Social Distortion

In the late 1970s the first raw, sloppy, speeding guitar chords began to blare from the garages and backrooms of a Southern California suburb called Orange County. They echoed a sound forged in the preceding years in the seminal punk undergrounds of New York City and London. In 1979, 17-year old Mike Ness formed Social Distortion with drummer Casey Royer and brothers Rikk and Frank Agnew. The band’s world centered around Mike’s one-bedroom pad, dubbed “the black hole” (later immortalized by the The Adolescents with the song “Kids Of The Black Hole”), in a nondescript Fullerton, CA apartment complex. After meeting Dennis Danell, whose brother worked in West Hollywood at The Starwood, (a club instrumental in the careers of Black Flag, The Germs, The Go-Gos and many more) Ness insisted Danell, who at the time didn’t play an instrument, join the band on bass. Royer and the Agnew’s soon split from the band and eventually formed The Adolescents. Local Los Angeles KROQ-FM deejay Rodney Bingenheimer embraced Orange County music, playing many bands from the scene on his Sunday night radio show. In 1981, Social Distortion released their first single, “Mainliner/Playpen,” on the Posh Boy label. Around the same time, Mike Ness developed a reputation as a brawler resulting in a chunk of his left ear being bitten off during a confrontation at the Cuckoo’s Nest bar. In 1982 Social Distortion embarked on their first cross-continental tour in a run down old school bus. Joined by LA’s Youth Brigade and DC’s Minor Threat, the tour became the subject of the now legendary documentary “Another State of Mind.” Much madness ensued, due in no small part to Ness’s growing heroin habit. By late 1983, Social Distortion’s line up consisted of Mike Ness, Danell (now on rhythm guitar), bassist Brent Liles, and drummer Derek O’Brien. Their debut album Mommy’s Little Monster was released on the 13th Floor label and gained the band a national name in punk circles. By this point Ness’s heroin use had become a full-fledged addiction and resulted in Brent Liles and Derek O’Brien bailing out of the band in the middle of a New Year’s Eve 1983 show. After their departure Ness and Danell recruited John Maurer, another old school buddy from Fullerton to play bass and Christopher Reece, of the San Francisco band The Lewd, to play drums. This lineup weathered Social Distortion’s toughest years, as Ness struggled with addiction and the resulting series of jailings and detoxes. Somehow Ness is continued writing and managed to hold the band together. In 1985 they to began work on a new album. It took a while to complete, but in 1988, Social Distortion emerged with Prison Bound, an album whose moving title track about a wasted life is one of the greatest songs ever to come out of Orange County. From this point Ness turned Social Distortion’s albums into an ongoing dialogue about impulsiveness, its consequences and the hard struggle to overcome. In addition to the early punk of The Ramones and The Clash, the band’s sound was culled equally from Ness’ love of roots music, specifically early country music greats like Hank Williams and the early blues recordings of the South such as Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Howlin’ Wolf. As Ness would later declare to Social Distortion audiences, “Without good black music, there would be no good white music.” The self-titled album Social Distortion followed in 1990. It marked SD’s first release on a major label. The success of singles “Story Of My Life” and “Ball And Chain,” along with their remarkable cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire,” make the album Social Distortion’s first Gold record. The band is asked to join Neil Young on tour, beginning the process of bending punk expectation. In 1992 they released another new album, Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell. Lead by the blistering single “Bad Luck,” this album also goes Gold. Following the success of “Bad Luck” at radio, Social Distortion embarked on a co-headline tour with The Ramones.