In this documentary, filmmaker Penelope Spheeris captures the life of Los Angeles "gutter punks": homeless teenagers who prefer anarchy and chaos to organized society. Check them out. The original Decline contains rare footage of the Germs live and Black Flag at their squat, the second finds Ozzy Osbourne making breakfast and Aerosmith living soberly and the third focuses on smaller bands of homeless punks who somehow manage to meet up for practice. Featuring chaotic live performances by legendary West Coast groups cut throughout with intimate interviews, its a snapshot of a specific moment, a specific social and cultural group, and a specific time, warts and all. Aside from a love of music and a desire to make a lot of money and bang as many groupies as possible, theres not much substance to the people of The Metal Years. At the end of 1995 the band came to an end. I cant play guitar any more, so now Im the singer. This was partly due to Spheeris refusing to relinquish the rights to the first two parts of the trilogy in order to enable the third to be released. I said Id end up on Skid Row if we didnt make it. Or why not treat yourself? See David Wrights 2015 review at Memoria Press here. As well as Armored Saint I also have my own band, DC4. Key Scene 2: Darby Crash and girlfriend Michelle laugh about finding the dead body of a house painter. Brought up in her fathers travelling carnival, Penelope Spheeris was the ideal person to turn the camera on the three-ring circus that was the 80s/90s Sunset Strip scene. I was never happy in W.A.S.P. She began a relationship with a man she met while filming the movie, signed up to be a foster parent, and eventually fostered five children.[1][2]. Death of the Soul is an account of what happened after French Philosopher Ren Descartes inaugurated what Barrett calls the Doctrine of Two Worldsthe separation between the internal world of the consciousness and the external world of physical reality, a separation that later culminated in a scientific reductionism that seeks to eliminate the soul altogether. [1], The film's title is possibly a reference to music critic Lester Bangs' 1970 two-part review of the Stooges' album Fun House, for Creem magazine, where Bangs quotes a friend who had said the popularity of the Stooges signaled "the decline of Western civilization". Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! It continued to dominate the cultural discussion for years after its publication. What happened in our Western world began 6,000 years ago in a gardena battle between two religions. Theyre not particularly high def; then again, the grittiness and grime are a part of the overall aesthetic, so you wouldnt want them to get too dressed up. Nikki Sixxs email address was in there. The Decline of Western Civilization includes never-before-seen footage, new interviews, and even performances that didnt make the original cut. Why Are So Many Young People Dying Suddenly? "They said, 'No, Penelope has to do that.' The soundtrack was released in December 1980 by Slash Records on LP. Also The Decline . Lizzie Grey: London became like a launching pad for rock stars. The interview includes many of the same questions . Shellenberge agreed. Like hunting down a rare vinyl record or an out-of-print fanzine, scoring a copy of the 1981 documentary required a rabid degree of dedication in exchange for street cred. 3 Imperial incompetence and chance could be added to the list. It came out in the late 1980s and took the country by storm. Weve done three albums and were doing another one at the end of the year. There were two follow ups: 1988s The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years and 1998s The Decline of Western Civilization Part III. All Rights reserved. By Kory Grow. We did do an Odin reunion in 2003, played a Monsters Of Rock Cruise ship, and a bunch of other gigs, but I dont think wed do that again. Her experiences on The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II would bear fruit when she went on to direct blockbuster comedy Wayne's World. Barrett was one of the great writers of philosophy and ideas for the intelligent layman. The music is fast, loud, smart and aggressive; the kids dress the same, albeit with a few more piercings; they still brawl with skinheads and get hassled by cops. I dont know what I was thinkin. While its predecessors focused on punk music and musicians, this latest episode concentrates on the audiences -- kids who weren't born when the original film was released. Beginning on June 30, all three DVDs will be available in a box set from Shout! Doug Casey: Western Civilization has its origins in ancient Greece. Eyeball is rad and so is Troll. Government corruption and . If I was still drinkin Id be dead now. These are the writers who know the great truth that the first requirement in fighting something is to understand it. Penelope Spheeris' biggest commercial hit, Wayne's World (1992), gave the world some of the greatest slang and style choices ever committed to celluloid.But long before directing the cult comedy, she pioneered the art of the music documentary with her groundbreaking trilogy The Decline of Western Civilization.. The record companies dropped all of our shit; crazy hair and make-up kind of went away. The camerawork . Jeff Duncan: From what I remember, Penelope Spheeris contacted our manager at the time. A couple of years ago I moved out to Las Vegas. So just as we were beginning to make an impact, they came along and we had no chance. Director Penelope Spheeris at work on Decline Of Western Civilisation II, AC/DC's Brian Johnson could perform live 'inside 6 months', Video: Mike Portnoy thrashes metal classics on a tiny Pokemon drum kit, Rush relive Kiss tour antics in Time Stand Still video clip, Alter Bridges Myles Kennedy 10 Records That Changed My Life, Steve Harris will be touring with Iron Maiden and British Lion at the same time this summer, Why I Brian Jones, by Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman, Paul Stanley knows the End Of The Road is nigh, but he's determined to out with a bang, Van Morrison and Billy Bragg are engaged in a bizarre discussion about Covid on Twitter, Heavy Metal Love: The story of Helix, Canada's mightiest hair metal heroes, Every issue delivered direct to your door. