But never say never.. You know that feeling you get in your stomach thats like this fluttery kind of fear? she told Indiewire recently, describing the sensation that would wash over her when shed stumble across a bootleg copy of The Decline of Western Civilization, including the 1988 and 1998 sequels of the same name. 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Penelope Spheeris was a friend of friends, and we ended up shooting our section at The Cathouse. But for now, the filmmaker is still reveling in the films she has made and how well they hold up now. I said: Mom, I gotta do this interview. Well, she didnt have anything else to do so she just came along. When Punk Was Meant to Hurt You: Penelope Spheeris' 'The Decline of Western Civilization'. Now . Fuck Police Brutality Factory. In 2016, The Decline of Western Civilization was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4][5]. The cut- and-paste editing, harsh lighting and seat-of-the-pants production that made the first film's technique a perfect reflection of its content have been replaced by MTV-era aesthetics. With Eugene Tatu, Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline. Her experiences on The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II would bear fruit when she went on to direct blockbuster comedy Wayne's World. You want hard core? Jeff Duncan: From what I remember, Penelope Spheeris contacted our manager at the time. You end up wanting to scream. God instructed Adam to obey his Word . Penelope Spheeris began her career in the early '80s with The Decline of Western Civilization, an aggressively political and energetic chronicle of the late '70s L.A. punk scene featuring bands like Black Flag, X, and The Circle Jerks. The Decline of Western Civilization Part III: Directed by Penelope Spheeris. The first film, The Decline of Western Civilization (1981), dealt with the punk rock scene during 1980-1981. The Metal Years includes in in depth interview with Spheeris, previously unseen footage and interviews, and a commentary with the director and Nadir DPriest, singer for the band London, who figure prominently in the film. See Roger Kimballs 1986 review in the New Criterion here. But eventually, as the Sunset Strip's version of metal ascended, she realized she had the makings of a sequel 1988's The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. Another possibility is that the title refers to Darby Crash's reading of Oswald Spengler's Der Untergang des Abendlandes (The Decline of the West). Why Are So Many Young People Dying Suddenly? he was a pretty cool dude hes doing the same exact shit he was doing back in the day but has a job. He has interviewed three of the four Beatles, all of Abba and been nursed through a bad attack of food poisoning on a tour bus in South America by Robert Smith of The Cure. One of the smaller ancient civilizations, Greece has exerted an influence out of proportion to its size on the development of Western civilization, largely due to the intellectual accomplishments of Greek philosophers, who laid the foundation for much of modern science and . Factory. For a while his band even challenged Guns N Roses for the crown of Kings Of Hollywood. "I had to grow my hair out." The subjects just want to rock out and get wild, and an overall frat party vibe fuels the movie. Its like, youre stealing my identity. Civilization" on their Victory medal.3 "Western civilization" would be a good idea, in other words, if we were sure where to find it. "What can oppose the decline of the west is not a resurrected culture but the utopia that is silently contained in the image of its decline.". Its not the moneyfuck the money. At best, they think theyll be exactly where they are now: homeless, broke, spanging for money to buy beer, waiting to die. People really remember the movie, especially Chris Holmes drinking the vodka in the pool, and the guy from Odin sitting in the hot tub saying that if he didnt get as big as Robert Plant he was gonna kill himself. All those years later, the films remains a rite of passagerequired viewing materialfor new generations interested in punk rock, including Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, who was such a fan that he got in touch with Fox and volunteered to record the DVD commentary. Theyre not particularly high def; then again, the grittiness and grime are a part of the overall aesthetic, so you wouldnt want them to get too dressed up. Sign up for ourDaily Digestemail newsletter to receive intellectually engaging content and updates from our organization straight to your inbox. As far as how we were and what we did, how we lived, it was pretty accurate party all the time. It took shape in medieval Europe, with its Christian religion, feudal society . Factory has a reputation for putting out comprehensive and well thought out packages, and this Decline of Western Civilization box set is no exception. But then I saw Mtley Cre on the Shout At The Devil tour and Van Halen on the 1984 tour. As well as Armored Saint I also have my own band, DC4. The movie got so much publicity that it couldnt have hurt anybodys careers. While it does try to touch on topics like sexism in the scene treatment of women is across the board horrendous the effects of rampant drug and alcohol abuse, and the prospect of not being successful, those are relatively minor asides that barely touch on their struggles. The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1996) - A film detailing the furious lives and tragic deaths of a group of gutter punks living in L.A. from 96'-97'. A subscription makes a thoughtful gift for both family and friends. Cause alot of people here had the answers to your questions. RhetoricinPopularCulture-BarryS.Brummett.pdf. Difference #1: Unlike all previous civilizations, modern industrial civilization is . Fri., 7:30 p.m. $10. I know a lot of the rest of them have been dead for a long time. Culture of Respect: Conservatives Need Not Apply? But in the end we went ahead with Anna in control. Shout! 