Ron Reyes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ron Reyes (alias Chavo Pederast) was the second singer for California based punk rock group Black Flag.
Reyes, who is of Puerto Rican descent, joined Black Flag after original vocalist Keith Morris had quit to form the Circle Jerks. Black Flag needed a singer to go on a tour to Vancouver, Canada, and had asked Reyes to fill in. At the time he was a street kid who had been following the band since the beginning, and already knew all the songs. He was also a member of an early incarnation of Redd Kross, along with Greg Hetson, who went on to form the Circle Jerks with Keith Morris, and who then joined Bad Religion.
On May 23, 1980, Reyes quit the band mid-show at the Fleetwood in Redondo Beach. For the remainder of the gig, the band invited audience members onstage to take turns singing "Louie Louie". Reyes was drinking heavily at the time, and was tired of the fan violence and escalating police harassment.
"This was at the beginning of the Orange County punk explosion. The surfers cut off their hair and turned into punks. And they were fucking maniacs! Crazier than hell. The Hollywood punk was a totally different animal, into drugs and getting drunk, liking the Sex Pistols. But the surf punks--these guys were insane. At the show, they'd start going in circles, punching each other - one big dancefloor brawl. That was invented by the surf punks. Every fucking highschool had hundreds of them. And that crowd liked us, and would come to our shows at the Fleetwood. Well, Ron had met a girl on the road and brought her back to L.A., and at this show she got into the middle of that shit. She got pushed around, and Ron didn't like it so he took off with that girl, went back to Vancouver and left us in the middle of everything." - ROBO (drummer) [1]
Reyes was coaxed back into Black Flag long enough to record the "Jealous Again" EP. He also appeared on some selections included on the 1983 compilation album Everything Went Black. He can be seen in Penelope Spheeris' 1980 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, in which he dedicates the song "Revenge" to the LAPD, and jokingly shows off his apartment, which is a closet. After the recording sessions, Reyes went back to Vancouver and was replaced by singer Dez Cadena.
The "Jealous Again" EP was released after Reyes had left the band for a final time. He was credited as "Chavo Pederast", after a falling out with the band. Reyes hit Dez Cadena in the head with a brick, and later smashed their touring van's windshield. Reyes had also alerted the Canadian border agents to the band's lack of work permits, which prevented them from playing their final Canadian show of the tour.
"We didn't want to give him credit cause he wanted to tear us down, you know? Fuck that schmuck". - Chuck Dukowski (bass/vocals) [2]
Reyes is now a born again Christian living in Vancouver.
[edit] External links
- http://www.jaybabcock.com/blackflag.html Interview (Jay Babcock/Krist Noveselic)
- http://www.breakmyface.com/bands/blackflag1.html Black Flag early years
- http://www.dementlieu.com/~obik/arc/blackflag/int_skitzoid7.html Interview (1980) Skitzoid Magazine
|
||||||||||||||||||||
