THE HISTORY OF THE CRO-MAGS FROM THE "AGE OF QUARREL/BEST WISHES" CD LINER NOTES

BY STEPHEN BLUSH (AUTHOR OF AMERICAN HARDCORE: A TRIBAL HISTORY)

There was a time when the Cro-Mags were the greatest band on earth. High-octane punk bombast wrapped in a vicious metallic riffage, the Cro-Mags weren't only New York's most important hardcore band, they were a way of life. Frighteningly fearless and fatally frenetic, tattooed and down for life, they broke the sonic and cultural barriers in the highly stratified music world. For those of you unfamiliar with underground rock history suffice it to say that every New-Jack corporate punk-metal crossover band owes its musical livelihood to the path blazed by these musical marauders. Most "upstart" rock acts talk tough; these motherfuckers would rip out your spleens if you started up with 'em.

The Cro-Mags' story starts with founding member and legendary New York skin Harley Frances Flanagan who earned his stripes as the ten-year-old Keith Moon-like whiz kid drummer behind The Stimulators-seminal heroes of the burgeoning Big Apple punk scene. Stifled by his dire power-pop musical situation, Harley felt the urge to step out on his own. Influenced by the passion and power of The Bad Brains' Darryl Jennifer and amped on the speed-freak metal fury of Motorhead's immortal Lemmy Kilmister, Harley teamed up with uptown Axe Assassin Parris Mitchell Mayhew to create the heaviest fucking band ever-The Cro-Mags. Unleashing neanderthal primal urge and strongly enhanced by state-of-the-art thunderous musical synchronization, the band's first practices in January '82 featured then Bad Brains manager Dave Hahn on drums and vocalist Eric Casanova.

After a few years as New York Hardcore Matinee scene stalwarts and vilified East Village wolfpack, the band, with Flanagan's crazy pal, Navy Jet and Bad Brains roadie John Joseph "Bloodclot" McGeown assuming vocal duties, and ex-Frontline drummer Mackie Jayson, documented it's sonic fury in November '84. With producers/engineers Jerry and Tim Williams they created a self-financed 13-track demo (which later became a popular international bootleg item). After the '85 addition of second guitarist Doug Holland of Kraut Fame, the Cro-Mags eventually inked with the Profile distributed Rock Hotel label. The band's '86 debut album, The Age Of Quarrel, was a benchmark release. From the opening crunch of "We Gotta Know" and "World Peace" to the explosive expanse of "Survival Of The Streets" and "Seekers Of The Truth", to the furious finale of "Don't tread on me" and "Signs Of The Times" this studio opus immediately established the Cro-Mags as one of the first hardcore outfits to achieve serious metal credibility without the slightest scent of sell-out or hairspray. Highlighted by major league tours with Motorhead, Megadeth, GBH and Venom, the future looked incredibly bright for the Cro-Mags.

A long and ugly battle for the band's spotlight (complicated by numerous business and personal problems) led to "Bloodclot's" departure before the recording of the Cro-Mags' second proper release, 1989's primal classic "Best Wishes". With Mackie off to join his pals in Urban Blight and then the Bad Brains-replaced by ex-Murphy's Law skinsman Petey Hines-Harley doubled on vocal duties to create one of the finest turn-of-the-decade crossover aural blasts. Featuring tracks like the brutal "Death Camps", "Days of Confusion" and "Crush the Demoniac", Best Wishes proved that even a three-year layoff couldn't stop this ferocious machine.

The Cro-Mags' Hare Krishna connection came from vocalist John Joseph. After his numerous visits to the Krishna temple on Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn, "Bloodclot" began speaking the word by handing out leaflets to the hardcore community, convinced of the numerous parallels in their alternative lifestyles-vegaterianism, anti-materialism and political pacification. Harley soon joined the fold and became a fellow devotee of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. If there was a major dichotomy about the Cro-Mags, it was the juxtaposition of their calm, Krishna-bred sensibilities and that violent vibe Cro-Mags fans loved so much. Spritual discipline was initially an unifying factor, but individual inabilities to meet those religious expectations ultimately contributed to the band's demise. Ultimately, the Cro-Mags were their own worst enemies. Because the were living embodiments of punk attitude, self-destruction was the only logical step.

