The Teen Idles

In 1978, Washington teenager MacKaye discovered punk rock through a local college radio station, Georgetown University's WGTB.[3] He met Nelson, a classmate of his, after the latter set off a pipe bomb outside their school and MacKaye went to investigate. The two became friends and quickly discovered their shared interest in punk. MacKaye and Nelson saw their first punk show in January 1979—a benefit concert by the Cramps for WGTB.[4] The concert inspired the pair; MacKaye later admitted, "It blew my mind because I saw for the first time this huge, totally invisible community that had gathered together for this tribal event. [...] I thought, 'This appeals to me. This is the world I think I can breathe in. This is what I need'".[5]

After seeing a Bad Brains concert, MacKaye and Nelson began playing in a punk band, The Slinkees, with school friends Grindle and Mark Sullivan.[6] The Slinkees played a single show before Sullivan went to college. After a failed attempt to recruit MacKaye's friend Henry Garfield (later Henry Rollins), the band added Strejcek as the vocalist. The Slinkees soon renamed themselves the Teen Idles.[7] After touring and practicing for several months, the band recorded two demo sessions at a local studio in February and April 1980, despite the engineer and a visiting band openly laughing as they recorded.[8] They also began playing at house parties and pizza parlors, and opened for Bad Brains at an art gallery, in a dilapidated row house in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood, called Madam's Organ.[9]

To revive the fervor of punk, which the band felt was being distorted by new wave, the Idles sought to look as intimidating as possible.[2] They shaved their heads, grew mohawks and wore various punk accessories. Nelson and MacKaye even drove thumbtacks into the soles of their boots so they would make an "ominous clacking" sound when they walked.[10] The band's visual presentation was at odds with their demeanor; according to MacKaye, "In our shows and within our own community, we were totally goofy guys. We were painfully honest — we didn't shoplift, we didn't vandalize, we didn't spray-paint. [...] We don't do anything — everybody just hates us because of the way we look".[9]

After a number of concerts in D.C. opening for bands such as the Untouchables, the Idles decided to tour the West Coast in August 1980.[9] Along with roadies Garfield[7] and Sullivan, the band traveled to California. They were immediately hassled by police upon their arrival, and after challenging the police, Nelson was handcuffed for an hour. When the Teen Idles eventually began their tour, they were refused entry at Los Angeles' Hong Kong Café because of their age. Originally due to open for the Dead Kennedys and the Circle Jerks, they settled for playing the next night, opening for the Mentors and a band called Puke, Spit and Guts in exchange for just $15. The Teen Idles impressed those at the venue; MacKaye later said, "People were freaked out by how fast [we played]".[11]

Upon returning to D.C., the Teen Idles were asked by Skip Groff, owner of the Washington record store Yesterday and Today, to record some tracks at Inner Ear, a small recording studio in Arlington, Virginia. They were introduced to engineer and owner Don Zientara (the "studio" was a four-track recorder at Zientara's house). The Teen Idles played live in the basement while Zientara engineered and Groff produced. Seven tracks were recorded in total. However, the band were undecided about what to do with the tapes and eventually shelved them.[12]

In late 1980, the Teen Idles decided to break up, mostly because Grindle had fallen out with Nelson. Grindle's new girlfriend, a born-again Christian, disapproved of the band, causing Grindle to question his role. Tensions between Grindle and Nelson, who was an outspoken atheist, escalated until Grindle decided to quit.[13] Their last show was on November 6, when they opened for SVT at the 9:30 Club. It was a key event for the popularity of all-ages shows—where alcohol was not for sale, and thus no age restriction for admission. Previously, at the Mabuhay Gardens in California, the band were allowed entry to the club only after big "X"s were drawn on their hands—this showed that they were under the legal drinking age. The Idles suggested this to 9:30's management, and vowed that if youths were caught drinking, the club could ban them. The management agreed; the Teen Idles' final show passed without incident.[14]

After a year in existence, the band had earned a total of $600.[15] They now faced two options: divide the money among the members, or press the recordings they had made with Zientara at Inner Ear. Choosing the latter, Nelson, Strejcek and MacKaye formed Dischord Records with Groff's help, to release the recordings.[16] The band sent the tapes to a pressing plant in Nashville, Tennessee that specialized in pressing country music records. Initially puzzled by the request to put eight songs on a 7" record, they pressed 1,000 copies. For the cover, the band took apart another 7" record sleeve and used it as a template for their own cover design. They photocopied it on 11" × 17" paper, which the band members cut out with scissors, folded and glued by hand, then into these inserted the records and lyric sheets. Released in December 1980,[17][18] Minor Disturbance was a local success, receiving radio airplay and reviews from fanzines such as Touch and Go, which meant that Dischord now had enough money to release records by other bands.[19]

After the Teen Idles disbanded, Grindle chose not to pursue a career in music. By the time of Minor Disturbance's release, Nelson and MacKaye had already formed Minor Threat. The new band's first show was on December 17, 1980.[20] Strejcek became involved in the running of Dischord, until Nelson and MacKaye, disappointed by his lack of effort, "decided to take it back".[21]

The Teen Idles appeared on several hardcore punk compilations throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most prominently the influential collection Flex Your Head, issued by Dischord in January 1982.[22]

To celebrate the label's 100th release, Dischord issued the Anniversary EP in 1996, comprising the two demo sessions the band had recorded in February and April 1980.[23][24]

• Minor Disturbance 7" (1980, Dischord)
• Anniversary 7" (1996, Dischord)

• "I Drink Milk", "Commie Song" and "No Fun" on Flex Your Head (1982, Dischord)
• "Teen Idles" on Where Is J.R. ? cassette (1982, Schrott)
• complete Minor Disturbance on Four Old 7"s on a 12" (1984, Dischord)
• complete Minor Disturbance on Dischord 1981: The Year in Seven Inches (1995, Dischord)
• "Get Up and Go" and "Deadhead" on 20 Years Of Dischord (1980 - 2000) box set (2002, Dischord)