Toxikus Obliterate is an Album-Minus-Band work of punk rock splendour by the kid on the cover of this 1991 skate mag.
Jon-Pat Myers (ex Toxik Sox guitarist) Belts out some of the best punk rock jams South-Side of the equator.
This long overdue batch of previously unreleased mayhem (a small excerpt from his library of 4-track self recorded demos) is out on We Did This. God Help you all.
*Toxik Sox was an apartheid era johannesburg punk band
'Wild Youth started in March 1978 but the story began a year before. We grew up in the suburbs along the North Coast about ten miles away from Durban. Wild Youth was born out of boredom, my friend Mark Dyson and I bored out of our skulls sitting in his lounge listening to Rolling Stones records. Sometimes our friend Peter Kunst would join us but he had a girlfriend so he had less free time. Boredom is good for rock and roll. Mark and I decided to start a punk band with Peter. Peter would play bass and sing. I would play guitar and sing and Mark would play the drums. We decided to call it The Fourth Reich, a stupid name as we weren’t fascist or racist just young dumb and wanted to cause a reaction. My dad had grown up in Czechoslovakia under Nazi oppression and he has told me some horrific personal recollections from those days but that is a story in itself...'
Toxik Sox began in uhh....?// 80 something. 86? Maybe 87!
Original members in order of appearance..
Vox- Jeremy Franklin, Anti and James played a gig or two
Bass-Simon White
Drums- Martin Coetzee, Brendan McGinty
Guitar- Ricky
Guitar-Jon-Pat Myers
The band was influenced by many bands- Crass, Dead Kennedys, Conflict, GBH, Discharge, Subhumans, Peter and the test tubes, Spermbirds, UK Subs.
Playing mostly at club Image in JHB the band played with other notables like Omsepis and the Metal band Ragnarok also from the JHB area.
The band only cut one "demo" that was played on radio and managed to be one of the first "Punk" bands to get up on bigger stages such as the Portuguese hall and Thunderdome gigs.
Pretty short lived but noisy so called career that brought together many elements of the JHB alternative scene and paved the way for other more musically adept bands to continue in it's fetid wake!
Toxik Sox - Hind site Tribute Sampler VS Toxikus - Sampler (by John Pat Mayers)
This download is sadly not Toxik Sox.. But what we have for you is a tribute recording of 3 of the Toxik Sox songs by guitarist Jon-Pat Myers and 2 other songs by his fictitious band TOXIKUS. Including a daring cover of the Sex Pistols song "Submission"
Here is a DIY compilation of South African punk bands who played despite the regime's repression.
80s punk with great anger - and a call to resistance.
Tracklist:
01 - Chaos SA - Uranium Sux
02 - PowerAge - World War III
03 - Screaming Foetus - Screaming Foetus
04 - Surf or Die - Moral
05 - Leopard - Boys & Bitches
06 - Riot Squad SA - Security System
07 - Wild Justice - Pratical Solution
08 - PowerAge - Eat Wheat Not Meat
09 - Screaming Foetus - World of Sin
10 - Wild Youth - Record Co's
11 - Asylum Kids - Policemen
12 - Private File - All is Plastic
13 - Gay Marines - Your Gen. Makes Me Sick
14 - Warspike - Terrorist Attack
15 - PowerAge - Stop Apartheid
*BONUS TRACK* Zonzile - Moment by Moment/Exiled Shadows
"Powerage was one of the first punk bands to come out of South Africa, with songs against apartheid, the a.w.b., and everything that they saw wrong in the world. Through the time Powerage was together the line up changed several times. This is definitely one of the bravest punk bands to have come out of the 80s" - Last FM
"Power Age formed in Durban, South Africa in June 1981. The first line-up was Spike-vocals, Brett-guitar, Brian-guitar, Dave-bass, Mark Pills-drums. The first gig was on 3rd October 1981 supporting the Gay Marines. It was their first encounter with the police as well, as Spike got taken in, because some policemen didn't like his pink mohawk. In June '82 Spike arranged a benefit show and 6 punk bands played. The show was a great success. Straight after this show Brian and Dave left. Midge joined on bass and it proved better with one guitar, so it was kept to a four piece. In November '82 Mark left to go live in England. Rubin Rose (previously from South Africa’s first punk band Wild Youth and later Warspike) replaced him immediately and the band really started moving. .. .. In April '83 they put out their first 7" vinyl release ‘World War 3 / Vengeance of Youth’. At the same time Midge left the band due to musical differences. The band was stagnant for 2 months until Paddy joined on bass. He was a good friend of the band but had never played before, so it was like starting again. In '84 the 2 songs off the first 7" were released on the UK compilation LP ‘Beating the Meat’. At this time in Durban (and the whole of South Africa) the scene was virtually dead - Power Age were the only punk band. In June '84 they played the ‘Punk '84’ show with new bands Wild Justice and State Control. It was a fantastic success and the owner of the venue let them run it for punk shows. Things went well and a good number of bands sprung up and the scene started moving. In June '85 they put out a C-60 tape ‘Who Are You?’ - one side studio, the other live and also succeeded in getting a track ‘System’ onto a French compilation EP entitled ‘Single Ticket to Paradise’. November '85 saw the release of the now legendary 4-track EP ‘Stop Apartheid’ in France by Neg-FX Records. In May '86 the band put out another C-60 tape release ‘Ripe for Terror’. At the same time they did a benefit show for a friend in jail. The venue owner somehow heard that it was a benefit for the ANC, and called the police. The police came, smashed up the gig and it was over. Luckily no one was arrested. .. .. Then the saddest moment came... Rubin quit the band in June '86. He had warned he might have to leave due to mounting pressure from his bosses. Peter then joined on drums, but couldn't play, so the band were stagnant again for 3 months. In February '87 they put out the 2 song 7" tribute to Rubin ‘World Today / Waiting for the War’ (recorded in '84) on their new label Power Noize Records. At the same time Peter left to play with Screaming Foetus and their good friend Choppy replaced him. In April '87 Power Age released a 5-track EP entitled ‘The Last Dove’. June '87 saw the release of the EP ‘Backlash’, a split EP with New Zealand-band Compos Mentis released on Out Of Order Records as well as one track ‘Eat Wheat Not Meat’ on a USA compilation LP entitled ‘The ALF Is Watching And You Can't Escape’. .. .. Having played only 77 shows in their 7 year existence Power Age played their last show on the 29th of July '88 . This show was recorded and made available as the ‘Live in Durban’ LP... .. ..
Members Those who served 1981 - 1987: .. .. Spike - vocals .. Brett - guitar .. Brian - guitar .. Dave - bass .. Midge - bass .. Paddy - bass .. Mark - drums .. Rubin - drums .. Peter - drums .. Choppy - drums .. .... ...." -Myspace
