MDC is an American punk rock band formed in 1979 in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, subsequently based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and currently

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Among the first wave of bands to define the sound and style of American

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

, MDC originally formed as The Stains; they have periodically changed the meaning of "MDC", the most frequent being Millions of Dead Cops. The band's lyrical content expresses radical left political views and has proven influential within the punk subculture. MDC released material through ex-

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...

singer

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

's independent label

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, t ...

. In the 1990s, vocalist Dave Dictor published editorials for the internationally distributed fanzine ''

Maximumrocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily featur ...

''. MDC's initial run ended in 1995, and the band spent five years on hiatus, before returning in 2000 with some new band members.

Career

Early years

Formed in the late 1970s as The Stains and playing their first gig under this name in August 1980, MDC were one of three pioneering

bands in

, in the early '80s, alongside

The Dicks ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and

Big Boys Big Boys were an American pioneering punk rock band who are credited with having helped to create and introduce skate punk as a new style of music, which became popular in the 1980s. They also were famous for bringing elements of funk into thei ...

. These bands frequently played together and established the Austin hardcore scene. They released one single as the Stains in 1981, featuring a slower version of the future MDC song "John Wayne Was a Nazi" backed with "Born to Die". Both songs were later released on the debut MDC album.

1980s

By 1982 the band had relocated to San Francisco, California, and renamed themselves MDC. By this point the band were active participants in the growing hardcore scene and released their debut LP ''

Millions of Dead Cops MDC is an American punk rock band formed in 1979 in Austin, Texas, subsequently based in San Francisco, and currently Portland, Oregon. Among the first wave of bands to define the sound and style of American hardcore punk, MDC originally formed ...

'' on their own label, R Radical;

helped with distribution. The album is now widely considered a punk classic, and features songs such as "John Wayne Was a Nazi", "Dick for Brains", and the harsh criticism of the police, "I Remember". Other targets of criticism devoid of irony included

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

("Corporate Death Burger"),

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

("America's So Straight"), and American culture ("Violent Rednecks"). During the summer of 1982 they became involved in the Rock Against Reagan Tour, during which time they fell out with the band

Bad Brains Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Originally a jazz fusion band under the name Mind Power, they are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this ...

when

Rastafarian Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

singer

H.R. Paul D. Hudson (born February 11, 1956), known professionally as H.R. (Human Rights), is an American musician who leads the hardcore punk band Bad Brains, and is an instrumental figure in the development of the genre. His vocal delivery has b ...

learned that

' singer,

Randy Turner Randy J. "Biscuit" Turner (November 25, 1949 – August 19, 2005) was an American punk singer and artist. He was the lead singer for the seminal hardcore punk band Big Boys, formed in Austin in the late 1970s. Turner is regarded as a pioneer b ...

, was gay. H.R. and MDC's Dave Dictor had an intense confrontation. Upon Bad Brains' departure from the bill, they refused to return a loan owed to Big Boys and instead left a note that reportedly read "burn in hell bloodclot faggot". The incident resulted in the MDC song "Pay to Come Along".Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins, ''Dance of Days.'' Akashic Books, 2003; pg. 108. For MDC, 1982 ended with a tour of Europe with the Dead Kennedys which brought the band greater exposure in the punk scene outside of the U.S., especially in the UK.

Name change

In 1983 the band began to deemphasize the "Dead Cops" aspect of its name, as drummer Al Schvitz noted in a '' Flipside'' interview: Their involvement in the Rock Against Reagan activities continued through 1983 and they returned to recording with the EP "Multi-Death Corporations" which was distributed in the UK by British

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...

label

Crass Records Crass Records was an independent record label that was set up by the anarchist Punk rock, punk band Crass. Overview and history Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own D ...

and R Radical in the U.S. The EP broke new ground by addressing, in the lengthy

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

and artwork, the growth of corporations and the violent suppression of

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political%20ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically in ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. In 1984 they released another EP, '' Millions of Dead Children'' (also known as ''Chicken Squawk''), this time dealing with

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

issues via a

cowpunk Cowpunk (or country punk) is a subgenre of punk rock that began in the United Kingdom and Southern California in the late 1970s - early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New wave music, new wave with country music, country, folk music, folk, and b ...

tune. Iconoclastic punk rock cartoonist John Crawford, an outspoken critic of the band, was cynical in his assessment of the alteration of the band's initial name, which he characterized as "stupid" and "inflammatory.""John Crawford," ''Flipside,'' whole no. 40 (Dec. 1983), pp. 44-45. Crawford intimated that the name change had been opportunistic: ''Smoke Signals'' was released in 1986, their second album featuring a more diverse style than previously, with a foray into '70s rock with the song "South Africa Is Free". This album also saw Gordon Fraser's first appearance as main guitarist. In the same year, MDC backed

Michelle Shocked Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston; February 24, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter. Her music has entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and received an award f ...

on a version of her song "Fogtown" that appears as a hidden track on her breakthrough album, ''

Short Sharp Shocked ''Short Sharp Shocked'' is the second album by Michelle Shocked. Originally released in 1988, it was remastered and reissued in 2003 as a two-CD set by Shocked's own label, Mighty Sound. The title is a play on the phrase short, sharp shock. The re ...

