NEWS
- January 5th, 2000
Greetings! It is a new era, a new beginning. The start of the new millenium FS are busy at work. With the down time, we have been practicing with a new drummer: James, formely of Bottom of the Barrel. Things have been moving at a somewhat slower pace than before. Currently we are recording three new tracks which will hopefully appear on a split or as an ep. The CD? Well it's still in the works. FS Productions/Thug Rock records are working hard to get the releases out, but it has been and continues to be an uphill battle. It is a priority for us to release this, so look for it's release in the future. At the moment, we are deciding wheather to release it with bonus tracks (older live/demos, etc) or just as the vinyl with 12 tracks.This, will remain to be seen.
On smaller note, the email address has slighty changed. This has now been updated and will be reflected when you hit the e-mail button on the main page. The Guest book seem sto be working well, but I have heard some complaints about it. But it is Geocities and it free, so what can we say. 'Til next time. Stay well.
First Strike / P.O. Box 2891 / New York, NY / 10008 USA
- July 22nd, 1999
Greetings everyone. It has been some months since this page has been updated. There have been a few things happening with the band, but not really with the page.
First, There is a gig on August 15th, which should be as good as the one on December 28 of last year. This time the
line-up is The Templars, the reunion of Forced Reality, Oxblood, First Strike, Urban Riot and The Revelers (featuring former members of Urban Riot and the Krays). This shows being brought to us by Goliath Productions, who seem to be one few outfits to really bring Oi! shows to NYC and give a lot of the local bands an outlet to play (out of 6 shows that we were offered since the Dec. 27, this was the only one that DIDN"T fall through). Everyone is encouraged to show up. As the last show was a great success, it gave the promoter credibility with the clubs and ensures that more show will take place in the future with more bands (local and out of state). It's being held at the Pyramid again and the cost for this one is $10 (don't bitch, you cheapskates!). Doors open at 3:00pm for ages 16 and up (they will be checking for IDs, so make sure you have yours).
As for the band: FS are back in the rehearsal studios preparing to record some new songs, which will be released as an EP through Thug Rock or as a split through another label. As for the other band, we're going to keep that under our hat for the time being.
There haven't been any changes made to this site since the last time. All of us lazy bastards here are to busy with all the usual vices and other distractions. We're still awaiting the release of the CD version of the LP in order to make audio clips. What's that you, when's the CD going to be out? We don't know. It's been a pretty hectic summer and we were not able to meet our projected (and numerous) release dates. All we can say that it will be released, someday . . .
The LP has sold very well for our first go at the music business. As of today, there are just a few left. So any vinyl junkies should hurry up get the dough for one. Vulture Rock, Walzwerk (in Europe), and GMM should still have a limited number of copies left.
T-shirts? A few people have contacted us about t-shirt only to told that we were all out (I hope they haven't committed suicide yet). Well the good news is that we should have some towards the end of August. If all goes well (and it usually doesn't) we might actually have some by the show on the 15th.
And that's basically it for the business. I got a few minutes left, so I'll just tell people what's been going on. Here in NYC, the Oi! scene seems to be getting better as the weather get hotter. A couple of months back The Anti-heroes and Patriot played a small show on a Sunday afternoon out here in NYC. Although no local bands played this show, it was still pretty good. There was a decent turn out as many were on the streets, in the bar and later in the club. Patriot played a really good set; a mixture of old and newer songs. I haven't seen these guys in a few years now, and it was nice to songs like "Big Mouth" and "Crime of the Times." Then the Anti-heroes took to the stage. The last few times I've seen these guys I wasn't really into their set. They've been playing a lot of their material really fast these days and you loose the groove. Anyway, their set was a bit refreshing and it was they ended the show with a bang, with the crowd (and myself) enjoying the set.
In May, Oxblood and the Templars went out to sunny Phoenix, AZ for a 2-day Oi! festival. All I can say is that there were a lot of bands, lots of sun and lots of booze. Some of the bands to play were the Subway Thugs (from Canada), the Main Street Saints (from K.C.), the Fatskins (from Phoenix, thanks to mike for organizing this thing), Bovver Wonderland, Fully Loaded, and the Authority (from CA), the Anti-Heroes, the Templars and Oxblood. There were some more but I can't seem to remember them all. Anyway, it was a good weekend and we got a chance to meet a lot of cool skins from out west (Duke City Skins, Sacramento Skins, and Houston Skins, to name a few). Much thanks to all the Jared from the Moloko Men, who hooked it up, just when we needed it. The shows themselves were pretty good, though the biggest drawback was that NO alcohol was served in the club (the humanity!), which made for some unpleasant times for those of us who had started getting liquored up only to stop just when it was getting good. We all know how clubs can be with Oi! shows, so it's a bit understandable (but it still sucks). It was good chance to see a lot of bands that I haven't seen yet. Through I must say (and I know a lot of you will agree with me) that Oxblood seemed to tear the place down. It was fuckin' wild. They played a tight set of all the standards, anthems and classics for a rabid audience of skins, wrestlers, freaks and psychos. Definitely a good show. But anyway, my time is up. 'Til next time. Stay well.
