well.....THAT was retarded.

I love how he started to mess with his shirt

Youtube blocked from work. Is this the one where he acts like a douche when the high school kid from Canada is interviewing him?

That was almost like watching part of "the breakfast club".. burnout meets dweeb.

/likes me some black flag

UGH, I CAN'T BELIEVE ROCK JOURNALISTS ARE SO LAME AND HOLLYWOOD IS SO LAME NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY BECAUSE MY ROOMMATE DIED AND I HAVE TO CASH A CHECK THAT I GOT FROM ACTING IN A MOVIE. EVERYONE IS SO FAKE.

I've never quite gotten Henry Rollins' deal... did he somehow find out about music, get into a band and worked his way to fame without ever understanding the whole rock star persona and how people react to them?

Of course, this question is irrelevant, as other artists that are averse to the spotlight manage to do so quietly- he just gets his jollies being a douche as often as possible. The worst kind of attention whore.

From Reyes era Black Flag: Link (new window)

Bek: I've never quite gotten Henry Rollins' deal... did he somehow find out about music, get into a band and worked his way to fame without ever understanding the whole rock star persona and how people react to them?

Of course, this question is irrelevant, as other artists that are averse to the spotlight manage to do so quietly- he just gets his jollies being a douche as often as possible. The worst kind of attention whore.

Black Flag was very much against the "rock star" persona, and they expected their fans to get the message.

Barnacles!: well.....THAT was retarded.

THIS

Rollins is trying too hard in this video; both look like douche trying to come up with clever comebacks. I do like his TV show and spoken word stuff but I never got Black Flag. @10 years ago I Napstered all the albums, listened through each maybe twice... couldn't find one song I wanted to keep. Not one. Is there a Black Flag fan out there who can recommend me their favorite songs from this band?

I always though Black Flag was overrated too.

Dead Kennedys > Minor Threat > Black Flag

His mind is on vacation, but his mouth is working overtime.

There's too many of us
There's too many of us

Loooooww S.O.

I love you Rollins.


You were always an untalented hack at singing.

You got you charisma, kid.

Not much glory in getting the better of a 15 year-old dweeb. Rollins has had finer moments.

I was pretty much with the kid until about 1:35. Then it just became a bunch of professionals picking on a kid.

Fat and Nasty 86: Youtube blocked from work. Is this the one where he acts like a douche when the high school kid from Canada is interviewing him?

Yeah, pretty much. It's almost as hardcore as when at age 45 he rode across the desert in an ATV on MTV and shouted "fark you chritiansss!"

Fish in a barrel never knew an enemy so dire as Henry farking Rollins.

Thanks, sub. If I had seen this prior to letting a positive image of rollins into the brain for damn near twenty years, I might have a different opinion of the dude. He was young and arrogant/ignorant in the vid, but he sure made an ass of himself.

he comes off like a bully... but he sure showed that kid??

I'm wondering about the kid's hat thing. WTF?!

/saw Rollins in 92
//happy chap talked rambled about how unhappy you would be if you were raped or summat

Henry Rollins has had enough of your shiat!

Henry Rollins is so refreshing.

HR can be a jerk, sure, what's interesting is how that kid who's half his size and at least 5 years younger stands his ground and wasn't visibly intimidated.

The only one who was confused there was Henry himself, who kept getting closer and trying different things to scare him. Probably shook his ego a little.

The facial expression of blue-shirt about 1:40 was priceless.

Rollins era BF was the downhill side of BF to me.

I've watched (and now can't find) an interview of Ian Mackaye with some HS A/V type set up. He actually worked with the amateur and helped a young kid grab a positive vibe and get through.

Rollins had an opportunity to take some kid from 'Dogbone', Michigan and educate him in a positive way about a scene. Instead he bullied him and tried to intimidate him with that 'I'm a borderline psycho' act that seemed so prevalent in early punk. Best part was the kid wasn't that intimidated.