But if you want to get to the heart of the matter, step up and take in this thunderous collection of searing anthems by pissed off punks in their prime. Originators of New York hardcore, malcontents of morbid metal, this band will always be more than just a footnote in the annals of modern rock. Simply put, they were the first, they were the best, the were...the Cro-Mags.
-Steven Blush NYC, 1994

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CRO-MAGS HISTORY

BY MIGUEL TEGENTONEN

The late seventies and early eighties brought us some of the finest and hardest US hardcore punk bands ever. The first wave included legends like the Germs, Black Flag and Negative Approach. The first wave of bands in New York consisted of bands like the Bad Brains (even though they originally came from Washington DC), the Mob, the original Beastie Boys crew and the Stimulators. This last band had a ten year old drummer called Harley Frances Flanagan, this kid wanted to make different music. Louder music. So he went out on his own to form a new band. The earliest line-up included Harley, Dave Hahn (Bad Brains manager), John Berry( original Beastie Boy), & Dave Stein (of Even Worse). Eventually, Hahn was replaced by Crucial Truth's drummer Leo. According to Harley himself, this was the the very first Cro-Mag lineup. Guitarist Parris Mitchell Mayhew, a kid from uptown Manhattan, soon joined the band. Then Eric J. Casanova became the singer. When he and the drummer left, they were replaced by Mackie Jayson (ex-Frontline) on drums and John Joseph McGeown (aka. John Joseph or John Bloodclot) on vocals. According to Joseph, he, Harley and guitarist Doug Holland (who would also join the Cro-Mags) also played together in a band called MOI (Mode of ignorance) in the early eighties, but never released anything. Besides the three, Nunzio (from Antidote) played bass (Harley played drums). After Doug left, Harley's friend Elroy took over on bass and Nunzio moved to guitar. John Joseph was also featured on Antidote's "Thou shalt not kill" 7". He does background vocals on the song "Real deal"
 
The line-up consisting of Harley, John, Parris and Mackie went into New York's Hi Five studios to record the now infamous 13 song demo. It wasn't meant to be released, but to get a record deal. A bootleg of the demo (on 10" vinyl) became a much sought after collectors item. In early 2000 the band decided to make it officially available on cd (titled "Before the quarrel") for a normal price because the bootleg was very pricey!
The demo got them a record deal with Profile Records, and with the addition of second guitarist, Doug Holland (ex-Kraut), the band went into the studio to record their first album...

The Age of quarrel
Profile Records releases the debut album in 1986. It includes 11 songs from the demo. For the first time a hardcore punk band blends metal in their sound without selling out or forgetting their roots. With this album "hardcore punk" became "hardcore". Lyrically the songs are about the hard life that is living on the streets ("Street justice", "Hard times" and "By myself"), but also about spirituality ("Seekers of the truth"). This last thing came from singer John Joseph, who was (and still is) a Hare Krishna devote. He follows the teachings of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He also sees certain parallels in hardcore and Krishna beliefs, such as anti materialism and vegetarism. His beliefs added an unparalleled depth to (the lyrics of) the Cro-Mags. All music on the album was written by Harley and Parris, who were and are the musical minds behind the band. The album sleeve statesthat all lyrics were written by Harley and John.
This record has never been topped by any other band. The reason? The band never sat down to write the best hardcore album of all time. Parris once told me: "When we wrote Age of quarrel at the end of our teens, we didn't sit down to write a hardcore album, we sat down to write good music". And that is one of the biggest strengths of the album, it's lack of pretentions. Something other bands did have too much of when they tried to top this album.

Best Wishes
Things didn't go well for the band though. They had a cameo in a movie called "The Beat"; the main characters go to a Cro-Mags show (the band is called "Iron Skulls" in the movie) and we see the band play two songs: "It's the limit" and "Hard Times" (the material was used by Parris to create a video for the song "We gotta know"). In 1986 they toured with big names like Megadeth, Venom and Nuclear Assault, but internal problems made John leave the band. And shortly after that, Mackie decided to join the Bad Brains.
Without a singer and a drummer, the band was facing "hard times" and seemed to dissolve. Fortunately, that didn't happen; in Pete Hines (ex-Murphy's Law) they found a replacement drummer and Harley decided to do both bass and vocals. In 1989 a new album was released. The title? Best Wishes. The sound on this album is more metal, something that a lot of fans didn't like. However the album is still one of the finest blends of metal and hardcore today.
Shortly after recording the album, drummer Dave DiSenso and guitarist Rob Buckley replaced Pete & Doug.
The fans weren't very happy, and neither were the Cro-Mags. They had problems with their label, which resulted in Mayhew, Buckley & DiSenso leaving. The band dissolved. But not for long....