3. In retrospect, everybody talks about it real fondly, but at the time bands were fightin like cats and dogs, steppin on one another. I remember a show in Ohio, we played for free and two people came. It was the first, though, that is the most successful, and has the widest impact. We did do an Odin reunion in 2003, played a Monsters Of Rock Cruise ship, and a bunch of other gigs, but I dont think wed do that again. I still talk to him a lot. For all of the hard exteriors and posturing, that protective layer is quick to melt away in front of Spheeris cameras, and youre reminded that these are just fucking kids, battered as they may be. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Being on stage in Tuff was a licence to kill, as far as getting girls. August 19, 2020. Donate. While the Los Angeles punk scene comes across gritty and raw, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, depicts a scene that is bloated, almost a caricature, and, in 1988, was only a few short years from imploding and collapsing in on itself. 5. The interview includes many of the same questions . So I came up with this idea for a website called Metal Sludge, where we would make fun of the eighties, a very affectionate piss-take. The black guy in the wheelchair is somewhere in Nola area. All rights reserved. 2023 IndieWire Media, LLC. Johnny is a music journalist, author and archivist of forty years experience. "Decline, Part III" is neither funny nor euphoric. Crash died from a heroin-induced suicide shortly before the film was released (the poster was designed before his death). Well shortly be recording tracks for the next London album.. Everybody always thinks its a rights issue as to why the films arent out there but it wasnt, Spheeris said. Featuring chaotic live performances by legendary West Coast groups cut throughout with intimate interviews, its a snapshot of a specific moment, a specific social and cultural group, and a specific time, warts and all. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris.In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a letter demanding the film not be shown again in the city.. Inside 10 Iconic 'Decline of Western Civilization' Scenes. PopMatters is wholly independent, women-owned and operated. Mike Myers is incredibly talented but he was also unbelievably difficult to work with. While his band, Tuff, never made it to the very top of the Sunset Strip food chain, Rachelles can-do attitude helped him weather the hard times of the 90s. When 19-year- old Spoon says this a half hour into "The Decline of Western Civilization, Part III," she isn't indulging in punk posturing. "Making this was totally psychologically unnerving because I had to watch my whole life flash in front of me," she says. For a movie about the underground punk scene, the . We had several. Brought up in her father's travelling carnival, Penelope Spheeris was the ideal person to turn the camera on the three-ring circus that was the 80s/90s Sunset Strip scene. Six weeks later we opened up for Warrant at The Roxy. "When punk started happening, I said, 'OK, this is it for me.' In the third installment of Penelope Spheeris' "Decline" series, being young in a leather jacket isn't what it used to be. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Penelope Spheeris' biggest commercial hit, Wayne's World (1992), gave the world some of the greatest slang and style choices ever committed to celluloid.But long before directing the cult comedy, she pioneered the art of the music documentary with her groundbreaking trilogy The Decline of Western Civilization.. Spheeris later credited the 1998 film with having a profound effect on her. I love you, Chris.. Featuring interviews with established bands like Poison, as well as acts like Odin, Lizzy Borden, Faster Pussycat, and others struggling to break through and find mainstream success, The Metal Years is a portrait of excess. Western societies will respond with restrictions and even bans on immigration; multi-billion dollar walls and border-patrolling drones and troops; heightened security on who and what gets in; and . I did a solo album, but I couldnt even get it reviewed. I found guys like Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. That one cost five-hundred thousand. Home; About; Speakers; SPONSORS; View Recordings; Privacy Policy; what happened to spoon from decline of western civilization 3 We toured with L.A. Some days I cant get to rehearsals. If money comes in the situation it changes everything. It showed exactly what was going on in our lives. . Check them out. The first "Decline," which focused on the early L.A. punk scene, was made in 1979 before most of the punks in "Part III" were even born, and Spheeris uses interviews with some of the old . The first Decline had been made for about a hundred thousand dollars with money from a couple of guys who thought I was going to make a porn movie for them, but the second one I was able to get some money from Miles Copeland [manager of The Police, owner of IRS Records]. Subscribe to Paper; Sign Up for Emails; Where to Pick Us Up; Submit Stuff; Place a Classified or Legal Notice Murray added, "Sometimes, empathy isn't . Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! But what people remember is that our singer [Randy O] said hed kill himself if he didnt get as big as Led Zeppelin, but that was the mind-set of the time: Im gonna do this no matter what. And we were very young. Spheeris got her start with filmmaking with her company, Rock N' Reel, that specialized in music videos. I actually met that one asian dude "Troll" about a year ago..me and my friend were looking for a ghetto ass backyard show in L.A because they posted the wrong directions on facebook..the troll dude came up to my car and asked if we knew where the show was at but we didn't at the time..about 10min later we found out where it was and started driving. As Ipsos Mori's Social Research Institute reports: "The assumption of an automatically better future for the next generation is gone in much of the west.". Were doing gigs, we recorded a live album last year, and played some shows in Germany and Switzerland. Decline III presents these kids sympathetically, and they are just that. The soundtrack was released in December 1980 by Slash Records on LP. And if Ive left anything behind when Im dead, its a document that a lot of people should know about., READ MORE: A.C.L.U. Most classicists believe that a combination of factors including Christianity, decadence, the metal lead in the water supply, monetary trouble, and military problems caused the Fall of Rome. But where are they now? Germs singer Darby Crash appears on the soundtrack album cover. I cant go on Google and look at myself. The director, whose credits include Wayne's World and Black Sheep, has finally emerged from the depths of turning her celebrated three-part hardcore-punk and heavy-metal documentary series, The Decline of Western Civilization, into a comprehensive box set. Eyeball is rad and so is Troll. Influencers: Profiles of a Partnership 2022, How to Pitch Stories and Articles to IndieWire, Best Black Friday TV and Movie Deals: Criterion Box Sets, 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage,' and More, Best TV & Movie Box Sets: Criterion Collection, TV Classics, and More, Oscars 2023: Best Makeup and Hairstyling Predictions, Oscars 2023: Best Visual Effects Predictions. Essaying the pop culture that matters since 1999. I keep myself active.. If I was still drinkin Id be dead now. In The Metal Years, when Spheeris poses the question of Where will you be in five or ten years? to her eye liner-wearing, big hair-sporting wanna-be rock gods, the answer is, across the board, that they will be rich and famous rock stars. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. But its Part II on which the series legend is built as well as that of the dying days of the Hollywood scene. An editor at Partisan Review in the 1930s and later a literary critic for the Atlantic Monthly, the New York University law professor wrote some of the best popular books on philosophy and literatureIrrational Man, TheIllusion of Technique,and Time of Need. I said, 'I am Penelope.' ", At a certain point, Spheeris started seeing "these guys with the torn-up jeans, bandanas and long hair with hairspray"; she and her friends would laugh at them, watching punks and metalheads brawl in parking lots. Early in Penelope Spheeris' 1981 documentary on the Los Angeles punk scene, she asks Eugene, a 14-year-old skinhead who talks like a Valley kid, what he likes about punk. 1. It was supposed to be on the Sunday, but Penelope called me Saturday morning and goes: Can you film it today, Chris? I go: I been up for three days, partying since I got home from London. And she goes: Well, do you mind? And I go: No. And right when I was goin out the door, my mom pulled up. I wouldnt have changed it for nothin in the world. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. The Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. I said, I gotta make a movie about this punk scene. But the footage in Spheeris films was deeply personal. Also The Decline . Penelope was out on the Strip with her camera crew, and she walked up to us and started interviewing us and then got our contact information. Like hunting down a rare vinyl record or an out-of-print fanzine, scoring a copy of the 1981 documentary required a rabid degree of dedication in exchange for street cred. They escaped to the streets, to rampant alcohol abuse in most cases, and to punk rock as a means of survival. Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Nadir DPriest: In the mid-eighties a lot of other bands saw us as a threat because we had such great ideas. The Roots of Western Civilization. The Tragic Decline of Music Literacy (and Quality). A couple of years ago I moved out to Las Vegas. There is no future in mind for anyone here. 'OK, cool, let's go get some beer. I found the clip! She was held in L.A. county for awhile but was acquitted for self defense as a domestic abuse survivor. 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