Alphabetical Listing of ROIR Artists ========================= DUB ========================= PUNK ========================= 10 Ft Ganja Plant Acid Mothers Gong/Temple GG Allin Alpha & Omega Bad Brains Bad Cop Badawi Big Youth Glenn Branca Glen Brown Bush Chemists Bush Tetras Joe "King" Carrasco James Chance & The Contortions Chocolate Watchband Christian Death Digital K Dr. Israel The Dickies The Dictators Dub Trio Marcel Duchamp Dufus Durutti Column Einsturzende Neubauten Morton Feldman Fleshtones Flipper Gato Negro Jah Works Jazz Butcher Conspiracy Jon Langford John Brown's Body Petr Kotik Bill Laswell Legendary Pink Dots Los Amigos Invisibles Mad Professor MC5 Mekons Merzbow Mike Ladd Mirrors New York Dolls Nico Niney The Observer Oku Onuora Lee "Scratch" Perry Phase Selector Sound Praxis The Raincoats Ras Michael Martin Rev Roots Radics Roots Tonic S.E.M. Ensemble Skatalites Styrenes Suicide Television Terrorists Johnny Thunders Twilight Circus Two Cries of Freedom Univox UK Subs V/A Bands of Outsiders V/A Dub Revolution V/A Essential Dub V/A New York Thrash V/A World Class Punk V/A So Indie It Hurts: Vol 1 Wordsound Yellowman

Added 12/17/2009:

From Yong-Ki:

Recently, my close friend, Kenny Brimer was diagnosed with Leukemia.  Kenny and I grew-up in Hawaii and skated since we were 13 years old.  We're now older and wiser and both 36, but some things haven't changed... and some things, we just don't want to change!  First being skateboarders, second, living a solid and positive life, and third, BAD BRAINS!  Yes, like many many people, Bad Brains have been a part of the path that we've all taken throughout our journey thus far.  

Kenny had a rare opportunity to attend last nights, Honolulu, Hawaii sound check before the show.  He just sent these photos to me and I posted them HERE and HERE.  After posting it and finding the proper URL's that coincide with the blog, I read about the slippers that ROIR made and was offering to those who might have a story to tell about their experience with Bad Brains.  I know for Kenny, last night was enough and one that's seared into his memory for life.  I thought to submit these photos to you since I think he might dig the slippers.  He doesn't know that I'm emailing for him and writing you guys...

He also mentioned that he wanted to tell HR while he had a few seconds before taking the photo, that during his recent weeks of chemotherapy treatments, all he's been listening to is HR's first album and a ton of Bad Brains.  He was too nervous to say a whole lot at that time... Just two days ago, he was asked to attend the show and the sound check... I knew he was jumping while he was telling me on the phone.  

It's only been a few months and already, random skateboarders, family, and friends have donated to help his treatments for leukemia.  Check out the NEWS section on the far right if time allows for a minute to browse and read about our friend, Kenny Brimer.

From John N.:

while going to see Human Rights at Tramps in NYC I'll say around 1996-7 with some friends who weren't as dedicated bad brains/HR fans as myself, HR actually was walking around the bar and floor area before the show. He had this big ass grin on his face wearing priest like flowing garb and he walked right past me and my crew.

I was like did you see who that was, That was fucken HR. They were all, "huh what?" HR went into the bathroom and I followed him in. I didn't have to go so I just caught a few more tags in the bathroom. He was taking a piss and I waited for him to finish and just as he was washing his hands I said, "HR I'm a big fan of bad brains and human rights, your music has been such an inspiration." He just smiled
and nodded his head. I then asked when do you think you guys will be going on? He motioned for me to come closer, put his hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear very solemnly, "As soon as possible". I thanked him and said very good then.

This was all kinda weird considering it all took place in a mens bathroom but i was 15 and fanning out. Thats my story.

Added 11/11/2009:

From George H:
Met Darryl in a boozer next to gig in London July 09.

