BETWEEN THE COVERS RARE BOOKS

B etween
the
C overs R are B ooks
112 Nicholson Rd, Gloucester City, NJ 08030
(856) 456-8008
[Flyers]: 1980s-1990s California Metal Concert Flyers
California: 1980-1990
betweenthecovers.com
$2000
A collection of 44 flyers, business cards,
and handbills promoting Los Angeles metal
venues and bands from the 1980s-1990s
featuring acts such as Sepultura, Gwar, Saint
Vitus, Abraxas, Slayer, Wool, Ulysses Siren,
Raw Flower, Resistant Militia, Papa Wheelie,
and others. The flyers are all printed on
paper sheets of various colors sized, 2½" x
2" to 14" x 8½", in black ink with several
incorporating rubberstamped elements. All
items have slight edgewear and soiling else
near fine or better.
Decorated with various band’s typographical
names and designs, the posters illustrate
tombs, zombies, devils, witches, and the
band members. One flyer’s illustration is of a
sacrilegious nun forcing a cross into her arm;
this flyer is for the band Wool. Wool was
based out of California and mixed the sounds
of hard rock, punk, and psychedelia making
them versatile in the bands they accompanied. Another more versatile band was Ulysses Siren which formed in 1983
in South San Francisco. Two years after forming the band’s demo Terrorist Attack was featured on KUSF radio and
at the Record Vault for becoming the number 1 selling underground demo. Saint Vitus was another widely popular
underground band from the Los Angeles area. Forming in 1979, the band has been credited as one of the first bands
of the doom metal genre. Slayer formed in 1981 as a thrash metal band from California. In 1986 the band rose to
fame and has been labeled as one of the “Big Four” thrash metal bands. Their lyrics and album art included themes
of necrophilia, anti-religion, war, Satanism, and murder. This often led to bans on Slayer’s music and criticism from
parents and religious groups.
The venues that housed these bands were known for their underground shows. The Jabberjaw was a coffee house
and music venue in Los Angeles, California. It featured underground all-ages rock, metal, and punk shows.
Jabberjaw released four, seven inch vinyl EPs which were later compiled on CD in 1994 and again in 1996. Another
venue was the Reseda Country Club. In the 1950s the club started off as a drug store and later became a music
venue in 1979 under Chuck Landis. The club closed in the late 1990s and today is the site of a Spanish-language
Christian church.
A fascinating collection of metal flyers from California featuring popular and underground acts during the 1980s1990s. [BTC#403661]