Another State of Mind

[janradder]

Back in the mid-eighties, there was a show called Night Flight that aired on Saturday night on the USA network. It was a music show, and one of the only places where I could find punk rock on TV. In addition to Ramones videos and airings of Rude Boy, every now and then Night Flight would show Another State of Mind, a documentary about American hardcore punk. The movie followed the bands Youth Brigade and Social Distortion on an ill-fated tour of the U. S. and Canada, ending (if I remember right) in D. C., where they stayed with Minor Threat after their bus broke down.

As a teenager in central Connecticut who didn't know any punks aside from my friend, the movie was one of the few connections I had to a world I only knew about through the records my friend and I bought and listened to like they were transmissions from God. I'd sit up, late at night, transfixed by the images and words on the screen in front of me, wishing I could somehow step into that screen and be a part of what I was watching. As much as any book I read or record I listened to, this movie was a huge part of my childhood.

Someone has posted the documentary in its entirety, but here's an excerpt from it, where a punk explains how to slam dance. I used to watch this part, thinking I could put its lessons to use if I ever got the chance, though when I finally did see a show with slam dancing, I was too scared to join.

Comments

[vee-ecks.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, Night Flight was awesome, even if you were a teenager who could and did go see those bands live and those movies in theaters. They showed loads of rap way before anybody else, too. And then there were those "Take Off" themed video things, like the post-apocalyptic one they showed all the time.

I remember, we finally got MTV after I'd been stuck with Night Flight on weekends for a couple of years and I was like "Really, that's MTV? Jesus."

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was definitely better than anything MTV had (though I.R.S.' Cutting Edge could be good sometimes -- it was where my friend first heard of Hüsker Dü, among several other bands). I do remember the rap stuff, though I wasn't into rap so I'd usually switch to something else. The other movie I remember seeing a lot was G-Men Forever, where someone spliced together a bunch of forties serials and overdubbed them with new dialogue. My friend and I quoted lines from it for years (much to the annoyance of most everyone around us).

[pnew8.livejournal.com]

Related, but not really, I was a show with two of my boys not too long ago and watched the guys thrash dance. Seriously, thrash dancing. I was awed.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Is it different from slam dancing? (and if so, how?)

[pnew8.livejournal.com]

Okay, I had to go one of boys to get this defined. Thrash is one term for it, but they also call it slam dancing, but really it is hardcore dancing (more research). It involves mosh pit dancing, but is violent without malice towards other dancers. It involves wild, violent punches and extremely strong forward and backward kicks. Sometimes, the men move in a circle striking out at other guys on the outer edge of the circle. If, on occasion, another dancer goes down in the pit from another dancer's strike or a kick, he is helped back up. If he is seriously hurt, he is helped out of the area. When this happened at the show I was at, the musicians stopped playing as the guy was seen to.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it sounds like just another name for slam dancing (and it's true that it looks a lot more violent than it is).

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

All right, all right I'm glad you made me watch it.

He's so earnest and heartfelt and dorky, and suddenly the mosh pit makes more sense and seems like a much more fun place to be.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

A lot of the kids in the movie are just like him.