Reagan Regime Review
I never had the chance to read Touch & Go fanzine as it was a couple of years ahead of my time. I’ve had the opportunity over the years of reading interview excerpts and cartoons from the originals, but never an actual copy. As it stands, Touch & Go was one of the great early American hardcore zines. Founded by Tesco Vee in late 1979(?), T&G was the voice of early midwest hardcore scene. in 1981 Vee and Necros bassist Corey Rusk decided to form a label of the same name, releasing legendary material by The Fix, The Necros, Negative Approach, The Meatmen, and the legendary Midwest HC comp Process of Elimination. The fanzine continued on to about 1984 or when Tesco picked up and moved to DC. Rusk continues to run the label to this day.
So somewhere in the early ’90’s Selfless records had the fantastic idea of releasing a “Best of Touch and Go” zine accompanied by a 7″ with bands from the zines heyday. Mirroring the lineup that appeared on Process of Elimination the record featured unreleased tracks by The Fix, The Meatmen, Negative Approach, Toxic Reasons, and McDonalds. The quality of the tracks (mostly live and demo) is spotty. The Fix track is disappointing soundwise, but most of the rest is decent:
The Fix - Vengeance.mp3
The Meatmen - One Down, Three to Go.mp3
Negative Approach - Can’t tell No One.mp3
Toxic Reasons - Somebody Help Me.mp3
McDonalds - Untitled.mp3
I turned to the Dementlieu Punk Archive for some more info and came across this quote:
I wonder why Tesco decided on a live version of Vengeance when there’s a fantastic studio version that’s never been released anywhere?
I’m not sure if he is referring to the “Spot Demo” version of “Vengeance” or not, but here is the demo version. The released version is the best, but for comparison sakes…. one of the greatest hardcore songs of all.
The Fix - Vengeance (spot demo).mp3
>> this post needs a serious fact check, so if anyone in the know has the correct history please comment.
>> I remember the “Best of” zine being godhead, just packed with great band interviews, etc. My copy was lost sometime ago. I guess with the advent of the Internet most information can be tracked down quickly, but at the time it was like hitting the information jackpot.
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Thanks for posting this — I’ve been meaning to find time to digitize it for years. Great stuff; something about the Ohio/Michigan punks….they were on top of the world for about a year there, hunh?
I think there was a ‘best of T&G’ released in ‘85 or so as well. I picked up a copy at Northern Lights in Mpls, MN that summer. Just found it while packing away for a move. The Meatmen comics are hilarious.
Thanks never knew there was another McDonalds cut
It’s nice to see an interest in that single and magaznie package. I thought it was a great idea when we put it out. They sold well for about a year, but after that we could not give them away. As far as the music on the 7″ is concerned, the versions of the songs that came on the 7″ were really not chosen by us and truth be told I was never really that pleased with some of the tracks either.
I love “One Down Three to Go”! Should I be embarassed? Its so mean! The song needs to be updated, unfortunately. Are there any takers out there? I heard somewhere that Tesco is still making music…
Hey Darren… is there a site detailing all of the Selfless releases? I’m a disocgraphy geek and this kind of thing piques my interest. I can’t believe you had trouble selling them - the zine alone should have had the folks knocking down your door.
Wow, I own that flexi. I didn’t even remember where I got it from nor when I last listened to it.
Thanks.
There is a studio version released on the 7″ T&G single (red & black cover) — a little slower than these 2 versions, but much better sung and recorded. They supposedly sold for $800-1000 on eBay for a time. One of these days, I’ll dig itup and digitize it.