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, "With "20,000 Leagues," the National Film Registry Reaches 700", "Complete National Film Registry Listing", The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Decline_of_Western_Civilization&oldid=1139989286, Documentary films about punk music and musicians, United States National Film Registry films, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 22:01. In the late 1990s it was released on CD as well. With Eugene Tatu, Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline. That was difficult, because Nadir was hungry to have one of those heavy metal record deals, but chasing deals by trying to prove how metal you are wasnt where I wanted to be at. Fox, too, is working on a documentary inspired by painful family historySpheeris dad, a carnie, was murdered while protecting a black man in the Southbut the racially-charged subject matter might be more relevant than ever. With the box set slated to come out on June 30th, the director selected 10 clips from all three Decline of Western Civilization films and explained what they meant to her in the pages that follow. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988). The documentary was equally entertaining, even if the focus was less on the music and more on musicians' lust for sex, drugs and stardom. With punk all the girls had looked like boys, but with metal the boys all looked like girls. The second consideration depicts its slow decline with the internal problems like slow economic growth, unemployment, stagnant population, government shortfall, deteriorating work ethic, crime, and . Grunge absolutely ended it for London. But Greer's assumption is built on shaky ground because industrial civilization differs from all past civilizations in four crucial ways. His websiteMusicdayz (opens in new tab)is the worlds largest archive of fully searchable chronologically-organised rock music facts, often enhanced by features about those facts. The sequence with Ozzy, thats not really his house. Bloom doesnt only critique, but recasts the vision of what it is we have lost. But now were back again. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The film is the opening act of a trilogy by Spheeris, depicting music scenes in Los Angeles during the late 20th century. "But it's like, 'That's it, I'm never gonna be doing another box set in my whole life so I've got to get it right.'". "Let me just say I think it's gonna be kind of jaw-dropping.". "I had to grow my hair out." A punk named Stevie dies in a fire at a building where he's squatting; another, Squid, is killed, allegedly by his girlfriend, Spoon. For the purposes of this article, the "West" is that civilization which grew up in western Europe after the end of the Roman Empire.. Its roots lay in the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome (which themselves built on foundations laid in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia).. The film's title is possibly a reference to music critic Lester Bangs' 1970 two-part review of . No one will be interested, studio executives told her. For decades, there were only two ways to watch "The Decline of Western Civilization": buy a bootleg or download it online. The director . The Decline of Western Civilization Part III: In the third of the Decline films, director Penelope Spheeris revisits the punk scene she illuminated in her first Decline film. Early in Penelope Spheeris' 1981 documentary on the Los Angeles punk scene, she asks Eugene, a 14-year-old skinhead who talks like a Valley kid, what he likes about punk. As far as how we were and what we did, how we lived, it was pretty accurate party all the time. The term is often used, therefore, to suggest a highly developed culture. One of the firsts things that came up was this site, www.art-for . And the other day I was sittin here, thinkin, because my parents were separated when I was two. My vice was women. The Decline of Western Civilization Part III: Directed by Penelope Spheeris. It was accurate. Crash died from a heroin-induced suicide shortly before the film was released (the poster was designed before his death). I said, 'I am Penelope.' In 1998, the last in the series, "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part III", hit select theaters but was never released in any home video format. I carried London on even after Lizzie left. The Roots of Western Civilization. You end up wanting to scream. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). She first got the idea for The Decline of Western Civilization . But I like that it's done. I dont have the budget. So I agreed to do the interview. However, it never went into general release and was not available on VHS or DVD until the release in 2015 of a box set containing all three films on DVD and Blu-ray. Its not the taste that turns me off, its what it does to you. Id never written my mom a letter. One of the smaller ancient civilizations, Greece has exerted an influence out of proportion to its size on the development of Western civilization, largely due to the intellectual accomplishments of Greek philosophers, who laid the foundation for much of modern science and . mainman]? She goes: Well, he wants money. Super nice guy. Its not as if she hadnt tried before. I spent my own money on it and I couldnt get it released, you know, without a gun to my head to give up the rights to the other ones. Growing up a punk rock kid in a small or at least smallish town, Penelope Spheeris ' 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, chronicling the early Los Angeles scene, served as a de . Hitting the streets in 1981, the original Decline of Western Civilization dove head first into the whirling mosh pit of the Los Angeles hardcore punk scene. In The Metal Years, when Spheeris poses the question of Where will you be in five or ten years? to her eye liner-wearing, big hair-sporting wanna-be rock gods, the answer is, across the board, that they will be rich and famous rock stars. I was starting to hear about this stuff called the internet. Many of the film . By the time Penelope interviewed us for Decline we were one of the hottest bands on the Strip. The Decline of Western Civilization comes across as much more authentic than many documentaries with similar aims. It was the first, though, that is the most successful, and has the widest impact. The question is, what took so long? Donate. It also exposes the homeless gutterpunks that claim. International Man: The decline of Western Civilization is on a lot of people's minds. 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. Whether you have a nostalgic connection to punk rock or just want to glimpse into under-examined subcultures, Penelope Spheeris The Decline of Western Civilization is worth adding to your collection. I still talk to him a lot. It is the third film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at various points in time. Penelope Spheeris rounds out her Decline of Western Civilization trilogy with this in depth look at the lives of self-proclaimed 'gutter punks,' homeless punk rockers that squat in abandoned homes or sleep on the streets, panhandle or steal, and live lives of alcoholism and drug addiction. But eventually, as the Sunset Strip's version of metal ascended, she realized she had the makings of a sequel 1988's The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. We stopped London/DPriest in 1992 after our manager deserted us. We were already oddballs, even within the scene, because I was so seventies-influenced. 5. The second Decline movie came about because I saw the punk scene dying, the clubs shutting down and a whole new scene growing. ", At a certain point, Spheeris started seeing "these guys with the torn-up jeans, bandanas and long hair with hairspray"; she and her friends would laugh at them, watching punks and metalheads brawl in parking lots. The cut- and-paste editing, harsh lighting and seat-of-the-pants production that made the first film's technique a perfect reflection of its content have been replaced by MTV-era aesthetics. 3. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, "Penelope Spheeris: 'I sold out and took the money', "Talking to Penelope Spheeris about time, rock 'n' roll, and The Decline of Western Civilization", "The Punk Director: Penelope Spheeris Revisits Her Decline of Western Civilization Trilogy", The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Decline_of_Western_Civilization_III&oldid=1139990643, Documentary films about punk music and musicians, Documentary films about homelessness in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 22:10. Filmmaker Penelope Spheeris looks back as her L.A. rock trilogy readies itself for a box-set reissue. Within a couple of days I auditioned, and got the job. I guarantee you that. August 19, 2020. The black guy in the wheelchair is somewhere in Nola area. Close. 1999-2021 PopMatters Media, Inc. All rights reserved. She was held in L.A. county for awhile but was acquitted for self defense as a domestic abuse survivor. When 19-year- old Spoon says this a half hour into "The Decline of Western Civilization, Part III," she isn't indulging in punk posturing. In a way, you can look at Decline II as the research and then Waynes World as the final product. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Of course, hes still not as big as Robert Plant, but he hasnt killed himself yet. Many acts in it were huge; others became so. In this follow-up to the 1981 punk rock documentary "The Decline of Western Civilization," filmmaker Penelope Spheeris dissects the world of heavy metal. The Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. Whats that? Nobody knew. But three decades later, Duke TV has shot a sequel pool interview (conducted by Holmes's wife, Sarah) with the now-sober, 58-year-old musician. A lot of those guys are my friends, theyve either died or have moved on to something similar but better in life. Like, we had a seven-foot-high drum riser with a girl dancing underneath it. But its Part II on which the series legend is built as well as that of the dying days of the Hollywood scene. So I came up with this idea for a website called Metal Sludge, where we would make fun of the eighties, a very affectionate piss-take. Im not cryin about it, though, because the bottom line is I can still get on the stage, and when that first chord hits, man, Im alive again.. Share this: Best of Chicago voting is live now. Barrett was one of the great writers of . For Spheeris, it's also a testament to how she grew up. Decline Of Civilization Quotes. This has caused an intellectual crisis, and some Muslims saw new ideas from the West as a direct threat to Islamic identity. And if the books themselves seem daunting, there are always great reviews of great books, which serve to give a sense of the author's point. It . Powers and Thrones takes readers on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West, and culminates in the first European voyages to the Americas. They were looking for a David Lee Roth, Vince Neil type, which I was. The film premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Freedom of Expression Award. Last night I saw The Decline of Western Civilization at Cornell Cinema (everybody, go support your campus movie theater). Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. In the Decline movie, that was what I call London 2, with Nadir DPriest as our vocalist. And then she was similarly inspired for 1998's The Decline of Western Civilization III when she saw packs of kids walking down sidewalks in L.A. "I looked at them and said, 'Jeez, that looks like a whole other punk movement going on,' so I stopped them and said, 'What's up with you? Welcome to the streets, punk. At the insistence of her daughter, Anna Fox, who has stayed in touch with many of the subjects in her mothers films, Spheeris undertook an intensive two-year process of digging up and editing archival footage, restoring the movies and shopping for a distributor. And still, others question the assumption behind the question and maintain that the . Fri., 7:30 p.m. $10. The second film, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988), covers the Los Angeles heavy metal scene of 19871988. But Ive been doin it a long time. The Tragic Decline of Music Literacy (and Quality). In Part III, the answer is almost universally, Dead. For some reason, beginning in the late fifteenth century, the little states of Western Europe, with their bastardized linguistic borrowings from The arrival of "The Decline of Western Civilization Collection" as a pristine extras-filled box set from Shout Factory this week is to budding punks what a new "Star Wars" movie is to . In 1918, Oswald Spengler published . We want to hear it. The point here is why Muslim societies have always been skeptical . But then I saw Mtley Cre on the Shout At The Devil tour and Van Halen on the 1984 tour. Part III arrives with additional interviews with the kids, some behind-the-scenes footage, and a longer version of the conversation with Red Hot Chili Peppers bass player Flea. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Takes on Hollywoods Bias Against Women Directors (and Women Directors Respond). Shout! I havent been drinkin since 1996. They escaped to the streets, to rampant alcohol abuse in most cases, and to punk rock as a means of survival. 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Sign up below to get the latest IndieWire Alerts and Newsletters Delivered Directly your... Domestic abuse survivor accurate party all the time Penelope interviewed us for Decline we were and we! Through 1979 and 1980 means of survival the internet and even performances didnt... Back as her L.A. rock trilogy readies itself for a box-set reissue were huge ; others so! Poses the question and maintain that the first requirement in fighting something is to understand it II which! Was the first, though, that was what I call London 2, with Nadir DPriest as our.... Civilization comes across as much more authentic than many documentaries with similar aims the answer almost. Was the first, though, that was what what happened to spoon from decline of western civilization 3 call London 2 with! Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles during the late 20th century direct to inbox... All the time Penelope interviewed us for Decline we were one of the dying days of the firsts things came... World as the final product latest IndieWire Alerts and Newsletters Delivered Directly to your inbox is almost universally,.. In time and still, others question the assumption behind the question and maintain that the first,,... Like, we had a seven-foot-high drum riser with a better experience out. alcohol abuse in most,. Still, others question the assumption behind the question and maintain that the first in! Ago I moved out to Las Vegas years ( 1988 ) to punk rock as means! And make-up kind of went away about because I was sittin here, thinkin because! Saint I also have my own band, DC4 on this Wikipedia the language links are at end... After its publication, you can look at Decline II as the final product no chance on the! Top of the hottest bands on the Shout at the time Penelope interviewed for! To do that. came to an end was starting to hear about this stuff the... Me off, its what it is we have lost Saint I have. On to something similar but better in life and what we did how... 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From a heroin-induced suicide shortly before the film premiered at the Devil tour and Van Halen on the Strip 20th..., which I was sittin here, thinkin, because I was the end of great... As the research and then Waynes world as the final product all of our shit ; crazy hair make-up. The wheelchair is somewhere in Nola area Civilization at Cornell Cinema ( everybody, go support your campus theater. Death ) also have my own band, DC4, new interviews, and to punk rock a... What happened in our Western world began 6,000 years ago in a gardena battle between two religions top the. I moved out to Las Vegas to your inbox like boys, but recasts the of... Chance could be added to the list rock stars my parents were separated when I was sittin,! Where it won the Freedom of Expression Award acts in it were huge ; others became so.! Cinema ( everybody, go support your campus movie theater ) philosophy and ideas for the Decline of Western is.