Fear (band)

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist Fear, stylized as FEAR, is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1977. The band is credited for helping to shape the sound and style of Californian hardcore punk.<ref name="allmusic.com">Template:Cite web</ref> The group gained national prominence after an infamous 1981 performance on Saturday Night Live.

Frontman Lee Ving has been the band's only constant member. Since its formation, the band has gone through various lineup changes, and at one point featured Flea, later a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, on bass. The classic Fear lineup existed from 1978 to 1982, and was composed of Ving, guitarist Philo Cramer, bassist Derf Scratch, and drummer Spit Stix. Cramer and Stix later rejoined the band in 2018.

History

1970s

Fear was formed in 1977 by singer/guitarist Lee Ving and bassist Derf Scratch, who recruited guitarist Burt Good and drummer Johnny Backbeat. According to Scratch, the band was named by photographer Bob Seidemann.<ref name="RN">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1978, Fear released the single "I Love Livin' in the City". Shortly after this, Good and Backbeat left the band and were replaced by Philo Cramer and Spit Stix.

1980s

Film director Penelope Spheeris met Ving and Stix while they were hanging handbills on telephone poles in Los Angeles on Laurel Canyon Boulevard. After a brief discussion, she asked if they wanted to be in a documentary about the Los Angeles punk scene,<ref name="markprindle.com">Template:Cite web</ref> The Decline of Western Civilization (1981). In the film, Fear performed a set in which they baited members of the audience with personal attacks, sexist and homophobic slurs, and offbeat humor, inspiring some audience members to come on stage to fight them. At the time, Spheeris was married to Slash Records president Bob Biggs who, later that year, signed a recording deal with Fear.

Actor John Belushi, who became a fan of the band through an episode of L.A.-based New Wave Theatre in 1980, successfully lobbied to get the band a spot as a musical guest on the 1981 Halloween episode of his former show Saturday Night Live.<ref name="RS">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Belushi had originally offered Fear a song on the soundtrack for his final motion picture Neighbors. The film's producers eventually forced Fear off the project, and Belushi got them the infamous SNL gig as compensation. The band's appearance included a group of slamdancers, among them Belushi, Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, Tesco Vee of the Meatmen, Harley Flanagan and John Joseph of the Cro-Mags, and John Brannon of Negative Approach. The show's director originally wanted to prevent the dancers from participating, so Belushi offered to be in the episode if the dancers were allowed to stay.<ref name="markprindle.com"/> The end result was the shortening of Fear's appearance on TV. Fear played "I Don't Care About You", "Beef Bologna", "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones", and started to play "Let's Have a War" when the telecast faded into commercial. They ended "Beef Bologna" by saying, "It's great to be in New Jersey", drawing boos from the live New York audience. The slamdancers left ripe pumpkin remains on the set. Cameras, a piano and other property were damaged. After their SNL appearance, which resulted in $20,000 in damage, some clubs chose not to hire the band.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song originally recorded for the film, also titled "Neighbors", featured vocals from Belushi and Ving, and was eventually released by Ving in 2015.<ref name=RS/>

Fear also appeared in the 1981 rotoscope animated film American Pop, directed by Ralph Bakshi. Ving performed under the name Lee James Jude.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Additionally that year, Josie Cotton released the hit song "Johnny Are You Queer?". The song was based on Fear's song "Fetch Me One More Beer", written by Philo Cramer and John Clancy.<ref>Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film, Zach Carlson Template:ISBN/</ref> Bobby and Larson Paine, who were managing the Go-Go's, re-worked the song with new lyrics and gave it to them, but after a falling out forbade the band from playing it and gave it to Cotton.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> In several interviews Cotton has suggested that the song's title was lifted from lyrics in the Fear song,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> though she has also stated that Fear's version of it went "You're a fuckin' queer",<ref name="auto"/> which is consistent with Fear's demo of the song.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

When Fear found out a variation of their song had become popular, a meeting regarding the publishing rights of the song was arranged between them and the Paines. The two sides decided the winner of a coin toss would get the publishing rights to the song, which the Paines won.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1982, Fear released their debut album The Record. After touring in support of the album, Ving fired Scratch, which Scratch later claimed was due to jealousy and Ving taking extra payments without the band's knowledge.<ref name=RN/> Eric Feldman (of Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, and later PJ Harvey and Frank Black) briefly filled in on bass before he was replaced by Flea. Flea left the band and was replaced by Lorenzo Buhne. On July 3, 1983, Fear performed at the "Rock Against Reagan" protest concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. along with the Dead Kennedys, MDC, Toxic Reasons, the Crucifucks and others. In the summer of 1983 through early 1984, while Stix was touring Europe with Nina Hagen, Chuck Biscuits was supposed to replace him, but Stix returned and Biscuits never played any shows with Fear.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With Ving producing, the band recorded their second album More Beer in 1985 in just two days, according to the band.<ref name=Spit/> However, according to a representative from Enigma Records, it took a full year, as quoted in a March 1986 issue of Spin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1990s