First Strike / P.O. Box 2891 / New York, NY / 10008 USA
- March 19th, 1999
Again, more changes have been made to the site. The title and index pages have been slightly changed. First, the picture on the main page has been changed. The two pictures of Rich and Taj are of better quality than the group shot. Also, the counter has been placed on the index page. This was done to get a better count, as most people will only hit that page once per visit. There has been a guest book added to make it easier to get in touch with the band and see other peoples' impressions on the site. So any suggestions, input, opinions, etc are welcome. There is also an entry for your Oi! pick. It was figured that this would be kinda fun to see what people are listening to at the moment. There hasn't been any new links added this time. It has been too bust to really search for sites on the web. If you have any, drop us a line (bands, personal pages, etc.).
There are a few more additions in the works for the immediate future. There will be an audio page which will include some FS material, to give those who haven't heard us a chance to, without buying the lp or trying to find the 7" (which might be sold-out, but more info on that will follow). This audio page will be up around the same time that the CD version of the album is released. The CD should contain some bonus tracks (live/alternate takes) and the site should have some unreleased versions of some songs--and will only be available through the site. This should come together in the coming months. There will be a few more additions which we be up and running soon.
As far as shows go, the two that we were scheduled play have been cancelled. They were never posted because we wanted to make sure that they were definite. As always, anyone interested in booking First Strike can contact us by e-mail or through our P.O. Box address:
First Strike / c/o Taj Majors / P.O. Box 2891 / New York, NY / 10008 USA
Until next, stay well.
- January 28th, 1999
As many of you may have noticed, there have been a number of improvements made to this site. After some feedback and some more free time, more work was put into the whole site. First, many of the images were made smaller, so the pages would load quicker. Next, the logo and the menu bar have been improved. All the pages are complete (like the lyrics and the photo pages) and the history has been slightly updated.
More links have been added: 2 Thin Lizzy and 1 Outlaws site
; two great old school bands that you should check out if you haven't already. For fans of Kung Fu movies, I've added a link to a Shaw Brothers page. And finally, all of the adult sites have been taken out. They were cool, but those kind of sites are aimed at getting people to buy stuff, and I wasn't really into that. In it's place a Military section has been added. For those interested, it has many links to a lot of various Special Forces sites. Probably the best were the U.S. Special Forces, the U.S. Navy SEALs, and the German Armed Forces page--which is probably, by far, the best web page out there at the moment.
Although, there have been lots of changes, the pages is constantly under construction: Working out the small bugs, fixing the typos, making sure things run smooth (and fast), and keeping the site presentable and interesting. As the site mainly focuses on the band, the links, photo, and the news pages will change the most. As for the immediate future, more pictures will be added to the site (if you have any of the band, get in touch) and lots more fine tunning.
As for the band, after playing a few shows, First Strike will take it easy for the moment. The band is currently setting up some dates. Many of these fall through, so if anyone is interested in booking the band get in touch. The band will head to the studio in the next few months to work on new material
Records sales have been pretty good and all of the responses to the album have positive thus far. The release of the album on a CD format is in the works and hopefully is month s away from being released.
Well, that's it for now. Next time, this update message will not be as long. Again, the feedback is appreciate, so keep it coming.
First Strike
- New album
Probably, the biggest news at the momet is the release of the lp, "In Veneration of Fallen Heroes." This album was a great effort on the part of the band and we are looking forward to any feedback. For more information, see the merchandise page.
- Pyramid, December 27th 1998
With the Templars, Oxblood, First Strike, Urban Riot, Infiltrators and the Devotchkas.
After months of good planning and promotion, the show at the Pyramid was a success. The bands all played well and the attendance was good. The first band, the Devotchkas, did not play due to their Bass player not showing up, so the Infiltrators opened the festivities. They played songs from their various releases and were well received by the crowd.
Next up was Urban Riot, who having built up a following over the years, played to an enthusiastic crowd. Playing favorites such as "Urban Riot" and "Last Call."
Next up was First Strike, who ripped through their set. Playing songs from their soon-to-be classic 7" and lp, they had
the full attention of the crowd. Songs like "On the Dick," "Bandera" and "Child Killer" were some of the highlights. They ended the set with "Red Scum," which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Oxblood were next up to bat. Fresh with a new line-up they played songs which have spanned their 6+ year career. "Under the Boot" and "Traitor" with songs like "Lawman," "The Other Side" and "Our City" (from their album "Crime stories"), made for quite a performance.
And finally, the Templars took to the stage. A band with numerous releases, their set included songs from both their full length albums ("Return of Jacques de Molay" and "Phase II") and various eps, comps and splits. All of which were well received by the audience.
With this show being the success that it was, we are looking forward to seeing more Oi! shows in NYC. Hopefully more bands from all over will be able to play here; revitalizing a scene, that at times, has lingered toward death. At this time, we should thanks Goliath Productions for putting on such a great show, the bands for playing, all the people who put in their time and money, First Strike productions for promotions, those who supplied equipment, and the people who showed up proving that Oi! wasn't dead in NYC.