The Avengers (band)
Encyclopedia
The Avengers are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in San Francisco, California
. Penelope Houston
, who has also been a folk music
ian, is their singer.
to be their singer, who agreed. They finished their lineup with Jonathon Postal on bass, although he was replaced shortly after by Jimmy Wilsey
. Their first release (and only release while the band was originally together) was We Are the One
, a three-song EP which was released on Dangerhouse Records
in 1977.
The Avengers opened for the Sex Pistols
in San Francisco at their final show at Winterland, which led to Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones
producing a recording session for the band. In January 1979, Ingraham left the band and was replaced by Brad Kent
, although the band only lasted a few more months until June 1979. An EP, titled Avengers
, was released on White Noise Records
a few months after the band broke up, which included songs from the Steve Jones produced session. Houston went on to record as a solo artist.
An album called Avengers
(sometimes referred to as the Pink Album, including by Houston herself) was released in 1983. It featured tracks recorded through the band's whole time together, and was compiled by drummer Danny Furious. The album was out-of-print for a long time due to being in "legal limbo", during which time Houston would sell the album in CD-R
format directly through her website. The album was re-released in 2010.
called Died for Your Sins
was issued by Lookout! Records
. In addition to original unreleased studio recordings and live tracks, three tracks were newly recorded in 1999 by the scAvengers, featuring original members Houston and Ingraham with new members bassist Joel Reader (The Mr. T Experience
, The Plus Ones) and drummer Danny Panic (Screeching Weasel
). To support the album, the scAvengers did a few shows. In 2003, a live album titled Zero Hour was released in Italy. The next year, The American in Me
was released, featuring all of the tracks from Zero Hour plus four other unreleased studio recordings. Houston and Ingraham again joined with Reader and new drummer Luis Illades to perform some record release shows, and this lineup has performed sporadic live shows since.
On July 16, 2006, Houston and Ingraham joined Pearl Jam
to perform "American in Me" at the Bill Graham Civic Center.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Penelope Houston
Penelope Houston
Penelope Houston is an American singer-songwriter best known as the singer for the San Francisco-based punk rock band The Avengers. She was raised in Seattle. In the mid-1970s she attended Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington...
, who has also been a folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ian, is their singer.
Original history
Drummer Danny Furious and guitarist Greg Ingraham decided to start a band, and Danny approached Penelope HoustonPenelope Houston
Penelope Houston is an American singer-songwriter best known as the singer for the San Francisco-based punk rock band The Avengers. She was raised in Seattle. In the mid-1970s she attended Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington...
to be their singer, who agreed. They finished their lineup with Jonathon Postal on bass, although he was replaced shortly after by Jimmy Wilsey
James Wilsey
James Calvin Wilsey is an American musician. He played bass with San Francisco punk band The Avengers but become better known as lead guitarist with Stockton crooner Chris Isaak and his band Silvertone, and featured in Isaak's solo albums Silvertone, Chris Isaak, Heart Shaped World, and San...
. Their first release (and only release while the band was originally together) was We Are the One
We Are the One
We Are the One is the first EP from the Avengers. It was released on Dangerhouse Records in 1977. It is the only recordings released while the band was still together. It is sometimes referred to as the Dangerhouse EP, referencing the label it was released on. It was recorded in October 1977 at...
, a three-song EP which was released on Dangerhouse Records
Dangerhouse Records
Dangerhouse Records was a punk music record label in Los Angeles, California.Started in 1977 and collapsing by the end of 1980, Dangerhouse was a short-lived enterprise, which nonetheless left its mark on the punk scene....
in 1977.
The Avengers opened for the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
in San Francisco at their final show at Winterland, which led to Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
producing a recording session for the band. In January 1979, Ingraham left the band and was replaced by Brad Kent
Brad Kent
Brad Kent played with all of the early Vancouver punk rock bands in one incarnation or another, particularly Victorian Pork, the band which spawned not only D.O.A. but the Pointed Sticks and the Subhumans...
, although the band only lasted a few more months until June 1979. An EP, titled Avengers
Avengers (EP)
Avengers is the second EP from rock band The Avengers. Released by White Noise Records in 1979 after the split up of the band, it was produced by musician Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols. It is also known as the White Noise EP, a reference to the record label...
, was released on White Noise Records
White Noise Records
White Noise Records was a record label founded in Los Angeles in 1978 by artists Ronn Spencer and Louise Spencer, writers Nicole Panter and Jim Bickhart, attorneys Gordon Rubin and Peter Paterno, and publicist Bob Merlis....
a few months after the band broke up, which included songs from the Steve Jones produced session. Houston went on to record as a solo artist.
An album called Avengers
Avengers (album)
Avengers is a compilation album by the American punk group Avengers. It was released on vinyl in 1983 by CD Presents. It is the closest thing to a studio album the band has, although it was compiled by drummer Danny Furious from various recordings the band did in their three years of existence.The...
(sometimes referred to as the Pink Album, including by Houston herself) was released in 1983. It featured tracks recorded through the band's whole time together, and was compiled by drummer Danny Furious. The album was out-of-print for a long time due to being in "legal limbo", during which time Houston would sell the album in CD-R
CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
format directly through her website. The album was re-released in 2010.
New releases and re-formation
In 1999, a compilation albumCompilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
called Died for Your Sins
Died for Your Sins
Died for Your Sins is a compilation album by the Avengers. It was released on February 23, 1999 on Lookout! Records. The album is composed of four studio recordings from 1978 , three studio recordings from 1998 recorded by The Scavengers and fourteen...
was issued by Lookout! Records
Lookout! Records
-History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock...