Rollins at his best couldn't hold a candle to Mackaye at his worst in both message and attitude.

It may be apples to oranges to some but both fronted hardcore bands in the early 80's and both sprang from D.C. and had the opportunities to enlighten people through the scene . Rollins played up to the whole punk sterotype you'd see parodied on CHiPs while Mackaye was the punk archetype.

Ian Mackaye carried on with credibility and continued to put back into a scene he loved. Rollins made it big with one hit on MTV that was as indentifiable to angry jocks as it was to anyone.

/My lawn,pogo off it

Bless you Youtube. CHiPs punk rock!

Link (new window)

What a wentz

Massive -1 for Rollins.

Jesus man, at least that kid hung in there, Rollins is frightening as fark.

Gee, Henry, way to pwn a little kid.

Sellout.

Bek: I've never quite gotten Henry Rollins' deal... did he somehow find out about music, get into a band and worked his way to fame without ever understanding the whole rock star persona and how people react to them?

Of course, this question is irrelevant, as other artists that are averse to the spotlight manage to do so quietly- he just gets his jollies being a douche as often as possible. The worst kind of attention whore.

Rollins is just one of those people who was born grouchy and looking to pick a fight. As for music, he started out as a roadie for local punk bands and worked his way up from there while managing an ice cream shop. I can just imagine his customer service skills. It's his personality, he likes to get shouty, punch things, and act hyper. Being in a punk band was the perfect outlet for that. "Look at me! I am incredibly angry! Grrrrah!" So I don't think it was so much for wanting to be a rock star but to be paid for behaving like an enraged gorilla.

I'm not defending Rollins. I like some of his stuff with Black Flag and some solo stuff and like him in the little parts he plays in the occasional movies, but I'm not what you'd call a fan.

When I watch the video, it seems more like a challenge than bullying. The kid's green as can be and went into the interview with nothing. It felt more like a "Get your shiat together" kind of push to me. Then again, it could just be that I do better with negative reinforcement than positive.

rudemix: The facial expression of blue-shirt about 1:40 was priceless.

Rollins era BF was the downhill side of BF to me.

I've watched (and now can't find) an interview of Ian Mackaye with some HS A/V type set up. He actually worked with the amateur and helped a young kid grab a positive vibe and get through.

Rollins had an opportunity to take some kid from 'Dogbone', Michigan and educate him in a positive way about a scene. Instead he bullied him and tried to intimidate him with that 'I'm a borderline psycho' act that seemed so prevalent in early punk. Best part was the kid wasn't that intimidated.

Rollins at his best couldn't hold a candle to Mackaye at his worst in both message and attitude.

It may be apples to oranges to some but both fronted hardcore bands in the early 80's and both sprang from D.C. and had the opportunities to enlighten people through the scene . Rollins played up to the whole punk sterotype you'd see parodied on CHiPs while Mackaye was the punk archetype.

Ian Mackaye carried on with credibility and continued to put back into a scene he loved. Rollins made it big with one hit on MTV that was as indentifiable to angry jocks as it was to anyone.

/My lawn,pogo off it

What makes all of your post - great points, by the way - all the more interesting is the fact that Rollins and Mackaye were good friends growing up in DC, still are as far as I've heard. It's a little odd that for all of Ian's positivity, he couldn't have influenced one of his best friends the same way.
I'm a fan of a lot of Rollins' work, but I agree he can be a real piece of shiat sometimes. It's almost like he's never had anyone at any point in his life that will call him on his bullshiat.

I do think Rollins is just trying to push the kid into being something better; the whole "don't shiat on your hometown" thing is actually a pretty good message, just delivered in the most asinine, make-you-look-like-an-asshole way possible

Zombie Eater: I'm not defending Rollins. I like some of his stuff with Black Flag and some solo stuff and like him in the little parts he plays in the occasional movies, but I'm not what you'd call a fan.

