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Music

Delicious with Mish Episode Twelve: Featuring Alice Bag of the Bags

This podcast is a tribute to Alice Bag with songs and little snip-it’s from our interview where she tells me stories of the Bags' first shows, Darby ripping her mask off, the Weirdos, how she supported herself being a drunk as an exercise instructor...

I really like Alice Bag, even more so now that I have gotten to know her. I always knew who she was: The lead singer of influential Los Angeles 1970’s punk band the Bags. I remember discovering the Bags when I got deep into the Germs, the Gun Club, and all those other iconic Los Angeles punk bands that effected the musical landscape. Alice Bag was known for her violent tendencies on stage. As a front woman she was emotional, erratic, and insane. Even her punk persona was tough. She was never afraid to stand-up for herself. Legend has it that her close friendship with Germs front man Darby Crash ended on the steps of the Canterbury House over a drunken debate about God and a punch in the face.

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Now 52 years old and a lot less angry, Alice is an author. Last year she published her first book Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, A Chicana Punk Story (Feral House) which spawned from a blog she started for fun. Violence Girl details stories of the 70s punk scene, her complicated relationship with her parents, her father’s rage, her nationality, drugs, growing up poor in East LA and rising into a punk icon.

I interviewed Alice last year for a print piece, but we ended up talking for a long time and we kept in touch. I had a lot of questions, because I am a fan, but she had tons for me too. So, this podcast is a tribute to Alice Bag with songs from the Bags and Castration Squad (the all-girl Goth band she later played in) and Legal Weapon (the Bags other founding member Patricia Morrison’s band) and little snip-it’s from our interview where she tells me stories of the Bags' first shows, Darby ripping her mask off, the Weirdos, how she supported herself being a drunk as an exercise instructor, and how the abuse in her house made her realize she was a feminist. Alice Bag is a punk rock legend and totally self-disciplined. I respect that.

Track Listing:

The Bags – "Survive"

The Bags – "Disco’s Dead" (Studio Demo 1979)

The Weirdos – "Destroy All Music"

The Germs – "The Other Newest One"

Legal Weapon – "Hostility"

Bags – "Babylonian Gorgon"

Thanks for being on the show, Alice!

@myszkaway