History Lesson

There is a long and storied history of music on Staten Island. Perhaps some of you have heard the rumors of Dead Kennedys playing on Bay Street way back.

You see, in the '90s there was a hardcore/punk scene -- and it was actually pretty bad ass. We had touring acts from all over the country come to this shithole venue in the ghetto where 40s were $2.50 and there was a pretty good chance of getting mugged.

And when the local bands, like say Muddfoot, traveled out to idk Queens, Long Island, or Manhattan, we all packed into a beat-up car and followed them. Shit, we had to, that was our band just as much as it was the dudes who actually played the instruments. If we didn't show up to see them it was like some sort of insult to SI as a whole, a slap in the face to what we thought was important. Also, it was fun (the non-allergic type).

Then in the early 2000s we had bands like The Realistics, who went on to become semi-indie famous but when they started we were fukin there, all of us, in lower Manhattan. Because this was our chance to make it, make it off the damn island and show the rest of these motherfuckers that we were just as good, if not better, than them.

So while there has been much the kerfuffle over recent comments made about certain entertainment, they are just observations, or an informed opinion, or a bunch of horseshit -- it's up to you. You see, the knee jerk reaction to defend this 'art' has probably proven out point that this sacred cow has become oddly popular and criticizing it is somewhat analogous to bitch-slapping Mother Theresa. Would there be the same "outpouring of support" if we went on to attack, say, The Headlocks, Paragraph, or Jay Miller's popular television show.