Back in 1983, two high school friends decided that they should form a punk band together. Donn Vanak (vocalist; who would later join Kitty Badass, The Bombsite Boys, and Clusterfuck!) and Phil (lead guitar), Opie (bass), Jerry (guitar), and Jim the Human Drum Machine on drums formed Vic Morrow's Head. Their music was similar to MDC and the Dead Kennedys. They were the first punk band from Yuma, Arizona.
Vic Morrow's Head's first show was thrown in a "chickenshit" field. The band set up and ready to create some anarcho-punk terrorism until Jim forgot his drum key and the band soon found out that the power generators didn't work. So they moved the show to Phil's mom's house. Phil's mom was a pretty open-minded person so she allowed the show to occur. The police arrived when they played "Holiday In Cambodia" by the Dead Kennedys. Opie decided to harrass the police by trying to convince them to let him see their guns. That caused the cops to just leave. By the end of the show, Phil's mom's house was destroyed. But that house would be the first punk venue in Yuma.
They opened up for the Circle Jerks at the Mason Jar in Phoenix in 1983. After the show, Opie took the van, leaving the rest of the band stranded at a motel, to fuck his girlfriend in the cemetary. Opie arrived a few hours later and he and Phil got into a huge arguement on who should drive the band back to Yuma. Jim, to settle the arguement, decides to drive. He falls asleep at the wheel and wrecks the van leaving a nice-sized hole in the gas tank. So they stop off in Gila Bend to get more gas and coffee. When they returned to Yuma, Jim had to pay $400.00 in damages to the van. Another tale would be when Jerry and Opie were handcuffed in the back of a squad car for "recreational use of prescription medicine." The cops were going to take Jerry and Opie home but since Opie's dad was an abusive ex war vet and crazier than Opie was, Opie just begged the cops to just shoot him. Jerry, however, proceeded to sing "Kill The Poor" in the back of the cop car.
Opie was kicked out of the band and formed the Betrayed. Donn and Phil formed the new Vic Morrow's Head line-up that involved a guitar shredder named Beth, John Richardsomn to replace Opie on bass, and Joe Byrnes on drums.That was when the band was non-stop!
Opie commited suicide and Jerry died of AIDS. Beth is still involved with playing guitar and John Richardsomn plays bass for the Early Day Miners. Joe Byrnes plays drums with the anarcho-crust band The Enablers (who are on Neurot recordings). Phil moved to Budapest to become a poet. Donn, however, joined and formed many bands such as G-String Eyepatch, Kitty Badass, The Bombsite Boys, and Clusterfuck! They were the first band to bring punk rock to Yuma, as a punk band.
Notable Vic Morrow's Head Songs:
Detox
Toetags On Parade
Runaway
Sandinista
Ruhmba Is God
The Grind