Generics

"If any one band personified teenage snotty brat punk rock attitude in London Ontario, it was the Generics. Born out of a love for punk rock music, mixed with the constraining mental mind fuck of everyday life in London... Generics rose from a shaky beginning to become one of the best examples of the real deal as far as the punk lifestyle went. They had the music, the look and the attitude, none of which was contrived. They had a knack for rubbing people the wrong way, much to their delight. Perhaps no band in London was disliked and liked at the same time quite like the Generics were." - Dan Husband, London Ontario Punk Rock Scarchives
PART 1 - Formed in 1980, Generics (average age 15) achieved instant notoriety in their home town by being banned, blacklisted, threatened with a $50,000.00 lawsuit, ostracized by the older "elite" crowd at the Cedar Lounge (London's main underground music venue), dismissed as unoriginal and untalented by the local media and rival bands, and generally treated as outsiders even by other outsiders.
Arriving at the tail end of the punk movement and before anyone in London had any concept of hardcore, Generics existed in a musical no man's land where anything resembling either was dismissed as "passé". The band found it all endlessly entertaining, taking great pleasure in getting under the skin of their critics, and carried on regardless, ignoring the ban by playing out of town, sneaking onto the bill of other bands' gigs, or whenever possible, renting halls to put on all-ages shows. In 1981 they found a permanent drummer (5th drummer in 7 months), added a second guitarist, and towards the end of the year became regulars at the city's newest alternative venue, the Embassy.
Eventually the Generics acquired their own gear and learned how to play their instruments. A multi-million dollar bidding war between all top top record companies ensued, along with offers to open for some of the larger shows, including the Professionals, Forgotten Rebels, Dead Kennedy's, and The Damned, among others. OK, the bidding war part's a slight exaggeration, but the rest is true. The year-long Cedar Lounge ban was finally lifted in January 1982.
In February, thoughts of recording an EP or album were scrapped after an extremely disheartening show at the Turning Point in Toronto, where the Generics called it quits, disgusted by the violence, elitism, and fashion victim/herd mentality rampant within the "punk/hardcore" community at the time.
PART 2 - Generics reformed nearly a year and a half later for a one-time gig with D.O.A. on June 3, 1983. They offered to pay for a case of beer, thereby screwing the originally scheduled opening act out of a gig (sorry!). In fact, they did such a bang-up job that Donny, the owner of the club, paid them $50.00 on top of the beer. $50.00 was a fortune by Generics standards. Seriously.
Inspired by their new found incredible wealth and by chance encounters during the previous year and a half with like-minded people - particularly the Subverts from Chicago, M.D.C. from Austin, the Pathetx, L-Seven and members of Negative Approach from Detroit - they decided to make the reunion permanent.
After supporting GBH and playing an alcohol sales record setting "farewell" show, Generics set out on a western tour in August, playing in Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver, cancelling shows in Seattle, Berkley, and at Mish Bondage's (Sado Nation) house party in Portland in order to extend their stay in Vancouver and record a 3-song demo. A fourth song, "Outcasts Of Society", was also recorded, but only as an afterthought to "get it on tape" since it was going to be dropped from the set list as the band considered it their worst song.
The reunion was cut short after just three months when the Generics crashed near Brandon, Manitoba on September 3, 1983. Marc Sahrmann was critically injured in the accident, and the Vancouver Demos (all 4 tracks, unfortunately), only available in '83 on a few homemade cassettes, were reissued in his honour as the Societal Hemhorrage EP following his death on June 3, 1984.
In 1994 a German bootleg of the Societal Hemhorrage EP appeared, advertised as a "limited edition second pressing". The original is now considered a rarity and sells for far too much money on the obnoxious "collectors" market.
"Hated, jeered at and vilified...Generics can best be remembered as a bunch of petulant brats who wouldn't take no for an answer, loving every minute of their "punk ostracism". A band often criticized, turned out to be a shining example of how to get things done. They formed a band, then got off their asses and did something about it. Generics were a true punk band and those lucky enough to see them live will attest to that fact. A great band in the ranks of London's punk history." - Dan Husband, London Ontario Punk Rock Scarchives
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