For the comic strip, see The Germs (comics).
The Germs are a punk rock band from Los Angeles in the late 1970s. Their 1977 single, Forming/Sexboy (live), is generally regarded as the first punk record from Los Angeles.
The band started when Jan Paul Beahm and Georg Ruthenberg decided they should start a band after being kicked out of University High for antisocial behaviour, allegedly for using 'mind control' on fellow students. They named themselves "Sophistifuck & The Revlon Spam Queens," with Beahm (then 'Bobby Pyn,' and later Darby Crash) on vocals, Ruthenberg (then and later called Pat Smear) on guitar, an early member called Dinky on bass, and Michelle Baer playing drums. This lineup never played live.
In April '77 the band featured its final bassist, Lorna Doom, with transitional member Dottie Danger on drums, later famous under her own name as Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go's (Carlisle never played live, due to her being sidelined by a bout of mononucleosis for an extended period, although she can be heard introducing the band on the Live At The Whiskey recording), and was soon replaced by Donna Rhia, who played three gigs and recorded their first single. Nicky Beat, of various noteworthy LA bands, then sat in for a time.
Despite drawing on musical influences including Iggy Pop, Suzi Quatro, The Runaways, and New York Dolls, the Germs began as an objectively pathetic musical outfit. The first single, Forming, was recorded on a Sony 2-track in Pat's garage and arrived back from the pressing plant with the note, "Warning: This record causes ear cancer" printed on the sleeve by the plant staff, much to the band's displeasure. It featured a muddy live recording of Sexboy on the B side, recorded at the Roxy for the Cheech and Chong movie, Up In Smoke, -- although the song was not featured in the movie. Neither was the band, the only one not to be called back to perform live in the "battle of the bands" sequence, mostly due to the fact that the Germs' anarchic performance included a full-on food fight.