Live...For the Record, a live album of a 1985 performance for Spin Radio, was released in 1991.<ref name=Spit/> Shortly afterwards, bassist Will "Sluggo" MacGregor was hired. After 1991–93 North American tours, Fear disbanded.Template:Citation needed Cramer and Stix left the band, citing disputes with Ving over finances.<ref name="Spit">Template:Cite web</ref> For the next two years, Ving performed in Austin, Texas as Lee Ving's Army. This eventually became the new Fear lineup, including Ving backed by LVA members Sean Cruse (guitar), Scott Thunes (bass) and Andrew Jaimez (drums).Template:Citation needed In 1995, Fear released the Have Another Beer with Fear album, followed by American Beer (2000), which featured Ving and Jaimez along with new members Richard Presley and Mando Lopez. The album included new recordings of several previously unreleased older Fear songs, as well as some new compositions. Presley and Lopez then began playing with Kim Deal and Kelley Deal in the Breeders.Template:Citation needed

2000–present

Fear (with Ving as the only original member) performed in the annual Warped Tour in 2008. Former bassist Scratch died from liver disease on July 28, 2010. He was 58 years old.

Fear played the South by Southwest festival in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A re-recording of 1982's The Record was released in late 2012, under the title of The Fear Record.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, the band reunited with Cramer and Stix, and added former AFI bassist Geoff Kresge and Henchmen guitarist Eric Razo to the lineup.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> In the spring of 2022, Fear announced that they had regained the master rights of The Record from Warner Music and announced a 40th anniversary deluxe edition of the album.

Fear went on tour throughout 2023.<ref>Template:Cite Instagram</ref> On October 31, 2023 Fear released the album For Right and Order. It was their first new studio album in 11 years (and first new studio album of original material in 23 years). The lineup consisted of Ving, Stix, Kresge, and Razo, in addition to songwriting contributions from Cramer.

Band members

Current

  • Lee Ving – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1977–present)
  • Philo Cramer – lead guitar (1978–1993, 2018–present)
  • Spit Stix – drums (1977–1993, 2018–present)
  • Eric Razo – lead guitar (2018–present)
  • Amos Cook - bass (2024–present)

Former

Drums

  • Johnny Backbeat – drums (1977)
  • Andrew Jaimez – drums (1993–2018)

Bass

  • Derf Scratch – bass (1977–1982; died 2010)
  • Eric Feldman – bass (1982)
  • Flea – bass (1982–1984)
  • Lorenzo Buhne – bass (1984–1988)
  • Will MacGregor – bass (1988–1993)
  • Scott Thunes – bass (1993–1995)
  • Kelly LeMieux – bass (1995–1997)
  • Mando Lopez – bass (1997–2008)
  • Jeffery "Beldo" Beller – bass (2008)
  • Sam Bolle – bass (2008–2009)
  • Paul Lerma – bass, backing vocals (2010–2018)
  • Geoff Kresge – bass (2018–2023)

guitar

  • Burt Good – lead guitar (1977–1978)
  • Sean Cruse – lead guitar (1993–1999)
  • Richard Presley – lead guitar (1999–2005)
  • Derol Caraco – lead guitar (2005–2009)
  • Lawrence Arrieta – lead guitar (2009–2010)
  • Dave Stark – lead guitar, backing vocals (2011–2018)
  • Frank Meyer - rhythm guitar (2024–2025)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1977 till:11/20/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors = 

 id:vocals    value:red        legend:Vocals,_rhythm_guitar
 id:guitars   value:green      legend:Lead_guitar
 id:bass      value:blue       legend:Bass
 id:drums     value:orange     legend:Drums
 id:lines1    value:black      legend:Studio_albums

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom

ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1977 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1977

LineData = 

 at:05/16/1982 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/1985 color:black layer:back
 at:10/17/1995 color:black layer:back
 at:09/05/2000 color:black layer:back
 at:11/06/2012 color:black layer:back
 at:12/01/2023 color:black layer:back
 at:11/06/2024

