DAN O'MAHONY PIZZA PARTY AT TKO RECORDS

For the next installment in the TKO Pizza Party series, we decided to include a musician who's work was from a different era than those we had previously hosted. In September we had the pleasure of having Dan O'Mahony who sang for such seminal bands as No For An Answer, 411, and Speak. He took this opportunity to share his writing, which like his music is genuine and sincere.

Before Dan got up to speak, he introduced his friend and fellow writer Greg Mollin who began the night by reading his works of short fiction, most notably a story entitled "Where The Fault Lies", which addressed the horror that accompanies the loss of a loved one. The room began to fill with familiar faces from the late 80s/early 90s Orange County Hardcore scene. Members of No For An Answer and Revelation Records came out to support Dan.

Dan O'Mahony read poetry and prose while providing background information on his involvement in the hardcore scene and the opportunities he was presented with because of it, which left those in attendance inspired to use free forms of expression to move others and to bring about change. His tour stories and the writing he read that was written while out on the road, gave you an insight into a man pursuing his dreams while not knowing where it was going to take him half the time.

In true TKO fashion, a limited 7" was released in conjunction with Dan's in-store performance. The "It Makes Me Sick" ep contains three newly recorded tracks of songs that were part of the early repertoire of No For An Answer songs but for whatever reason never received the proper vinyl treatment. Besides the title track, the ep includes "In The Beginning" and "Man Against Man", which up until this point had only been released as a live track. Limited to 500 and selling fast. 

It was another great night at TKO Records and another moving reading thanks to Dan O'Mahony. 

CHRIS D. OF THE FLESH EATERS PIZZA PARTY

Eddie Cochran once said "there ain't no cure for the summertime blues" but at TKO Records we did our best to have good time this summer. In July we were honored to have musician/producer/writer Chris D. of Flesh Eaters/Slash Records fame.

Donna Lethal, an up and coming author started the night off with a reading from her memoir Milk Of Amnesia; a humorous retelling of a young girl's trials and tribulations. Like Chris, Donna's work is published by New Texture, an independent publisher in Los Angeles. Chris read excerpts from his book A Minute To Pray, A Second to Die; a collection of lyrics, short fiction, and poetry. He talked about everything from his involvement with Slash magazine to writing and directing his own film I Pass For Human, a tale of a woman self-medicating with hard drugs which forces her to see the ghosts of dead addicts.

What was most interesting about Chris D.'s visit was all the things he discussed that showed just how important he was to the vitality of the early Los Angeles punk scene. Chris produced records for bands like The Gun Club, released seminal records such as the Tooth and Nail compilation, and was in talks with Black Flag (known at that time as Panic) to release their debut LP which would later become Keith Morris's portion of the Everything Went Black compilation.

To coincide with the occasion TKO released a Flesh Eaters 7" that brought the original Flesh Eaters demo into the vinyl community for the first time. The 1978 Flesh Eaters lineup (with Tito Larriva of The Plugz) bang out three Flesh Eaters classics; "Disintegration Nation", "Agony Shorthand", and "Twisted Road".  These songs really set the pace for the emerging punk bands of the late 70s/early 80s. The cover art was designed by Chris D. and is limited to 500 copies.

As we look back at history and recognize those talents and creative minds that fueled artistic and cultural movements, it's always great to learn the facts that are sometimes overlooked. This Summer evening at TKO was one of those moments when history was once again rewritten and those underground forces were fully unearthed, courtesy of Chris D.

To check out Chris or Donna's book visit: http://newtextureblog.blogspot.com/

POISON IDEA REISSUE SERIES PART 1-THE EARLY YEARS

The first in a series of Poison Idea reissues is out now on TKO Records. "Darby Crash Rides Again: The Early Years" compiles early demo sessions, live radio sets, and outtakes to bring you 29 remastered tracks from the brutal beginnings of Portland's finest. This LP includes the complete Boner's Kitchen Demo from 1981, the infamous Darby Crash Demo from 1982, a live set on KBOO from 1983, and outtakes from the "Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes" session from 1984. It comes housed in a gatefold sleeve with never before seen photos and flyers from some of the band's earliest shows and liner notes written by Portland musician Mark Sten. 200 copies have been pressed on blue vinyl and are going fast! A digital download of the whole album is also included and you get this all for the modest retail price of $15.99. Come on down and see one for yourself or visit our webstore to get this essential document of hardcore history.