Fear (band)
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2008-07-05T06:46:50Z
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/* Covers of Fear */
:''This article is about the band. For the emotion, see [[fear]].''
{{Unreferenced|date=May 2008}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| Name = Fear
| Background = group_or_band
| Origin = [[Los Angeles, California]],<br>[[United States]]
| Genre = [[Punk rock]], [[hardcore punk]]
| Years_active = 1977-present
| Label = [[Slash Records]]<br />[[Fear Records]]<br />[[Sector 2 Records]]
| Associated_acts = [[MD.45]], [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], [[D.O.A.]]
| URL = [http://www.fearband.com www.fearband.com]
| Current_members = [[Lee Ving]]<br />[[Philo Cramer]]<br />[[Spit Stix]]<br />[[Derf Scratch]]<br />[[Lorenzo Buhne]]<br />[[Michael "Flea" Balzary]]
| Past_members =
| Notable_instruments =
}}
'''Fear''' is a [[punk rock]] band from [[Los Angeles, California]] that formed in [[1977]] and is still a band today. The band started out as part of the early [[California punk rock]] scene, and gained national prominence after an infamous 1981 performance on [[Saturday Night Live]]. Throughout their history the band has included such notable members as [[Michael Balzary|Flea]] and [[Chuck Biscuits]].
==History==
===Early Years===
Fear formed in [[1977]] with [[Lee Ving]] and [[Derf Scratch]] searching for a drummer and eventually a guitarist. They received notoriety for their stage presence and eventually signed a recording deal with [[Slash Records]]. As part of the Los Angeles punk scene, the band was featured in [[Penelope Spheeris]]' [[1980]] documentary, ''[[The Decline of Western Civilization]]''. The film showed them angering members of the audience with personal attacks and offbeat humor. Singer [[Lee Ving]] asked one member of the audience "This is 1980—can't you afford a fucking haircut?" The bass player [[Derf Scratch]] tells the joke: Q:"Why do girls have their two holes so close together?" A:"So you can carry them like a six-pack!" The cult classic movie included other well known acts like [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]], [[X (U.S. band)|X]], and [[The Germs]].
Spheeris met Ving and drummer Spit Stix when they were hanging [[handbills]] on telephone poles. After talking with the two, she abruptly asked if they wanted to be in her film. [http://markprindle.com/stix-i.htm] The band achieved notoriety through the movie and even attracted attention from actor [[John Belushi]] while being an unsigned act. The mixture of humor and music demonstrated in the film gave the band a unique personality, which seemed to lack in the later years with several member changes.
===The ''Saturday Night Live'' affair===
Their most famous performance was on the 1981 Halloween episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' hosted by [[Donald Pleasence]]. The band was booked at the insistence of [[John Belushi]], who was a huge fan. Belushi initially offered them the soundtrack for his major motion picture ''[[Neighbors (film)|Neighbors]]''. The movie studio eventually forced Fear off the project and to make up for it Belushi got them the spot on ''SNL''. Among the politically incorrect nature of Fear's songs, the band's appearance included a coterie of dancers, several of whom had been contacted for the event by both [[Penelope Spheeris]] (another avid Fear booster) and [[Henry Rollins]] (contrary to popular belief, was not in attendance); among them were Belushi, [[Ian MacKaye]] of [[Minor Threat]] (and later [[Fugazi]]), [[Harley Flanagan]] and [[John Joseph (rock singer)|John Joseph]] of The [[Cro-mags]], and John Brannon of [[Negative Approach]], causing destruction of the set. During rehearsals the director wanted to prevent the dancers from participating, so Belushi offered to be in the episode (it had been a few years since he left ''SNL'') if the dancers were allowed to stay. [http://markprindle.com/stix-i.htm] The end result was the shortening of Fear's appearance on TV. The band first performed "I Don't Care About You". The band started their second performance by saying, "It's great to be in [[New Jersey]]", to which the audience booed (the show was filmed in [[New York]]). Fear then played "Beef Bologna", "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones", and started to play "Let's Have a War" when the audio and video of the telecast faded into commercial.
===New Line-ups===
After the band's [[1982]] debut release "The Record," Ving fired long time friend and bass player Derf and replaced him with [[Michael Balzary|Flea]] (who later joined the [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]]). Next to leave was guitarist Philo "The Foot" Cramer and drummer Spit Stix after the band's [[1985]] effort "More Beer." The two members cited financial disputes with Lee Ving and his attempt at acting as well as personality conflicts with Ving's "right wing" beliefs. With Fear sidelined, Ving continued his acting career in the late 1980s. Eventually, Fear completed two more recordings in the 1990s, "Have Another Beer With Fear" in 1995 and "American Beer" in 2000. While the most recent albums aim to respark the magic on "The Record," without the original members they did not achieve the success Ving hoped. The band currently performs and plays their classic songs, but Ving is the only original member. Philo Cramer has started a new band, Fighting Cocks, in 2004.
In a 2004 interview with former drummer Spit Stix, it was mentioned he would participate in a Fear reunion tour if Philo was part of it. [http://markprindle.com/stix-i.htm] He noted, "Well, Philo and I together can overpower Lee, you know? We can be enough.... Because it used to be Philo, me and Derf too in the beginning." Stix further stated that Philo, who has a degree in physics, is politically far left and balances out Lee's far right philosophy. Without this balance, Lee's political point of view is too overwhelming to deal with on the road for a reunion tour. Fear was recently added to play several Southern California stops on the 2008 Vans Warped Tour.
