{{Short description|1979 compilation EP by various artists}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{more citations needed|date=August 2015}} {{Infobox album | name = Yes L.A. | type = compilation | longtype = EP | artist = various artists | cover = VA YesLAEP artwork.jpeg | border = yes | alt = | released = {{start date|1979|08}} | recorded = 1978–1979 | studio = | genre = Punk rock | length = {{duration|m=13|s=26}} | language = | label = Dangerhouse | producer = | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = }} {{Album ratings |rev1 = ''The Vinyl District'' |rev1score = A<ref name="TVD_YesLA">Neff, Joseph (August 13, 2013). [http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2013/08/regraded-on-a-curve-dangerhouse-records-compilationyes-l-a/ "(Re)Graded on a Curve: Dangerhouse Records' Compilation, ''Yes L.A.''"]. ''The Vinyl District''. Retrieved September 12, 2016.</ref> }}
'''''Yes L.A.''''' is a six-song compilation EP featuring first-generation Californian punk rock bands. It was also the final release of the short-lived but influential Dangerhouse Records label.<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/>
==Overview== A one-sided picture disc released at the twilight of the early Los Angeles punk scene,{{refn|group=nb|"Just as the scene was being split into harder-driving, superadrenalized extreme power metal-punk on one side and simpy new wave power pop on the other, the first L.A. punk compilation album, ... ''Yes L.A.'', was released..."<br />{{in5|32}}– Brendan Mullen<ref name="WeGotheNB_p181">Spitz, Marc; Mullen, Brendan (2001). ''We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk''. New York: Three Rivers Press. {{ISBN|9780609807743}}. p. 181.</ref>}} ''Yes L.A.'' features some of its most acclaimed bands:<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/> the Bags, the Eyes, the Alley Cats, Black Randy and the Metrosquad,<ref name="AllMusic_BlackRandyBio">Lewis, Uncle Dave. [https://www.allmusic.com/artist/black-randy-the-metrosquad-mn0000080005#biography "Black Randy & the Metrosquad Biography"]. AllMusic. Retrieved September 7, 2015.</ref> X, and the Germs.<ref name="WeGotheNB_p181"/>
The record title makes parody of ''No New York'',{{refn|group=nb|Antilles #AN-7067}}<ref name="WeGotheNB_p181"/> the seminal no wave compilation album issued a year earlier,<ref name="Frontier_YesLA">[http://www.frontierrecords.com/site/frontier-reissues-rare-punk-classic-yes-la-ep/ "Frontier Reissues Rare Punk Classic: Yes LA EP!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612094953/http://www.frontierrecords.com/site/frontier-reissues-rare-punk-classic-yes-la-ep/ |date=June 12, 2015 }}. Frontier Records. Retrieved August 21, 2015.</ref> perceived as pretentious by West Coast punkers.<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/> The EP even included a satirical disclaimer printed on the disc saying: "Not produced by Brian Eno".<ref name="Frontier_YesLA"/>
The compilation includes a 1978 rawer early version of X's song "Los Angeles", described by Dangerhouse Records co-founder David Brown as "a scathing, literal depiction of the scene which needs no explanation".<ref>Various artists (1991), ''Dangerhouse: Volumen One''. Frontier Records. #FLP 31039. Liner notes.</ref> The record also features a rare alternate mix of the Germs' "No God",<ref name="CA_LisaFancher_Ivw">LeBlanc, Larry. [http://www.celebrityaccess.com/news/profile.html?id=526 "Industry Profile: Lisa Fancher"]. ''CelebrityAccess''. Retrieved May 21, 2016.</ref><ref>Backman, Karl. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161007032615/https://www.acc.umu.se/~samhain/summerofhate/germsrecords.html "The Germs Discography"]. ''The Summer of Hate''. Archived from [https://www.acc.umu.se/~samhain/summerofhate/germsrecords.html the original] on October 7, 2016.</ref> a song originally produced by Geza X{{refn|group=nb|"... We [Dangerhouse Records] were kind of feuding with him [Geza X] about some of his production techniques, which at the time was squirrelly because he's such a creative guy and he'd try anything. So we had taken the tapes of the Germs that Slash magazine owned and remixed them the way we would do it – sort of the Geza way. It was interesting to compare..."<br />{{in5|32}}– David Brown<ref name="BMF_DH_p2">Richardson, Ryan. [http://www.breakmyface.com/bands/dangerhouse2.html "Dangerhouse Records"] (history and commented discography, page 2/2). ''Break My Face''. Retrieved August 10, 2015.</ref><ref>Yohannan, Tim (August 1991). Title unknown (interview with David Brown from Dangerhouse Records). ''Maximumrocknroll'' (99).</ref>}} for the EP ''Lexicon Devil'',{{refn|group=nb|Slash #SCAM 101}} previously released in May 1978.