When I watch the video, it seems more like a challenge than bullying. The kid's green as can be and went into the interview with nothing. It felt more like a "Get your shiat together" kind of push to me. Then again, it could just be that I do better with negative reinforcement than positive.

I can see that in Rollins in the interview and understand it. 'Don't ask me about my shiat if you aren't familiar with my shiat.' But this was no Rolling Stone or Spin journalist asking baited or insulting questions. Rollins could have delivered a small swat 'get your shiat together' and a big pat 'but I like the fact you chose to come check out this thing of ours.Let me show you what it's about'. The guy always seems like an anger merchant. Black Flag was a great outlet for it. So is his spoken word, though it can't touch Jello's.

He played up the psycho role and tried to marginalize the kid right from the get go. His hand near the throat and the 'I don't want to think about any thing that might make me kill.' Kid asks a credible question in what Rollins thinks of SST and Rollins steam rolls into a hand on him talking about killing? Douchebag.

Some people like the angry thing. I never did too much. I did like the anger in Crass, and I prefer their lyrics as social/political/scene/movement commentary than anything Rollins has done. For some reason to me Crass always seemed more a voice of anger where Rollins always seemed like an angry guy with a voice.

I just dl a dvd that has Black Flag in Philadelphia 6-4-82, and I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

hey that guy is edgy!

Ugly Baby Judges You..

I read some Black Flag/Rollins stuff between my first and second posts. Saw the Mackaye/Rollins thing. It is odd that they seem to embrace the same ethos but seem so polar in their approach.


Rollins to me is just the angry guy. I know, as most people do, one or more of them. It's a reason I never seemed to cotton to him much. I really wish I could find that video on Youtube on Mackaye talking to the HS A/V kid. The contrast between the two videos is great. You can see Mackaye knows where he is at and what he is dealing with and encourages a decent interview out of this kid. Nearly coaches him through it. The video was in the early days of Fugazi.

Mackaye always seemed passionate about what he spoke and aggression coupled with positivity came through. Rollins just always seemed angry. Not saying there isn't a place or room for communicating a message that way. It just doesn't work for me.

Is there a Black Flag fan out there who can recommend me their favorite songs from this band?

Damaged would be considered the seminal album.

I prefer Everything Went Black. You got the best of what they had (IMO) done by the earlier singers...that weren't Henry Rollins.

jiaxiaobo: Is there a Black Flag fan out there who can recommend me their favorite songs from this band?

"Nervous Breakdown"
"Drinking and Driving" for Rollins-era

jiaxiaobo: 10 years ago I Napstered all the albums, listened through each maybe twice... couldn't find one song I wanted to keep. Not one. Is there a Black Flag fan out there who can recommend me their favorite songs from this band?

For Henry era Black Flag, I was always partial to the Damaged album, which besides the hits (TV Party, Six Pack) also had Life of Pain, Padded Cell and Police Story, which were all pretty good.

But if I was going to "buy" a Black Flag album these days, it would probably be the comp, Everything Went Black, which is totally Henry-less.

I saw Black Flag a handful of times Back In The Day™. I was at a show in Pasadena in '82 or '83 with Black Flag, The Meat Puppets and the Nig Heist which still ranks as one of the best gigs I have ever seen. I also saw them a couple of times in my hometown of Vancouver (apparently Henry hated Vancouver, according to his bio Get in the Van), and those shows were probably amongst the worst I have ever seen. "Worst" in this case being, "the most punishing, abrasive, atonal, hateful and aggravating"... which, in its own way, had a certain appeal.

Henry has always been an asshole... sometimes an entertaining asshole, but an asshole nonetheless.

HappyHarryHardOn: I love how he started to mess with his shirt

That made it hysterical.

save russian jews: HappyHarryHardOn: I love how he started to mess with his shirt

That made it hysterical.

