH. 1958-1980
NOTE: a lot of this information from the liner notes in the "A Small Circle of Friends" tribute album. Thanks.