''. Their third album, ''This Blood's for You'', followed in 1987 and saw them continuing to showcase orthodox hardcore punk style and classic rock, including a cover of the

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

song "Politician". Themes again included intervention in Central America and criticism of the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...

. MDC toured Europe in 1988, where the live album ''Elvis - In the Rhineland'' was recorded. The band released the album ''Metal Devil Cokes'' in 1989 with guitar player Eric Calhoun and bassist Joe Strom.

1990s

The 1990s opened with a number of lineup changes, swiftly followed by the 1991 album ''Hey Cop! If I Had a Face Like Yours ... '', featuring Bill Collins (formerly of

Fang A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fang ...

, Special Forces, Intensified Chaos) on guitar and

Matt Freeman Matthew "McCall" Freeman (born Roger Matthew Freeman; April 23, 1966) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his bass work with the punk rock bands Operation Ivy, Rancid and as the frontman of Devil's Brigade. ...

(of

Operation Ivy Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after '' Tumbler-Snapper'' and before '' Upshot–Knothole''. The two explosions were staged in late 1952 at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Proving Ground in the Marshall Is ...

and Rancid) on bass. Collins wrote all the music on the album and sang three of the songs. This lineup toured the US and Europe. The acclaimed ''Shades of Brown'' album appeared in 1993, released by

New Red Archives New Red Archives is an independent record label based in California's San Francisco Bay Area, mainly home to punk rock bands. Started in 1987, the label began by releasing punk and hardcore punk records on coloured vinyl. Starting in summer 1990 a ...

in the U.S. and We Bite in Europe. The album featured the hip hop vegetarian song "Real Food, Real People, Real Bullets". MDC, now with guitarist Chris Wilder (formerly of

Stikky {{Infobox musical artist , name = Stikky , image = , caption = Stikky at Santa Clara Catholic Cemetery in San Jose, California in 1987. From left to right: Chris Wilder, Todd Wilder and Chris Dodge. , background = group_or_band , origin = Ber ...

) and bassist Erica Liss, marked the album with a tour of the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, making MDC the first American punk band to tour Russia. This was followed by two more European tours and several U.S. tours until 1995, where began a lull in the band's activity. The lack of new recorded material, other than a 7-inch release on

Slap-a-Ham Records Slap a Ham Records was an independent label from San Francisco owned and operated by Chris Dodge, bassist of the band Spazz as well as others. The label is generally seen as a highly influential entity within the hardcore punk scene in California ...

, and live performances after 1994, plus personal problems of band members, pointed to an informal break-up of the band.

2000s

MDC's singer,

Dave Dictor Dave Dictor (born December 4, 1956) is an American musician, singer of the punk rock band MDC (of which he is a founding member), and founder of the band's label, R Radical Records. Dictor is known for his political lyrics, involvement in the ...

, returned with an entirely new backing line-up in 2000, which included Long Island musicians Matt Van Cura (bass), Erik Mischo (guitar), and John Soldo (Drums). MDC released a new album, ''Magnus Dominus Corpus'', in 2004. They took part in a 25th anniversary world tour in 2005, with an all-original lineup. Following the death of Mikey Donaldson in September 2007, MDC has been touring the U.S. and Europe extensively with the Dictor/Posner/Smith/Schvitz lineup. Recently, the band has been based in

. In November 2016, MDC released a video for the forthcoming release of a new recording of "Born to Die", made to protest the

Donald Trump presidential campaign There have been four Political campaign, presidential campaigns waged by Donald Trump for President of the United States. He has additionally mused about running on several other occasions. Donald Trump presidential campaign may refer to: * Donal ...

. The song's slogan "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA" was reported to be heard at anti-Trump demonstrations in Chicago. At the 2016 American Music Awards on November 20, the band

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...

adopted the anti-Trump slogan for a controversial impromptu chant during their live on-air performance, which Dictor applauded and encouraged. The media spotlight Green Day's action put on MDC inspired the band to create new material based around the current political climate. The album, entitled ''Mein Trumpf'', was released in 2017.

