The Last. But, not the last.

Meeting our musical elders

I am from the suburbs just below Los Angeles (but still LA County, dammit!) and the general area in which I grew up has a rich musical history. Within about 10 miles, each pocket can claim artists like The Beach Boys, Black Flag, The Minutemen and The Turtles, just to name a few. With an area that spans Hermosa beach to the San Pedro Harbor, The South Bay, as it’s known, is a very peculiar place as it spans a wide net of people, culture and money. Just South of the 105, no further east than the 110 and as west as the earth allows at the beach, it’s an interesting mix of cultures and if you’re open to it, you’ll meet interesting people and be a part of interesting things. It’s part of the Los Angeles yin and yang that people like Didion or Fante talked about. There are hippies, punks, preppies and blue collar weekend warriors and it makes for an interesting stew of people and a place to make good music.

Beach Boys and the 60’s sunshine surf groups aside, the South Bay is mostly known for birthing a healthy amount of the great punk bands of the 80’s, including The Descendents, The Circle Jerks and the aformentioned Black Flag and Minutemen. There are countless books and films about this history ( for example, Here or here ) and people my age carrying the history forward (I Want To Be Stereotyped Instagram for one, is fantastic) but I am not doing that here. I only set this up because I realized that the city is small enough that once you begin to get out there as a musician and play, and are part of whatever scene is going on that particular month, you end up meeting a lot of people.

From 2003-2007, my band E>K>U>K had covered a lot of ground. We had toured a ton, had songs in movies, opened up for cool bands and had a lot of success crumbs. (I am currently writing about all of the bands I have been in, so more to come…) In 2006 we were fortunate enough to have met Joe Nolte. Back in the late 70’s, he was in a band called The Last. Those who are well versed in the history of Los Angeles (and South Bay) punk know The Last were one of those bands that had some success crumbs, but never enough to break but were influential nonetheless. Bands like The Go-Go’s, Black Flag would OPEN for The Last. Their music was a mix of throwback Nuggets-era garage and sunny Beach Boy pop, but Joe Nolte, as a front man, brought that new punk intensity. They were able to mix the pleasure and the pain in one song. You can dance to it, but feel the hurt in the words. It was music only an Angeleno could make.

At the time, it was the band we needed to discover, as E>K>U>K was similarly writing 60’s infused melodies and grooves with punk, and through generational osmosis, grunge. We covered their song “She Don’t Know Why I’m Here” live and word got out that we did. Some friends of ours KNEW Joe and his brothers and we got to meet them and we got friendly with them and were lucky enough to play a few reunion shows with The Last as they reactivated the band with a new line up. Later on, we asked Joe to do a show with us and sing a smattering of 60’s era garage tunes and it was a total gas. One of the more exciting tunes we played was “Little Red Book” by another classic Los Angeles band, Love and it was filmed for posterity. We had so much fun that Joe came and recorded it a week or two later. Just like The Last, and to an extend our band, Arthur Lee’s Love conjured that dichotomous feeling peace and agony that only an LA band can create. In a teeny tiny way we became kindred spirits with our musical elders and our geography allowed us to meet both physically and metaphysically. We had three generations of Los Angeles and *ahem South Bay bands playing the same song with an intensity the original Burt Bacharach (who wrote it) never intended to have. Again, the beauty and beast. Nothing more LA than that.

As I am re discovering old recordings, videos and pictures of my past bands, it’s nice to reflect on it because it all happened happened so fast. I’ve been able to discover the how’s and why’s and I think it will give me more appreciation for the past, instead of regret or resentment.

Anyway, enjoy the recording. Turn it up. More to come.