(AC) I
Look back about 20 years, to the time when punk was in
its infancy, The time was around 1979. The time when
everyone was wondering what was going to happen to music,
let alone to themselves, All we could see was a gas
shortage, hostages in Iran, an imminent threat of
apocalypse, due to mass stockpiles of unused nukes. A
generation, of disaffected, wasted youth were thrown into
a heap of the forgotten trash, to be left to the demise
of boredom and fight for their lives against the age old
quote their parents and society held them down.
"That's the way it's supposed to be, don't ask
questions do what your told".
Music, had sunk to the level of disco infected
minds, preyed upon by the mass media and
MTV, had not yet sucked it’s first drop
of blood from our culture. Bands such as
THE EXPLOITED, 999, THE SEX PISTOLS, JOHNNY
THUNDERS and THE RAMONES. The Sex Pistols
had fallen apart under immense pressure and
drugs. Steve Jones the pistols old guitarist
had just hooked up with a new breed of band,
they happened to be called KRAUT, they were
from New York City. Then there were another
bunch of hoods called U.S. CHAOS they were
from Paterson, a large city in northern New
Jersey, a very ugly and rough one (voted
as the most un-friendly city in the USA ten
years standing with a crime rate that rivals
the South Bronx NYC.
Music had
done a 360 degree turn from the shit of the early 70's.
were on the forefront of explosion. Clubs such as
Max’s Kansas City, The Rock Hotel, The 1018 club,
City Gardens, The Dirt Club, The Ritz and CBGB’s and
City Gardens, were the stomping ground for many of us.
The United States had not really yet felt the initial
shock of the British invasion that the Americans had
caused, by unleashing the Ramones. This shock hit Europe
and bounced right back to the states like a fucking shock
wave from an atomic blast triggering a holocaust for
media and the music industry. On the top were, U.S.
CHAOS.
Formerly
known as the RADICALS, whose members included first
line-up guitarists of Agnostic Front and The Violators.
Agnostic front would find guitarist Alex Kinen later
after he left during the punk / hardcore split to
eventually join Cause For Alarm. This is where the
eppinial split occurred. U.S. CHAOS, were in their
infancy, with guitarist Gary Rightmeyer, Spike chaos,
Skully chaos and Jack Gibson on bass. Playing on any
stage they could find, Chaos drew a crowd of disaffected
kids. This crowd usually would overflow to the street and
not so quietly settle to rain terror in local areas the
band was gigging in. These kids became known as THE CHAOS
PUNKS and were very loyal even till today most of the
"kids" still come out to shows. They usually
show the new ones what gets done in the pit with bloody
consequence! This second guitarist would be "H"
U.S. CHAOS pushed for any show, packed the
house and tore it down. Equaling or exceeding
the likes of stage presence monsters like
IRON CROSS who evolved from the discord house
in DC with MINOR THREAT. GBH, DISCHARGE or
THE EXPLOITED their English gig mates. Overpowering
the clubs with the large amount of equipment
(in mass usually of a few cabinets carted
in and bolted together. Deafening the audience
with nuclear deterrent bass and guitars.
The vocals were the most threatening of all,
the drawn out vocals of skully just pressing
you, to do somthing about anything you can
get your hands on to destroy.
(Gary
Chaos) Most of the time the
band opened with
"Message Of Love", a ditty
dedicated to the nerve gas attacks in
Pakistan inflicted by the
menacing Russian
government and "I’m An American". The undertones, of our own hated
American government, which were tongue-and-cheek,
caused an accidental attraction (of aggravating
but small), moronic right -wingers to come
to shows and circulate rumors of annoyance,
this was dealt with accordingly and in an
orderly fashion, thus leaving the foolish,
with a strong taste of
pain and disapproval in their
mouths! U.S. CHAOS, has always pushed the fascist
attitude back in the face of the oppressor.
Guitarist Gary commented to me one day about
this saying, "Unfortunately
people believe what they
want to believe, who
knows what the hell they
do with your music once
you release it, this should
be a lesson to
everyone else in a band too."
Like any
good thing, most people that
aren’t invited
to the party complain and
whine or try to crash
your party and that’s
when things get ugly.
They seem to have no time
for people of this
kind, or for that matter
who the hell should ?
(Gary
Chaos) An exceptional sound
was created and a
feeling was evoked, a message
was sent. Too many
people were egging the band
on, to release an
album. This album would set
off a shockwave that
would stun and torment the
music industry until
this very day. Due to the
ramifications of being
an unsigned band and let
alone you were punk, the
industry obviously felt threatened
by chaos was
trying to silently do away
with their kind, the
punk kind. Being a D.I.Y.
band, the idea had
never occurred or really
been relevant (our
cronies were KRAUT (NYC)
and IRON CROSS (DC)
which kept the connection
between the states
going with constant performances
and destruction
that have even forced The
Exploited from a hotel
or two..
(AC)
So in Fall of 1982, U.S. CHAOS went off to record their
first album, this album being, "We’ve Got
The Weapons". "We went to a studio in New
Jersey, we were actually there a week before the Misfits
recorded Walk Among Us. It was a notable studio, In the
sense that we noted they recorded car commercial, radio
ads, shit you hear in everyday life on the radio. It was
also expensive. We had no Idea how or what the hell
we’d do once we got in the place and being 1983, the
cost was outrageous, upwards of $80.00 an hour, remember
we didn’t know anything about putting out a record.
Nobody back then did, you only got that when you were a
signed act, with a contract."
