45 RPMs 84: Crime ~ hot wire my heart, baby you're so repulsive

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Crime - ca 1977 

photographer unknown

The late seventies was a terrific time for punk rock in San Francisco. I could go to a couple of clubs in my neighborhood, the Mission. One of them was the Valencia Tool & Die at 974 Valencia, just around the corner from my studio. I saw the Japanese New Wave group The Plastics there; Devo, who was just starting up, showed up during their set.       

  

Another club four blocks away and just around the corner from the Roxie Theater (link below) was The Deaf Club (link below). It was there I first saw Crime. I saw them later at the Mabuhay Gardens on Broadway, across the street from the Condor Club, which was made famous by Carol Doda (link below), and the Hungry i where I danced (link below).          

Crime poster - ca 1978

poster photo by James Stark

 

The first time I saw them, the members of Crime were pretty scary looking; they dressed like very sinister cops.       

 

 

Crime - ca 1977 

photographer unknown

 

 

Crime was an early American punk band from San Francisco. The band was formed in 1976 by Johnny Strike (vocals, guitar), Frankie Fix (vocals, guitar), Ron "The Ripper" Greco (bass; ex-Flamin' Groovies), and Ricky Tractor (Ricky Williams) (drums). Their debut, the self-financed double A-side, Hot Wire My Heart and Baby You're So Repulsive, appeared at the end of 1976, and is the first single released by a U.S. punk act from the West Coast.          

 

 

Crime 
45 RPM single 

cover photo by James Stark

photo of record sleeve by Styrous®

 

 

Hot Wire is on the "A" side of the record, which is usually the "Hit" song . . .      

 

. . . but it is the "B" side with, Baby You're So Repulsiv, that got my attention; to me it is the epitome of punk music; it is a love song, punk style, and it fit right into my biker lifestyle at the time (link below).       

 

 

Baby you're so repulsive
Honey you're so sick
Baby you're so repulsive
Honey I'm a masochist
Baby, honey when I'm motor-bikin'
All around your town
Bad girl movin' forwards and then backwards
And I'm upside down

You're so repulsive

Baby you're so repulsive
And you got me down
Baby you're so repulsive
Think I'm gonna hang around

Baby, honey when I see you comin'
I just gotta run
Baby, I'm movin' faster and faster
I'm like a tommy-gun

You're so repulsive

Baby you're so repulsive
Honey you're so sick
Baby you're so repulsive
Honey I'm a masochist

Baby, honey when I'm motor-bikin'
All around your town
Bad girl movin' forwards and then backwards
And I'm upside down

You're so repulsive

So repulsive Baby

       

 

Crime recorded Hot Wire My Heart written by Johnny Strike and Baby You're So Repulsive written by Frankie Fix, in November of 1976 at Blue Bear Studios in San Francisco in a room that was fifteen by ten feet resulting in tons of distortion, exactly what the group wanted.           

 

 

Crime - 1976
Blue Bear Studios

photo by James Stark

 

            

James Stark began photographing Crime in 1976. In 2006 he wrote a history about the punk scene; he mentions the group in it.           

Punk '77 - 2006

written by James Stark

Punk '77: An Inside Look at the San Francisco Rock n' Roll Scene, 1977

ISBN 10: 1889307149 / ISBN 13: 9781889307145
Published by Re/Search Publications, 2006       

 

 

   

Tracklist:
       
Side 1:

        

A - Hot Wire My Heart, written by Johnny Strike

       
Side 2:
       
B - Baby You're So Repulsive, written by Frankie Fix
       
Credits:
       
    Bass – Ron The Ripper
    Drums – Ricky Tractor
    Guitar – Frankie Fix, Johnny Strike
    Vocals – Frankie Fix, Johnny Strike
       
Notes:
       
1000 black vinyl copies with picture sleeve

       
Barcode and Other Identifiers
       
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side A (Etched) (Special Characters not Included): SAC 0188-A- 29949
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side B (Etched) (Special Characters not Included): SAC 0188-B 29949

        

Crime (2) – Hot Wire My Heart / Baby You're So Repulsive
Label: Crime Music – sac 0188
Format: Vinyl, 7", Single
Country: US
Released: 1976
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk       

       

       

Viewfinder links:          

         

Beemer Memories            

Can You Hear Me? Music from the Deaf Club         

Carol Doda        

Frankie Fix        

Ron "The Ripper" Greco        

Hungry i           

Hank Rank         

Johnny Strike         

Ricky "Tractor" Williams          

      

Net links:          

             

Art for a Change ~ San Francisco’s doomed—just like L.A.   

Center Label ~   

       Crime       

       Crime Releases       

James Stark ~  

      The Band Crime: Punk '77 Revisited                     

      James Stark                     

     

YouTube links:                       

The Bachelors ~ The Stars Will Remember         

 Crime -     

        Baby You're So Repulsive       

        Baby You're So Repulsive (live @ the Mab - 1977)      

        Hot Wire My Heart      

        Piss On Your Dog          

         

        

Styrous® ~ Monday, August 21 2024        

       

 

 

 

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Music People

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