Flint Punk 1981–86
Black-and-white illustrative re-creation of a crowded punk show: a singer leans into the crowd as fists go up. Headline: Flint Makes Its Own Noise. Punk 1981–1986 and Beyond.
Illustrative re-creationThis title image is an illustration made for this page, not a photograph of a Flint show. The flyers, photographs and recordings further down are real, and each one is credited to its source.

Flint Makes Its Own Noise

Flint & Genesee County, Michigan · 1981–1986 & beyond

Dissonance, the Guilty Bystanders, and the hall-show underground that put a factory town on the punk circuit.

Somebody has to rent the hall.

Before anybody gets to be a threat to Western civilization, somebody has to find a room, arrange the bands, and get the word out. This is the part of punk rock that rarely makes the record sleeve. In Flint, it’s practically the whole operation.

Then the bands start playing.

Between 1981 and 1986, a network of local musicians, record-store regulars, promoters, and kids with somewhere else they’d rather be builds an underground around places like Wild Bill’s, Ukrainian Hall, Kishma Grotto, and Prospect Hall. Dissonance becomes one of its engines. The Guilty Bystanders become a fixture. And touring bands start showing up with names you might already have scrawled on a notebook.

Black Flag. Seven Seconds. Suicidal Tendencies. D.R.I.

Check the flyer. They’re playing here.

I was there!
–

Were you there? Tap if you were in the crowd.

Loading the live count…

Dissonance does the work

Dissonance gets going in 1982 and proceeds with the reasonable assumption that waiting for somebody else to create a scene could take forever.S3

So they play. They book. They promote.

Their history runs through changing lineups, demo tapes, local shows, and eventually a national tour in 1986. Phill Hines is behind the drums. Tanya Narhi plays bass. Mike Grossklaus and later Andy Turpen handle vocals during different stretches of the band’s life.S3

The recordings are fast, forceful hardcore, with room for musical curiosity. Their own account admits metal, rock, and funk creeping into the machinery. You can hear musicians working things out without waiting for permission from the genre police.S3S4

“Cruise Control” gets onto Another Shot for Bracken, the Positive Force compilation. That gives somebody outside Michigan a chance to put Dissonance on a tape and wonder what else is happening in Flint.S4

Quite a bit, as it turns out.

Wild Bill’s has the evidence

The old advertisements are admirably direct.

April 1, 1984: Generic Society and the Guilty Bystanders at Wild Bill’s.

March 12: Dissonance and Strange Fruit. Two bucks, according to the surviving listing.S12

For the price of an unremarkable afternoon, you could get something you’d still be talking about forty years later.

The Guilty Bystanders belong squarely in this story. John and Steve Vamossy, Gary Mueller, Shawn Wharton, Lee Conquest, Steve Reddy—names that appear across the band’s history and mean something considerably more specific if you knew them from school or stood in front of them at a show.S5

There’s footage. There are recordings. There’s an actual Wild Bill’s advertisement, preserved long enough to become an artifact.

Watch the Guilty Bystanders at Wild Bill’s. Then watch Dissonance in the same room.

Watch · Guilty Bystanders
The Guilty Bystanders at Wild Bill’s, 1984 · Flint Underground Music Archive. The video’s description lists John Vamossy (vocals), Steve Vamossy (bass), “Major Dissappointment” (guitar), and Phill Hines of Dissonance sitting in on drums. The Dissonance footage from the same room is the featured video above.
Watch on YouTube

The equipment recording it may have had its limitations. Fortunately, nobody waited for better equipment.

Yes, Black Flag played here

October 10, 1984: Black Flag and Saccharine Trust at Ukrainian Hall.S8

July 16, 1985: Black Flag again, this time with Saint Vitus on the bill.S6S11

There’s something satisfying about finding these dates in the records. Henry Rollins and company, working their way across the country, arriving at a hall in Flint. A surviving newspaper clipping and audience recollections put some human detail back into the itinerary, including the room’s distinctly inadequate approach to air conditioning.

