The Decline of Western Civilization is a rockumentary film directed by Penelope Spheeris about the Los Angeles punk rock scene in 1979 and 1980. The term rockumentary is a neologism denoting a program on television or movie documentary about rock and roll or its musicians. ... Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. ... Nickname: City of Angels Official website: http://www. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

Plot

Featuring concert footage of legendary L.A. punk bands, and interviews both with band members and with the punks who made up their audience, the film offers a look into a subculture that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time. As understood in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with a distinct set of behavior and beliefs that differentiate them from a larger culture of which they are a part. ...

In later interviews, some of the musicians featured in the film complained that Spheeris took liberties in the editing room that gave a false impression of the Los Angeles punk scene; indeed, in at least one instance, audience shots from one show were interspersed with stage shots from another show featuring a different band. The Germs and Black Flag concert segments were filmed at a soundstage, Cherrywood Studios, rented specially for the occasion by the film's production company. Editing is the process of preparing language, images, or sound for publication through correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications. ...

Eerily, the promotional poster for The Decline (and the record cover of the soundtrack album) featured a close-up frame of Germs singer Darby Crash supine on stage with his eyes closed. Crash died from a heroin-induced suicide shortly before the film was released (the poster was designed before his death). Darby Crash (September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was a rock musician. ... Heroin or diacetylmorphine (INN) is a semi-synthetic opioid. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ...

Bands included are Black Flag, The Germs, X, Alice Bag Band, Circle Jerks, Catholic Discipline, and Fear. Black Flag was a hardcore punk band formed in 1976 in southern California, largely as the brainchild of Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes. ... The Germs are a punk rock band from Los Angeles in the late 1970s. ... X on the cover of their 1997 collection Beyond and Back: The X Anthology. ... The Alice Bag Band was a punk band which appeared in the Penelope Spheeris film, The Decline of Western Civilization, filmed in 1979. ... The Circle Jerks are a punk rock band formed circa 1978 in Los Angeles, California. ... Fear is a punk rock band from Los Angeles, California that formed in 1977 and still performs. ...

Musical Performances

• Alice Bag Band - "Gluttony"
• Alice Bag Band - "Prowlers in the Night"
• Black Flag - "Depression"
• Black Flag - "Revenge"
• Black Flag - "White Minority"
• Circle Jerks - "Back Against the Wall"
• Circle Jerks - "Beverly Hills"
• Circle Jerks - "I Just Want Some Skank"
• Circle Jerks - "Red Tape"
• Circle Jerks - "Wasted"
• Catholic Discipline - "Barbee Doll Lust"
• Catholic Discipline - "Underground Babylon"
• Fear - "Beef Bologna"
• Fear - "I Don't Care About You"
• Fear - "I Love Living in the City"
• Fear - "Let's Have a War"
• The Germs - "Manimal"
• The Germs - "Shutdown"
• X - "Beyond and Back"
• X - "Johnny Hit and Run Paulene"
• X - "Nausea"
• X - "Unheard Music"
• X - "We're Desperate"

See also

• The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years (1988)
• The Decline of Western Civilization III (1998)

The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years is a rockumentary film directed by Penelope Spheeris about the Los Angeles Heavy Metal scene of 1988 Original Movie poster and Tape Cassette cover Featuring footage and interviews of legendary metal bands such as Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, W.A.S.P... The Decline of Western Civilizaton III was a 1998 documentary directed by Penelope Spheeris. ...

External links/References

• The Decline Official webpage
• Interview with X singer John Doe
• Interview with Germs drummer Don Bolles
• Interview with Fear bassist Derf Scratch