Released August 1979 (1979-08) Language English Label Dangerhouse Records Genre Punk rock | Length 13:26 Release date August 1979 Recorded 1978 – 1979 | |
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Yes L.A. is a legendary six-song compilation EP featuring first-generation Californian punk rock bands. It was also the final release for the short-lived but influential Dangerhouse Records label.
Contents
Overview
A one-sided picture disc released in the twilight of the early Los Angeles punk scene, Yes L.A. features some of its most acclaimed bands: the Bags, the Eyes, the Alley Cats, Black Randy and the Metrosquad, X, and the Germs.
The record title makes parody of No New York, the seminal no wave compilation album issued a year earlier, perceived as pretentious by West Coast punkers. The EP even included a satirical disclaimer printed on the disc saying: "Not produced by Brian Eno".
The compilation includes a rawer early version of X's song "Los Angeles", recorded in 1978, which is, in the words of Dangerhouse Records co-founder David Brown, "a scathing, literal depiction of the scene which needs no explanation". The record also features a rare alternate mix of the Germs' "No God", a song originally produced by Geza X for the EP Lexicon Devil, previously released in May 1978.
The Yes L.A. EP has become highly sought after by record collectors.
Production and release
Yes L.A. was mastered by Jeff Sanders at Crystal Sound Studios in Hollywood, California.
All songs on the compilation were previously unissued, with the only exception of Black Randy and the Metrosquad's tune "Down at the Laundrymat", featured on the band's studio album Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie from July 1979.
Yes L.A. was originally released in August 1979 on Dangerhouse Records, in a limited edition of 2,000 copies pressed on 12-inch clear vinyl discs.
Artwork and packaging
Designed by Pat Garrett, the record artwork was silkscreened by hand on the ungrooved side of each single disc, with one of three different color combinations, namely, green/black, green/blue, and green/red. Some of those copies were misprinted. Examples include discs with text only, with the background image in front of the text, or the image and text on the side with the grooves, rendering such a record unplayable.
Some non-silkscreened black vinyl test pressings are known to exist.
Original copies came without a sleeve, instead packaged in a clear plastic bag with a white cardboard backing.
Reissues
At some point during the 1990s, the rights to Yes L.A. (and the entire Dangerhouse Records catalog) were acquired by Frontier Records.
In June 2013, after 34 years out of print, Yes L.A. was reissued by Frontier in a one-time limited edition of 1,000 almost exact replicas of the original EP to commemorate the label's 100th release.
Track listing
Where it is necessary, songwriting credits are listed in the format lyrics/music.
Songs
1We Don’t Need the EnglishThe Bags1:13
2DisneylandEyes2:00
3Too Much JunkThe Alley Cats2:41