
The Decline Of Western Civilization Soundtrack (1980)
An American documentary film filmed through 1979 and 1980, the movie was directed by Penelope Spheeris about the Los Angeles punk rock scene. In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a letter demanding the film not be shown again in L.A. Over the years the film has gained cult status.
The film's title is possibly a reference to famous music critic Lester Bangs' 1970 two-part review of The Stooges' Fun House for Creem Magazine, where Bang quotes a friend who had said the popularity of The Stooges signaled "the decline of Western civilization." Another possibility is that the title refers to Darby Crash' reading of Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes" ("The Decline of the West").
Featuring concert footage of legendary Los Angeles punk bands, and interviews both with band members, the publishers of Slash, and with the punks who made up their audience, the film offers a look into a subculture that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.
Eerily, the promotional poster for The Decline (and the record cover of the soundtrack album) featured a close-up frame of Germs singer Darby Crash supine on stage with his eyes closed. Crash died from a heroin-induced suicide shortly before the film was released (the poster was designed before his death). - wikipedia
9 comments:
the best punk record of all times
one of the best punk records EVER!!! i wore the fucking grooves off my copy when it came out back in the day. i think i knew every word of every song by heart.
I think I gotta rip the VHS I got to MP4 with my device and send it over to MArk's at the downunderground blog
Viacomclosedmedown contributor to DU blog
Anonymous, please do! Let us know. I've been waiting for this to come out on DVD, if it ever will...
Hi the(r)e,
found your blog a few days back - i love it. Thanks a million for the great posts.
& a Happy New Year.
mr flibble
Fellas, I just wanted to say happy new year to ya!
O.K. FANS MISSION COMPLETE...HERE IS THE MP4 RIP...AS MILO SAYS...ENJOY!
http://downunderground.blogspot.com/search?q=DECLINE+OF+WESTERN
Viacom,
Great! I think the last time I saw this was a midnight movie back in the '80's. Thanks!
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