For over 2 decades I have been moving band t-shirts from apartment to apartment, and now to the basement of my house. I’ve said for years that I want to make a punk rock quilt out of them. What’s more punk than a quilt? I don’t know how to quilt, so until I learn I will be posting pix of these vintage gems and remembering when. I will call this series T-Shirt Tuesday. I got the idea from Matt Pike’s Flyer Friday. You should follow him on twitter @mattxpike. I don’t know Matt, but I do enjoy when he posts up those old flyers. I hope you enjoy these old (and not so old) t-shirts.
For the first installment, I give you my 7-Seconds Ourselves T. Best part about this shirt is I didn’t even go to the show. The year was 1988, and the only way my folks would let me go to the show was if they accompanied me to the Livingroom in Providence, RI. Very tricky, but very effective. I chose to stay home. I think I played the Ourselves as loud as the stereo could go that night, hoping it would somehow transport me to the show. Bummer.
My friends Brian and Chris were good enough to buy me the shirt, and evidenced by the pictures, I wore it longer than I probably should have.
I did finally see 7-seconds (at the Livingroom, without my parents) around 1990. I think it was the Soulforce Revolution Tour. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen them a hand full of times since then, even getting to open for them at Babyhead on to Out the Shizzy tour (I had them all sign my copy of New Wind). Last year we got to see them, for the first time in a long time, when they played Fest 8 in Gainesville. They played alongside Strike Anywhere and A Wilhelm Scream and had lost nothing with age.
A lot of 7-Seconds fans will say Ourselves is a horrible record, I don’t think that. It was their “new” record when I first bought it and I’ve always had a certain attachment to it. Growing up in the late 80’s hardcore scene, I often felt like we missed the best stuff. Minor Threat, Black Flag, The Dead Kennedy’s. Then, there it was, a new record from these hardcore hero’s. It was special. Sure it sounded a lot different then The Crew and Walk Together, Rock Together, but to me it wasn’t different in a bad way. Praise was a different in a bad way. I remember putting on my Sony walkman and playing the drums (as best I could) to “Sleep”.
When I first heard the Walk Together, Rock Together chant at the end of “Seven Years”, it gave me chills. I didn’t know why.
Earlier this year, I asked the guitar player from Cheap Girls if he was going for the guitar sound on Ourselves with their last record. He told me he wasn’t going for that particular sound, but more for the overall 80’s guitar rock sound. Then he told me “that’s when they built the best stuff” - in the 80’s. I thought that was pretty amusing. If there’s one thing I think about the 80’s, it’s not the quality of the products manufactured in that decade.
7-Seconds will always be a pretty special band to me. My freshman year of highschool, a friend let me borrow a cassette. 7 Seconds Live One Plus One on side A and D.I.'s What Good is Grief to a God? on side B. I was walking home from school, listening on my walkman, and heard Kevin Seconds give the speech in “Walk Together, Rock Together” where he says “Do you guys want to sing? You know we’re gonna sing? cause we can celebrate tonight. We have all kinds of people here tonight, ya know we have all kinds of rock and roll people punk rock people and skinhead people and girl people and guy people and bartending people and serving people and promoter people. Why Don’t I buy you beer? Cause I’m not old enough.” It was at that time that I realized music could be more than music, it could be about community and making things better. 7-Seconds showed me what a positive force music can be.
SCC is seven years old this month. I know now why that walk together, rock together chant in “Seven Years” gave me chills. Seven years is a long time, especially for keeping a band together. It’s great that 7-seconds could celebrate that in a song. Even better that they are still playing…
Mark/SCC
For the first installment, I give you my 7-Seconds Ourselves T. Best part about this shirt is I didn’t even go to the show. The year was 1988, and the only way my folks would let me go to the show was if they accompanied me to the Livingroom in Providence, RI. Very tricky, but very effective. I chose to stay home. I think I played the Ourselves as loud as the stereo could go that night, hoping it would somehow transport me to the show. Bummer.
My friends Brian and Chris were good enough to buy me the shirt, and evidenced by the pictures, I wore it longer than I probably should have.
I did finally see 7-seconds (at the Livingroom, without my parents) around 1990. I think it was the Soulforce Revolution Tour. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen them a hand full of times since then, even getting to open for them at Babyhead on to Out the Shizzy tour (I had them all sign my copy of New Wind). Last year we got to see them, for the first time in a long time, when they played Fest 8 in Gainesville. They played alongside Strike Anywhere and A Wilhelm Scream and had lost nothing with age.
A lot of 7-Seconds fans will say Ourselves is a horrible record, I don’t think that. It was their “new” record when I first bought it and I’ve always had a certain attachment to it. Growing up in the late 80’s hardcore scene, I often felt like we missed the best stuff. Minor Threat, Black Flag, The Dead Kennedy’s. Then, there it was, a new record from these hardcore hero’s. It was special. Sure it sounded a lot different then The Crew and Walk Together, Rock Together, but to me it wasn’t different in a bad way. Praise was a different in a bad way. I remember putting on my Sony walkman and playing the drums (as best I could) to “Sleep”.
When I first heard the Walk Together, Rock Together chant at the end of “Seven Years”, it gave me chills. I didn’t know why.
Earlier this year, I asked the guitar player from Cheap Girls if he was going for the guitar sound on Ourselves with their last record. He told me he wasn’t going for that particular sound, but more for the overall 80’s guitar rock sound. Then he told me “that’s when they built the best stuff” - in the 80’s. I thought that was pretty amusing. If there’s one thing I think about the 80’s, it’s not the quality of the products manufactured in that decade.
7-Seconds will always be a pretty special band to me. My freshman year of highschool, a friend let me borrow a cassette. 7 Seconds Live One Plus One on side A and D.I.'s What Good is Grief to a God? on side B. I was walking home from school, listening on my walkman, and heard Kevin Seconds give the speech in “Walk Together, Rock Together” where he says “Do you guys want to sing? You know we’re gonna sing? cause we can celebrate tonight. We have all kinds of people here tonight, ya know we have all kinds of rock and roll people punk rock people and skinhead people and girl people and guy people and bartending people and serving people and promoter people. Why Don’t I buy you beer? Cause I’m not old enough.” It was at that time that I realized music could be more than music, it could be about community and making things better. 7-Seconds showed me what a positive force music can be.
SCC is seven years old this month. I know now why that walk together, rock together chant in “Seven Years” gave me chills. Seven years is a long time, especially for keeping a band together. It’s great that 7-seconds could celebrate that in a song. Even better that they are still playing…
Mark/SCC