About Me
It's all Tony Pradlick's fault.
See, he was that guy. You know the guy at the local hole-in-the wall
record store, who knew all about all the new music that was coming out
and had the most insane knowledge of every genre under the
sun. Like some sort of wacked-out Pied Piper for freaks and kindred
spirits, he turned me (Bill) and my group of friends onto bands like
AGNOSTIC FRONT and BLACK FLAG from the black/thrash metal that we were
into. It was 1985 and none of us ever looked back.
Now, I can't talk about "back in the day" because I was not part of the
first wave like Jimmy G, Paul, Roger, and many other people who I have
come to know and love like brothers over the years. I wasn't an early
pioneer at A7 or the Mudd Club, or even the Jane Street Rock Hotel, and
I never got to see Harley play in the STIMULATORS. But what was
different at that time was a genuine sense of community: we were all
outcasts and misfits, who felt somehow uncomfortable in our own skin and
only at home surrounded by others like us. The mainstream ignored us or
treated us like pariahs, or displayed us like circus freaks on episodes
of DONAHUE or on the cover of NY Magazine. Plus, there was no such
thing as MTV, the internet, etc. It was our special world, off the
radar of the rest of the planet, and we didn't fuckin' want you there.
Blackout Records was started sometime in 1988. To me, hardcore punk
isn't about just being a fan or a consumer; it's about participating -
creating something. Some people were in bands, others did zines or
college radio shows. I started a label. One that was going to do
something other than the trendy youth crew hardcore that was flourishing
at the time.
Myself and a friend of mine, Jim Gibson, pooled a few thousand bucks we
saved from our part-time jobs and released a compilation called "NYHC:
Where The Wild Things Are" in 1989. It featured cuts from BREAKDOWN,
RAW DEAL (KILLING TIME), SHEER TERROR, UPPERCUT, OUTBURST, and others. From what I'm told, many people think that compilation symbolized the
high point of NYHC, along with Revelation Records' "The Way It Is"
release.
Sometime in early 1990, Jim amicably took his half of the spoils from
the compilation and started his own label, Noiseville Records, to
concentrate on releases from THE ACTION SWINGERS, DRUNKS WITH GUNS, THE
RADICTS, and more. Blackout Records continued as a primarily hardcore
label and we continued to release music from SHEER TERROR, OUTBURST,
UPPERCUT, BREAKDOWN, THE ICEMEN, EYE FOR AN EYE and AMERICAN STANDARD.
But things change. As the early '90s wore on, hardcore turned into
something different - more violent than ever before. It escalated to
the point where guns were drawn at a KILLING TIME matinee and created a
rift in the scene... the more "punk" bands shifted to ABC No Rio while
the harder metal/hiphop influence hardcore became the norm. For a while
we stayed away from it. We signed some bands outside of the scene -
OUTCROWD (a DC proto-emo band whose members later joined H20), and did a
limited pressing of a greatest hits by UK Oi! band, THE BUSINESS. We
kept the hardcore flag flying though with continued releases from SHEER
TERROR and KILLING TIME. We also started an imprint, called Engine
Records, that released albums from such musically divergent bands as THE
NEW BOMB TURKS, GUIDED BY VOICES, DEADGUY, DISH, THE KOWALSKIS, and ALLOY (featuring members
of ARTICLES OF FAITH, DAG NASTY, and CRO MAGS).
One day in 1992, our friend Armand was walking past CBGB and saw this
band: female fronted punk rock that was a throwback to the age of the
'70s NYC punk scene. They were called THE GOOPS (and if you need a
contemporary comparison - think THE DISTILLERS). After going to a live show, we were
hooked, and released the band's album and quite a few singles on
Blackout Records. Hanging out with (and virtually living with) THE
GOOPS marked a new era for the label. It rekindled our love for punk
rock. We were lucky enough to get the band on a coast-to-coast leg of
RANCID's Let's Go Tour and get a track of theirs on Kevin Smith's
"Mallrats" soundtrack. In 1994, THE GOOPS signed to Warner Brothers and
suffered the unfortunate fate of many punk bands that get the major
deal...
Around the same time, SHEER TERROR signed to MCA Records (and we got
some free office space out of it). That whole saga, and the bands
somewhat premature and spectacular demise, is documented in brilliant
living color on their DVD, "Beaten By THe Fists Of God," (so go buy it).
It was also around this time that our friend Toby started his band H20
and we were able to release the band's first album, which is the best
selling title we've had on the label. We also came up with the radical
idea of having newer bands record some of their favorite old school punk
tunes and released two volumes of the "Punk Rock Jukebox" compilations.
Some of the participants on those compilations include THE DROPKICK
MURPHYS, KID DYNAMITE, SWINGIN UTTERS, and members of RANCID, SHEER
TERROR, and Marky Ramone under the name NOBRAIN.
After our short lived dalliance with midtown offices and pricey lunches
at someone elses expense, we moved our operation back to the 'burbs and
released albums from KILLING TIME, POWERHOUSE, REDEMPTION 87 (featuring
Jade of AFI), KILL YOUR IDOLS, and AWKWARD THOUGHT. After a short break
in 2000-2001, we started releasing newer bands including PROTAGONIST, THE
COMMERCIALS, CRIME IN STEREO, THE BANNER and most recently CRANKED UP! and THE FIRE STILL BURNS.
All in all it's been a fun and wonderful ride. There have been dramatic
ups and downs. Times when eating ramen noodles for dinner and sleeping
on couches didn't make it seem worth it. Times petty arguments with
friends escalated to stupidity before they were ultimately resolved.
And there are times when you are on the road in a crappy van, cruising
at 100mph across the desert with four other idiots in the middle of
nowhere, laughing your ass off- and it's all worth it.
Thanks Tony
