Another State of Mind
Jun. 6th, 2009 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janradderBack 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.
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.
