'Troops of Tomorrow'

So I'm clicking around on YouTube last night, cruising through some punk clips, and I find an upload from The Exploited's 1985 concert at The Olympic Auditorium. That was something else. I remember hanging out in the back, staying clear of the massive mosh pit. What a memory. The flyer's here, "The British Are Coming."

Below is a studio version of "Troops of Tomorrow," the title track off the band's second album, released in 1982.

I loved their sound, but The Exploited had issues. When I first saw them play, at The Lingerie nightclub in Hollywood, Wattie, the lead singer, started waling on the guitarist, and then the whole stage was in brawl. And that was it. Concert over. We (me and my buddies) were so f-king pissed. The club was half full. I was standing right at the stage. It was going to be fabulous. But Wattie was drunk off his ass and it ended up being a waste. Not a total waste, if I recall, since my buddy Victor and I met up with some smokin' beautiful women whom we'd met previously as some other gigs. (Victor was the drummer in the band F-Beat (which included Right Wing News blogger Michael Fell on base.) Here's an old Flipside Fanzine interview with Wattie from 1984, and he talks about the fight at The Lingerie:

Frank: Last time you were here you didn't get to play your scheduled show here in L.A. so you were gonna play a free show at a Roller Rink, what happened with that?

Wattie: Me and Gary got in a fight and I knocked his front four teeth in. We were still gonna play, we were still pals and stuff, but it cost us $400 to get his face stitched up. Gary had really bad breath, and he was picking on the drummer right, 'cause he was drunk, and he stuck his face near mine. And if I'm drunk, if somebody puts their face near me I'll just hit them, I'm paranoid about that...

(Wattie tells us how Carl "lost" his guitar in Spain: the Exploited did some minor damage and were asked to pay a lot for it. When they refused, the police were called who arrested the band and put them in jail. By then the bill had doubled, the Exploited gave them all the money they had plus Carl's guitar and they got out. He finally got a new guitar after their four shows in L.A.)

More at Wikipedia.

PREVIOUSLY: "The Exploited - 'Hitler's in the Charts Again'."