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Biography : Circle Jerks

The Circle Jerks were an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Red Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. They were among the preeminent hardcore punk bands of the L.A. scene in the late 1970s.
The band broke up and reformed three times, sometimes with different bassists and/or drummers. They disbanded for the first time after the release of their fifth album, 1987's VI, as Hetson decided to continue touring and releasing albums with Bad Religion. However, they reunited around 1994 and recorded a reunion album, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, in the following year, then a tour followed. After that, the Circle Jerks once again parted ways as Hetson was still involved in Bad Religion, but reunited again around 2001. As of 2010, they are on hiatus again. To date, the Circle Jerks have released six studio albums, one compilation, live album and live DVD. Their last studio album, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, was released in 1995 and was the band's only reunion album to date.

Lead vocalist Keith Morris was an original member of Black Flag, co-founding the band with Greg Ginn and recording the Nervous Breakdown EP with them before suddenly departing the group in late 1979. Morris formed Circle Jerks along with guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson (a classically trained guitarist), and drummer Lucky Lehrer. Their debut studio album, Group Sex was released as a demo on cassette tapes in mid-late 1979 and then in December 1979 on the Frontier Records label; its 14 songs totalled out at 16 minutes. It featured some songs that Morris had written while in Black Flag. That same year, the group was one of several California punk bands to be immortalized in the Penelope Spheeris documentary The Decline of Western Civilization; live versions of five songs from Group Sex appear on the movie's soundtrack. In late 1980, the group signed with IRS Records subsidiary Faulty Products and recorded their second album, Wild in the Streets, the title track of which is a cover version of a song by Garland Jeffreys. Faulty Products ceased operations several months after the release of the album, forcing Circle Jerks to find their third record deal in as many years. While they regained the copyright to Wild In The Streets, the original stereo master tape was lost, forcing the band to do a remix from the multi-track tapes when they reissued the album, along with Group Sex, on CD in 1988. The original can be found on Posh Boy Records' compilation 'Posh Hits Vol. 1'.

Source : www.wikipedia.org