And the calendar keeps filling up.

Seven Seconds at Kishma Grotto in September ’84, sharing a bill with Dissonance, Godspeed, and Out of Order. Slayer and Dissonance at Ukrainian Hall that November. Suicidal Tendencies the following April. Seven Seconds back in August ’85.S7S9S11

By November, C.O.C. and D.R.I. are at Kishma Grotto with Dissonance and Genocide.S7

Imagine keeping that flyer.

Watch · Slayer in Flint
Slayer, “Fight Till Death,” Flint, 1984 · The archive’s video index lists this as Slayer at Ukrainian Hall (1984). The YouTube copy was posted by a separate uploader as “Flint MI 84,” so the specific date isn’t confirmed.
Watch on YouTube

Record stores are where you find the other people

Doug Earp and Wyatt Earp Records matter because records have to come from somewhere. So do introductions, information, and the discovery that somebody else in town listens to this stuff.S19S23

People remember Wyatt Earp and Rock a Rolla as gathering places. Musicians-wanted notices could lead to a band. A conversation could lead to a show.S4

Ben Hamper’s Take No Prisoners on WFBE gives the music another way into somebody’s life.S5

Joel Rash starts booking concerts in 1985. One recording preserves Political Silence playing “Rash Auditorium” that May.S20

The auditorium is his parents’ basement in Grand Blanc.

Keep that detail. It tells you more about the enterprise than a dozen solemn declarations about the importance of underground culture.

Listen · Political Silence at “Rash Auditorium”
Political Silence · Rash Auditorium · May 11, 1985 · Recorded in the basement of Joel Rash’s parents’ house in Grand Blanc. The item lists Ivan After 5 (bass), John Mueller (vocals) and Gary Mueller (guitar), with a drum machine.
Open on the Internet Archive

The next band is already in the audience

Ross Barkey later remembers seeing Dissonance, C.O.C., and D.R.I. in 1985 and being inspired to start a band. That becomes part of Smiling Sacrifice’s story.S18

Genocide is working toward becoming Repulsion. Scott Carlson recalls rehearsing at Phill Hines and Tanya’s house; Hines plays drums in an early lineup. The connections are personal and practical. People share space, play together, hear something, and push it further.S15S16

Repulsion’s 1986 recordings will eventually reach the world as Horrified and help shape grindcore and death metal.S16S17

Watch · Repulsion
Repulsion at the Fallout Shelter, fall 1987 · Flint Underground Music Archive. The description says it was recorded in November 1987 in the basement of the Capitol Theatre, with Scott Carlson, Matt Olivo, Aaron Freeman and Dave Grave.
Watch on YouTube

At the time, there’s still a rehearsal to get through.

Keep the flyers

Dissonance breaks up in 1987. Other bands continue. Rash keeps booking. The Capitol Theatre and Flint Local 432 carry the work into another generation.S3S21

Years later, recordings turn up online. Somebody scans a flyer. Somebody identifies a face in a photograph. A band member remembers the date differently, and the discussion starts again.

That’s the history worth keeping alongside the band names and release dates: the rooms, the people, and the work it took to get a show on.

Somebody rented the hall.
You showed up.

The record, chapter by chapter

A concise history

The story above, broken into chapters and keyed to sources. No single source tells the whole story.

Before hardcore

Flint’s underground had roots before hardcore. The Flint Underground Music Archive names the Rub as an early influence, with performances going back to 1973. Its recommended recordings show the variety of the early 1980s: Dachau Club, Generic Society, Dissonance, Solidarnösc and the Guilty Bystanders. Punk, new wave and synthesizer music shared the same small scene.S1

Doug Earp opened Wyatt Earp Records in Flint Township in 1981.S19 That same year Ben Hamper, later the author of Rivethead, started the radio show Take No Prisoners on WFBE 95, the Flint Central station.S23S5