The ''Yes L.A.'' EP has become highly sought after by record collectors.<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/>
==Production and release== ''Yes L.A.'' was mastered by Jeff Sanders at Crystal Sound Studios in Hollywood, California.
All songs on the compilation were previously unissued, with the only exception of Black Randy and the Metrosquad's tune "Down at the Laundrymat", featured on the band's studio album ''Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie''{{refn|group=nb|Dangerhouse #PCP-725}}<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/pass-the-dust-i-think-im-bowie-mw0000118572 Black Randy and the Metrosquad, ''Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie'']. ''AllMusic''. Retrieved September 7, 2015.</ref><ref name="DCG_BR-PassDust">[http://www.discogs.com/Black-Randy-And-The-Metrosquad-Pass-The-Dust-I-Think-Im-Bowie/release/1366031 Black Randy and the Metrosquad, ''Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie'']. ''Discogs''. Retrieved September 2, 2015.</ref><ref>[https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/black_randy_and_the_metrosquad/pass_the_dust__i_think_im_bowie_.p/ Black Randy and the Metrosquad, ''Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie'']. ''Rate Your Music''. Retrieved September 7, 2015.</ref> from July 1979.<ref name="BMF_DH_p2"/>
''Yes L.A.'' was originally released in August 1979 on Dangerhouse Records,<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/><ref name="WeGotheNB_p181"/> in a limited edition of 2,000 copies<ref name="Frontier_YesLA"/><ref name="BMF_DH_p2"/> pressed on 12-inch clear vinyl discs.{{refn|group=nb|Dangerhouse #EW-79}}<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/><ref>[http://www.discogs.com/Various-Yes-LA/release/581821 ''Yes L.A.'']. ''Discogs''. Retrieved August 21, 2015.</ref><ref>[https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/various_artists_f2/yes_l_a_.p/ ''Yes L.A.'']. ''Rate Your Music''. Retrieved August 21, 2015.</ref>
==Artwork and packaging== Designed by Pat Garrett,<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/><ref name="BMF_DH_p2"/> the record artwork was silkscreened by hand on the ungrooved side of each single disc,<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/><ref name="Frontier_YesLA"/><ref name="BMF_DH_p2"/> with one of three different color combinations, namely, green/black,<ref name="TPV_YesLA_G-Bk">[http://www.punkvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/HF5A2205.jpg ''Yes L.A.'', image of the green/black Frontier version]. ''The Punk Vault''. Retrieved August 10, 2015.</ref> green/blue,<ref name="TPV_YesLA_G-Bl">[http://www.punkvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/HF5A2201.jpg ''Yes L.A.'', image of the green/blue Frontier version]. ''The Punk Vault''. Retrieved August 10, 2015.</ref> and green/red.<ref name="TPV_YesLA_G-Rd">[http://www.punkvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/HF5A2198.jpg ''Yes L.A.'', image of the green/red Frontier version]. ''The Punk Vault''. Retrieved August 10, 2015.</ref> Some of those copies were misprinted.{{refn|group=nb|20 or 30, according to David Brown from Dangerhouse Records.<ref name="BMF_DH_p2"/>}} Examples include discs with text only,<ref>[http://www.breakmyface.com/images/yesLA02.jpg ''Yes L.A.'', image of a misprinted copy]. ''Break My Face''. Retrieved August 8, 2015.</ref> with the background image in front of the text, or the image and text on the side with the grooves, rendering such a record unplayable.
