Disturbing The Peace: 415 Records And The Rise Of New Wave (2022) Book Review

The independent record label 415 was launched in 1978, focusing on new wave and punk music. The label’s motto was “Disturbing the peace,” 415 being the police code for a disturbance, as well as the area code for San Francisco, where the label was founded. In Disturbing The Peace: 415 Records And The Rise Of New Wave, author Bill Kopp details the history of that label, the people who started it, and the artists who released albums on it, capturing an exciting time in music. Bill Kopp writes with an obvious passion for the music, as well as with knowledge. This is his second book, following 2018’s Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett To The Dark Side Of The Moon. He has also written the liner notes for several CD reissues, including albums by Larry Coryell, Brotherhood and Dave Mason. The information and anecdotes in this new book come in large part from interviews conducted by the author, interviews not only with 415 Records co-founders Howie Klein and Chris Knab, but with many of the artists whose albums were released on that label. There is a foreword written by Joel Selvin, who sets the scene, giving us a taste of San Francisco in the 1970s, and showing where 415 Records fit in. The book also contains a lot of photographs, including many of old concert flyers, which I find particularly fascinating.

Bill Kopp begins with some biographical information on Howie Klein, though keeping it in relation to music. As freshman class president at Stony Brook University, he was in charge of booking bands to play at the college, including The Fugs. There is a surprising connection to the psychedelic music coming out of San Francisco, for Howie Klein was a DJ at the college station, and he played tapes of those bands sent to him by concert promoter Bill Graham. Bill Kopp doesn’t spend too much time on that part of Howie Klein’s life, moving swiftly to his relocation to San Francisco, and providing information on Mabuhay Gardens (or, The Mab), a restaurant that became a music club at night. One of the photos, by the way, shows a concert calendar for this venue, including gigs by Dead Kennedys and Rave-Ups. Must have been a great time. Bill Kopp also talks about the influential San Francisco radio stations, and how a radio program led to the forming of 415 Records.

There is a lot of information on the bands that released albums on the label, starting with The Nuns. Each band – or, rather, each release – gets its own short chapter, which is cool. And the book progresses in chronological order, so we get a sense of how the label progressed. Being an independent label, the records described here are from the beginnings of the careers of these artists, and there are interesting anecdotes about how some of these bands formed. For me, one of the most fascinating bands mentioned here is SVT, a group that includes Jack Casady on bass. Yes, Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. How had that group escaped my attention? That’s something else I love about this book, getting turned on to more bands. I have a feeling my record collection is going to grow as a result of reading this book. Speaking of which, Bill Kopp writes, regarding an interesting parody single, “For what’s worth, Chris Knab says he has ‘a box full of them’” (p. 88).  Well, all right! How do I get one sent my way? Another record I absolutely must get my hands on is The White EP by Pop-O-Pies, mostly because I need to hear (and own) their rendition of “Truckin’.” The description of one of their live sets is hilarious: “Callahan would then invite the audience to shout out song requests. ‘He would say, “okay,”’ Bowen laughs. ‘And then we would play “Truckin’” again! Some would laugh and some would yell, but we always got the crowd riled up’” (p. 184).

The book includes several chapters on the compilation 415 Music, one for each of the bands on it (those not previously mentioned, that is). One thing that is interesting about that release is that some of the bands included on the record hadn’t put out anything on the 415 label before it. By the way, that compilation’s cover is also the cover of the book. Also especially interesting is the chapter on The Units. I love Scott Ryser’s thoughts on punk: “Punk wasn’t relegated to a guitar, black leather jacket, tight pants and safety pin uniform or a three-chord guitar pattern. Punk meant being creative, anti-establishment, funny, daring, provocative, innovative…and most importantly, original” (p. 155). The wildest anecdote from the chapter on The Units is that the band played at two Danielle Steele birthday parties. That is so weird. That is a name I would never have expected to come up in a book about punk and new wave. The chapter on Roky Erickson And The Aliens is also fascinating, and it features memories from Stu Cook, who produced Roky’s album (sometimes having to get him out of a mental institution to record his vocals).

A section of the book deals with the Columbia Records period, though continuing with bands getting their own chapters. These bands, in part because of their popularity, get a little more attention than some of the other groups. After all, Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never” is probably the most well-known of all the tracks mentioned in this book. Romeo Void, Red Rockers, Translator and Wire Train each have multiple chapters devoted to their releases. We learn quite a bit about the history of Red Rockers, and there are some wild anecdotes concerning Wire Train. Just as interesting is how Howie Klein came to make the deal to align 415 Records with Columbia. His logic is hilarious: “All these major labels are shit. Why fool around? The way to do this is to just pick the worst label of all and go with them” (p. 224). The last section of the book then deals with the end of 415 Records, and includes a chapter detailing post-415 releases on CD, which is great and helpful for folks like me, eager to add this music to our collections.

Disturbing The Peace: 415 Records And The Rise Of New Wave was published on February 14, 2022 through HoZac Books.