Dissonance, 1982–1987

The band’s retrospective dates Dissonance to 1982–1987 and records a national tour in summer 1986. Its musicians booked and promoted shows as well as playing them. Over their career they shared bills with Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, C.O.C., 7 Seconds, D.R.I., Wasted Youth, Die Kreuzen, Toxic Reasons, the Crucifucks and Slayer. That list covers their whole career and doesn’t mean every pairing happened in Flint.S3

Members across changing lineups included drummer Phill Hines, bassist Tanya Narhi, vocalists Mike Grossklaus and Andy Turpen, and guitarists Jim Holbel, Brent Bonet, Matt Olivo, Brian Story, Steve Newlan and Chris McNichols. Sources spell several of these names differently, so credits are worth checking before they’re treated as definitive.S3

The music got around on demos. “Cruise Control” appeared on Another Shot for Bracken on Positive Force. A later retrospective gathered three demos, other sessions, live recordings and reunion material in a handmade box set with a DVD.S4

The Guilty Bystanders

The Guilties were an enduring part of the local scene. A 2021 Fish and the Flint Chronicles program brought Gary Mueller, John Vamossy and Joel Rash together to discuss the band and the wider community. Its lineup list includes Steve and John Vamossy, Gary Mueller, Lee Conquest, Shawn Wharton and Steve Reddy across the band’s history. The accompanying collection includes a Wild Bill’s flyer and photos from April 1, 1984, material from Ukrainian Hall and later images.S5 The archive describes Live at Wild Bill’s (1984) as the band’s first official album.S13

The bands knew each other’s songs and would help each other out with equipment or personnel issues that might arise during a show.

Flint Underground Music Archive, from the description of the Guilty Bystanders’ 1984 Wild Bill’s video. Source

What sustained the scene

Doug Earp and Wyatt Earp Records, Joel Rash’s promoting, rented halls, rehearsal spaces in people’s homes, local zines and radio all helped connect people. The archive identifies 710 Avon Street as part of the scene’s history.S2 The Flint Chronicles account highlights Ben Hamper’s Take No Prisoners on WFBE. It also mentions the El Matador bar on Harrison Street, a former lunch counter that by June 1983 was drawing a younger crowd for punk shows.S5

One commenter on the Punk Vault review remembers Wyatt Earp Records and Rock a Rolla Records as places where bands formed off the notice boards. That’s one attendee’s memory, not a verified account of everyone’s experience.S4

If we had a show poster to hang, Doug would always let us put it up at Wyatt Earp.

John Mueller of Political Silence, quoted in The Flint Journal, Dec. 24, 2010. Source

Touring bands in rented halls

National touring acts mostly came through rented halls: Ukrainian Hall on Pasadena Avenue in Flint, Kishma Grotto Hall on East Judd Road in Burton, and later Prospect Hall. Black Flag’s fall 1984 itinerary has Flint’s Ukrainian Hall on October 10, between Cincinnati and Kalamazoo.S8 Slayer played the same hall with Dissonance on November 20, 1984.S9 The show list below has every documented date.

Doug often helped Flint’s fledgling promoters with the dollars to bring these acts to town.

Jim Holbel, guitarist with Dissonance, in a 2004 guestbook tribute to Doug Earp. Source

A chaptered timeline

Chapter one · 1973–1981

Roots

  1. 1973

    The archive identifies the Rub as an early influence, with performances starting this year.S1

  2. 1981

    Doug Earp opens Wyatt Earp Records in Flint Township.S19 Ben Hamper starts Take No Prisoners on WFBE 95.S23

Chapter two · 1982–1986

The hall-show years

  1. 1982

    Dissonance forms, according to the band’s retrospective.S3

  2. 1983

    By June the El Matador on Harrison Street is booking punk for a young crowd. The Flint Chronicles places the Guilty Bystanders at the front of the scene that year.S5

  3. 1984

    A spring run of shows at Wild Bill’s Nightclub on Miller Road. Black Flag (Oct. 10) and Slayer (Nov. 20) play Ukrainian Hall.S12S8S9

