Formed: Pico Rivera, California

Made legendary chiefly because their singer John Macias was shot dead in 1992 by police following a "disturbance", Circle One was a musically pretty solid hardcore band, but was let down by the lyrics. You see, singer John Macias may have started out as a LA gang member, but by 1983 he had found God and, as born-again-Christians are wont to do, wouldn't shut up about it. His words are the words of a God-botherer: hellfire and brimstone, wormwood, four horsemen, how much they hate Lucifer/ love the Lord. Look at these titles: 'Rapture', 'The Gospel'... They formed in 1980 and recorded a couple of demos in 1981. Despite some standard hardcore titles like 'Viet Vets' and 'Plastic Life', their first LP Patterns Of Force (1983) - for me - never escaped from a quagmire of preachy optimism and religious intolerance.

Macias formed P.U.N.X. in the mid '80s, an organisation dedicated to promoting shows at low prices, helping the homeless and spreading the word of God, but he battled with personal demons and mental issues and had a reputation for violence. The band split in 1985, sometime after bassist Danny Dorman had left to join Wasted Youth, but they reformed for one-off shows in 1988, 1991 and 1992.

Days after the 1992 show (at Spankeys), Macias was murdered by the Santa Monica Police Department. According to the blog A Day Without A Record: "Macias died very ...memorably so to speak. Apparently because of his mental problems, he kind of lost it. He threw a security guard off of a bridge, ran into a McDonald's where he punched an old lady in the face and continuously tried to pull people out of moving cars until the cops surrounded him. He charged at them yelling, "God is going to watch you die, pigs!", and they fired. It took 8 bullets to take him down. Now is that a way to go out or what?"

They reformed in 2008 with a new singer and cut a new LP, Never Give Up.

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LINEUP #1 (1980-1981):

John Macias - vocals
Mike Vallejo - guitar
Mike Ituarte - bass
Bill Ituarte - drums

LINEUP #2 (1981-1983):

John Macias - vocals
Mike Vallejo - guitar
Danny Dorman - bass
Jody Hill - drums

This lineup recorded Patterns Of Force (1983)

OTHER MEMBERS INCLUDE:

"O" - bass (1982-ish)
Reed Gilcrest - bass (1984-1985)

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DISCOGRAPHY

Subsequent studio albums: Never Give Up (2008).

Singles & Albums

Patterns Of Force (LP, 1983)

Extraneous Releases

Survive (LP, 1991)

Live '81 (7", 1995)

Are You Afraid? (CD, 1997)

Circle One (7", 2013)

Various Artists

Public Service US LP 1981 (Smoke Seven): G.I. Combat / High School Society / F.O. / Destroy Exxon

Eastern Front US LP 1983 (Enigma/Eastern Front): Red Machine

The Sound Of Hollywood #2: Destroy L.A. US LP 1983 (Mystic): Hate, Lust, Filth And Greed

Buried Alive: The Best From Smoke 7 Records 1981-1983 US LP 1983 (Smoke Seven): Destroy Exxon

It Came From Slimey Valley US LP 1984 (Ghetto-Way): Going Against The Grain

What You Doing About That Hole In Your Head? UK LP 1986 (Rot): Destroy Exxon

Buried Alive Vol 2 US CD 1996 (Bomp!): F.O.

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Links

ARTIFLIX RECORDS - Has a nice band bio with photos