No Alternative – Live at Mabuhay Gardens November 7, 1980

San Francisco punk rockers recorded live at the legendary nightclub with 11 tracks and 2 bonus studio tracks.

Formed in 1978, hardcore punks No Alternative were an immediate hit on the San Francisco scene, playing dozens of shows with such like-minded purveyors of aggression as the Germs, Black Flag, D.O.A., Flipper, and Negative Trend. Despite their demand as a live act, No Alternative only managed to commit a handful of songs to vinyl during their original run.

The group’s three-song Backtracks EP appeared on Subterranean Records in 1980, while ‘Johnny Get Your Gun’ and ‘Dead Men Tell No Lies’ surfaced on local compilation LPs. KALX DJ Terry Hammer was on hand to capture the soundboard mix for this previously unreleased November 1980 set at the Mabuhay Gardens. The band’s line-up included Hugh Patterson (aka “Johnny Genocide”) on lead vocals and guitar, Jeff Rees on bass, and Greg Langston on drums.

The final two tracks on this release – ‘Witch Doctor’ and ‘Working Class Boy’ — are previously unreleased studio recordings, while Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and Gene Vincent’s ‘Be Bop A Lula’ also appear. This is the latest entry in Liberation Hall’s “Sounds from the San Francisco Underground” series.

Track Listing

1) Damned To Hell

2) The Good Die Young

3) Right To Die

4) Boy with a Needle

5) Mary Sue Ellen’s Clique

6) Folson Prison Blues

7) Be Bop A Lula

8) Rockabilly Rumble

9) F***** Up

10) Dyin’ In The USA

11) Life of Suicide

12) Witch Doctor

13) Working Class Boy