  4. 1985

    Joel Rash starts booking concerts, “on a dare” in his own words.S20 Political Silence plays one of its first shows in May.S13

  5. 1986

    Dissonance tours the country in the summer.S3 Repulsion records the material later released as Horrified.S15S16

Chapter three · 1987 onward

What came after

  1. 1987

    Dissonance disbands in the summer.S3 Regular Local shows run at the Capitol Theatre from 1987 to 1993.S21

  2. 1989

    Horrified comes out on Necrosis Records, the label run by members of Carcass.S16S17

  3. 1994

    The Local moves into the former Economy Shoe Store.S21S22

  4. 2004

    Doug Earp dies on December 17, at age 50.S23

  5. 2005

    In December, Dissonance reunites at the first Earpfest as a tribute to Earp.S3

  6. 2006

    Phill Hines dies on December 25. A Dissonance release party was already set for December 27 at Churchill’s in Flint.S24

  7. 2012

    The “new” Local opens at 124 W. First St.S21

  8. 2021

    Fish and the Flint Chronicles records its Guilty Bystanders conversation (July 7).S5

  9. 2025

    Flint Local 432 marks 40 years, counting from 1985.S21

The later legacy

Scott Carlson of Repulsion has said that the band’s early version rehearsed at the house Phill Hines and Tanya Narhi shared, where Dissonance practiced, and that Hines drummed in its early lineup. Its 1986 recording came out as Horrified in 1989 and became influential in grindcore and death metal.S15S16S17 Smiling Sacrifice bassist Ross Barkey said seeing Dissonance, C.O.C. and D.R.I. in 1985 is what inspired him to start a band.S18 Political Silence played from 1985 to 1988 and reunited for the final Earpfest in 2010.S19

I was inspired to start a band after seeing Dissonance, Corrosion of Conformity and D.R.I. at Krishna Grotto in 1985.

Ross Barkey of Smiling Sacrifice, quoted in The Flint Journal, Jan. 26, 2011. “Krishna” is a common misspelling of Kishma Grotto. Source

Flint Local 432. In his own biography, Joel Rash dates his concert booking to 1985.S20 Flintside describes regular Local shows at the Capitol Theatre from 1987 to 1993 and a move to the old Economy Shoe Store in 1994.S21 The venue’s own history says it was established in 1987 and formally became the Flint Local 432 with the shoe-store purchase in 1994.S22 Each date marks a different step: booking in 1985, a regular room in 1987, and a building of its own in 1994. Later generations kept the all-ages DIY tradition going.

Dissonance reunited in December 2005 as a tribute to Doug Earp, who died in 2004. Phill Hines died on December 25, 2006. Their retrospective preserved music and footage that might otherwise be hard to find.S3S23S24

Chronological show list

Touring shows and local bills

A selection of historical listings, not a complete calendar. Each entry shows the date, the bands, the venue, the city, the source and a verification note. Burton is part of the wider Flint area, and its shows are labeled Burton.

Listing checkedsource page opened Oct. 15, 2026 and shows this date. Flagsee the note. Addedalso in the cited source, not in the original research brief.
“Listed” isn’t proof of attendance. Dates come from listings and flyers that may themselves be wrong.

