''Turn It Around!'' is a punk rock compilation album by ''

Maximumrocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily featu ...

''. Originally released as two 7-inch records in October 1987, it served as a benefit to raise money for the

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

DIY punk scene (known as the

Gilman Street Project The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, often referred to by its fans simply as "Gilman", is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley area of Berkeley, California, abo ...

). The compilation featured the first appearances of many bands who would later become well known outside of the scene, including

Operation Ivy Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after '' Tumbler-Snapper'' and before '' Upshot–Knothole''. The two explosions were staged in late 1952 at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Proving Ground in the Marshall Is ...

Crimpshrine Crimpshrine was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California. The group was formed in 1982 by Aaron Cometbus, founder of the seminal punk rock zine '' Cometbus'', and future Operation Ivy vocalist Jesse Michaels. They grew out of the ...

and Isocracy. Due to the poor sound quality of the original 7-inch version, ''Turn It Around!'' was reissued by

Very Small Records Very Small Records was an independent record label, formed in 1989 by David Hayes, co-founder and former co-owner of Lookout Records. The name of the label was changed to Too Many Records around 1994, but was changed back around 1997. The label ter ...

in September 1991 as one LP. However, the compilation is currently out of print and has never seen a CD release. In retrospect, it has been cited as an important compilation album and served as an introduction to a number of the bands, most of which would go on to release albums on the then-newly formed

Lookout Records Lookout Records (stylized as Lookout! Records) was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California and later in Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having released Operation I ...

. Many musicians from the later Gilman Street scene have cited ''Turn It Around!'' as an influence.10 Questions for Billie Joe. ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on M ...

''. Retrieved 2015-10-25

Background and production

In the summer of 1987, ''

'' asked one of its writers, David Hayes, to put together a compilation album to raise money for the Gilman Street Project, the first wave of bands from the local

DIY punk scene centered on the

924 Gilman Street The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, often referred to by its fans simply as "Gilman", is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley area of Berkeley, California, abou ...

venue. Hayes agreed to do it, seeing this as an opportunity to document the bands from the scene, as almost all of them had no recordings available at that point.''Turn It Around!'' liner notes. Retrieved 2015-10-25 In preparation, Hayes set up a "Battle of the Bands" concert at 924 Gilman Street on June 14, 1987 featuring bands such as Corrupted Morals,

, Isocracy and Soup (the latter of which would not end up on ''Turn It Around!''), with the idea being that the two best songs by each band would be released on the compilation. In August, after everything was chosen, most of the bands set out to record their songs with Kevin Army in one day at Dangerous Rhythm Studio in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. Recorded on a small budget, Hayes shepherded the bands in and out of the studio "like an assembly line," as Operation Ivy guitarist Lint would later describe it, with bassist Matt McCall adding "you'd see the other band coming out while you were going in." Corrupted Morals, however recorded its track at Art of Ears Studio in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

with Andy Ernst, while Nasal Sex went to Creative Sound in San Jose with Dick Dias and "Yeast Power" by the Yeastie Girlz was recorded on the soundboard at 924 Gilman Street with engineer Radley Hirsch. After the recordings were done, George Horn mastered the album at

Fantasy Studios Fantasy Studios was a music recording studio in Berkeley, California, at the Zaentz Media Center, known for its recording of award-winning albums including Journey's ''Escape'' and Green Day's '' Dookie''. Built as a private recording studio fo ...

in Berkeley.

Packaging

The title, ''Turn It Around!'', was chosen by ''Maximumrocknroll'' founder Tim Yohannan in reference to the members of the Gilman Street Project trying to "reestablish a sense of community" within the underground punk scene. "At a time when the scene is plagued by mindless violence, intimidation, vandalism and general stupidity" Yohannan said, "when it's all becoming more like the mainstream than an alternative, there are groups of dedicated people who are determined to fight back and revitalize things." The front cover was done by Cammie Toloui of the Yeastie Girlz and features a photo of ''Maximumrocknroll'' writer Walter Glaser. Hayes handled the layout and packaging, and put together an extensive booklet of the bands' pictures and lyrics to all of the songs and sent the artwork to Positive Press in Oakland to be printed. It was later decided before release that the compilation would be on two 7-inch records, which Hayes said was a "statement, maybe we're trying to set an example to get people off of their asses and create something." He further stated that "Most distributors won't even take 7-inches to begin with, so we're obviously not in it for the money." The album was pressed at a pressing plant called Alberti in

Monterey Park, California Monterey Park is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. The city's motto is "Pride in the past, Faith in the future". Mo ...

, which would later press vinyl for Lookout Records.

