Thursday, December 18, 2014

`80s Charlotte punk band celebrates 30 years with one-off reunion

The holidays are a time to reminisce and if you were a punk fan living in the Southeast in the `80s then you may want to jump on this rare post-Christmas concert. Misguided Youth was a Charlotte punk band during the mid to late `80s. The lineup of Lee McCorkle, John Lomax, Jimmy King (of Drat and the Aqualads), and Sam Michaelowski will reunite Saturday, December 27 with a show at Snug Harbor (1228 Gordon St.) to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

I wasn't around for Misguided Youth's `80s run. I met McCorkle when we worked at Record Exchange. I'd taken a semester off work for an internship and when I returned he was working the register at our new East Blvd. location. He'd just put out his "Nappy Superstar" solo album (a good record, by the way) and was promoting it heavily to customers from behind the counter. I remember thinking he talked a lot about his band. If I'd known his history, I may have been more impressed.

Misguided Youth was McCorkle's first band and between 1984 and 1989 it played with what are now punk and hardcore legends like the Ramones, Lords of the New Church, Circle Jerks, Agnostic Front, 7 Seconds, the Exploited, Corrosion of Conformity, and Dead Milkmen.

Antiseen's Jeff Clayton produced the band's first EP, "Lawrence Welk's Death Polkas on Black Vinyl." It also recorded a full-length called "United States of America," which McCorkle says was only distributed in the regional scene.

McCorkle describes the band's sound as "Give 'Em Enough Rope" era Clash meets the Sex Pistols and adds that former Antiseen member Tom O'Keefe joked that they were just a little too early to be Green Day, which means if the cards were dealt differently the Rock Hall might be inducting them next year.

Misguided Youth will be joined by That Guy Smitty, the Chalkies, the Poontanglers, and AM/FMs Saturday. The show starts at 10 p.m. and admission is $5.

(Photos courtesy of Lee McCorkle. Top -Misguided Youth during its 25th anniversary at the Milestone. Bottom - Youth in its infancy).