started out by signing 10 Boston-area bands
The 1st bands were
GANGGREEN , LASTRIGHTS & STRANGLEHOLD
& then the first 3 ALBUMS from NEGATIVE FX ,KILSLUG & The OYSTERS
releases from SLAPSHOT & MOVING TARGETS & The LEMONHEADS. followed.The label& has incorporated certain selections several labels thru licensing .
/ X-CLAIM /LINK / PATRIOT / ONE STEP / MODERN METHOD & PUSMORT. The company also
includes
Label / Publishing / Film / Clothing / 6 Retail Stores & Origin :
TAANG! started out as a singles-only label in 1984 in BOSTON MASS
(due to the existing LP only label X-CLAIM )
started by prominent BOSTON D.J. Curtis Casella
Curtis's RADIO SHOW focused on in BOSTON & U.K. PUNK HARDCORE GLAM OI SKA / WERS / WZBC / WHRB / SPIKE
With a $2000 initial investement it was concieved while awaiting the
BAD BRAINS to show up for a gig in BOSTON
With The idea from BAD BRAINS themselves who released their first single
GANGGREEN & CURTIS were influenced by 2 records BAD BRAINS "PAY TO CUM" which was a hand glued sleeve on the own label Bad Brains Records handled by themselves with an oversized sleeve.
& BLITZ "NEVER SURRENDER" which was brought to the mastering lab in NYC for the sound to match the levels on the First TAANG RELEASE . FALSE RUMOURS END HERE & NOW ....
a lot of people thought the First Single SOLD OUT by GANGGREEN with it's cover/graphics of a POUND OF CO***NE was to contend & s***f the BOSTON STRAIGHT EDGE MOVEMENT it was not ,
Another rumour is that a famous english band stated the band did COKE which is they are able to play faster than any other
HARDCORE BAND(Ironically the band that started this rumour is reported to have the engineer of it's early records sped up in mastering & mixing. )
Another Rumour from a DC band stated that the band were JOCKS from the suburbs & used the drug before the show because
normally no band could play that fast & they used COKE the same way that players used STEROIDS )
none of these rumours are the truth ,
the initial cover design was to show
GANGGREEN'S parody on ROCK STARS with CO***NE & GIRLS & EYELINER . the record has 3 songs Sold Out Terrorize 45 seconds long so a third track was mixed by Lou Goirdano titled TAANG DUB
this was TAANG! #1 / March 1984 . (the 4th track "America" was never finished due to the tape being in hawk for a year prior to TAANG! the first pressing of 2000 units sold out in under 90 days a repressing of 1000 was done on GREEN VINYL
101 on Clear Vinyl Numbered on a transparent sleeve.
2 other Singles were issued in 1984 . XCLAIM #7
LAST RIGHTS "Chunks"/So Ends Our Night" 1000 copies 6 Covers. backing vocals by
Dicky Barrett / MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES
Pat Raftery / NEGATIVE FX
& JAMIE / S.S.DECONTROL
originally slated for a 5 song EP 10in /12 in it was never determined . Curtis was at that time entertaining the thought of the XCLAIM logo but with the success of the GANGGREEN'S
& with the customers of XCLAIM confused by several different addresses
TAANG! began to assume a role & XCLAIM was in the past . this single was also caused the start of a publishing company . SST / TOONIDGE PUBLISIHNG
LAST RIGHTS only played one show 2/5/83 at Grange Hall w D.Y.S., Outpatients,BIU,Grey Matter,All White Jury,DEEP WOUND, but with the previous rep. of NEGATIVE FX due to a riot opening for
MISSION OF BURMA the band LAST RIGHTS rep became more significant than NEGATIVE FX . not only did they p**s off the entire western mass audience but they left such a mark with DEEP WOUND that LOU BARLOW & J MASCIS who later formed DINOSAUR JR. ended up recording the LAST RIGHTS single Chunks it & used it in their live set . WITH SST selling huge amounts of Dinosaur Jr. but not paying their share of publishing to the songwriters
TAANG! decided to open a publishing company for it's songwriters within the label . TOONIDGE PUBLISIHING
Toonidge represents & administers Collects for 700 songs by it's Artists . ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT--51 songs
BATTALION OF SAINTS- 38 songs
KEN CHAMBERS-------- 25 songs
DYS / D.Y.S----------24 songs
EVERYBODY OUT--------16 songs
EVACUATE ------------12 songs
