DeViCom Biography: Black Randy and the Metro Squad

Black Randy and the Metro Squad

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Although Black Randy, formed in Los Angeles; California, USA, were a leading light in the late 70s US punk community, their leader was actually both white and middleaged. Their music was built upon a weak keyboard pulse allied to rudimentary guitar playing, but the music was evidently a long way down on their list of priorities. At various times Randy's backing band included Bob Dead aka D. Bob Deadwyler (vocals, guitar), KK Barrett (guitar), David Brown (piano, drum machine), Pat Garrett (bass, guitar). Other members included Tom Hughes (guitar, bass), Joe Ramirez (bass) and Joe Nanini (drums). The multitude of line-ups is explained by Randy's preference for operating on a 'pick-up and play' basis. Randy was also the motivating force behind the establishment of the highly influential Dangerhouse punk venue and, later, record label. The groups made its recording debut in 1977 with "Trouble at the Cup", followed by two further singles, "Idi Amin" and "I Slepi in an Arcade", odes to facist dictators and vagrants. By this time the Metro Squad had become the Elite Metro Squad, and the group's lst release was Dangerhouse's swan-song and only album, Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie. The prefix to the catalogue number was RCP, Randy's preferred drug of the time. Randy was a troubled figure, much in the same self-destructive vein as Darby Crash of the Germs, and died of unknown causes following the band's collapse. Pat Garrett later worked with the Dils, while Ramirez, Nanini and Brown were also members of the Eyes. The last-named four were all involved at one stage or another with the Flesheaters, who had a similar revolving door policy towards recruitment.