Alpha Omega
In 1991 Robert Kampf, owner of record company Century Media and Cro-Mag fan, decides to travel to New York to try to convince Harley to restart the Cro-Mags. Kampf is prepared to invest a lot of money in the band and the only condition is that John and Doug return to the band. Harley agrees and the band, including Dave DiSenso on drums and Gabby on guitar go into the studio to record their third album. The result is the album called Alpha Omega. Musically it seems the band is more metal oriented than ever. The lyrics are very good though, and some songs like "See the signs" and "Eyes of tomorrow" are classics. Even though the album is successful, the internal problems stay.
 
It seems that singer John and bass player Harley are unable to work together. Their friendship is over and Harley is forced to leave the band. The final studio album is called Near death experience. This the worst of the Cro-Mags albums, even though it has some good lyrics (but a very poor production). A tour follows, but after that the Cro-Mags dissolve. Century Media does release a fantastic double live album called Hard times in an age of quarrel, but that seemed to be the last Cro-Mags album ever.
John starts his own band called Both Worlds, which plays great rock music that is influenced by hardcore music. Harley & Parris renew their friendship and start a new band called White Devil. They release one EP (released only in Europe through Lost & Found) and play a short european tour, which brings them to the legendary Dynamo festival in Holland in 1996. They play the White Devil songs, but also some old Cro-Mags material. Bobby Hambell (ex-Biohazard) joins the band, but leaves after the european tour. Once again things become quiet.

The return
In 1998 John Joseph organizes a benefit, called Hardcore for hunger, in New York city. Bands like Sick of it all, Madball and VOD play, but the most interesting performance that night comes from John, who together with some ex-Cro-Mags members (but not Harley and Parris), plays a Cro-Mags set. Fans go berserk and even MTV covers the benefit.
In the meantime, Harley & Parris have changed the name of their band to Samsara. Their new guitarist is Rocky George (ex-Suicidal Tendencies, but you probably know that) and with him and Dave DiSenso on drums, they record an album for the Def Jam label. The band tours the US (with Ryan Krieger playing the drums) together with Hatebreed, Candiria and Earth Crisis. The album is put on hold though, and at a certain point it seems unclear if the album will ever be released. Parris gets sick of the way things are going and decides to take action. He talks to the powers that be at the label, and finally get the rights to the music. They can now release the album independently. They decide to do so. When Parris is listening the album, he realizes that this album is, in his mind the best Cro-Mags album they ever made. He calls up Harley and says he wants to continue under the name Cro-Mags. Harley agrees and the return of the band is a fact.
The album is released on their own label, called Cro-Mags Recordings, and the reactions are phenomenal. Some people even claim the album is better than Age of quarrel! The music is part hardcore and part punk. All 5 songs of the White devil EP are also included, since those songs were only released in Europe. Two songs that were on the original Samsara version were left off the final version. After recruiting two new members, Rob Buckley (who was part of the Cro-Mags in the past) and Gary Sullivan, the guys went on tour in the US and in March 2000 they came over to Europe, headlining the third European hardcore party in Maastricht. It seems as if Buckley was a temporary replacement for Rocky George, since the later rejoined the band for their summer 2000 tour (together with Ryan Krieger as the drummer).

John Joseph wasn't very happy with this "come-back" and decided to start his own Cro-Mags based band (actually a project) called Age of quarrel. Together with former members Doug Holland and Mackie Jayson (who now drums in the Fun Lovin' Criminals) and Craig from Sick Of It All and Scott from the Spudmonsters, they played a VERY successful show in New York's CBGB's.

Early 2001 saw the announcement that the Cro-Mags split up again. Aparently, Harley and Parris weren't getting along anymore, so Parris decided to disband the band once more...

Only about a month after this decision, rumors were already circulating about yet another reunion. This time involving Harley, John and Doug. It seemed that Harley and John had solved their differences and we're planning to play on-stage together again. This time in an almost complete Age of quarrel line-up. Parris wouldn't be involved though and Mackie was busy as the drummer of the Fun lovin' criminals. Their replacements were Rocky George and Gary Sullivan.
Parris issued a statement on www.cro-mags.com concerning this remarkable reunion. It won't come as a surprise that he wasn't very happy and threatened promoters and band with lawsuits for copyright infringement (Cro-Mags is a registered trademark).

John, Harley and the rest did do two show's in New York's CBGB's in late May. It was announced as "Street justice" and not as "Cro-Mags".