===Personnel timeline 1976-2007===
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width:25 fontsize:L align:left anchor:from textcolor:black fontsize:S mark:(line,white) width:25 shift:(5,-5)
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from:1976 till:1993.5 text:"Lee Ving"
from:1995 till:2007 text:"Lee Ving"
bar:Guitar color:blue
from:1977 till:1978 text:"Burt Good"
from:1978 till:1987 text:"Philo Cramer" shift:(5,3)
from:1991 till:1993 text:"Philo Cramer"
from:1995 till:1997 text:"Sean Cruse"
from:1997 till:2007 text:"Richard Presley" shift:(5,3)
bar:Bass color:green
from:1976.5 till:1982.8 text:"Derf Scratch"
from:1982.9 till:1983.7 text:"Eric 'Kitabu' Feldman" shift:(5,3)
from:1983.7 till:1984 text:"Flea"
from:1984 till:1987 text:"Lorenzo Buhne" shift:(5,-13)
from:1991 till:1993 text:"Will MacGregor"
from:1995 till:1997 text:"Scott Thunes" shift:(5,3)
from:1997 till:2007 text:"Mondo Lopez"
bar:Drums color:black textcolor:white
from:1977 till:1978 text:"Johnny Backbeat" shift:(5,3)
from:1978 till:1987 text:"Spit Stix"
from:1991 till:1993 text: "Spit Stix" shift:(5,3)
from:1995 till:2007 text: "Andrew Jamiez"
</timeline>
==Discography==
===Albums===
*''[[The Record (album)|The Record]]'' ([[1982]])
*''[[More Beer]]'' ([[1985]])
*''[[Live...For The Record]]'' ([[1991]])
*''[[Have Another Beer With FEAR]]'' ([[1995]])
*''[[American Beer (album)|American Beer]]'' ([[2000]])
===7" Singles===
*[[I Love Living in the City]] ([[1978]])
*[[Fuck Christmas]] ([[1982]])
===Compilations===
*''[[SLC Punk!|SLC Punk! Soundtrack]]'' (1998)
==Covers of Fear==
*[[Guns N' Roses]] covered Fear's "I Don't Care About You" released on their 1993 [["The Spaghetti Incident?"]] punk-cover album.
* [[A Perfect Circle]] covered Fear's "Let's Have a War" on their [[eMOTIVe]] album.
*[[From Autumn to Ashes]] covered Fear's "Let's Have a War" for the [[Tony Hawk's American Wasteland]] [[soundtrack]] released by [[Vagrant Records]].
*[[Stormtroopers of Death]] ([[S.O.D.]]) covered "I Love Livin' in the City" on their [[Live at Budokan (S.O.D. album)|Live at Budokan]] album.
* [[Turbonegro]] covered Fear's "I Don't Care About You" released on their [[Small Feces]] box-set.
* [[Dark Angel (band)|Dark Angel]] covered "I Don't Care About You" on their [[Live Scars]] album
* [[Sacred Reich]] covered Fear's "Let's Have a War" on their A Question EP and "Beef Bologna" on the Japanese version of their Heal album.
* [[Method of Destruction]] ([[M.O.D.]]) covered "I Love Livin' in the City" on their [[Gross Misconduct]] album.
*[[Blatz (band)|Blatz]] covered "I Don't Care About You" on the Shit Split.
*[[Poster Children]] covered "Let's Have a War" on their [[On the Offensive]] CD EP.
*[[Hellbillys]] covered "I Love Livin' in the City".
*[[Dog Eat Dog (band)|Dog Eat Dog]] covered "More Beer" on their If These Are The Good Times EP.
* [[Soundgarden]] covered Fear's "I Don't Care About You" which appears on a few of their singles.
*[[Course of Empire]] covered "Let's Have a War" as a b-side on their 1993 single [[Infested!]]
*[[City Newton Bombers]] covered "I Love Livin' In The City" on their 2006 self titled album.
*[[Bad Religion]] covered "[[Fuck Christmas]]", though it was not released.
*[[The Reatards]] covered "[[I Love Living in the City]]" which appears on their Teenage Hate LP/CD.
*[[Indecision]] covered "I Don't Care About You" and "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones" on Punk Rock Jukebox Volume 2.
*[[Harvey Milk (band)|Harvey Milk]] covered "We Destroy the Family" on their 2008 album [[Life... The Best Game In Town]]
== In popular culture ==
The song "Beef Bologna" makes an appearance in the 1987 movie thriller [[Summer Camp Nightmare (film)|Summer Camp Nightmare]]. A band performs it in the camp talent show, angering the straitlaced camp director played by [[Chuck Connors]].
== References ==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://www.fearband.com/ Fear: The official site] (inactive link)
* [http://markprindle.com/scratch-i.htm Interview with Fear bassist Derf Scratch] Derf remembering the early years of Fear.
* [http://markprindle.com/stix-i.htm Interview with Fear drummer Spit Stix] Stix recalling the band on SNL and Lee's brief acting career.
* [http://www.sol-i.tv/Spit/Punk.html Spit Stix chronicles his time with Fear] From Spit Stix's personal page.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2czyuFW33aw Fear on SNL]
{{FEAR}}
[[Category:American punk rock groups]]
[[Category:California hardcore punk groups]]
[[Category:Early punk groups]]
[[Category:Los Angeles musical groups]]
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