FANG

FANG. There is a little pre-history to the Fang that we all know and hate. The first record under the name Fang is actually more of an experemental record, the “yukon fang” single. Fang guitarist Tom Flynn put out this strange single. Meanwhile, Sammy sang with future Fang Drummer Greg Langston in the band “Shut up”. This was around early ‘82. The band of Sammy, Chris Wilson (bass), Tom Flynn (guitar), and Joel Fox (drums), recorded the great “fun with acid” on the " not so quiet on the western front" comp L.P. and then put out the classic “landshark” lp. Tim Stiletto drummed on the next one, “where the wild things are”. These two releases on Boner records are classic east bay punk, and the band still performs these songs today. Two songs came out on boner records comp LP "them boners be poppin’". These above recordings are readily avaiable on CD at your local music retailer. In January ‘86 the “spun helga” lp was recorded in West Germany with Sammytown, and germans Joe (guitar) and Ollie (drums). We Bite records in germany put this one out, and the U.S. issue is on National Trust. From this we get the classic “tits and oi”. 1987 release was “a mi ga sfafas?” (title means “give me head” in yugoslavian). The lineup of east bay guys was Sammytown, Bill Collins (guitar), Joe Miller (bass), and Steve Chinn (drums). The great “house wrecking party” comes off this one. An unreleased Fang album “pissed-off buddah” still remains unrealeased. After a LONG break Fang regrouped in 1995 and put out the “electric chair” 45 on mans’ruin records. The lineup was Sammy (vocals), Greg Langston (Drums), Bill Burnett (guitar) and Josh Levine (bass). This Band recorded the excellent “American Nightmare” LP on wingnut records. Jim Martin (from Faith no more), joined on guitar, and recorded four songs on the Hello Records CD.‘98-’99. In’01-03 the band was Sammytown, Brian Schopflin(bass), Jonny Manck (guitar), Alby Wasted (guitar), Ike (drums) The live cheap CD came out on Malt Soda recordings in 2004. Ike (drums), Jimmy Crucifix and Alby Wasted (guitars), Brian (bass). The present lineup also includes Greg Langston back on drums. Any Corrections to this are welcome as this is a work in progress. – Greg Langston
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Not a lot is known about Fang, other than they penned one of the best punk songs of all time, “The Money Will Roll Right In,” a track that has been covered either in the studio or on-stage by the likes of Nirvana, Mudhoney, and Metallica. It’s also known that the band hailed from Berkeley, CA, and that their peak creative period was during the early ‘80s, when they released such underground punk favorites as Landshark and Where the Wild Things Are, which were compiled together on a single CD in 1995 by the Boner label. The 21-track collection kicks off with their aforementioned best-known song, which, lyrically, could have only been written by a punk band in a time before lawsuits ran rampant (due to the mention of a certain actress’ name). Elsewhere, there’s a hefty amount of tracks that reflect the top U.S. punk acts of the era: the Germs (“Diary of a Mad Werewolf”), Fear (“I’ve Got a Disease”), and Flipper (the elegantly titled “Suck and Fuck”). And you’ve got to give Fang some credit for penning a song with a title of “Everybody Makes Me Barf.” Although Fang never received the attention that some of their colleagues did, Landshark/Where the Wild Things Are shows that they could riff and snarl with the best of ’em. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide