Song: "Telling Them"
Artist: Social Distortion
Album: "Live At The Roxy"
Year: 1998
Place Of Origin: Fullerton, California
Years Active: 1978 - present
WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:
"Telling Them" is a song that appears to be about the pent up anger and frustration of a young punk! To put it bluntly, it's about not giving a fuck! About rules. About what your parents say or think. This is an anti-establishment song. The only place the vocalist feels alive is with his punk friends at the punk shows. I believe this is autobiographical Mr. Ness! The version of "Telling Them" I chose for my song of the week is a live version from the band's 1998 album "Live At The Roxy". If you want to check out the original, you can find it on Social Distortion's debut album, 1983's "Mommy's Little Monster".
SOCIAL DISTORTION DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):
1983 - Mommy's Little Monster (13th Floor Records)
1988 - Prison Bound (Restless Records)
1990 - Social Distortion (Epic Records)
1992 - Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell (Epic Records)
1995 - Mainliner: Wreckage From The Past (Time Bomb Records)
1996 - White Light, White Heat, White Trash (Epic Records)
1998 - Live At The Roxy (Time Bomb Records)
2004 - Sex, Love And Rock 'n' Roll (Time Bomb Records)
2011 - Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes (Epitaph Records)
CURRENT STATUS OF SOCIAL DISTORTION:
Social Distortion is an Orange County, California punk band that got it's start back in 1978. The constant in the band is chief songwriter and guitarist Mike Ness. The original incarnation of the band featured Rick Agnew, Frank Agnew and Casey Royer who would leave Social D. to help form the Adolescents. Around this time, Ness also met Dennis Danell. Danell was originally the bass player but very soon switched to guitar. Ness and Danell were the two constants in the band right up to Danell's death in 2000. Besides those two, the band has been basically a revolving door of members. Social Distortion's first release would be the single "Mainliner/Playpen" in 1981. The first full length album would be 1983's "Mommy's Little Monster". Following this album, Mike Ness began to develop a pretty serious drug habit. Finding himself in several rehabs and at times in jail, by 1985, he became serious to kick his habit and gain some control of his life and his musical career. 1988's "Prison Bound" began to show the influences Johnny Cash and The Rolling Stones had on Ness. The mixture of punk, country and blues began to be termed "cowpunk". Signed by major label Epic Records in 1989, Social D.'s self-titled album in 1990 really put the band on the map. The singles "Story Of My Life", "Ball And Chain" and the Johnny Cash cover "Ring Of Fire" became instant classics and really caught buzz on the college radio scene. 1992's "Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell" continued with that punk/rock-a-billy style but 1996's "White Light, White Heat, White Trash" would be Social Distortion's heaviest effort. This album brought the hammer and featured one of the band's biggest singles, "I Was Wrong". In what would be a recurring theme, the time between Social Distortion albums would start getting longer and longer. In the 8 years from the release of "White Light..." and 2004's "Sex, Love And Rock'n'Roll", Ness would release two solo, country/folk albums, a live Social D. record would be released and tragedy would strike the band when long time member Dennis Danell passed away on February 29, 2000. Many of the songs on "Sex, Love And Rock'n'Roll" were written about Danell including "Don't Take Me For Granted" which is just a total kick ass song. Again, it would take 7 years until their next record, 2011's "Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes". For this album, Social D. hooked up with long time, iconic punk rock label Epitaph Records. Though the band has long layoffs between albums lately, that doesn't mean that they are not putting themselves out there. Social Distortion is constantly touring and unlike most bands, they do not shy away from playing new material live, well before the songs see an official release. Ness has said that the band is very comfortable doing this as it let's him know what songs cause the best reactions from fans. The most recent news is that the band is in pre-production for a new album but a lot of the material is in it's infancy stage, so perhaps a new Social Distortion album in summer/fall of 2018? Social Distortion is really the innovators of the punk rock/punk-a-billy/cowpunk style. Their sound kind of covers many generations of music. Their base sound is punk rock, but you can hear elements of 50's rock and roll and country, 60's blues inspired rock, 70's glam rock, 80's hardcore punk and 90's more melodic punk. They mesh these styles so effortlessly in their sound. Social D. has become one of the better selling punk bands out there. They are accepted and respected by other musicians I believe because of their originality. They really don't sound like anyone else. Their sound is their own and that's pretty impressive in and of itself. Social D. makes great songs, great albums and are incredible when they perform live. In my mind, one of the best bands around, and not just punk bands, all genres. One of the best.
TEN SOCIAL DISTORTION SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:
1. Story Of My Life
2. Machine Gun Blues
3. Prison Bound
4. I Was Wrong
5. Don't Take Me For Granted
6. California (Hustle and Flow)
7. Far Behind
8. Under My Thumb (Rolling Stones cover)
9. Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash cover)
10. When She Begins
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