F.U.'S---------------43 songs
FORCED REALITY------ 15 SONGS
FREEZE-------------- 36 songs
GANGGREEN----------- 51 songs
JERRYS KIDS----------22 songs
KILSLUG------------23 songs
LAST RIGHTS-----------6 songs
MAELSTROM------------14 songs
MOVING TARGETS------ 51 songs
NEGATIVE APPROACH----36 songs
NEGATIVE FX----------18 songs
PART TIME CHRISTIANS 21 Songs
SEKA------------------10 songs
SLAPSHOT--------------56 songs
SLOPPY SECONDS------34 songs -
STARS & STRIPES 29 songs
SWIRLIES----------53 songs
UPSIDE DOWN CROSS-----16 songs
Top songs published by TOONIDGE
GANGGREEN "Alcohol"
F.U.'S "Warlords"
LAST RIGHTS "Chunks"
SLAPSHOT "What's At Stake" / "Ive Had Enough"
BATTALION OF SAINTS "Faster Faster" / "Second Coming"
ONE STEP RECORDS / STRANGLEHOLD
STRANGLEHOLD "She's Not Leavin"/Same All Over"1500 COPIES
1000 on Black 500 Red
(a video was also shot for this track)
this band was the offspring of the members of the"Darleks" & vocalist of "Decadence" &
It was also one of the 10 most played bands by Curtis on his radio show STRANGLEHOLD Lp (ONE STEP RECORDS)
Chris Doherty from GANGGREEN. joined on this single to record as a fifth member &
Dicky Barrett of the soon to be Mighty Mighty Bosstones drew the front cover . as well as cited in the MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES SONG "TOXIC TOAST" (Alcohol & Stranglehold)
the first pressing of this release SOLD OUT due to the band embarking on a national tour with soon to be TAANG! LABEL MATES the F.U.'S & the singles along with LAST RIGHTS were brought on tour & sold on the road. STRANGLEHOLD was repressed for 500 COPIES ON RED VINYL w RED SLEEVE.
& STRANGLEHOLDS LP ALONG W DEMOS & THE SINGLE WERE RELEASED ON A 16 SONG CD
TAANG! #87
FIRST SPLIT SINGLE
In 1985 a Split Single with
LAST STAND / NOONDAY UNDERGROUND 1000 COPIES. Wwith the band NOONDAY UNDERGROUND slated for a 2 song single
Leslie Green Left the act but the band continued w FRANK SCHACT on Bass as a replacement
The band was renamed LAST STAND .on this single one track from each act
NOONDAY UNDERGROUND = "I***n Joe" & LAST STAND "Scum Guns"
600 Black 300 Blue 100 Yellow . TAANG #4
TAANG GOES FROM A SINGLES ONLY LABEL TO ALBUMS
With X-CLAIM being ( an LP only LABEL .) it was never intended to compete with XClaim only expand BOSTON'S HARDCORE to the masses. With X-CLAIM not issuing out any records after the first 6 releases after 1 year from it's inception
TAANG! RECORDS issued it's first full LP
NEGATIVE FX. At that time it surpassed all other BOSTON HARDCORE RECORDS in sales 10,000 units sold worldwide on Vinyl. there were no expectations of buying out the key MODERN METHOD BANDS (DYS SSD & This Is Boston NOT L.A.) or releases on PATRIOT RECORDS (choke's Label) STARS & STRIPES,FORCED REALITY & the BRUISERS
the fact is all the bands from these labels went to TAANG! After 4 singles a LP
TAANG! 6th release was another GANGGREEN record with a new lineup to record the single "Skate To Hell" / "Alcohol"
LAST STAND
Released a 3 song 12 inch
featuring JFK / Where I Live (a video was also shot for this track)
TAANG #7
KILSUG
Answer The Call
TAANG! released it's second lp titled Answer The Call
a release that rivaled the Birthday Part meet the Bu****le Surfers . the band formed from members of The Sickness & The Groinoids . This will be released as a DVD / CD & issuing the Original version of the LP on 180 Gram Wax. TAANG #8
OYSTERS
"Green Eggs & Ham"
STRANGLEHOLD broke up & DYS broke up add a hot s**t Guitarist David Fredette
& you get the OYSTERS the band DICKY art duties were called upon again here & the band rushed a lp on the TAANG! label it was only 2000 copies ever pressed CD DVD on the way in 2011
TAANG #9
GANGGREEN
3 in the first 10 releases on the label this was a repress from the HIMM LABEL PMRC SUCKS on a 12 inch
originally 2000 pressed on himm
TAANG PRESSED 2500 ads repressed with a different cover. it contained a radio hit "Voices Carry"
TAANG #10 12inch. one of the initial goals of TAANG! RECORDS was to release 10 records by Curtis's friends
& then Curtis was going to continue school & pursue a career in broadcasting while taking psyche classes.