Release and influence

''Turn It Around!'' was released in early October 1987 with an original pressing of 2,000 copies that here numbered. The album was a success within the punk scene and it served as an introduction to the scene for many fans. Its initial pressing sold out by 1989 and was out of print for the next two years. In September 1991, Hayes reissued ''Turn It Around!'' on his own label

. This version did not come with the booklet and did not have the original cover intact, instead cutting up images from the booklet and pasting them together to make the artwork. It was also released as one LP rather than the original double 7-inch. This was because of the length of the album, as each original 7-inch was about 15 minutes, resulting in its poor sound quality.''History of East Bay Punk: The David Hayes Story''. Retrieved 2015-10-25 In recent years, ''Turn It Around!'' has been regarded as a classic punk compilation album and proved to be influential to many later Gilman Street bands. Many people of the scene have given it praise as well, including

Larry Livermore Lawrence Hayes (born October 28, 1947), better known by his stage name Larry Livermore, is an American singer, musician, record producer, and author, best known as the co-founder of Lookout Records. Biography In 1977, Hayes began to attend pu ...

and Chris Applegren of

, who both called the compilation "legendary" on their blogs.

Billie Joe Armstrong Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for t ...

, vocalist-guitarist of

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...

, has also cited it as an influence, stating in an interview with ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' magazine in 2010 that it was a "pretty big record for im.

Track listing

Personnel

Corrupted Morals * Rick Morgan –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

* Dan Boland –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

* Ray Sebastian – guitar * Joel Wing –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

* Jose Mariscol –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Sweet Baby Jesus * Dallas Denery – lead vocals * Matt Buenrostro – guitar * Richie Bucher – bass,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Sergie Loobkoff – drums Isocracy * Jason Beebout – lead vocals * Lenny Johnson – guitar, backing vocals * Martin Brome – bass, backing vocals *

Al Sobrante John Kiffmeyer (born July 11, 1969), known professionally as Al Sobrante, is an American cinematographer and retired musician and songwriter. He is best known as the first drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. His stage name is a reference to ...

– drums No Use for a Name * Ramon Gras – lead vocals * Tony Sly – guitar, backing vocals * Steve Papoutsis – bass * Rory Koff – drums Crimpshrine *

Jeff Ott Jeff Ott (born June 24, 1970) is an activist, musician, author, and longtime member of the Berkeley punk community, best known for playing guitar and singing in the bands Crimpshrine and Fifteen. Early life Ott was born on June 24, 1970 in Oakland ...

– lead vocals, guitar * Pete Rypins – bass, backing vocals *

Aaron Cometbus Aaron Elliott (born May 20, 1968), better known as Aaron Cometbus, is an American musician, songwriter, roadie, and magazine editor, best known as the creator of the punk zine ''Cometbus''. Career Born in Berkeley, California, Cometbus started ...

– drums Operation Ivy * Jesse Michaels (credited as "Shrik") – lead vocals * Lint – guitar, backing vocals * Matt McCall – bass, backing vocals * Dave Mello (credited as "Animal") – drums, backing vocals * Pat Mello (credited as "Skin") – backing vocals Stikky * Todd Wilder – lead vocals, drums * Chris Wilder – guitar, vocals * Chris Dodge – bass, vocals Nasal Sex * Andy Sacco – lead vocals, guitar * Rocci Cirone – bass, backing vocals * Joe Cirone – drums, backing vocals Yeastie Girlz * Joyce Jimenez – vocals * Jane Guskin – vocals * Cammie Toloui – vocals Rabid Lassie * Joey Vela – lead vocals * Mike Pare – bass, backing vocals * Trent Nelson – guitar, backing vocals * Jason Hammon – guitar, backing vocals * Wade Hoyt – drums Sewer Trout * Jim MacLean – lead vocals, bass * Keith Lehtinan – guitar, backing vocals * Hal MacLean – drums Buggerall * Chris Giese (credited as “Rum”) – lead vocals * Richie Bucher (credited as “Roo”) – bass * Ray Cooper (credited as “Tex”) – guitar, backing vocals * Sergie Loobkoff (credited as “Brig”) – drums

Production

* Kevin Army – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Andy Ernst – engineer on "Where Is He?" * Dick Dias – engineer on "Freezer Burn" * Radley Hirsch – engineer on "Yeast Power" * George Horn – mastering * Cammie Toloui – cover art, photography * David Hayes – layout * Chris Wilder – art direction * Murray Bowles; Joel Wing; Anne Marie; Mark; Wayne van der Kuil – photography

References

{{Authority control 1987 compilation albums Punk rock compilation albums Hardcore punk compilation albums