Members

Current lineup

*Vocals – Dave Dictor (1979–1995, 2000–present) *Guitar – Russ Kalita (2008–present) *Guitar – Barry d'live Ward (2017-present) *Bass – Mike Smith (2007–present) *Drums - Al Schvitz (1979-1995, 2008-2019, 2021-present)

Former members

*Guitar – Ron Posner (1979–1986)(2002–2016) *Guitar – Gordon Fraser (1986–1987) *Guitar – Eric Calhoun (1987–1990) *Guitar – Bill Collins (1990–1992)(2016–2017) *Guitar – Chris Wilder (1992–1995) *Guitar – Erik Mischo (2000) *Guitar – Brendan Bekowies (2001–2002) *Bass – Michael Donaldson (1979–1982, 2003–2007; died 2007) *Bass – Franco Mares (1982–1990) *Bass – Matt Freeman (1990–1992) *Bass – Erica Liss (1992–1995) *Bass – Matt Van Cura (2000–2002) *Drums – Al Batross (2000–2002) *Drums – Mike Pride (2002–2005) *Drums – Dejan Podobnik (2006–2007) *Drums – Felix Griffin (2008)

Timeline

Discography

Singles/EPs

*Stains - "John Wayne was a Nazi" 7", R Radical Records, 1980 *Millions of Dead Cops - "John Wayne was a Nazi" 7", R Radical Records, 1981 *Multi-Death Corporations - "Multi-Death Corporations" EP,

, 1983 *Millions of Dead Children - "Chicken Squawk" EP, R Radical Records, 1984

Albums

*''

'' (1982) *''

Smoke Signals The smoke signal is one of the oldest forms of long-distance communication. It is a form of visual communication used over a long distance. In general smoke signals are used to transmit news, signal danger, or to gather people to a common area ...

'' (1986) *''This Blood's for You'' (1987) *''Metal Devil Cokes'' (1989) *''Hey Cop!!! If I Had A Face Like Yours...'' (1991) *''Shades of Brown'' (1993) *''Magnus Dominus Corpus'' (2004) *''Mein Trumpf'' (2017) *''Millions of Dead Cowboys'' (2020)

Splits

*Millions of Dead Cops -

Capitalist Casualties Capitalist Casualties were an American powerviolence / hardcore band. They formed in Rohnert Park, CA around 1986 and had their first concert in 1987 in Santa Rosa, California They have released multiple records, including many splits with other ...

''Liberty Gone'' EP Split 7", Slap a Ham, 1994 *Millions of Dead Cops - Pig Champion Split 7", Honest Don's, 1997 *MDC/

Poison Idea Poison Idea was an American punk rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1980. History Formation, 1980s, and 1990s Poison Idea was formed in 1980 by vocalist Jerry A. (aka Jerry Lang). The initial lineup consisted of Jerry A., Chris Te ...

split, 2004 *Millions of Dead Cops - John The Baker Split (MDC EP), Millions of Dead Cops - John The Baker Acoustic Split 7", Tank Crimes, 2006 *Millions of Dead Cops - Potbelly Split 7", PB/Crash Assailant, 2008 *Millions of Dead Cops - Riot Cop Split CD, Malarie, 2008 *Millions of Dead Cops - The Restarts Split LP/CD, No Label Records, 2009 *Millions of Dead Cops / Carburetor Dung / The Bollocks - "MABUKKUASA" Split-CD, S.B.S/Jerk Off Records, 2011 *Millions of Dead Cops - Attentat Sonore Split 7", Guerilla Vinyl / Campary / Fillferro / Tupatutupa Records, October 2011. *MDC (Acoustic) / Naked Aggression / Raw Power / Som Hi Noise - "No More Borders", Split 7", Jailhouse/Sixty Nine Apples Records, 2012

Live recordings

*MDC - Elvis In The Rheinland: Live In Berlin LP, R Radical Records, 1989 *MDC - Live In Maribor LP, 1990 *MDC - Live At CBGB's 1983, Beer City Records BCR190-1, 2015 (Limited to 1000 copies, on translucent green vinyl)

Compilations

* ''

International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation The ''International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation'', commonly referred to as the ''P.E.A.C.E.'' compilation,

'' (R Radical Records, 1984) * ''Rat Music for Rat People, Vol. 2'' (

CD Presents David Ferguson was an American international outsider-culture impresario, activist, music producer and concert promoter. Over his career, most of which has been spent on the West Coast, he worked with musical acts such as the Avengers, John Ly ...

, 1984) * ''Millions of Dead Cops - More Dead Cops LP'', 1988 (Compilation of EPs) * ''

Hardcore Breakout USA Volume 2 ''Hardcore Breakout USA – Volume 2'' is an internationally distributed compilation album* Maximum RockNRoll. ''General Section''. Maximum RockNRoll, February 1991, p. 106. mostly of artists that are on New Red Archives records. It was originall ...

'' (

, 1995) * '' The Punk, The Bad & The Ugly'' (

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

, 1997) * '' At War With Society'' (

, 1998) * '' At War With Society II'' (

, 1999) * ''Millions of Dead Cops - Now More Than Ever LP'', 2002 (Best Of Compilation) * ''Solid'' EP 7" (Crash Assailant, 2008) * ''Human'' EP 7" (Rodent Popsicle/ Crash Assailant, 2009) * ''

Hardcore Breakout - Essential Punk Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

'' (

, 2012)

References

External links

MDC
on Facebook
MDC Punk websitex-con ron MDC Rocks
- MDC interview from 1982

- MDC interview from 1983

- MDC interview from 1983 {{Authority control Hardcore punk groups from Texas Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Musical groups from Austin, Texas 1981 establishments in Texas Political music groups Boner Records artists