1986 there was a major turning point with Curtis & TAANG! Curtis said to the bands guys we had a great 3 year ride but life is calling
i have no money left & im going back to school.
3 phone calls came in that week & one letter.
1st call was from producer Lou Giordano who wanted me to listen to a tape of a band from the North Shore Called
MOVING TARGETS it was his pet project & he felt TAANG! would be a good home for it ,
i explained my situation & told him a no-go . the second was Choke from NEGATIVE FX / LAST RIGHTS who told me he formed a new band not named yet STRAIGHT SATAN was the acting title. it was a 7 song masterpiece that would end up saving HARDCORE in america as we know it. (This Was SLAPSHOT "Back On The Map" 7 song masterpiece.) the 3rd was GANGGREEN manager who wanted a calling card for the 2 TAANG! singles to be released on a 12 in hopes of being signed to a major label . i went back to the GANGGREEN recording at Baker Street & 2 other studios they were in
& said if i do it if we could make it a mini lp & slaps and make it a real record 8 songs were eventually picked for the vinyl version & 10 songs for the cassette & 16 for the CD there was also a 12 song version for europe. with
3 good friends having total faith in Curtis's abilities
LOU from RADIOBEAT CHOKE from NEGATIVE FX/LAST RIGHTS & DOHERTY from GANGGREEN / STRANGLEHOLD
he felt he had no choice because it was the 3 people from the past . so one last shot was given ,
News around BOSTON was that Curtis label was going to continue the label . one of the Bands from the past went into recording
The letter was from our manufacturer who made Vinyl covers & records the letter stated that because of credit history of paying bills up front , the company was giving us a credit line of $5000.00
1987, (THE TURNING POINT YEAR FOR THE LABEL ) Taang! released five vinyl titles:to the public in 1987
''Burning in Water'' by Moving Targets, ''Back on the Map'' by Slapshot, ''Another Wasted Night'' by Gang Green, the 7-inch ''Mine Caroline'' by The Oysters, and a bonus 7-inch by The Lemonheads. Gang Green's ''Another Wasted Night LP'' spawned three videos which received MTV play, and their non-stop tour propelled their release to upwards of 30,000 units.While Moving Targets received radio-airplay across the country & landed th first TAANG! RELEASE to be released in EUROPE on Shigaku records in the UK as well as a distribution deal & Slapshot spawned a resurrgence for HARDCORE with the release of Back On The Map record . The success that the label incurred from the these 3 releases led to the label issuing a it's next record in 5 countries simutaneously .The LEMONHEADS "Hate Your Friends" LP was released in England thru Rough Trade, Germany Funhouse Australial thru Au Go Go Records as well as the US on TAANG! & Canada ,The label began to achieve wide airplay on college radio stations with releases from The Lemonheads and Bullet LaVolta & Moving Targets . The label went on to sign more diverse acts, such as The Lyres & Mission Of Burma in 1987 band members were brought back in the studio to finish vocal & guitar tracks, other projects such as Keith Levene from The CLASH & The Hard Ons (An Austraila act) . In the next 5 years ,D.Y.S, Jerry's Kids,Poison Idea,The Mighty Mighty Bosstones,Swirlies & Spacemen 3 became part of the TAANG! However things changed quite a bit with the release of an archival band from called MISSION OF BURMA a 5 song ep TAANG20
was released & word got out that TAANG! 'S address on Commonwealth avenue in Auburndale Mass approx 15 minutes outside of BOSTON ( tAANG HEADQUARTERS at the time was an illegal squatting area for the Label Curtis & several out of town bands stayed there 7 SECONDS SNFU MISFITS would stay usually make a stop at TAANG! due to Curtis's involvement with the label as well his RADIO SHOW & being friends with several out of town bands , with the releaase of BURMA . it seemed it brought a city element of cliental to actually come to the BARN / HEADQUARTERS to purchase TAANG! RECORDS & TSHIRTS. not really a store but people in the area especially the neighbors ) called it The Punk Rock Store of Newton . So with the folding of ROUGH TRADE distribution & TAANG RECORDS Reaching 25 releases it was time to open a store as well as move into a office / warehouse atmosphere. BASED ON THE FACT THAT Curtis's 5 Favorite Shows
