Representative Albums: "Living in Darkness," "This Is the Voice," "Real Live Sound"
Representative Songs: "Bloodstains," "Fire in the Rain," "Pipeline"
Biography
Punk to the core, yet with audible influences from early heavy metal and surf rock, Agent Orange formed in Fullerton, California at the end of the '70s, with vocalist/guitarist Mike Palm, bassist James Levesque and drummer Scott Miller. The first Agent Orange record, released in 1981 on Poshboy Records in the midst of Southern California's already hectic hardcore community, cemented their reputation as one of the best skate-punk bands around the area. Two EPs during the next few years were all the band released until 1986's This Is the Voice, for Restless/Enigma. A much less energetic LP with brighter melodies and an emphasis on vocal audibility, it was also Agent Orange's last for quite awhile, except for a 1990 live record. The group was resurrected later in the decade, touring the world and recording the 1996 LP Virtually Indestructible. In 2000 Cleopatra released Greatest and Latest, a collection of songs from Agent Orange's catalog rerecorded by the band with three new songs, which was later reissued in 2004 on the Anarchy Music label under the title Blood Stained Hitz. In between these two identical issues, Restless released a two-disc best-of titled Sonic Snake Session, which chronicled many of the group's defining moments in one set. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Agent Orange is an American rockband formed in Orange County, California in 1979. The band is one of the first to mix punk rock with surf music. They first gained attention with their song "Bloodstains" which they released on their own 7" E.P. An early demo of the song was presented to KROQ, Pasadena radio station's D.J. Rodney Bingenheimer, which soon became one of his show's biggest hits.
Besides having Mike Palm and Scott Miller as original members, Steve Soto was the power trio’s first bass player, the one who played on the first "Bloodstains". The Darkness Version of this song later appeared on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. Soto later left the band to form The Adolescents. With new member James Levesque on bass, the group found their way to the famous Living In Darkness sessions at Brian Elliot recording studio (Elliot is most known for having composed Madonna’s hit "Papa Don’t Preach"). The result of these sessions was their first long player, Living In Darkness (originally released by Posh Boy Records in November 1981). In 1988, Brent Liles replaced James Levesque on bass and later that year, Agent Orange recorded Living In Total Darkness, which was a re-recording of the original Living in Darkness album with a few new songs mixed in. This album did not go national and very few copies exist. In 1989, Derek O'Brien replaced Scott Miller on drums and in 1990, Agent Orange recorded Real Live Sound. This is the only Agent Orange recording to feature the Palm/Liles/O'Brien lineup. Sam Bolle replaced Brent Liles in January 1992, and remained with the band until May 2003, when he left to join Surf Guitar Legend Dick Dale's band, where he remains to this day.
Agent Orange has had an enormous influence on the skate punk or skate-core scene even though band members stated on Living in Darkness that "We don't like skating at all."