From Brian T.:
Aug 16 1989, Living Room in Providence, RI- bought the 2nd to last ticket to sold out Brains show.  It was the Quickness tour(still got the t-shirt) but Quickness was not out yet.  Got dropped off at the club cuz I was 15 and didn't have a licence.  Club was packed early on.  Maelstrom(Boston) and Leeway(ny) opened and rocked the house.  There was a long break before the Bad Brains took the stage and it seemed to be getting more and more crowded.  Come to find out the Brains bus was parked next to the out door patio area(20+ feet in the air) and masses of people without tickets rushed the bus, climbed onto the roof and jumped off, over a metal railing, onto the patio and ran into the club.  This crazy overcrowding made the club an uncontrllable sea of people.  The moments before Bad Brains went on, the crowd started swaying and I was off my feet, traveling with the flow of movement.  The show ended up being one of the best I've ever seen(and I've see hundreds).  They played close to 2 hrs, all the hardcore 'hits' lots'o reggae' and some 'new' stuff that would end up on 'Quickness'. 

From Milton H:
During the quickness tour, I managed to get past security and made it onto the stage at the ritz and was checking the pit for a safe place to dive when a bouncer suddenly grabbed me and was about to throw me into an empty spot on the floor. HR grabbed the bouncer and shook his finger in the bouncer's face, motioning, "NO!". The bouncer let me go and I was able to dive onto the crowd without risk. HR saved my ass....Bad Brains forever!

From Andy H:
this was taken at salt lake city @ the speedway (I think that was the name of the club) in 1989, Quickness Tour with Leeway and Sick of It All. went on tour with Leeway and Bad Brains as a roadie, greatest time of my youth. PEACE OUT!!!

Added 10/21/2009:

Winning Bad Brains story from Ryan B:

From Danny G:
It goes like this:

I first saw the Bad Brains in 1982 at Devonshire Downs, part of Cal State Northridge, in a show they played along with the Circle Jerks and a couple of other bands.  The anticipation of seeing the Bad Brains live was palpable.  I had purchased the ROIR cassette a year earlier after first hearing Rodney on the Roq play "Pay To Cum" in 1980 and I literally played that cassette around the clock.  I went to the show with my friend Ian who that day had outpatient surgery on his scalp to remove a benign tumor; he had a giant white bandage taped to his head covering the stiches.  Since Ian figured it was best to stay out of the action to avoid aggravating his wound, we waited toward the back of the crowd for the Bad Brains to begin. The Bad Brains launched into their first song with HR's now trademark flip into the crowd... the crowd turned into slam pit mayhem... and my friend Ian looked at me, looked back at the pit, and then said "Awww, fuck it" and dived into the pit.  I can still remember seeing flashes of that white bandage pop up now and then in the sea of slamming youth.

From Erik F:
Hey! I went to see the Bad Brains on their Quickness tour in Chapel Hill, N.C. August of 1989. Had to fight our way through Chapel Hill skinheads to get into the show. The opening band stopped playing at about 11 pm to a PACKED!!!! audience. The Cat's Cradle staff informed us that the Bad Brains had been detained in Greensboro, N.C., about an hour down the road, but they were on the way and would play all night! I was in the front of the pit area with my girlfriend and waited for hours. Bad Brains finally showed up and the whole crowd was still there. Bad Brains played the best show I had or have ever witnessed. I suffered a pinched nerve in my back in the pit that night. As a result I lost my chance at a swimming scholarship to college. A fair trade as far as I am concerned to have the honor of seeing the best band of all time live! Thanks for being you Bad Brains. peace be with you my brothers!

From Aubrey:
I saw two consecutive shows in San Francisco in the fall of '87. The first night I went alone and got there early waiting hours for the show to start. Bought tickets from an opening band member and made my way to the front of the stage. My spot was great except for the guy with a cast next to me. With no place to move to, jumping straight up and down  kept the guy with the cast at a distance. The second night, I talked my friends into going but we got there fashionably late and never entered the pit. The first night was so much more fun than the second. Live and Learn. Can I have some sandals please?

From Hek One:
hey guys. i came up with this design and tattooed it on my friend baby j from fl. we're both huge fans!
"we got that attitude!"

From Nathan M:
So, here's my short but delightful story of my first and only encounter with Bad Brains.

