ALL AGES - REFLECTIONS ON STRAIGHT EDGE

by Beth Lahickey - Revelation Books ‘98

The US post punk phenomenon of “straight edge” is always something which has been treated either as a big joke, a little boys club, a bunch of “faggots”, good hardcore with shit lyrics or veggie would be krishna twats who can’t get their end away in this country. To put it another way, it’s widescale cultural significance in this area of the world is practically non existent. Turn the clocks back to the end of the ‘70's and take your pick of any large city in the states where a punk underground developed....... Many of the nationally known musicians and bands were notorious for alcohol and drug usage, probably to the point where young impressionable punk kids were either going to sense a certain vogue in inebriation and become carbon copies, or else stand around trying to figure out what the fuck all the talk of rebellion and changing the world was about???

Many cultural attachments could be made to why “Straight Edge” as a label, phenomenon, movement or whatever, came into being, but in simple terms of reference, the likelihood was that many punk kids hated the partying jock mentality so much that they did everything they could to distance themselves from it. In drawing first hand accounts from key members of American ‘80's “straight” hardcore bands, Beth Lahickey has succeeded in shedding a hell of a lot of light on the original strains of ideology which became a movement that was never really intended to happen.

This serves not only as a document on the driving forces and bands associated with straight edge, but an excellent, if somewhat incomplete “fly on the wall” study on a specific era in American punk history.

Most of the big names are here - Porcell and Ray Cappo from Youth Of Today and Shelter, Ian McKaye, Kevin Seconds, Mike Judge, as well as ex members of such hardcore legends as Slapshot, Bold, Warzone, Civ, Gorilla Biscuits and many more - 29 interviews in all, exploring everything from the histories of the various bands to personal views on straight edge as a phenomenon and how it got out of hand so quickly. What was particularly interesting was that many of the opinions voiced by the older set criticises the path their ideas took once they filtered down to the record buying public, but these contradictions serve to address an argument in defence of the original sentiments, which makes for good reading even if you’re one of those people who despise the whole idea of straight edge, something which I’ve been partial to in the past.

And it’s not just bandmembers who were interrogated for the purpose of this study, also included are the voices of Hilly Crystal (owner of CBGB’s), producer Don Fury, various record company personnel as well as some very interesting contributions from various female friends of the author. One in particular, Glynis Hull-Rochelle shares some great observations on what was quite obviously a male dominated scene....

“.....For instance, a sort of obscure and strange form of male behaviour was held in great esteem amongst the straight edge scenesters. This was described by the adjective “Hard”. There was a rating system of worth which was dominated by this word. “Hard” didn’t mean exactly physically strong, but mentally persevering, durable of spirit, as well. “Hard” implied a superhuman aspect, a secret knowledge or concept that mere mortals could not grasp. And hard, needless to say, related to maleness. Male genitals. Male behaviour. Male minds. We couldn’t exactly fit ourselves in there. Even if, as girls, we may have felt strong in the hardcore scene, we weren’t that kind of hard”.

Even if you’re not particularly partial to the strain of bands included here, there’s plenty of tangential stories and namedropping about some of the non straight edge bands of the time - The Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front, Murphy’s Law - to keep a balance, although in many cases, that simply shows the straight edge scene to be very introverted and self important. If anything, I was slightly disappointed that there was no interview with Jack “Choke” Kelly from Slapshot..... especially in light of the bands constant feud with Youth Of Today.
However Ian McKaye finally gets his chance to voice himself in context (ie: not being drilled by some arsehole fanzine writer) and makes a very good stab at explaining the Minor Threat syndrome and how he’s not actually responsible for straight edge as it eventually manifested itself. Something which he’s been drilled about in every single Fugazi interview I’ve read.....

“......One of the more aggravating aspects of the straight edge thing, is that later on, people really got it in their minds from reading about the straight edge thing that I must be some sort of fucking fascist and that I was totally intolerant. Lord knows there was all those sort of weird offshoots of the straight edge thing, like people who are homophobic or people who are pro life or ultra vegans or whatever. There are all these different things going on and all of the sudden, power was a big part of it”.

Aside from the great design, every page including flyer artwork or photos, the thing that makes the book work as a compelling read is that it has no bias. A lot of ex-members of straight edge bands discuss experimenting with drugs and alcohol at later stages of their life, and, as many of the bands were incredibly young during their shelf life, it illustrates that in one too many cases, the whole movement was taken way to literally and seriously by large groups of people. Still, the motivations and intents are presented honestly here, and although I still reckon Crucial Youth was the best thing ever to happen to straight edge, I now have slightly more respect for some of the era’s bands.

- BOZ 1/99ac