Wow. I had no idea until now that Jeff Long from the excellent and now sadly not well remembered LA's Wasted Youth also played in Savage Republic in the early 80s. Interesting. They seem very far apart, but the guys in Wasted Youth always did seem like the kind of people who had more going on than you'd ever have guessed. But then, what little I knew about some of them personally (school ties, etc.) confirmed that.

I still wish they'd managed to record and release their songs following Reagan's In. Some of them were so good. A couple did get released on that post-Danny album, but I didn't like that singer at all, and couldn't get my head around the production. Didn't do it for me. I had a live tape from the Stardust (Starwood? I get confused these days) with their later songs, before Danny split for good (the second time), and they were just frightening. All the sort of repressed violence and seething pissed-offedness they were ever known for was in full effect.

I've sometimes wondered about how some of the most seemingly violent sounding bands often came from places like the westside of LA. Black Flag, Wasted Youth, Suicidal Tendencies...these bands wrote and played with a kind of terrifying brutality, leavened--if you will--with what sometimes felt like a strange sense of detachment. It was almost as if they resented not only the establishment against which they were railing, but the subculture that spawned and nurtured them. They pulled this off without the parodic knowingness of say Fear. Lee Ving's antics were funny and sometimes did indeed incite fights, but my sense was that all of his abuse was framed in a nudge and a wink, whereas BF or WY seemed mercilessly, uncompromisingly angry and detached.

All I know is that a BF or a WY show was an awe-inspiring thing...a thing of fierce, dark beauty, a thing that coiled around the repressed anger and frustration at the center of the music; to be in the presence of it was to feel as nervous and scared as you did exalted and excited. I suppose it's in light of those bands then that I find it so hard to feel convinced by all of these young Angry Bands® out in the world. So much of it just feels like a pose and contrivance.

Good post on Wasted Youth. I too, wish they had published some of the other songs they had back in '81-83. The original album only had about ten or twelve, when their sets usually had about 22 songs.
I know Allen is still in Europe w/his kids, don't know what happened to anyone else.

All the best.

Kevin

I hung out with Jeff Long just the other day here in St. Paul, MN. He is teaching graduate Statistics at the U of M and still the coolest guy I know. He mentioned something about a possible Savage Republic reunion tour in Europe and Japan? Who knows, anyways, WY has been missed by true punk fans for quite some time.

I remember seeing them with Bad Religion in D.C. at the hung Jury Pub in '86.While I wasnt that hot on them without Danny,they still put on a good show.At that time hardcore was on the brink of death it seemed.I left the scene very shortly after.

i remember seeing these guys play at the hollywood palladium in 1982 they played with tsol,youthbrigade ,social distortion,and fear. will always remember that gig. now my son even plays some of their songs on guitar

hell yea i remember wy used to party at motel hell with em L.A's seen was the hardest of hardcore ohh yea....I WANT TO BE A COWBOY vandals kick ass too

i can honestly say that wasted youth has inspired me to get into hardcore and start writing songs and singing. its sad that the band broke up but 2 months ago i saw the recently reformed circle one with mike still on gutar and the basist is the same basist for wasted youth. so some of the guy from wasted youth are still playing. ps circle one will be playing the socal fest on july 22 so dont miss out on classic LA 80's hardcore

if anyone could help, i am looking for the information on Jeff Dahlgren who is said to be for a while the man on the guitar for LA's Wasted Youth. do i have the right info? if anyone could do me a favor a drop a line about the band members and what changes there were with time, i would greatly appreciate it. thanx.

i saw the wasted ones at a show in south gate and i wanted to know if anyne had any info on their upcoming shows thank -sergio

i saw the wasted ones at a show in south gate and i wanted to know if anyne had any info on their upcoming shows thank -sergio

i saw the wasted ones at a show in south gate and i wanted to know if anyne had any info on their upcoming shows thank -sergio