Revolution Summer (music)

Revolution Summer was a phrase coined by an employee of Dischord Records in an effort to revive the hardcore punk scene of Washington, D.C. that occurred during the summer of 1985.

Background and creation
See also: Washington, D.C. hardcore

From the late-1970s through the early-1980s, Washington, DC had a thriving hardcore punk community.[1] The short-lived scene is one of the most influential in the United States.[2] Bad Brains were an early influence on the speed of hardcore punk and Straight edge came to fruition in the wake of Minor Threat.[3] By 1984, the scene was awash in violence; skinheads came to hardcore punk concerts in DC to fight.[4] Shows devolved into vandalism.[5]

Amy Pickering of Fire Party worked at Dischord Records, and on her first day of work there, she tore down a sign that said "No Skirts Allowed".[6] Oman Emmet named Pickering as "the mother of the revolution" for her role in what became known as "Revolution Summer" in 1985, and he credited Pickering with "setting a season into motion."[7][8] "Revolution Summer" had been a phrase Pickering used in notes she sent out to people in the D.C. punk scene to reflect "a climax, the end of something" and to re-inspire punks in D.C.[9]

The tight-knit community around Dischord Records, who helped create the scene, decided to leave it and create a new alternative music scene in the city.[10] This scene was to be more aware of the sexism of the traditional punk scene, embraced animal rights and vegetarianism, and was in opposition to moshing and violence at concerts.[11]

Revolution Summer Bands

Besides Fire Party and Beefeater, other Dischord bands associated with Revolution Summer include Rites of Spring, Embrace, Dag Nasty, Kingface, and Lunchmeat/Soulside.[1][12] Members of bands from the Revolution Summer went on to form part of Fugazi the post-hardcore band.

See also

References
  1. Blush 2001, pp. 132–158
  2. Norton, Justin M. (17 October 2012). "13 Essential DC Hardcore Albums". Stereogum. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  3. Azerrad 2001, p. 119; Azerrad 2001, p. 136
  4. Azerrad 2001, p. 378; Andersen & Jenkins 2009, pp. 159–161
  5. Andersen & Jenkins 2009, pp. 153
  6. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 141
  7. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 182
  8. Crawford, Scott (2017). Spoke: Images and Stories from the 1980s Washington, DC Punk Scene (Illustrated ed.). Akashic Books. p. 95. ISBN 978-1617755002.
  9. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 173, 209
  10. Azerrad 2001, p. 379
  11. Anderson, Mark (3 July 2015). "Revolution Summer lives on — 30 years later". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. Pattison, Louis (2012-11-27). "Rites of Spring and the summer that changed punk rock". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-05-03. Rites of Spring's handful of furious, impassioned live shows would be a spur to action. The summer after their formation, 1985, would enter DC punk folklore as Revolution Summer, a long hot season of discussion, learning, and political action..A new clutch of Dischord bands offered evidence of the label's newly broadened horizons: the funk-tinged Beefeater, all-female group Fire Party, and Ian Mackaye's new band, called, pointedly, Embrace.

Further reading
  • Andersen, Mark; Jenkins, Mark (2009). Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital. New York: Akashic Books.
  • Azerrad, Michael (2001). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.
  • Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Los Angeles: Feral House.


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