The Skulls were an early

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

punk rock band, whose members would later found two of the area's bands:

D.O.A. DOA may refer to: * Dead on arrival * Dead or Alive (disambiguation) Film * ''D.O.A.'' (1949 film), a ''film noir'' * ''D.O.A.'' (1988 film), a remake of the 1949 film * '' D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage'' (1980 film), a documentary on the gene ...

and The Subhumans. They toured heavily and issued a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

, but never released any albums.

History

The band started in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

, a suburb of

, during the summer of 1977, when the members of rock band Stone Crazy, who played Led Zeppelin covers among others, became interested in punk rock after seeing

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United S ...

live.

Joey Keithley Joseph Edward "Joey Shithead" Keithley (né Keighley; June 3, 1956)
is a Canadia ...

, a.k.a. Joey Shithead, was the singer, Brian Roy Goble, a.k.a. Wimpy Roy, the bass player, Simon Werner the guitar player and Ken Montgomery, a.k.a. Dimwit, the drummer. All of them were former members of Stone Crazy except Werner, who replaced Stone Crazy guitar player Brad Kent. (Kent, however, still played with the Skulls on several occasions). The Skulls played the (mostly hostile) club circuit in Vancouver and recorded a few songs at Psi-chords Studios, including "Fucked Up Baby", which would later become a

song. (This track surfaced years later on Zulu Records' double album retrospective, ''Last Call''. The demo tape was never released at the time, except to local critics for review). There was not really much a scene yet, however, except for The Furies (which had Simon Werner's brother Jonathan on bass) and The Dishrags, so The Skulls (without Brad Kent, but with roadie Gerry Useless, who had been in Stone Crazy) decided to move to Toronto. However, the band split up: Joey and Dimwit returned to Vancouver, while Simon Werner and Wimpy moved to London (Wimpy returned to Vancouver a few months later). Joe formed D.O.A., while Dimwit, Wimpy and Gerry Useless formed The Subhumans. After the Subhumans broke up in 1982, Wimpy joined DOA, which now featured Dimwit on drums, who had just been in the

Pointed Sticks Pointed Sticks are a Canadian punk rock/ new wave band from Vancouver. Originally active from 1978 to 1981, then reuniting to perform in July 2006 through to November 2012. After a three-year hiatus, Pointed Sticks returned to the stage in June ...

. For the next several years DOA's lineup was a virtual copy of the Skulls lineup, but with Dave Gregg instead of Simon Werner. Werner was joined in London by Jim Walker, who landed a job with

Public Image Ltd. Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...

, appearing on their debut album before quitting. Werner, with his brother Joanathan, formed The Pack, which featured

Kirk Brandon Kirk Brandon (born 3 August 1956) is an English musician best known as the leader of the bands Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny and a former lover of Boy George. Musical career Brandon's music career started in 1978, in Clapham, south Lo ...

, who later joined

Theatre Of Hate Theatre of Hate are a British post-punk band formed in London, England, in 1980. Led by singer-songwriter Kirk Brandon (formerly of the Pack), the original group also consisted of bassist Stan Stammers (formerly of the Straps and the Epilepti ...

. Jim Walker also joined the Pack, and, upon that band's dissolution, all three met up again in the Straps, with was essentially the same band with another singer. A retrospective CD has now been released.

Band members

* Joey "Shithead" Keithley - Vocals *Simon Werner - Guitar * Brian "Wimpy Roy" Goble - Bass *Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery - Drums * Brad Kent - Guitar

Discography

Demo

*''The Skulls Demo'' (Independent) 1978 (never released)

Compilation albums

*"Fucked Up Baby" on ''Last Call : Vancouver Independent Music 1977-1988'' (Zulu Records) (1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skulls (Canadian band) Anarcho-punk groups Canadian hardcore punk groups Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 Musical groups from British Columbia Burnaby 1977 establishments in British Columbia 1982 disestablishments in British Columbia