BarData = 

 bar:Ving       text:"Lee Ving"
 bar:Good       text:"Burt Good"
 bar:Cramer     text:"Philo Cramer"
 bar:Cruse      text:"Sean Cruse"
 bar:Presely    text:"Richard Presley"
 bar:Caraco     text:"Derol Caraco"
 bar:Arrieta    text:"Lawrence Arrieta"
 bar:Stark      text:"Dave Stark"
 bar:Razo       text:"Eric Razo"
 bar:Meyer     text:"Frank Meyer"
 bar:Scratch    text:"Derf Scratch"
 bar:Flea       text:"Flea"
 bar:Buhne      text:"Lorenzo Buhne"
 bar:MacGregor  text:"Will MacGregor"
 bar:Thunes     text:"Scott Thunes"
 bar:LeMieux    text:"Kelly LeMieux"
 bar:Lopez      text:"Mando Lopez"
 bar:Bolle      text:"Sam Bolle"
 bar:Lerma      text:"Paul Lerma"
 bar:Kresge     text:"Geoff Kresge"
 bar:Cook     text:"Amos Cook"
 bar:Backbeat   text:"Johnny Backbeat"
 bar:Stix       text:"Spit Stix"
 bar:Jaimez     text:"Andrew Jaimez"

PlotData= 

 width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:Ving      from:start      till:end        color:vocals
 bar:Scratch   from:01/01/1977 till:01/01/1983 color:bass
 bar:Flea      from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1984 color:bass
 bar:Buhne     from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1988 color:bass
 bar:MacGregor from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/1993 color:bass
 bar:Thunes    from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1995 color:bass
 bar:LeMieux   from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1997 color:bass
 bar:Lopez     from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2008 color:bass
 bar:Bolle     from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 color:bass
 bar:Lerma     from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2018 color:bass
 bar:Kresge    from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2023 color:bass
 bar:Cook      from:01/01/2024 till:end        color:bass
 bar:Good      from:01/01/1977 till:01/01/1978 color:guitars
 bar:Cramer    from:01/01/1978 till:01/01/1993 color:guitars
 bar:Cramer    from:01/01/2018 till:end        color:guitars
 bar:Cruse     from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1999 color:guitars
 bar:Presely   from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2005 color:guitars
 bar:Caraco    from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2009 color:guitars
 bar:Arrieta   from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 color:guitars
 bar:Stark     from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2018 color:guitars
 bar:Razo      from:01/01/2018 till:end        color:guitars
 bar:Meyer     from:01/01/2024 till:08/20/2025  color:guitars
 bar:Backbeat  from:01/01/1977 till:01/01/1978 color:drums
 bar:Stix      from:01/01/1978 till:01/01/1993 color:drums
 bar:Stix      from:01/01/2018 till:end        color:drums
 bar:Jaimez    from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/2018 color:drums

</timeline>

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

File:Fuck Christmas.jpg
Fuck Christmas
  • "I Love Livin' in the City" 7-inch single (1978, Criminal Records)
  • Fuck Christmas 7 single (1982, Slash Records): It was recorded during the sessions that produced their debut The Record, but was not released until months later. The single's A-side was later added as a bonus track to the CD reissue of The Record. It is also present on cassette copies of the album. "(Beep) Christmas" is identical to "Fuck Christmas" but with censored profanity, done as a way to promote the single on radio. Punk band Bad Religion covered the song at KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in 1993 and 1994<ref>The BR Page - The Answer - Article: "Covers"</ref>
  • "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" 7-inch single (2011, The End Records)
  • Paradise Studios Sessions Vol. 1 7-inch EP (2014, Atom Age Industries / Fear Records)
  • Paradise Studios Sessions Vol. 2 7-inch EP (2015, Atom Age Industries / Fear Records)
  • Paradise Studios Sessions Vol. 3 7-inch EP (2016, Atom Age Industries / Fear Records)
  • "Neighbors" 7-inch single with John Belushi (2016, Atom Age Industries / Fear Records)
  • "Fuel To The Fire / People Person" 7 inch single (Recorded in 1992, released 2019 on Fear Records and Atom Age Industries)
  • "Nice Boys (Don't Play Rock & Roll)" EP (2023, Atom Age Industries and Fear Records)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man b/w Brainwash" 7 inch single (2024, Atom Age Industries)
  • Trash (A Benefit For David Johansen)" Single (March 2025, Atom Age Industries)
  • "A Hard Days Night" streaming single (April 2025, Cleopatra Records)

Live albums

Soundtrack compilation appearances

Influence

Fear's influence is illustrated by the bands who have paid tribute by covering its songs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

References

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