CH3 - I've Got A Gun/After The Lights Go Out 1991

Once again Anagram Records, today with a Compliation CD from their The Punk Collectors Series and on stage are Channel 3 from Cerritos/CA, formed 1980 by Mike (vocals/guitar), Kimm (guitar), Larry (bass) and Mike (drums). Info: the bands first release was the CH3 7Inch via Posh Boy Records and the slab received good critical notices, but the band’s limited exposure kept it a modest success. This began a campaign to play every show possible, in any location that would have the band. Interest began growing, the band got better, and by the time Fear Of Life was released Summer 1982, the band was ready for its first extensive US tour. At the time, touring the punk club circuit was a shaky proposition at best. There were lots of cancellations, lots of fights and the band’s constant travel probably contributed to its healthy turnover rate, and the 1983 tour in support of After The Lights Go Out saw Posh Boy Veteran Jay Lansford joining the band. Jay, a former member of the Simpletones and Stepmothers brought a new professionalism to them.  Channel 3 was at the peak of its popularity, playing to large crowds, and enjoying chart success in Europe with the I Got A Gun UK release. By the mid eighties, the band was spending more time in the rehearsal studio, experimenting with a five man lineup and stretching out creatively. Airborne , the first release on Enigma records, was a stylistic departure for CH3. Many fans refer to this as the definitive dawn of the “You Guys Suck!” phase in the band’s history. That record’s emphasis on song over speed alienated some fans, but allowed the band to begin playing more high profile shows. Empowered by a new sense of artistic freedom, Channel 3 then delivered Last Time I Drank in 1985, a record that many HardcorePunk fans found not only a shocking display of musicianship, but also a blatant display of disrespect of all things bald, broke, and smelling of clove cigarettes. Never fond of the strict conformity of Punk Rock’s non-conformist manifesto, the band continued to explore musically. The final release of the Eighties was the aptly named Rejected, a curious mix of studio projects that sounds like a weary Amen! after a long and desperate prayer...

The band kept a low profile through the Nineties. Besides the annual Doll Hut benefit show and the rare late night television appearance, the band had all but vanished. But CH3 was not done, they had simply retreated to the basement lab, plotting for the inevitable return with a maniacal laugh! Early 2000’s, CH3 found itself back on the road, and with a new record on Dr Strange Records, the band was back on track and curiously playing to bigger crowds than ever. The last sign of life on vinyl was the Put 'Em Up album (2017) and there will certainly something new, because the band are far from finished!

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