New England Music News

Springa’s night out

The American Hardcore party

By MATT ASHARE | October 17, 2006

SSD, back in the old days

“Springa! Spinga! Springa!” came one lone voice chanting from somewhere among the crowd gathered at the Coolidge Corner Theatre a week ago Wednesday for a pre-release screening of the film American Hardcore. Paul Rachman and Steven Blush, the director and writer of the documentary that follows the rise and fall of the distinctly American punk genre known as hardcore in the ’80s, had made a simple mistake by thanking one of the more colorful figures from that era. Thus the cries for “Springa!” It didn’t take too long, though, for someone else to shout down the heckler with a quick “Shut up, Springa!” It took a few seconds, but enough of the people in attendance got the joke. No, it wasn’t Springa yelling out his own name. But if someone hadn’t started yelling “Springa!”, he might have taken the job upon himself.

Back in the day, a Boston crowd might have booed the first half of the film, which featured mostly bands from Los Angeles and then, finally, Washington. Remember, the classic Boston hardcore compilation was called This is Boston Not L.A. for a reason. The theater was peppered with members of the bands who had played on that album — Gang Green, Jerry’s Kids, and the Freeze. And one member of SSD — SS Decontrol if you prefer — practically had a starring role in the film: Springa may have looked the part of the raving frontman on film, but it was the band’s drummer, Chris Foley, who came through with the best anecdotes.

Foley, Springa, and dozens of other Boston rockers from that era (including a couple of members of the mod garage rocking Prime Movers) were among the small group who made their way over to Harpers Ferry for an afterparty featuring the Freeze and Gang Green. After all, Wednesday is a school night, and if you were a teenager in ’82, there’s a good chance you’ve got a wife and kids and a job to get up for early the next day. Springa was there, reveling in the thought that one of the best publicity shots from the film is of a very young, lean, clean Springa shouting into a microphone. Not only had he found a review of the film featuring that photo but he’d already made dozens of copies. So it really was a little like the old days of bands distributing flyers between sets as he went around giving the review to anyone with a free hand.

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