Catholic Discipline was an American punk rock (first-generation new wave) band, formed in 1979 in San Francisco, California, by '' Slash Fanzine'' editor Claude Bessy. The initial line-up of the band featured Bessy on vocals,

Phranc Phranc (born Susan Gottlieb; August 28, 1957), is an American singer-songwriter whose career began playing in several bands in the late 1970s Los Angeles punk rock scene. Her musical style later shifted during the 1980s as a solo artist, into ...

on guitar, Rick Brodey on bass guitar, Richard Meade on keyboards and Craig Lee on drums.

History

The band was started in 1979 in San Francisco, first performed at the

Hong Kong Café The Hong Kong Café was a Los Angeles restaurant and music venue that was a part of the Los Angeles punk rock scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s when the club was owned and operated by Barry Seidel, Kim Turner and Suzie Frank,followed by ...

, in August 1979, and played a series of shows around the Los Angeles area. After the first shows, Meade was replaced by keyboardist

Robert Lopez Robert Lopez (born February 23, 1975) is an American songwriter for musicals, best known for co-creating ''The Book of Mormon'' and '' Avenue Q'', and for co-writing the songs featured in the Disney computer-animated films '' Frozen'', its sequ ...

. The band is known for their appearance in the 1980

Penelope Spheeris Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled ''The Decline of ...

rockumentary A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian. Early history The ...

film ''

The Decline of Western Civilization ''The Decline of Western Civilization'' is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris. In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a ...

'', alongside other punk rock bands such as Black Flag,

Fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

, X,

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Circle ...

, Germs, and

Alice Bag Band Bags (also known as the Bags or Alice Bag Band) were an American punk rock band formed in 1977, one of the first generation of punk rock bands to emerge from Los Angeles, California. Biography The Bags were formed by Alicia Armendariz and P ...

. Catholic Discipline disbanded in spring of 1980. A compilation of the band's live material, ''Underground Babylon'', was released in 2004 through Artifix Records. During the band's existence, all of the members were also in other bands. Phranc was a keyboardist for

Nervous Gender Nervous Gender is an American punk rock electronic band formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by Gerardo Velazquez, Edward Stapleton, Phranc and Michael Ochoa. Their use of heavily distorted keyboards and synthesizers made them, along with The Scr ...

and Craig Lee was the guitarist of Bags. Robert Lopez previously performed with The Zeros and Rick Brodey was an early member of the Bpeople. Phranc argued that Catholic Discipline "was never a real 'band' situation." She further stated: "Everyone was in at least one or two other bands. Some of it was conflict of interest or conflict of personality but it was perfect the way it started and ended." Following the demise of the band, Bessy moved to the United Kingdom and became a press officer for

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...

. He also worked as a video DJ at

the Haçienda The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, North West England, which became famous during the Manchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was run by the record label Factory Records. The club opened in 1982, eventually ...

and a music video producer. Phranc embarked a solo career as a folk singer-songwriter and Robert Lopez started to perform under the name,

El Vez Robert Alan Lopez (born 1960),"El Vez", ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'', Thomson Gale 2005–2006reproduced online at BookRags.comand accessed online 28 April 2007. better known by his stage name El Vez, is an American singer-songwrit ...

. Craig Lee became a contributor to '' Flipside'' and the music editor of ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

''. Lee also co-authored the book ''Hardcore California: A History of Punk and New Wave''. He died in 1991 due to complications from

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

Members

;Past members * Claude Bessy – vocals (1979-1980) *

– guitar (1979-1980) *Craig Lee – drums (1979-1980) *Rick Brodey (AKA: Rick Jaffe, Rick Morrison) – bass (1979-1980) *Richard Meade – keyboards (1979-1980) *

(Robert Lopez) – keyboards (1980)

Discography

;Compilation albums * ''Underground Babylon'' (2004) ;Film appearance * "Barbee Doll Lust" – ''

'' (January 19, 1980) * "Underground Babylon" – ''The Decline of Western Civilization'' (January 19, 1980)

References

External links

Catholic Discipline
at Artifix Records {{Authority control Musical groups from Los Angeles Punk rock groups from California American new wave musical groups Musical quintets Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1980