198414 dates
Feb 20
Generic Society
Wild Bill’s Nightclub, 4443 Miller Rd · Flint
Listing checkedS12. No flyer located.
Mar 3
The Crucifucks
House party · Flint
AddedS10 lists a Flint house party on this date.
Mar 11
Dissonance · Private Angst
Wild Bill’s Nightclub · Flint
Listing checkedS12
Mar 12
Dissonance · Strange Fruit
Wild Bill’s Nightclub · Flint
Listing checkedS12
Mar 25
Solidarnösc
Wild Bill’s Nightclub · Flint
AddedDate from the archive’s video title, “Wild Bill’s 3/25/84.” Item
Mar 26
Solidarnösc
Wild Bill’s Nightclub · Flint
AddedDate from the archive’s video title, “3/26/84.” The item calls this the band’s final show before it re-formed as Godspeed a few months later. Item
Apr 1
Generic Society · The Guilty Bystanders
Wild Bill’s Nightclub · Flint
Flyer checkedS12, S5. The original flyer reads “Sunday, April 1st” with no year. April 1, 1984 was a Sunday, and the year comes from the Flint Chronicles caption. See the flyer
Apr 8
The Linkletters · Dissonance
Wild Bill’s Nightclub · Flint
Listing checkedS12. The archive describes the Linkletters as being from Detroit.
Apr 9
The Linkletters · Western Arrest
Wild Bill’s Nightclub · Flint
Listing checkedS12
Jul 6
The Exploited
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
FlagS6 blocked our automated check. The same date appears on setlist.fm (S11, page 2).
Sep 28
7 Seconds · Dissonance · Godspeed · Out of Order
Kishma Grotto Hall, 2501 E. Judd Rd · Burton
Listing checkedS7
Oct 10
Black Flag · Saccharine Trust
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
Listing checkedS8, Black Flag’s fall 1984 tour itinerary.
Nov 2
Shocking Grasp · Guilty Bystanders · House of Mirth · Godspeed
Ukrainian Hall · Flint · “Spooky Spooky III” masquerade
Flyer checkedS5. The flyer reads “Friday, Nov. 2,” all ages, $3, doors at 7:00 p.m., with no year printed. Nov. 2, 1984 was a Friday. See the flyer
Nov 20
Slayer · Dissonance
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
Listing checkedS9 lists a $5 ticket and the Show No Mercy tour.
198510 dates
Jan 19
The Crucifucks
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
Listing checkedS10
Apr 14
Suicidal Tendencies
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
Listing checkedS6 blocked our automated check. The date appears on setlist.fm (S11).
May 11
Political Silence
“Rash Auditorium,” the basement of Joel Rash’s parents’ house · Grand Blanc
AddedFrom the archive’s audio item, which calls this one of the band’s first shows, played with a drum machine before Jeff Mintline joined on drums.
Jun 7
Dissonance · The Evil Clowns · The Guilty Bystanders · Political Silence
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
AddedS7
Jul 16
Black Flag · Saint Vitus
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
FlagListed on S6 and S11 (setlist.fm notes the Loose Nut tour). The Flint Expats clipping post mixes up its years. Keep this separate from the October 1984 show.
Aug 22
7 Seconds · Born Without a Face · Dissonance · Godspeed
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
Listing checkedS11
Sep 7
Generic Society · The Guilty Bystanders · House of Mirth · Political Silence
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
AddedS7
Oct 30
Raw Power · Decry · The Guilty Bystanders
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
AddedS11 lists all three on this date as separate entries.
Nov 25
C.O.C. · D.R.I. · Dissonance · Genocide
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
Listing checkedS7. Genocide was the name of the band that became Repulsion (S15, S16).
1985
Dissonance
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
FlagThe archive’s audio is labeled only “Ukranian Hall (1985).” It isn’t matched to a specific date. Listen
19868 dates
Jan 31
The Crucifucks
Ukrainian Hall · Flint
Listing checkedS10
Feb 28
False Prophets · Genocide · The Guilty Bystanders · Political Silence · Public Noise
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
Listing checkedS7. The listing also includes Political Silence and Public Noise, which the original brief left out.
Mar 22
The Evil Clowns · The Guilty Bystanders · Political Silence
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
AddedS7
Mar 27
House of Mirth · The Guilty Bystanders
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
AddedS7
May 10
Angry Red Planet · The Guilty Bystanders · Life Sentence · Political Silence
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
AddedS7
Jun 6
Benefit for a School in Africa: Dissonance · The Guilty Bystanders · House of Mirth, with others
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
AddedS7. The listing also shows “11:55 Bats,” and it isn’t clear whether that’s one band or two.
Jul 12
Toxic Reasons · Alien Nation · Political Silence · Urban Disaster
Kishma Grotto Hall · Burton
AddedS7
Sep 17
MDC · The Crucifucks
Prospect Hall · Flint
Listing checkedS10
Watch & listen

