X belongs in rock hall of fame

AS I WATCHED Genesis, Abba, Iggy Pop, Jimmy Cliff and the Hollies get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Monday night, it reminded me yet again of an essential band that continues to be ignored, even though it became eligible in 2005 for inclusion. It’s difficult to criticize anyone who gets selected, even if there are some puzzling choices. Even this year, each of the inductees has contributed something notable to rock and roll. Each selection has either produced massive record sales over a sustained period of time (Genesis and Abba) or is widely regarded as highly influential (Iggy Pop and Jimmy Cliff). But what is missing is Los Angeles band X, which has been overlooked at least a half dozen times since it became eligible for the Hall of Fame. X’s influence on rock cannot be overstated.

The first time I saw X perform was in high school, at a West Los Angeles venue called Club 88. I was 16 at the time and attended with a couple of musicians I knew from school. I was familiar with X, through air personality Rodney Bingenheimer’s weekend radio show on Los Angeles’ KROQ. Rodney, the topic of an excellent biographical documentary called “The Mayor of the Sunset Strip,” was an early supporter of the band and had frequently played a couple of singles the band had released through small record label Dangerhouse Records. I liked what I heard enough to see the band in a live setting.

Los Angeles

What I saw that night was magical. X forged unblushing narratives about despair, debauchery and sin. The songs, written by singer Exene Cervenka and singer-bassist John Doe, were wrapped inside the punk rock sound of the late-1970s. But X’s version of punk rock sounded nothing like Los Angeles contemporaries such as Black Flag, the Germs and Fear. Instead, Cervenka and Doe often turned to rockabilly and other approachable styles to create the foundation of their best songs. More importantly, they knew how to build short, captivating and instantly memorable songs. The band, also containing guitar player Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake, featured excellent musicians. X’s songs feature Cervenka and Doe sharing lead vocals, resulting in one of popular music’s most distinctive sounds.

Along with the Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan, X changed the way I personally thought about music. The band was blunt, enterprising and upsetting. I found many of the tunes on X’s debut album, 1980’s “Los Angeles” startling and harrowing. For a 17-year-old male who lived in a docile Southern California suburban environment, which reflected the sun-and-sand allegory perpetrated by the media, X’s demolition of the Southern California myth was initially difficult to embrace. But with “Sex and Dying in a High Society”—in which Doe and Cervenka told the listener about a crestfallen socialite whose pain from being burned on her “virgin back with a curling iron…is better than any kind of love”—X connected the dots for me. Another tune, “Johnny Hit and Run Pauline,” is about a rapist who doesn’t “understand dying.” And the title song tells the story of a woman so overwhelmed by the underlying darkness of Los Angeles that she ends up fleeing the town, hoping to recover the balance that was stolen from her. Journalist Ken Tucker called the debut “thrilling” and “powerful.” The album was shattering. It ripped the lid off the notions only hinted at by the Eagles or Jackson Browne or Jim Morrison, or even screenplay writer Robert Towne, in their darkest moments. For me, it was the first time a band or any artist accurately described what I was already witnessing: Los Angeles languishing from the inside out.

Wild Gift

The second X album, “Wild Gift,” is more accessible and sophisticated musically and lyrically, its themes more universal. It wasn’t only about a community’s descent into pandemonium. The songs are about romance and fidelity and survival and solecism—issues that made more and more sense to me as I started growing into an adult and setting aside the fables about Southern California’s claim to amplitude. But the band’s growth, and its willingness to be personal and intimate instead of merely narrating the depravity they were witnessing, did not dilute its artistic vision. In fact, in some ways, the album rocks harder, faster and louder the debut. That’s important because it matches X’s themes: Sin and guilt and horror are not confined to seedy alleys, public transit and motel rooms. Rather, the album’s key moments—”White Girl,” “The Once Over Twice” and “In This House That I Call Home”—are chilling reminders that darkness can follow you wherever you go. The protagonist from the first album’s title cut is kidding herself if she thinks leaving Los Angeles will grant her any kind of authentic relief. Doe and Cervenka are telling us that salvation, while not necessarily a mirage that cannot be realized, is difficult to find.

The grief and heartache illustrated on “Wild Gift,” fleshed out by the mesmerizing music performances by Zoom, Doe and Bonebrake, are more focused and resolute than the songs on “Los Angeles.” The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, the Village Voice (New York) and Rolling Stone magazine each hailed it as the best album of 1981. Music writer Debra Rae Cohen called it “the best album by an American band in 1981 and the finest American punk album ever.” Cohen, like anyone else who gave the album a chance, discovered that broken hearts and broken dreams are everywhere.

Under the Big Black Sun

X took things a step further on “Under the Big Black Sun,” a rumination on death and relationships. It’s a risky, ambitious and demanding work. Sparked by the death of Cervenka’s sister in an auto accident, the main themes focus on loss and grief. The title song, “Riding with Mary,” “Come Back to Me” and “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes” are all about death. But the album is not a unremitting monody. There are moments in which the perennial X themes of sin, devotion and depravity are explored, notably in song such as “Motel Room in My Bed” and “Blue Spark.” It is the band’s creative zenith, a genuine pop music triumph in which the lyrics, the performances and production work perfectly. Its impact cannot be disputed. Look no further than albums by Say Anything, My Chemical Romance and Arcade Fire and you will see the influence of “Sun.”

X has continued to produce excellent future albums—such as “More Fun in the New World,” “Ain’t Love Grand” and “See How We Are”—and John Doe has carved out an exceptional solo career. And X continues to tour each year, playing to packed venues, and is working on a new album. But the band’s opening trilogy—nearly three dozen songs in a 27-month period—remains one of the most remarkable accomplishments in rock music.

Tags: Abba, Arcade Fire, Billy Zoom, Bingenheimer, Black Flag, Bob Dylan, Bonebrake, Cervenka, Exene, Genesis, Iggy Pop, Jimmy Cliff, John Doe, Ken Tucker, Los Angeles, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Germs, the Hollies, Under the Big Black Sun, Velvet Underground, Wild Gift, X