10 Most Important Acts That Shaped Punk Rock Music
9. FEAR
Fronted by enigmatic frontman Lee Ving, FEAR formed in 1977, quickly becoming one of the most sort after bands on the emerging Californian scene. Bass player, Flea, notably played with FEAR before forming the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and his driving, high energy bass lines, helped inform their sound. Along with their contemporaries, Circle Jerks, Black Flag and X, the group shaped the aggressively fast paced, and lyrically crude genre of hardcore punk.
Beer sloshing, lip busting chaos marked their live shows with Ving often exchanging insults with his fans, leading to frequent altercations. FEAR’s most infamous moment came when they appeared on SNL in 1981. After being featured in the Penelope Spheeris documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization, they caught the attention of comedian John Belushi. By this point, Belushi was well known for his hard partying antics and the raw energy of FEAR spoke to him. He scored them a gig on SNL, much to the producer’s reservations...
Their fear was not unfounded. After three chaotic songs, which saw the stage swamped by punk fans who had made it into the audience, $20,000 of damage had been done and the band received a lifetime ban from NBC.