Napalm Beach

Napalm Beach was formed by Chris Newman in 1980 in Portland, Oregon.They were originally called "The Untouchables" and premiered at the Long Good-bye opening for The Rats(Fred and Toody) and the Imperialist Pigs (Tom Pigs first band). They were gigging constantly after that in Portland and Seattle. Greg Sage of the Wipers saw great potential in Newman and company and took them under his leathery wing (or was it silver metalic?) He recorded them on the Trap Sampler giving them 3 tunes and producing their first vinyl.That record is sort of valuable these days as it contains cuts by the Wipers, Pell Mell, and Drum Bunny also. Drummer, Sam Henry of the Wipers joined forces with Newman in October of 81. The sound of the band changed significantly and Sage recorded them live at the Met in Portland and then recorded them in Esticada in an unfinished house in the summer of '83. The scene in the North West had come to a standstill, all the clubs in Seattle and Portland had shut down. The band had relocated to San Fransisco spreading their ever mutating music to the Northern Californians. When they came up to the N.W. to record "Rock n Roll Hell" with Greg Sage the only gig was at a coffeehouse in N.W. Portland and a small clothing store in Seattle. After awhile Newman aquired a Teac 4 track recorder and recorded the SF line up of Newman, Henry and Dave Minick and the cassette came out as "Pugsley" a low-fi masterpiece. Soon after Newman went to Seattle to team up with Doug Reed as manager and record producer and recorded "Teen Dream" with Henry and his cousin Terry Gwartney on bass (from the 1982 line up)This became their first full length LP on vinyl and cassette. In 1985 Tom Robinson, local Soundman, recorded Napalm Beach in a warehouse on 8 Track with Newman playing Bass with Sam Henry and then overdubbing guitars and vocals. This gem was called "Moving To and Fro" and eventually broke them in Europe. It was an inspired peice, Newman wrote the songs with his head in a 14 year old boys space. When music was his Sanctuary.It came out as a Newman solo recording because it was so different from other Napalm Beach efforts, but that changed and it came out on vinyl in Germany with 3 "Snowbud and the Flower People" tunes included (Newmans side project).Their next recording was on small Portland label Flying Heart owned by Jan Celt. This produced "Liquid Love" their first Cassette, vinyl and CD release! They went through 14 Bass Players until finally settling with Dave Dillinger in 1989. Soon after touring Europe in November. They were there when the Berlin wall came down and conquered 7 countries with their Powerful mixture of Punk, Blues and Psychedelia. There they recorded "Fire, Air, and Water" in a 24 track studio in Dusseldorf, Germany. On the second tour of Europe they returned to the same studio run by Peter Krick and recorded "Thunder Lizard".Heralded for there improvisational skills and guitar- drum interplay over Dillingers solid and succinct Basslines, they were refered to as a three man orchestra. Experiencing them live was an entirely different Napalm Beach. Never playing the songs quite the same way.In 1992 they recorded their epic "Curiosities" on Tim Kerr records, also a cut on the Greg Sage tribute on TK Records that included other artists like Nirvanah, Hole, Thurston Moore, Poison Idea put out on a 7 inch vinyl box set and a CD. In the latter part of the 90's as the band fell apart, dropped by their German label for personal reasons and deep in drug addiction their last gasp was a Cd recorded in Spokane, Washington called "In My Tree" It had a few good tunes and Billy Baker took the Bass over from Dave, but it fizzled out into oblivion. Newman and Henry both ended up jailed, in treatment and working on rehabilitation. Today they both play in other projects and still make a difference wherever they perform or record. Dillinger today has his own band and joined Chris' band "Divining Rods". Napalm Beach has been said to be an influence on the Northwest Grunge wave of the 90's, they will always be remembered by many.