Yes. I don't understand what some people are talking about here. The kid showed up totally unprepared and with a bit of an arrogant attitude. I would not have expected anything less from Henry. As a matter of fact, that's pretty much how i would have also acted in his place

HappyHarryHardOn: Yes. I don't understand what some people are talking about here. The kid showed up totally unprepared and with a bit of an arrogant attitude. I would not have expected anything less from Henry. As a matter of fact, that's pretty much how i would have also acted in his place

This proves my theory, assholes don't know they're being assholes.

Back in the day Hank and the rest of black flag did a lot of travelling on not much money, sleep or food. Hence, sometimes stuff like this happens. I'm not defending it, but this may explain it. I inteviewed Henry once. it wasn't like holding a tiger by the tail, but I was late to the interview thanks to it being september 11, 2001, and so he kept his answers very short, i guess he didn't want tocut into the next interviewers time. I met him a couple of times. I love the guy, he has good days and bad days. This kid got him on a decidedly bad day

Blowmonkey: This proves my theory, assholes don't know they're being assholes.

The people watching can't hear how they justify it in their head, and the assholes themselves fail at seeing things objectively.

Coming to Sons of Anarchy this fall.

J. Frank Parnell: Blowmonkey: This proves my theory, assholes don't know they're being assholes.

The people watching can't hear how they justify it in their head, and the assholes themselves fail at seeing things objectively.

The kid didn't know anything about BF or their label. He couldn't follow up an answer looking for deeper meaning. he couldn't get more than a superficial interview. Rollins should have just told the kid to do his homework next time and then talked to the next guy. Because you know, somewhere in the room a complete BF fanatic was probably waiting to get equal time from Rollins and didn't, and that is sad.

But if the kid showed up with even one album in his hand and asked about the songs or the art or anything he would've at least been doing something worth the band's time. the band doesn't need to sell itself to everyone they talk to. salespeople are too busy selling, and the band was too busy being a band.

Boris S. Wort: I was at a show in Pasadena in '82 or '83 with Black Flag, The Meat Puppets and the Nig Heist which still ranks as one of the best gigs I have ever seen.

I saw this same line up in Kansas City (I think it was '83) and I still have the flier. Tickets were $6.

Got to interview Rollins on the air like 2 years ago. Couldn't have been a nicer guy. We talked for like 45 minutes about all kinds of shiat. He had just recently come back from Afghanistan and he was going off about that. We talked a little bit of music but not a whole lot. When we got done I thanked him for everything and told him how it was a huge highlight in my broadcasting career to be able to talk with him for so long and he was all about it. Complimented me and said that I did a great interview. Huh.

I was a little worried going in that I was gonna say something wrong and he'd eat me for dinner but he was cool as could be.

I didn't read through the thread (sorry), but how old was Rollins in that clip? He was young (apparently) and was giving a kid a hard time. Didn't everyone?

Yeah, he is intense. I grew up in the underground/metal/punk scene when I was a kid. It was normal for the 18 year olds to pick on you. Builds character, right?

nigeman: Back in the day Hank and the rest of black flag did a lot of travelling on not much money, sleep or food. Hence, sometimes stuff like this happens. I'm not defending it, but this may explain it. I inteviewed Henry once. it wasn't like holding a tiger by the tail, but I was late to the interview thanks to it being september 11, 2001, and so he kept his answers very short, i guess he didn't want tocut into the next interviewers time. I met him a couple of times. I love the guy, he has good days and bad days. This kid got him on a decidedly bad day

This. Read his book 'Get in the Van' if you're interested in knowing where his head would have been at during that interview. No job, no money, sleep deprived and playing something crazy like 250-300 nights a year to hostile audiences that constantly tried to fark with him. He was a prick in this interview, but he probably wasn't completely sane, either.

And to his credit, he'd be the first person on the planet to tell you how much of a bastard he was in those days and I'd say he's spent a fair bit of the time since trying to be a cool guy. He seems to go out of his way to be a lot more approachable these days. He's also put a fair chunk of his earnings into his book company that he uses to give unsigned artists a chance. I'd say he very rapidly developed into a damm good guy after he left that insanity behind him.