#5. IGGY POP & DAVID BOWIE / BLONDIE at the HARVARD SQUARE MOVIE THEATER 3/16-77 Idiot Tour
#4. RAMONES 1st BOSTON SHOW w The REAL KIDS at The Club 5/12/76
#3.MINOR THREAT NECROS SSD FUS MEATMEN VFW 3/4/1983
#2. MISFITS w NEGATIVE FX D.Y.S F.U.'S at the Church in HARVARD SQ. 12/17/82
#1. CLASH First American Tour w BO DIDDLEY Feb 16 1979
HARVARD SQUARE WAS THE OBVIOUS CHOICE . Store #2 / 3
Taang! Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.was located at 12 Eliot St. & became the ultimate for a Punk Rocker
Hardcore Mod Ska & most of all Record Collector . Based solely on the fact that the owners 5 most important shows in Curtis's Lifetime happened in CAMBRIDGE HARVARD SQUARE area
the store got to be so packed that on saturdays & sundays people would line up on the stairway for people to leave
the landlord was so upset that he offered Curtis the second & third floor to have it's duties performed
Store #3
One fond memory of the store was when Curtis' Called FRED PERRY to send a representitive to it's Retail outlet
& the bearded middle aged english man was practically assaulted by the kids hanging out in front of the store ,
The rep was petriified that punkers & skinheads were into FRED PERRY & never retrurned to eliot st again without security . He asked Curtis why is that these kids are into Tennis apparrel . Curtis had to order via phone from that day on. THE 90's
TAANG! put in 10 years in BOSTON
with the store receiving more & more popularity TAANG! decided to open a second store in LA ,
Curtis was also D.J.ing for a the opening of a friends new club called the VIPER ROOM. In 1992, Casella decided to produce San Diego-based band Battalion of Saints for an archival release
he was staying in San Diego for meeting with Bsand members at a Place called misison beach a 5 miule pen*sula off the coast of San Diego .
,& ended up residing taking residence there on a abandanded beach front building .He & a member of the band Stranglehold Jonathan Roberts Ex-Decadence Stranglehold Oysters as well as Samantha Cole (Artist) & Demitri Demos Deathwish, Loved Ones) drove cfrom BOSTON to california to create the West Coast Wing of TAANG! at a abandoned beach house located on the pacific ocean 706 Pismo Court ,706 was a magic number in Rock & Roll it was the same Address as SUN RECORDS in Memphis so Curtis felt obligated to relocate there . with the construcution going on
& Curtis decided to open a it;s 4th store in San Diego California RIGHT ON THE BEACH
The First Floor was The Store & the second floor was Curtis;s Place of residence .
,Still the label managed to release it's 100th release by Irish Band STIFF LITTLE FINGERS & put them a several US TOUR'S with other TAANG acts such as, Battalion OF Saints & Buck O Nine & Ganggreen Curtis Casella was dividing his time between Los Angeles San Diego and Boston. The label operated out of Boston for two more years before Casella moved its headquarters to San Diego. store opened in Hollywood. Shortly after moving to San Diego, Taang! released two albums by another San Diego band [[Buck-O-Nine]]] & As well as The Business (UK) & introduced Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) as a producer for the first time with the release of The Business LP Truth Whole Truth & Nothing But The truth. , In the 1995 there were no new signings,The label brought on 1o bands from ENGLAND and the label focused on archival releases by the bands C**k Sparrer]The Adicts, The Business , 4 Skins,Last Resort, Ruts,The Boys, The Exploited, Menace & Slaughter & The Dogs for a total of 15 releases over five years these bands all reformed & their releases ended up in a chain store across the USA for the first time . also starting a publishing company Toonidge Publsihing.thru BMI
The Ocean Front location worked out incredibly well & prompted TAANG! to open another company dealing with clothing. WARE
started out as taking Dickies Gas Station Jackets & applying a embroided logo of TAANG! with several bands BEASTIE BOYS / IRON MAIDEN'S Vocalist Bruce Dickinson actors JOHNNY DEPP & pro skaters wearing the clothing as well as during a cover of KERRANG the clothing company received a deal with GERMAN CLOTIHNG distributor & over 100,000 jackets beanies & shirts were exported to europe as well as JAPAN & the US . being on the beach with people wearing the wares
it became TAANG'S BEACH
it wasn't until Stu Seagull productions asked TAANG! owner to Rent out the building for a film pilot with Rick Springfield
