Ten Foot Pole (formerly Scared Straight) is an American

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band.

History

Ten Foot Pole was founded in 1983 under the name Scared Straight. Scared Straight was a punk band from

Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in Simi Valley (valley), the valley of the same name in southeastern Ventura County, California, United States. It is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater ...

. The band was formed in 1983 by a group of friends and was originally called S.O.F. Original members were

Scott Radinsky Scott David Radinsky (born March 3, 1968) is an American left-handed former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball, who had an 11-year career from – and –. Radinsky is also the lead singer of the punk rock band Pulley, former lead singer of ...

, Mike Thompson, Gary Gallanes, and Dennis Jagard, who started the band to enter a "Battle of the Bands" competition at a local skate rink. After going through several members and name changes, they began playing with some "

Nardcore Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, California, Orange County, Ventura County, California, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Vall ...

" bands from nearby

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

, which helped them gain recognition. All of the Scared Straight records were released by

Mystic Records Mystic Records is an American record label and music production company specializing in hardcore punk, crossover thrash, underground music, vintage and cult records. It is owned and operated by Doug Moody. The label was first established in Hollywo ...

. When asked in a 1984 interview whether Scared Straight members were all

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

, then bassist Morgan Anderson explained:

Scott adinsky Steve arnan and Dennis
agard The Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) was an agency of NATO that existed from 1952 to 1996. AGARD was founded as an Agency of the NATO Military Committee. It was set up in May 1952 with headquarters in Neuilly sur Sei ...
are. Me and James
arris In architecture, an arris is the sharp edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces, such as the corner of a masonry unit; the edge of a timber in timber framing; the junction between two planes of plaster or any intersection of divergent a ...
aren't really. I mean we drink a little every now and then, but we don't do heavy drugs or anything.

In the early 1990s, after releasing ''You Drink, You Drive, You Die'' (1988), Scared Straight changed their name to Ten Foot Pole. One of the reasons for the name change was to move away from the " straight-edge" reputation that followed the band with a name like Scared Straight. In the beginning, Ten Foot Pole had a reputation of being a more aggressive,

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band that likes to party and have fun. The band released two albums under their new name with the old lineup: '' Swill'' and ''

Rev Rev, REV or Rév may refer to: Abbreviations Rev. * Rev., an abbreviation for revolution, as in Revolutions per minute * Rev., an abbreviation for the religious style The Reverend * Rev., the abbreviation for Runtime Revolution, a development en ...

.'' After the release of ''Rev'' and a split EP with Sweden's Satanic Surfers, Radinsky was forced to leave the band due to his

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

commitments and Ten Foot Pole's desire to be a full-time touring band. From then on Dennis Jagard took over lead vocals for the band. The next albums, ''Unleashed'' and ''Insider'', developed a new fan base but lost some old time fans who preferred Scott's voice. This included decision makers at

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

, and the next album, '' Bad Mother Trucker'', was released on

Victory Records Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thu ...

, followed by '' Subliminable Messages'' on

Go-Kart Records Go-Kart Records was an independent record label specializing in punk rock located in New York City that was most active from 1995 to 2005. It also has a European division in Mannheim, Germany. History In its May 1999 issue, ''Guitar World'' ...

. The band toured Europe to promote the album, along with

Phinius Gage Phinius Gage are an English underground skate punk/melodic hardcore band who started up in 2001. In 2015 they played a reunion tour and announced in 2024 they had reformed. The band's first new music in nearly 2 decades came out in 2025. The ...

. Various musicians joined and left along the way as the band toured heavily in the US and Canada. Various members include/included: Pat Magrath, Chris Del Rio, Scott Hallquist, Keith Divel, Glen "Vegas" Murray, Eric Cody, Kris Kwiatkowski, John Chapman, Dan Kelly, Chris Dalley, and Mike Levy who is a middle school teacher in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

, along with Kevin Ruggeri, who is an English teacher for

Conestoga High School Conestoga High School, located in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania, is the only upper secondary school in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. It has a Berwyn post office address, though it is not in the Berwyn census-designated place. ...

Berwyn, Pennsylvania Berwyn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Berwyn is located in Tredyffrin and Easttown townships. The area is part of the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs. History In 1877, the town received it ...

. Lead singer Dennis is a sound engineer, who has mixed for artists including

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

AFI AFI may refer to: * Actual flip-angle imaging, a type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2017 album), the tenth ...

, and

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mesa, Arizona, in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach ...

. On 4 April 2009, the band ended a three-year hiatus with a show at the Riorock festival in Belgium, followed by some shows in California in late 2011 and a short tour in Australia in November 2012. Ten Foot Pole played at Amnesia Rockfest in Montebello, QC, Canada in June 2015. They were also featured 2000 in the ''

Punk Goes Metal ''Punk Goes Metal'' is the first compilation album to be released as part of the '' Punk Goes...'' series created by Fearless Records. It features covers of hard rock and heavy metal songs by punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) ...

'' compilation performing a cover of "

Love Song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

" by Tesla. After over a decade of no studio material, Ten Foot Pole released the album ''Setlist'' in 2017 which mostly comprises re-recordings of past songs as well as a proper new studio album in 2019 called ''Escalating Quickly''.

Discography

As Scared Straight

*''Nardcore'' Compilation LP,

1984 *''Party Animal - We got Power II'', Compilation LP, Mystic 1984 *''Mystic Super Seven Sampler No. 1'', Compilation 7", Mystic 1985 *''Born to be Wild'' 7", Mystic 1985 *''You Drink, You Drive, You Die'' LP, Mystic 1988

As Ten Foot Pole

* (1993) '' Swill'' * (1994) ''

'' * (1995) ''Ten Foot Pole & Satanic Surfers'' (split EP) * (1997) ''Unleashed'' * (1998) ''Insider'' * (2002) '' Bad Mother Trucker'' * (2004) '' Subliminable Messages'' * (2017) ''Setlist'' * (2019) ''Escalating Quickly'' * (2020) ''Simmer Down'' * (2022) ''Winning''

Timeline

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Epitaph Records artists Musical groups from Ventura County, California Punk rock groups from California Victory Records artists Skate punk groups