I have never seen a band relax and energize the crowd all at the same time like Bad Brains can. I have to admit, the circumstances I saw them in were unique; it was the first annual Harvest of Hope Fest, and over 2,000 other people (at least!) were present in addition to myself. For the most part, I had never been to a festival like this one and I had been waiting to see Bad Brains all my life. So, when it was announced that they were playing the festival, me and my friend Skippy packed the van and headed up the coast three hours, prepared to sleep in his car. We got there and for the whole day, felt as if the entire experience couldn't be happening already. There were more punks than I had ever seen before in one area, and no one was telling you where to go or what you needed to do. Bands and bands and bands, but we still haven't gotten to see the band we came for. A quick jump from day to night, and we were in the middle of a field with thousands of outrageous kids, tired from the day but reborn for the night. The dust that had traveled up into the air just decided to sit there, and if it didn't, it was in your eyes and nose and mouth, giving everyone there (I'm sure) black boogers, spit, and hardly any visibility. The particular group I was in was completely masked in bandannas to protect our faces. It wasn't like the Warped Tour mentality, where everything seems so prepackaged; it was like a real show, but with THOUSANDS of punks and other fans, getting as dirty and smelly in the pit as they had ever been before.

Then they came on. HR seemed like he had somehow reached nirvana recently. He pretended to take a nap in front of the drum kit until his services were needed :D. Every song from their old material was played with all the intensity and speed of the recordings, the timelessness of the music coming out even more live. All my favorites, including Sailin' On, I Against I, and The Regulator were played out the best I had ever heard them, and then something interesting happened. The music suddenly changed from punk number after punk number on to the wide reggae library Bad Brains had accumulated after the years. The same 2,000 kids shoving into shit and making everything nearly invisible because of all the dirt were now simultaneously skankin' in place. There was a unity among the crowd that I had never before felt in my life. I'm sure others would attest for my memory, if it was special to me, it had to be special for them, too. All 2,000 of them. In my teenage years as a punk, I have never felt more at home or at ease with my surroundings than when Bad Brains took the stage at HOH. It seemed surreal. I have been to many shows in my life and seen many other punk bands (old and new, ska to crust!) and I have never been at a friendlier set as long as I can remember. Before the experience, I had high expectations. But I can't even remember what they were, because I was completely blown by what went on that night. I wish I had never been, so I could still be expecting the best show of my life.

Bad Brains is worth seeing, 110%. Not one other memory in my entire life compares musically or within the scene the way this performance did. I hope, if anything, one of the members of this band sees this so they know how important they are to music and the attitude of punk into the 21st century. Punk has become over-pretentious in many areas, but Bad Brains were never part of that. They helped me feel like I was welcome in the scene again. Thank You.

From Adrien:
hey roir geniuses

here's my entry for the contest,
i send you a picture but i think telling a story about how much you feel about that great band is the only real thing to do even in bad english
so here's mine, even if i have hundreds of stories with bad brains soundtracks :)

about 8 years ago i was on my way to a squat in my hometown i was working in
it was a great place to hang around when you're a kid, rip!
lots of space, junk and fucked-up old punks
we could do whatever we wanted, i was covering the place in stencils
but that special day was , weeeeeeeeeeeell , special
there was that old punk who just got back from years of wandering in latine america
he was a notorious fucked-up

as soon as he got back in france he went straight into the nasty habits
and put one of the houses on fire while drunk, 
fucking great

the place was wrecked, all the top floor burned,
still it was possible to save the house, karma!

Anyway when the firemen came in they had to throw everythin away
so they threw the guy's belonging throught the windows and water the place down

of course the guy disappeared the very next day 

we were letf with all his stuff half burned on the ground
from this mess there were not much to save
my friends were picking up comix and old junk
but everything was basicly trash
only that day was special
and while going through all this mess i found something that i will love and enjoy for ever
i found an original 1982 bad brains tape, saved from the flammes, perfect
imagine my joy, 
and believe me this tape has never left me since
and it's been played thousand of times since

thanx for putting this tape out guys
really one of the best hardcore record of all time

From Buske:
So, I was in Baltimore for a show with my old band mates over the summer and had an interesting run-in w/ HR.

