Houston Punk

A compilation of rarities released by Really Red, The Hates, and Legionaire's Disease. The bands in their own words:




Really Red: "Being involved in the explosion and turbulence of the Texas and American punk movements of the late 70s and early 80s was a truly exciting and gratifying experience. The bands, audiences, publishers, artists, and DJs were cutting their way through uncharted areas, breaking lots of rules as they invented a new counter-culture. Being a small part of the lives of the wild, inspiring, and often crazy people that we met along the way was well worth the time, money, and energy spent. Not to mention the often frustrating experiences with rip-off promoters, cheap motels, lousy sound systems, unresponsive DJs, and abusive police. There are many ways to measure success. REALLY RED never had any dream of becoming stars nor was our intention ever to "get signed" by a major label (a goal that seems all too common with so-called alternative bands of the 90s). Our aim was to be somewhat of a catalyst (however small) for thought, outrage, fun, action, and ultimately CHANGE and to have a great time provoking it. I don't know if we succeeded or failed in that area. But I do feel that we turned out some good music, for our limited abilities and the somewhat restrictive musical genre we chose. It is most gratifying to know that we are still remembered by a few. Thank you to those who were there then and those of you who are listening now. Never give up."

The Hates: "I felt really bad when the '80s came around, people were telling me, 'Punk is dead, you need to do something else.' There were some really lean years there. I thought we really hit our stride again during the late '80s, but it was the Reagan era and people still turned their nose up at punk rock. It's not something that ever caught on until now, if you want to say that. But I feel like punk now is watered down, made user-friendly, radio-friendly. To me, there's no such thing as pop-punk. It's either punk rock or it's pop music."

Legionaire's Disease: "I'd rather see you dead."