After doing some shows with the Soul Brains (aka. Bad Brains) in the US, there were plans for a one time gig in Europe at the European Hardcore party. Unfortunately, that fell through.

Harley Flanagan hasn't wasted any time and has already started a new musical project. Together with people like Rocky George, Jay Vento (ex-Warzone), Ryan Krieger, Vinny Stigma, Mickey Fitz and others, he has recorded 12 new songs. The CD is out now on Loud Fast Recordings. The name of this new band is Harley's War.

In other news, Harley has teamed up with drummer Gary Sullivan and guitarist Sean Kilkenny (Dog eat dog) to record two new songs for the "Worldwide tribute to the real Oi! II". Produced by Roger Miret (Agnostic Front) and compiled by Onno Cro-Mag (a dutch hardcore enthusiast/journalist), this disc salutes the real Oi! and is out now. The songs are: "Badman" from the Cockney Rejects and "Freedom" from Last Resort.
Harley's war played a special show on December 23rd in New York's CBGB's. Guests included Vinnie from Agnostic Front and Jimmy G from Murphy's law.

Things seem a bit quiet around Parris Mayhew.

After John and Harley did some more gigs together, things fell through again. JJ went on tour without Harley (who wasn't very happy about this). The line-up consisted of AJ Novello, Franklin Rhi, Gary Sullivan, Rocky George and JJ. They have recently toured Australia in this line-up. It seems JJ and AJ are working on a new band called Bloodclot.

Harley seems to have put it all behind him, he recently became a father and is channeling his energy into his family and his new band Harley's War. The CD is finally out this month (march 2003) and besides the aformentioned HW tracks, it also includes some of Harley's earliest recordings from the early eighties, as well as a live Stimulators track.

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CRO-MAGS HISTORY ACCORDING TO VIC D

The first time I heard of the Cro-Mags was an article they did in Thrasher Magazine. There was a picture of them in some New York Bowery Alleyway with these bic-bald heads and gnarly tattoos and a look that inspired intriguing fear... and these cool wooden bead chokers around their necks... They talked about the "Age of Quarrel" and the Universe and stuff that really sparked my metaphysical interests. So I got their LP, the Age of Quarrel and my life would never be the same.

New York City Hardcore Punk veteran, Harley Flanagen founded the Cro-Mags in January of 1984. Although Eric Casanova was the first singer, Harley soon found the AWOL Navy boy, ex-Bad Brains roadie, John Joseph (a.k.a. "Bloodclot" — a nickname he earned from the Bad Brains). And the legendary duo was established, along with the amazing drumming of Mackie Jayson and the roomy twin guitars of Parris Mayhew and Doug Holland (of Kraut). They recorded a demo in 1985 and played the most intense shows ever. The Cro-Mags were true New York Hardcore to the bone. They came straight from the streets and played with and anger and ferocity never before or again seen, except in the Bad Brains.

John Joseph and Harley (and Doug, too) began visiting the Hare Krishna temple in Brookyln where they gradually became practicing members, to one extent or the other. Their lyrics became infused with philosophical slants taken from their lessons learned at the temple, yet retained the hard-as-nails, I-just-might-kill-you-next attitude that so characterized the band and most of it's members.

In 1986 the Cro-Mags released their LP "The Age of Quarrel" on Profile records. It stands to this day as the hand's down singular definition of true New York Hardcore Punk. Mackie's unrelenting, and precise drumming combined with Harley's furious and accomplished bass playing, and John Joseph's searing and yet somehow melodic vocals was a combination that could would send adrenalin pumping.

Within a year, however, internal tensions tore the band apart, and it would never be put back together again - though they tried. Makie was the first to be replaced, by Pete Hinez (of Murphys Law). Then John Joseph left, and Harley took over on Vocals. At this point, 1989, the Cro-Mags recorded their second LP "Best Wishes" which, though it was not in the same league as "Age of Quarrel" was still decent. Next, in 1990, Doug Holland left (replaced by Rob Buckley) followed by Pete Hinez (replaced by Dave DiSenzo). Things went downhill rapidly. In 1991 there was an attempt to reunite with Doug Holland and John Joseph - but the attempt failed. In 1992 a disappointing LP called "Alpha Omega" was released. In 1993 a similar LP entitled "Near Death Experience."

Still, during the period of 1986-1988 the Cro-Mags were simply incredible, and were an undeniable influence on the world of music as well as my own music and life in so many ways.