TV Party - G

GG ALLIN AND THE MURDER JUNKIES - Best Of... {MVD} An hour long montage of footage from the king of all the scumfuck gutter-dwelling, psychotic Punks. If you don’t already know the score with GG, check out YouTube before buying this because this is no over-produced, mainstream, Vans Warped Tour Punk Garden Party for mid-teens going through a ‘phase’. GG specialised in violence, degradation, self-abuse and a whole lot more that the ‘average’ person cannot even begin to imagine.
It opens with some rather disturbing vintage footage of GG’s Mom where she states that brother Merle (and fellow MURDER JUNKY) was actually worse than GG and was a decidedly bad influence on the boy. The irony of the boys’ own mother stating that they were, "two characters - two of the most unusual kids..." cannot go unnoticed!
And then you get into a litany of GG anthems: ‘Kill Everything I Fuck’, ‘I Wanna Rape You’, ‘Expose Yourself To Kids’, ‘Cunt Sucking Cannibal’, ‘Bite It You Scum’... get the idea? The nearest to any political rhetoric is ‘Kill The Police’. The songs are all laced with GG verbally baiting the audience and, more than often, abusing them. If it’s sensationalism you want, then you get GG setting fire to the Stars ‘n’ Stripes before sticking his dick back between his thighs and pissing on it, ramming butt plugs and numerous microphones up his arsehole, throwing chairs, mic stands and random punches into the audience, cracking his head open with the mic on just about every other song and, of course, crapping on stage, rolling in it and projecting it into the crowd. During ‘Hangin Out With Jim’ someone pitches a mannequin’s torso on stage which he uses to split his head open before simulating a fuck with it, while during ‘Die When You Die’ some dude in the crowd receives a massive beating from GG.
Considering the vocalist is a shitting, fighting, antagonising, offensive, misogynistic, deranged scumbag, this is actually musically competent, scuzzy gutter garage Punk - even passable in parts were it not for the hyperbole of spiteful, sadistic sensationalism.
The extra feature is a new interview with GG’s Mom who, here, comes across as a very genuine, loving mother. She talks of GG’s marriage and daughter, his time in prison and of him writing her letters, and of his split personality post-prison. Most heartfelt of all is when discussing his 1993 death and how she gave up her burial plot for him - which is next to her parents. Tragically, those who make the pilgrimage to his grave often shit and piss there - and on his grandparents’ plots no doubt. Tragic.
It would have been nice to see the Jerry Springer GG show added as a bonus, or some actual interview footage.
As it is, for fans or those curious to witness the myth but not the mess, this is well worth face value. For those who think GG was nothing but a thug of the worst kind, this will do NOTHING to change your opinion. (27.04.09)

GOVERNMENT ISSUE - A HarD.Core Day’s Night {Dr. Strange} What a total Joyride! This DVD compiles three live GI shows spanning 1982-89, a 2007 interview with John Stabb and, for want of a better word, a promo video.
Standing in front of the famed Wilson Centre in DC, the Stabb interview commences proceedings. He talks with great enthusiasm of the early DC days and states, as many do, that the DC bands of the day easily upstaged any touring bands that came through town. He’s a likeable, talkative guy and quite humble with it, often giving other DC bands equal - if not more - credit than GI. Not sure if it is bad editing or the rampant Stabb mouth, but he does repeat himself a lot.
The first live show is at the Wilson Centre in '82 and is suitably raging. Stabb - ever the extrovert - is dressed in pale blue short-shorts and knee high white sports socks and during ‘Hour Of One’ indulges in the infamous Dance Of Death before segueing seamlessly into ‘Sheer Terror’. An electrifying pairing of ‘Lost In Limbo/ Plain To See’ provides the highlight with the latter in particular being blazing. There are some revealing screen captions of those in the audience creating a who’s-who of DC at the time - Guy Picciotto (RITES OF SPRING, INSURRECTION, FUGAZI), Mike Manos (ARTIFICIAL PEACE), Wendell Blow (IRON CROSS), Tom Berard (PEER PRESSURE) - and that’s for starters!
The next show is from '83 and filmed in Philadelphia. Stabb now has a side-parting and looks like a bleach-blond Glenn Danzig! This is an intense show with a small but slamming-hard crowd that forms a vicious circle pit during ‘Plain To See’. Check out the suicidal balcony slamdiver during ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ also. Opener ‘Teenager In A Box’ is ruined by too much camera trickery - there’s warping, reversed images, layering and little focus on the band. Looks more like ‘Woodstock’ than ‘Another State Of Mind’!
Finally, the Pennsylvania show from '89 sees the arrival of bassist J. Robbins, Stabb adorned in a paisley shirt and long hair and guitarist Tom Lyle sporting a tiny pony-tail and NW skinny tie! But hell - the band is on fire! It’s one song after another without breaks with highlights being a massive ‘Summer Of Blood’ and a formidable thrashtastic snort through ‘Mad At Myself’. Although the crowd is piled at the front, it is decidedly less slamming than that of the previous shows. The editing here too is excellent with lots of camera angles all focused on the band.
Extras are the budget ‘Strange Wine’ video and a neat sheet of liner notes from Stabb and Lyle.
Easily the most superior GI DVD out there so far. This captures the band’s musical progress - and this was a band that retained its dignity at it went forward. Definitely an essential purchase for HC historians; it’s clear a lot of time has been put into this and if a better document of one of HC’s most progressive and sincere bands ever exists, it’s hard to imagine just how it will top this. (08.05.09)

Hit HERE for material reviewed prior to 2009 including:
GERMS, GOVERNMENT ISSUE