. In addition to original unreleased studio recordings and live tracks, three tracks were newly recorded in 1999 by the scAvengers, featuring original members Houston and Ingraham with new members bassist Joel Reader (The Mr. T Experience
The Mr. T Experience
The Mr. T Experience is an American punk rock band formed in 1985 in Berkeley, California and currently recording for Lookout! Records. They have released ten full-length albums along with numerous EPs and singles and have toured internationally...
, The Plus Ones) and drummer Danny Panic (Screeching Weasel
Screeching Weasel
Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1986 by Ben Weasel and John Jughead.Since their formation, Screeching Weasel have broken up and reformed numerous times with numerous line-up changes. Ben Weasel has been the only constant...
). To support the album, the scAvengers did a few shows. In 2003, a live album titled Zero Hour was released in Italy. The next year, The American in Me
The American in Me
The American in Me is a compilation album by the Avengers. It was released on April 20, 2004 on DBK Works. The album is composed of four studio recordings from 1978 and a live concert recorded at The Old Waldorf in San Francisco, CA on June 13, 1979...
was released, featuring all of the tracks from Zero Hour plus four other unreleased studio recordings. Houston and Ingraham again joined with Reader and new drummer Luis Illades to perform some record release shows, and this lineup has performed sporadic live shows since.
On July 16, 2006, Houston and Ingraham joined Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
to perform "American in Me" at the Bill Graham Civic Center.
Current
- Penelope HoustonPenelope HoustonPenelope Houston is an American singer-songwriter best known as the singer for the San Francisco-based punk rock band The Avengers. She was raised in Seattle. In the mid-1970s she attended Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington...
– vocals (1977–79, 1999, 2004– ) - Greg Ingraham – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1977–79, 1999, 2004– ) - Joel Reader – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1999, 2004– ) - Luis Illades – drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s (2004– )
Previous
- Danny Furious – drums (1977–79)
- Jonathon Postal – bass (1977)
- Jimmy WilseyJames WilseyJames Calvin Wilsey is an American musician. He played bass with San Francisco punk band The Avengers but become better known as lead guitarist with Stockton crooner Chris Isaak and his band Silvertone, and featured in Isaak's solo albums Silvertone, Chris Isaak, Heart Shaped World, and San...
– bass (1977–79) - Brad KentBrad KentBrad Kent played with all of the early Vancouver punk rock bands in one incarnation or another, particularly Victorian Pork, the band which spawned not only D.O.A. but the Pointed Sticks and the Subhumans...
– guitar (1979) - Danny Panic – drums (1999)
Compilation albums
- AvengersAvengers (album)Avengers is a compilation album by the American punk group Avengers. It was released on vinyl in 1983 by CD Presents. It is the closest thing to a studio album the band has, although it was compiled by drummer Danny Furious from various recordings the band did in their three years of existence.The...
(1983, CD Presents) - also issued as Cadillacs and Lincolns - Died for Your SinsDied for Your SinsDied for Your Sins is a compilation album by the Avengers. It was released on February 23, 1999 on Lookout! Records. The album is composed of four studio recordings from 1978 , three studio recordings from 1998 recorded by The Scavengers and fourteen...
(1999, Lookout! RecordsLookout! Records-History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock...
) - The American in MeThe American in MeThe American in Me is a compilation album by the Avengers. It was released on April 20, 2004 on DBK Works. The album is composed of four studio recordings from 1978 and a live concert recorded at The Old Waldorf in San Francisco, CA on June 13, 1979...
(2004, DBK Works)
Live albums
- Zero Hour (2003, Get Back)
- Live at Winterland 1978Live at Winterland 1978 (Avengers album)Live at Winterland 1978 is a live album by the Avengers. It was released through online music stores on February 16, 2010. The album features a recording of their set on January 14, 1978 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, CA, when they opened for the Sex Pistols on what would become the...
(2010, CD Presents)
EPs
- We Are the OneWe Are the OneWe Are the One is the first EP from the Avengers. It was released on Dangerhouse Records in 1977. It is the only recordings released while the band was still together. It is sometimes referred to as the Dangerhouse EP, referencing the label it was released on. It was recorded in October 1977 at...
(1977, Dangerhouse RecordsDangerhouse RecordsDangerhouse Records was a punk music record label in Los Angeles, California.Started in 1977 and collapsing by the end of 1980, Dangerhouse was a short-lived enterprise, which nonetheless left its mark on the punk scene....
) - AvengersAvengers (EP)Avengers is the second EP from rock band The Avengers. Released by White Noise Records in 1979 after the split up of the band, it was produced by musician Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols. It is also known as the White Noise EP, a reference to the record label...
(1979, White Noise RecordsWhite Noise RecordsWhite Noise Records was a record label founded in Los Angeles in 1978 by artists Ronn Spencer and Louise Spencer, writers Nicole Panter and Jim Bickhart, attorneys Gordon Rubin and Peter Paterno, and publicist Bob Merlis....
)
Singles
- "Paint it Black" b/w "Thin White Line" (1983, CD Presents)
- "Teenage Rebel" b/w "Friends" (1995, Really Fast Records)
External links
- Avengers on MySpace
- Penelope Houston's official web site
- PUNKCAST#1028 video of CBGBCBGBCBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
show - Sep 8 2006.