Early D.O.A. Performances Featured On New DVD

08/16/07 5:00pm

Punk fans and historians can view some vintage D.O.A. footage in a MVD Visual DVD titled D.O.A.: 1978-1985: Smash The State that hits stores on Sept. 18.

The disc features what's generally considered to be the classic lineup of the Vancouver group with singer/guitarist Joey "Shithead" Keithley, drummer Chuck Biscuits, bassist Randy Rampage and guitarist Dave Gregg, who made the term "hardcore" their own and influenced the likes of Green Day, Henry Rollins, Rancid, NOFX and Bad Religion.

Keithley, who still fronts the band and runs Sudden Death Records, has this to say about the DVD:

"I really wanted people to see the original version of D.O.A. performing. You know, the completely raw band that went out and made a mark in this world. So I gathered together some of the best footage I could find and came up with Smash The State. Most of the footage is taken from shows in San Francisco and the East Bay. This makes a lot of sense, as San Francisco became D.O.A.'s home away from in the late '70s and in the '80s.

"Our very first show outside of Vancouver was in S.F. I took a train, Biscuits and Rampage took a bus, and Brad Kent hitch-hiked. When we arrived, we had to scramble around to find enough gear to play. But it was great, so from that point on, it just took a phone call like, 'Hey, can D.O.A. play a show with the Avengers and the Dead Kennedys next week?' 'Of course we fucking can!' So we would hop in any kind of old wrecked vehicle we could find and head down to the Bay area and help cause a punk rock riot.

"The last part of the DVD is our fifth show ever. It was an anarchist gathering in Vancouver's Stanley Park on Canada Day in 1978. It was billed as 'Anti-Canada Day.' We didn't have a permit, so the cops tried to stop D.O.A., The Subhumans and Private School from playing that day. Our pal Phil Smith managed to talk a local church group that was having a picnic that day into lending us their park permit once the church picnic was over. This of course infuriated the Vancouver police, but they could not stop the show. This is documented on Smash The State. There's even footage of Rampage giving a cop a kiss."

In addition to the performance footage, the DVD includes the "World War Three" music video and a 1979 news report on the group.

Here are the tracks on D.O.A.: 1978-1985: Smash The State:

"New Age"
"Get Out Of My Life"
"Royal Police"
"Woke Up Screaming"
"Last Night"
"Rich Bitch""
Let's Fuck"
"2+2"
"America The Beautiful"
"Fucked Up Baby"
"Rent-A-Riot"
"D.O.A."
"No Way Out"
"World War Three"
"The Enemy"
"Nazi Training Camp"
"Disco Sucks"