While outside the venue, shooting the shit with some friends, we see a black man in a 3-piece suit in sneakers with a towel draped over his head walk. Jokingly, we all looked to each other and I said, "Dude, HR". Apparently I said it at a volume that was audible from the other side of the street because immediately the person I joked was HR turned and waved the peace sign at us. At that moment, we saw his face and undoubtedly, it was indeed... HR.

Fast forward a few hours.

As the show is coming to an end, we see HR walking back down the street... this time with a guitar on his back. He walks right by us all and marches through the venue security, through the front doors into the show and ultimately to the back room where he makes himself RIGHT at home. Pulls out his guitar and just starts playing guitar in a room full of admiring and awe stricken Bad Brains fans. At this point, I make my way into the back room to witness what everyone was so taken back by and found my opportunity to snap off this photo.

After taking the photo, my friend pointed out my sneakers to HR. His reply was stunning. He merely pointed at them and yelled;

"Ahhhhhh!!!".

Sitting on my couch across from him, I reached across the room to him to give him a pound. He greeted my pound about 2 inches away with his token peace sign. Being respectful to his show of recognition, I put up a peace sign and approach his fingers to tap peace signs. Perhaps the pound/fist was a show of violence and he cared not to salute that? Assuming that, perhaps the peace sign was a much more proper way of salutation -- I tried to make contact with his fingers. As I got closer to his fingers with mine, he kept backing his hand up... I kept following until my ass was almost off the couch and I was outstretched completely. Definitely a VERY interesting moment.

Needless to say, he was very cool and even got on stage with my old band mates and fake played Agnostic Front's "Infiltrate" with them with the guitar he had strapped to his back.

So, yeah... I need these FLOPS so I can make an ass of myself next time with perhaps, Dr. Know. Haha.

From Eric B:
i've been listening to the bad brains since i first got into punk.  it was the perfect mix of punk and reggae that i had been looking for.  i got a chance to see the bad brains (soul brains) in the year 2000 in Edmonton, AB Canada.  This was monumental for us in our 780 punk scene. 

I remember being front centre of the pit against the stage.  my knees were bruised to shit afterwards.  i am fairly certain they opened with Right Brigade and the pit broke out into a frenzy.  HR was as calm as ever standing still in the chaos.  Darryl Jennifer would step out of the smoky darkness and show us what it meant to feel Irie.  Doc shredded so hard on a guitar with ites red green and gold pickups and Earl with more precision than ever.  Eventually they slipped into a reggae groove and Earl crooned on I and I survive. 

After the ganja smoked cleared, the pit broke out again.  i was a scrawy 20 year old at the time and was slamming in comraderie with all the 30+ year old veterans from Edmonton's punk history.  There was a real sense of urgency and respect in the room that night.  AND THEN...my record store co-worker friend Mike who was tending the bar throughout the set said fuck it to the long line up of customers, vaulted the bar, springboarded off a drink ledge and did a full fucking summer sault in the air over me and into the crowd when they played Rock For Light.  That moment changed my life forever and is vivid as ever in my head.  It gave me hope that there were still people - everyone in the room - that understood what the bad brains were about and that the passing new hardcore trends poisoning our scene with negative feelings at that time did not share the same significance of what we just witnessed.

Shortly afterwards I got one of my first tattoos of the bad brains lighting bolt down my right leg to mark that night and to always carry with me the significance of the brains.  To remind me to take each step with a positive attitude.

The symbolism of that gig...it was the first time all the members of my old reggae band Operators 780 (I was the organist/singer) were in the same room at the same time.  Bad Brains were so crucial to the development of Operators that we wrote a tribute anthem to them "Brains" followed by a reggae gem about living a positive lifestyle.

From Jeff G:
Here are my two Bad Brains tattoos.  The one on my wrist was done by myself dot-to-dot when I was 18 (14 years ago).  The other is a tribute to my fiancee' done in Bad Brains fashion 2 months ago.  Her last name is Muse which is defined as "someone that inspires an artist".  She AND Bad Brains have both been major inspirations in my life; from music and spirituality, to love and motivation.  My right arm and my passions are driven by these influences.