Darby Crash
From The Giant: The Definitive Obey Giant Site
From Supply and Demand
Although he only appeared on a few singles, one full-length album, and one movie documentary during his short life, Germs frontman Darby Crash certainly left his mark on the punk rock world. Few rock "singers" pushed themselves to such dangerous and fearless extremes as Crash did at just about every show he performed, indulging in confrontations with audience members, engaging in obnoxious and drunken behavior, singing off-key and off-mic, and never above smearing peanut butter on himself or cutting his torso mid-performance. A fine example of the Germs' unforgettable stage act (as well as one of the only Crash video interviews in existence) can be sampled in the 1980 Penelope Spheeris-directed documentary be Decline of Western Civilization.
The Germs became one of the frontrunners of the emerging L.A. punk/hardcore scene (which also included such acts as Black Flag, Circle Jerks, X, and Fear), as their one and only album, 1979's (GI), became an underground hit. But Crash's intake of heroin reached deathly proportions just as their recording career began, and be split from the band to visit England for an extended period in 1980. On December 7, Crash was found dead from a heroin overdose at only 21 years of age.
Shepard's Comments
I totally missed out on the Germs while I was primarily listening to L.A.'S second wave of hardcore. Not until I heard the Melvins' cover of "Lexicon Devil" did I look for the Germs catalog, which had been out of print but, conveniently recently re-released on CD. Of all the punk bands, I think be Germs most embody the "if there's a will, there's a way" punk spirit. In my opinion, they were outsider artists who used instruments and vocals as paintbrushes. Though their work may have been sloppy, sometimes there is charm in a gesture that transcends craftsmanship and could even be compromised by it. It is this same gestured whimsy that can make people self-destructive and susceptible to vice. Darby's virtues in one area were his demons in another.