Some non-silkscreened black vinyl test pressings are known to exist.<ref name="BMF_DH_p2"/>
Original copies came without a sleeve, instead packaged in a clear plastic bag with a white cardboard backing.<ref name="Frontier_YesLA"/>
==Reissues== At some point during the 1990s, the rights to ''Yes L.A.'' (and the entire Dangerhouse Records catalog) were acquired by Frontier Records.<ref name="CA_LisaFancher_Ivw"/>
In June 2013, after 34 years out of print, ''Yes L.A.'' was reissued by Frontier in a one-time limited edition of 1,000 almost exact replicas of the original EP{{refn|group=nb|Frontier #FLP 31079}}<ref name="Frontier_YesLA"/><ref>[http://www.discogs.com/Various-Yes-LA/release/4748862 ''Yes L.A.'', 2013 reissue]. ''Discogs''. Retrieved August 21, 2015.</ref><ref>[https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/various_artists_f2/yes_l_a__f1/ ''Yes L.A.'', 2013 reissue]. ''Rate Your Music''. Retrieved August 21, 2015.</ref> to commemorate the label's 100th release.<ref name="TVD_YesLA"/><ref name="CA_LisaFancher_Ivw"/>
==Track listing== ''Where it is necessary, songwriting credits are listed in the format lyrics/music''.
{{Track listing | all_writing = | extra_column = Artist | headline = | title1 = We Don't Need the English | note1 = | writer1 = Craig Lee | extra1 = Bags | length1 = 1:13 | title2 = Disneyland | note2 = | writer2 = Joe Ramirez, John Richey/Ramirez | extra2 = Eyes | length2 = 2:00 | title3 = Too Much Junk | note3 = Dangerhouse version | writer3 = Randy Stodola | extra3 = The Alley Cats | length3 = 2:41 | title4 = Down at the Laundrymat | note4 = | writer4 = Black Randy/Bob Deadwyler | extra4 = Black Randy and the Metrosquad | length4 = 3:26 | title5 = Los Angeles | note5 = Dangerhouse version | writer5 = John Doe | extra5 = X | length5 = 2:12 | title6 = No God | note6 = Dangerhouse mix | writer6 = Darby Crash | extra6 = Germs | length6 = 1:54 | total_length = 13:26 }}
==Personnel== {{Col-begin}} {{Col-2}} '''Bags''' *Alicia Armendariz (pka Alice Bag) – vocals *Patricia Morrison (pka Pat Bag) – bass *Craig Lee (pka Craig Bag) – guitar *Rob Ritter – guitar *Terry Graham (pka Terry Dad Bag) – drums '''Eyes''' *Joe Ramirez – vocals, guitar *Jimmy Leach – bass, backing vocals *Joe Nanini – drums *David Brown – organ '''The Alley Cats''' *Randy Stodola – vocals, guitar *Dianne Chai – vocals, bass *John McCarthy – drums '''Black Randy and the Metrosquad''' *Black Randy – vocals *Bob Deadwyler – guitar *Keith Barrett (aka KK Barrett) – drums *Pat Garrett – bass *David Brown – electric piano *John Duchac (pka John Doe) – percussions (wastebasket) '''X''' *Exene Cervenka – vocals *Billy Zoom – guitar *John Doe – bass, vocals *Don Bonebrake – drums '''Germs''' *Darby Crash – vocals *Pat Smear – guitar *Lorna Doom – bass *Nicky Beat – drums *Don Bolles – backing vocals and hand clapping *Pat Delaney – backing vocals and hand clapping {{Col-2}}
'''Production''' *Dangerhouse – production (track 4), co-production (1 to 3, 5), remixing (6) *Geza X – production (6), co-production (1) *Eyes – co-production (2) *Randy Stodola – co-production (3) *Jimmy Nanos – co-production (5), engineering (5) *Pat Rand (Pat Garrett) – co-production (5), graphic design *X – co-production (5) *Mike Hamilton – engineering (4) *Jeff Sanders – mastering {{col-end}}
== See also == * 1979 in music * Punk rock in California
== Notes == {{Reflist|group=nb|30em}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://www.frontierrecords.com/site/frontier-reissues-rare-punk-classic-yes-la-ep/ "Frontier Reissues Rare Punk Classic: Yes LA EP!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612094953/http://www.frontierrecords.com/site/frontier-reissues-rare-punk-classic-yes-la-ep/ |date=June 12, 2015 }}. ''Frontier Records''.
Category:Regional music compilation albums Category:1979 compilation albums Category:Punk rock compilation albums Category:Music of Los Angeles Category:Dangerhouse Records compilation albums