#strike under

This goes way back to the first great Chicago punk rock record; the first record ever released on the Wax Trax! Records label in 1981: Strike Under, Elephant’s Graveyard from the almost 20th anniversary reissue of the Immediate Action EP (2020). A lot of personal nostalgia here.  Very bitter/sweet.

Guns Or Ballots by the Effigies and Fucking Uniforms by Strike Under, from the seminal unlicensed-club live performance compilation album that was the progenitor of Chicago Hardcore Punk, Busted At Oz (1981).

I scored this rare first pressing that was a radio station’s play copy.

"The band that served as the catalyst for the OZ scene and in many ways put Chicago punk on the national radar. Their on-stage feuds are legendary, but underneath it all was a group whose sound had a depth and scope that went beyond the mere ‘fast and loud’ template of many of their contemporaries.  This song (’Elephant’s Graveyard’) originally appeared on their lone EP ‘Immediate Action,’ the first ever release of Wax Trax! Records."  from the LP liner notes to You Weren't There:  A History of Chicago Punk 1977-1984 punk anthology 12" vinyl (2009).

0:00:00 — "Tell Me Dance" by Sport of Kings (1983)

0:02:46 — "Damaged Goods" by Strike Under (1981)

0:04:15 — "Chemicals in the Mail" by The C*nts (1978)

0:07:04 — "Damaged Goods" (Reprise) by Strike Under (1981)

0:08:46 — DJ

0:21:08 — "Just Be Yourself" by Negative Element (1983)

0:21:57 — "Against the Grain" by Stations (1981)

0:26:08 — "Ambivalence and Spark Plugs" by Immune System (1979)

0:28:57 — "Sink or Swim" by Skafish (1980)

0:32:21 — DJ

0:37:00 — "Yeah, She's the One" by Boulevard (1980)

0:38:54 — "Coming on Strong" by Boulevard (1980)

0:40:23 — "Dying in Fiction" by The Front Lines (1980)

0:43:24 — "New Freedumb" by Meaty Buys (1980)

0:45:45 — "Saint Joan" by The Crucified (1977)

0:48:27 — DJ

0:52:58 — "Insult to Injury" by Screamin' Rachael and Remote (1980)

0:55:28 — "& Then Some" by Book of Lies (1983)

0:58:47 — "Potential Rapist" by Naked Raygun (1983)

1:01:21 — "Climate of Violence" by Stations (1982)

1:05:13 — DJ

1:12:48 — "Too Much Soft Living" by Special Affect (1980)

Stream

1981 - house party - Chicago