Recordings from the archive

All of these come from the Flint Underground Music Archive at takenoprisoners.info, run by Aaron Stengel, and its uploads to YouTube and the Internet Archive. One clip was posted by a separate uploader. Titles and years follow the archive’s labels. “Link checked” means the item page or video was live on Oct. 15, 2026. It doesn’t mean every recording was played start to finish. None of these recordings belong to this page.S13S14

Listen · Guilty Bystanders
The Guilty Bystanders · Live at Wild Bill’s (1984) · The Internet Archive item includes scans of the original lyric-sheet booklet.
Open on the Internet Archive

  • Video
    Dissonance at Wild Bill’s · labeled 1984
    Featured at the top. The video description says 1983. See the date note. Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Video
    Guilty Bystanders at Wild Bill’s · 1984
    Phill Hines sits in on drums. Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Audio
    Guilty Bystanders · Live at Wild Bill’s · 1984
    Player above. Item page checked.
    Internet Archive
  • Video
    Solidarnösc at Wild Bill’s · show 1 · 3/25/84
    Item page checked.
    Internet Archive
  • Video
    Solidarnösc at Wild Bill’s · show 2 · 3/26/84
    Described as the band’s last show before it became Godspeed. Item page checked.
    Internet Archive
  • Video
    The Linkletters at Wild Bill’s · first show · 1984
    Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Video
    The Linkletters at Wild Bill’s · second show · 1984
    Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Audio
    Guilty Bystanders at Prospect Hall · 1984
    Item page checked.
    Internet Archive
  • Audio
    Dissonance at Kishma Grotto · 1984
    Burton. Item page checked.
    Internet Archive
  • Audio
    Dissonance at Ukrainian Hall · 1985
    Item page checked.
    Internet Archive
  • Video
    Slayer at Ukrainian Hall · 1984
    Embedded above in the history. Different uploader. Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Audio
    Political Silence at Rash Auditorium · May 11, 1985
    Basement of Joel Rash’s parents’ house, Grand Blanc. Player in People & places. Item page checked.
    Internet Archive
  • Video
    Political Silence at Seifert’s · 1987
    The YouTube title says September 1987. Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Video
    Repulsion at the Fallout Shelter · fall 1987
    Embedded above in the history. Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Video
    Smiling Sacrifice at the Fallout Shelter · fall 1987
    Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Video
    Guilty Bystanders at the Fenton Gazebo · summer 1987
    Fenton, Mich. The description says Ben Hamper makes a guest appearance. Link checked.
    YouTube
  • Doc
    Kill Flint Radio documentary · part 1 · 2008
    Related documentary in the archive. Link checked.
    YouTube

Touring bands that have no direct link here are documented only in listings and flyers. That doesn’t mean footage of them has been found.

Flyers & photos

What was on the telephone poles

Original flyers and photographs, shown from where they’re hosted with credit to the people who kept them. Click any one to go to the original page. They belong to their owners, not to this site.

