Beach Blvd

An influential sampler LP, Beach Blvd helped to usher in the hardcore punk movement in suburban Southern California,[nb 1] aided by DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, who gave the record its first airplay on his weekly radio show.[2][3] Conceived by the controversial Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields,[nb 2][2][3][4][5][6] the album gathers three acts with quite different musical styles: the Crowd[7][8] from Huntington Beach, Rik L Rik[9][10][11] from West Covina, and the Simpletones from Rosemead.[2][4][12]

The record title advertised the music's suburban origins: California State Route 39, named Beach Boulevard in the stretch that crosses Orange County, ran inland from the Crowd's hometown to Rik L Rik's.[3]

Produced by Fields,[2][3][4] all songs on Beach Blvd were recorded and mixed between November 1978 and July 1979 at Media Art Studio in Hermosa Beach, California.

The tracks credited to Rik L Rik are remixes[nb 3] of five demo songs recorded in November 1978[13] by the third lineup of Negative Trend,[10][14] where he was the lead singer. These versions feature bass overdubs by Jay Lansford, who also added a new guitar track on "Atomic Lawn".[13]

Beach Blvd was mastered by Lanky Linstrot at Wally Heider's Mobile Recording Truck, based in Hollywood, California.

Only three songs featured on Beach Blvd were previously released: Simpletones' "California" was the lead tune on their eponymous 7-inch single record[nb 4][15] from early 1979; while "Meat House" and "I Got Power" were issued as a Rik L Rik 7-inch single[nb 5][13][16] in mid-1979.

Accompanied by liner notes provided by Bingenheimer,[3] Beach Blvd was originally released in the summer of 1979 on Posh Boy Records, in 12-inch LP format.[nb 6][4][17] The album was also the Crowd's recorded debut.

In 1981, Posh Boy Records issued a rare edition of Beach Blvd on cassette tape,[nb 7][18] which included, as bonus tracks, the entire Red Cross EP[nb 8] by Redd Kross from Hawthorne, California.[19]

The original release on 12-inch vinyl disc was repressed in 1986.

In 1990, Posh Boy issued a 29-track extended version on CD[nb 9][2][20] featuring liner notes by Fields and Tony Cadena. Bonus tracks included almost half of Like It or Not Live!,[nb 10][21] the only album by Rik L Rik's first band, the short-lived West Covina four-piece F-Word!,[10][11] recorded live at San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens in the spring of 1978 and released posthumously that same year. The 1990 CD edition also added six more Simpletones songs: "I Like Drugs", the B-side of the single "California"[nb 4] from 1979; "TV Love" from Rodney on the ROQ,[nb 11][22] the first of Bingenheimer's compilations,[23] originally issued in 1980;[24] "Disco Ape" (aka "You Drive Me (Disco) Ape"), an unreleased Lansford arrangement of the Dickies' "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)" from 1978; and tracks 13, 15 and 17, all released for the first time. The 1990 edition closed with three additional cuts by the Crowd: "Right Time", also taken from Rodney on the ROQ,[nb 11] "Desmond and Kathy", and an instrumental rendition of the Archies' "Melody Hill" from 1969, both taken from band's first studio album, A World Apart[nb 12][25] from 1981.

In 1991, the original compilation was included in Richard Elerick's numbered 3-LP box set History of Rik L Rik,[nb 13][16][26] in conjunction with F-Word!'s album Like It or Not Live![nb 10] and Rik L Rik's The Lost Album[nb 14][16][27] from 1991.

In 2004, under license from Posh Boy, the Italian label Get Back re-released the 1979 12-inch LP.[nb 15][28]

The following year, Get Back released a 24-song Digipak CD edition,[nb 15][29] an abridged version of the 1990 edition.

• Beach Blvd. poshboy.com.
• Boehm, Mike (July 19, 1991). "Punks to Revisit Beach Blvd : 3 Suburban Groups Will Play in Huntington to Mark Release of Compilation CD" (page 1/2). latimes.com.

Reviews

• Vodicka, Gabe (August 6, 2009). "1979: Various Artists: Posh Boy - Beach Blvd.". tinymixtapes.com.
• Boehm, Mike (December 31, 1998). "Alt.Rock.OC: 20 Years of Suburban Struggle: Essential Albums, '78-98" (page 2/5). latimes.com.
• Clark, Jenna (February 12, 2014). "Vinyl of the Week - Claude Coma, Beach Blvd. - KCR College Radio". kcr.sdsu.edu.