titled Hi Tide that the first floor of the building became a set for the TV pilot with the show finalising it's location . Curtis was living upstairs of the buildlng & when the set director stated to Curtis that all they needed now was a Gilligans isle settning for RIck Springfileds Character as a bachelor pad , they accidently went upstairs
With Bra's & Panties still hanging from the ceiling fan, the film people decided to sublet from Curtis & Curtis then moved to a nearby apartment & relocated the store
STORE #4
THE GARNET location
this location was in the middle of a highly trafficked area known as PB run by local gangs the Zodiacs & the Vermin
as well as other smaller gangs TAANG! STORE became a hang out for it's children pupils of HARDCORE
this store stayed open til 3am ,because of it's surounding of tavern drinkin holes Bars Clubs & all Night Coffee shops catering to rehabbers , Curtis called this location a WEST COAST KENMORE SQ . there were more fights fro 2 to 3am in this area then KENMORE SQAURE in a months time at 2am which had the RAT FENWAY NARCISSUS METRO SPIT & A KARATE STUDIO crowds
PUNKS , METAL HEADS ,JOCKS , NEW WAVERS , ROCKERS & WANT TO BE BRUCE LEE'S
after the HI TIDE TV series Curtis decided to move back into the BEACH Local at 706 Pismo which. X-CLAIM RECORDS
While operating out of California, the label continued its focus on Boston-based bands. Bands such as & The PROLETARIAT BRUISERS & the F.U'S (which was the final act from the XCLAIM label in which TAANG! had aquired a compilation from SSD SS DECONTROL called SSD Power which focused on the bands 4 releases .as well as JERRYS KIDS & D.Y.S debut titles .The XCLAIM label was originally started by Al Beril from SSD ,
PATRIOT RECORDS
CHOKE from the band SLAPSHOT also started a label called Patriot Records which featured 3 bands from the New England Area STARS & STRIPES who released "Shaved For Battle" BRUISERS "Cruising For A Bruising" & FORCED REALITY these titles can be aquired thru the TAANG! catalogue as well ,on CD LP ITUNES
ACE OF HEARTS
MISSION OF BURMA & LYRES
the band recorded with Husker Du's soundman Lou Giordano . Issued the tracks as 2 releases 23 songs were recorded outside of ACE OF HEARTS & the band wanted TAANG! to issue the tracks ( 2 of the tracks were never finished & Clint & Roger were brought back in to do vocals in 1987 . The Lyres brought in a compilation called some lyres in which the first Lyres single was issued on CD & LP as well as a new record from the band called Happy Now
with all this going on 3 bands [[Gang Green]], [[Slapshot (band)|Slapshot]] and Poison Idea, who previously left Taang! for other labels, had returned with new releases 1st SLAPSHOT with the LP Old Time Hardcore,GANGGREEN with "Back & Gacked" & Poison Idea "Learning To Scream " & Then In 2007,the label started to sign new bands, including [[Everybody Out!]] (featuring Rick Barton of [[Dropkick Murphys]]) and Southern California's Evacuate (led by Mike Virus of Cheap S*x and The Virus), who released their debut in 2009. also TAANG! First DVD release was CHEAP S*X In 2010 as well as 2 bands from
Northern California / San Francisco
PART TIME CHRISITANS who released their debut LP with
ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES the band decided to release it on CD with some unreleased matierial which completed the bands history TAANG #202
as well as ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT Collection
which featured all 3 relesses on one CD. TAANG #193 CD
PUSMORT RECORDS
there is plans to rerelease their first LP from Pushead's Label PUSMORT
"American Paranoia" with the first demo as well as a DVD bonus. also released POSION IDEA'S Kings Of Punk Originally on PUSHEADS ( Pusmort Label as well )
DVD releases from ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT,KILSLUG OYSTERS & SLAPSHOT SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS & GANGGREEN . a series of VINYL RELEASES in COLORED WAX & 180 GRAM. In 2010 TAANG released ''NEGATIVE APPROACH'S'',Long Lost tape from 1984 titled "Friends Of No One" came out on CD & 7inch this was the 200th release. the label's next 5 releases :
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT " No Way Back" CD / LP
GANGGREEN Single "I Fear "7 inch
NEGATIVE APPROACH"Nothing Will Stand in Our Way" 53 song LP / CD
SLAPSHOT "I Believe" EP
Chip On My Shoulder film on DVD .
