The other day during the radio show I do on WFMU I realized that two of the records (yes, records -- an album and one side of a double 7" set) were both 1980's releases from legendary indie San Francisco label Subterranean Records. The artists were the Inflatable Boy Clams ("I'm Sorry") and Polkacide ("In Heaven There Is No Beer"), both of which hold a very dear place in my heart. And they got me thinking about how great this SF label was. (It is still around -- sort of -- and can be found online here.) And I thought about how, just for releasing Flipper's Generic Album alone, Subterranean deserves to go down in history (see video of live performance of "The Way Of The World" above), but then add in all these other amazing releases -- mainly San Francisco Bay Area artists that couldn't be just pigeon-holed into "punk" because they were all much more than that, from noise and industrial to experimental -- and you have a truly unique and impressive back catalog. Anyway, I started thinking about all of the records by amazing artists that this SF label had put out. Subterranean was formed by Steve Tupper in 1979 and it tapped into a whole musical movement. I still treasure many of its releases in my collection and many of them are still available at Amoeba Music.


These artists and releases include the Pop O Pies, Minimal Man, Frighwig, Chrome, Helios Creed, Wilma, The Lewd, Longshoremen, The Muskrats, No Alternative, Housecoat Project, and Code of Honor. Flipper had four releases on the label. Penelope Houston and the Dead Kennedys even released stuff on Subterranean. And, besides the Dry Lungs compilations, one of my favorites (still in print) is the Red Dot compilation LP on white vinyl which served up a great mix of 1981 San Francisco avant-garde/experimental/noise groups including the Wounds, Minimal Man, the Fried Abortions, and Animal Things. Classic fucking stuff indeed!

Below is Polkacide -- who are back together again -- in concert at the Starry Plough in Berkeley in the past few weeks. And above is video footage from Oakland from last year of Helios Creed/Chrome -- Helios Creed being the individual and guitarist from the pioneering band Chrome, who paved the way for such later acts as the Butthole Surfers, KMFDM and Nine Inch Nails. Check out video above -- mind-blowing stuff. But to me what is most amazing about all of this -- with Subterranean being the common link between all of the artists/music -- is just how much innovative music has come out of the Bay Area and continues to come out. Truly, the Bay Area is a very special place for the arts. I LOVE IT!