Lost photos show Black Flag’s history
The members of Panic, who would quickly become Black Flag, horsing around on Aviation Boulevard. Photo courtesy Ryan Richardson Forty years ago, some dithering about the release of an EP from four kids in Hermosa Beach laid the foundation for alternative music. The band behind the songs, Panic, had a short run before they eventually become Black Flag. A bit more of that brief history has come to light recently with the release of “Panic!” a book of photos documenting the band’s early days. The photos, all in black and white, depict band practices, mugging for the camera, and candid goofing around, all of it in the South Bay. Ryan Richardson, the punk enthusiast behind the book, scrambled to get the book out to coincide with the 40th anniversary of “Nervous Breakdown,” their first record, and Black Flag’s first show, which took place Jan. 27, 1979 at the Moose Lodge in Redondo Beach. Richardson said that he was moved to put it out because it captures a critical period in the history of Black Flag. The band was set to release what would become “Nervous Breakdown” with Southern California label Bomp! Records. But Bomp! delayed, and Greg Ginn’s SST Records, which would become the most…
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