CRIME is one of my favorite bands from the punk era, and though they weren’t fond of the term “punk,” they most certainly fit the bill. Obstreperous outsiders who played by their own set of rules, CRIME were highly confrontational, possessed a strong sense of style and imagery, and had oodles of attitude, their raucous rock ‘n’ roll a blend of untamed ‘60s punk and Raw Power-era Stooges. During their relatively brief existence (1976-1982), they seemingly alienated everyone around them, including the San Francisco Police Department, as the group wore their standard stage attire—cop uniforms—on the streets on San Fran. CRIME’s entire recorded output consisted of just three singles before they disbanded, and though there have been quite a few archival audio releases, and there’s some video on YouTube, distribution of formerly unseen footage has been rare in recent years. That’s all about to change with an upcoming CRIME set, which will include a previously unreleased DVD—and Dangerous Minds has a preview.

CRIME’s live debut took place at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco on Halloween night, 1976. Though the band thought they sounded good, they essentially cleared the place out, and five songs in the owner put a stop to the proceedings. Looking for another venue to play future shows, they found an unlikely one in Mabuhay Gardens, a Filipino supper club that had hosted a Filipino Elvis impersonator, amongst other showbiz acts. The Mab would become CRIME’s stomping grounds, and the epicenter of the San Francisco punk scene.
 

 
A 1978 CRIME article in the New York Rocker included a description of a typically turbulent CRIME gig at Mabuhay Gardens.

At the Mabuhay, as the band plays with a relentless anger, one enthusiast whips a water pistol from his coat pocket and starts squirting [singer/guitarist Frankie] Fix. “Keep that shit up and you ain’t gonna live,” sneers the 5 ft. 5 manic guitarist. The kid in the crowd continues to squirt. Fix jumps off the stage and gives the guy a kick in the chest that doubles him over. Fix remounts the stage and the band launch into “Rockabilly Drugstore,” a song about, in Fix’s words, “a drug store where people go and hang out and dance and the cops are banging down the door and the cops start dancing and taking drugs.” The kid with the pistol recovers and resumes his liquid taunting. Fix is furious. “I’ll kill you, asshole,” he screams, as he leaps off the stage, throws off his Flying V guitar and leaps on the inciter. The guitar hits the floor and the neck cracks off. [Drummer] Hank Rank pulls Fix off the startled kid. “People got to show a little respect,” mutters Fix, grabbing a spare guitar. Crime wrap up their set. No encore.

On November 29th (Black Friday), the San Francisco-based record label, Superior Viaduct, will release the double 7-inch/DVD set, San Francisco’s First and Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Band: Live 1978. Shot on color film at Mabuhay Gardens and stored away for decades, the 35-minute DVD features recently unearthed and edited together live CRIME performances and behind-the-scenes footage. The eleven songs that make up its soundtrack are spread over two 45s, which are pressed on translucent blue vinyl, presenting CRIME in all their ramshackle glory at the Mab. I was given an advance of the audio, and it sounds really good—it’s certainly the highest quality live recording of the group I’ve ever heard.
 

 
Superior Viaduct previously put out the essential Crime collection, Murder by Guitar, which includes the six tracks that make up the three 45s they released during their lifetime, plus nine additional studio recordings.
 

 
Pre-order the limited edition blue vinyl/DVD edition of San Francisco’s First and Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Band: Live 1978 via Super Viaduct’s website.

Here’s the premiere of a tantalizing teaser clip for the release:
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Murder By Guitar: San Francisco punk band Crime live at San Quentin prison, 1978
Vector Command: The dark and mysterious recordings by former members of Crime —a DM premiere