Black-and-white handbill: Art is not forever, especially at Wild Bill’s Nightclub. Generic Society and the Guilty Bystanders, Sunday, April 1st.
Wild Bill’s Nightclub · April 1, 1984Generic Society and the Guilty Bystanders. The flyer reads “Sunday, April 1st.” The year comes from the host’s caption.Image courtesy of Joel Rash, via Fish and the Flint Chronicles
Black-and-white photo of a guitarist and a singer on the Wild Bill’s stage, with a lit sign behind them and Marshall amplifiers.
The Guilty Bystanders at Wild Bill’s · April 1, 1984Captioned by the host as “04-01-1984 Wild Bills in Flint – Guilty Bystanders.”Image courtesy of Joel Rash, via Fish and the Flint Chronicles
Flyer: Spooky Spooky III masquerade, all ages. Four bands: Shocking Grasp, Guilty Bystanders, House of Mirth, Godspeed. The Ukrainian Hall on Pasadena, Friday, Nov. 2, doors open 7:00 pm, only $3, no bottles, no cans.
“Spooky Spooky III” · Ukrainian Hall · November 2, 1984Shocking Grasp, Guilty Bystanders, House of Mirth and Godspeed. The flyer gives the hall’s location as “on Pasadena,” across from Playland North. All ages, $3.Image courtesy of Joel Rash, via Fish and the Flint Chronicles
Color snapshot from the Ukrainian Hall stage: band members in a plaid shirt and a yellow T-shirt face a crowd of young fans pressed against the stage edge.
The Guilty Bystanders at Ukrainian Hall · November 2, 1984Captioned by the host as “1984 11 02 Ukrainian Hall in Flint, Guilty Bystanders.”Image courtesy of Joel Rash, via Fish and the Flint Chronicles

More originals, at their sources

People & places

Who and where

The Guilty Bystanders

Known as the Guilties. Members over the years included Steve and John Vamossy, Gary Mueller, Lee Conquest, Shawn Wharton and Steve Reddy.S5 The archive holds their recordings from 1984 through the 2000s, including the 25th, 30th and 40th anniversary shows.S14 Gary Mueller also plays in Political Silence.S20

Dissonance

A Flint hardcore band from 1982 to 1987. They booked and promoted many of their own shows and toured nationally in summer 1986.S3 The DarbyMedia remembrance calls drummer Phill Hines a co-founder of the band.S24

Joel Rash

A promoter who, in his own account, started booking concerts on a dare in 1985 and went on to found Flint Local 432.S20 The Flint Chronicles calls him Flint’s own “Punk Barry Gordy.”S5 The images on that page are credited to him.

Doug Earp & Wyatt Earp Records

Earp opened the store in Flint Township in 1981.S19 Musicians remember him putting up their flyers, selling their cassettes and helping pay for bigger hall shows.S19S23 He died December 17, 2004. His partner Al Steele later turned Wyatt Earp Records into a label, and its first release was the Dissonance retrospective.S3S15

Ben Hamper & Take No Prisoners

Hamper’s punk show on WFBE 95, broadcasting from Flint Central, started in 1981 and gave local bands airtime.S5S23 The archive at takenoprisoners.info is named after the show.

The halls

Ukrainian Hall, 3321 Pasadena Ave., Flint. A frequent stop for touring bands.S11 Kishma Grotto Hall, 2501 E. Judd Rd., Burton. Sometimes misspelled “Krishna.”S7 Prospect Hall, Flint.S10

Wild Bill’s Nightclub, 4443 Miller Rd., Flint.S12 El Matador, Harrison St., downtown Flint, formerly Uncle Bob’s Diner.S5 The Fallout Shelter, in the basement of the Capitol Theatre.S5 710 Avon Street.S2 “Rash Auditorium,” the basement of Joel Rash’s parents’ house in Grand Blanc.

Further listening to find in the archive

  • The Rub · anthologies, 1978–1983
  • Dachau Club · Vintage, 1981–1982
  • Generic Society · Anthology 1, 1981–1984
  • Dissonance · On Top, 1984
  • Solidarnösc · It’s Time, 1984
  • Guilty Bystanders · Broccoli Rules, 1983–1985
  • Prep Militia · 1984–1985
  • Arrangements in Grey · 1986
  • Repulsion · Slaughter of the Innocent, 1986, later Horrified
  • Political Silence · public-access footage. The year still needs confirming.

Titles as listed in the archive’s listening guide.S1

Flint Makes Its Own Noise · a non-commercial music-history page. Recordings, flyers and photographs belong to their creators and are linked or embedded from their original hosts. Title image: illustrative re-creation. Back to top