DOC. MARTEN - American Oi! History Series, finally coming to the closing chapters of the golden 1980's.

Hey folks, finally things get started up ready again up here. I’m very sorry but honestly I have currently simply not that much free time to spend… and also honestly: In the rare free time I have these days I felt and feel no real need to sit at home infront of my computer screen and ‘write’ stuff down, nah, I really hated the thought especially over the last two weeks or so, but also a little bit longer, that’s the reason why especially June was a month that was just filled with ‘Record Reviews’ and ‘Videos’ posts. They just don’t take normally that much time to be written down… okay, the ‘Record Reviews’ pretty often take some time anyhow… I won’t lie to you so I can’t say anything if that (my rare free time and my motivation) will change this month so I won’t say anything about what and how much of it will be coming up this very month. It’s just like if you’re working around ten hours each day when you’re then finally at home you just don’t have the time and/or the motivation to sit down and write something, nah, I really rather do my sports, spend time with my girlfriend, play with my dog, hang around with friends and family, listen relaxed to music, go and out and have some fun, etc. pp. instead of spending my rare free time infront of my personal computer. So, okay, enough crying around or so, this here will finally be a new and the next post up here, and also the first in two weeks or so and also the first for this very month and finally the ‘American Oi! History Series’ will be continued up here by me. This entry will feature (as announced) the legendary and great DOC. MARTEN, an American Oi! band active around the mid to late 1980’s, and now onward into their history and tribute we will ride…

*** ONE LAND TO CARE FOR ***

DOC. MARTEN

*** ‘HAIL THE IRON HAND’… ‘THE STREETS ARE OURS’!!! ***

DOC. MARTEN were founded in New Jersey, NY and they formed back then by the late of the year of 1984 and they always used to have troubles to recruit a proper and reliable bass player. The band consisted of Paul Link at the drums, John Devine playing the guitar and singing, Stephano Morisi (as the most ‘consequent guy’) at the bass and also playing the saxophone, and also Brent Eaton on the second guitar. They used to play over their career several different gigs/concerts, especially and first-and-foremost in the New Jersey-New York area. Their first release was a demo D.I.Y. tape that also made them known over here in Europe and eventually led them to a deal with the then already pretty ‘prominent’ german record label of the name of “ROCK O RAMA RECORDS” where DOC. MARTEN used to release their first and for all what I know solely full length album, “ONE LAND TO CARE FOR”, released around 1989 or so. On their mentioned tape they used to do a big bunch of cover tunes of all the famous British Oi! legends, and with that demo tape recordings also a lot of other rare recordings and also live recordings you can find compiled together on a bootleg CD that was compiled by the german “FORCE OF HATE” fan-/webzine quite a while ago (but you should still be able to buy it anyhow, or download it at the “THUGROCK” blog… even it seems that this blog was taken out of the web in sometime in the not so long ago past because somehow I couldn’t visit it today and it was announced that the blog would be no more around what would really be a huge pity). Beside this releases I think that they’ve also released a 7’’ back then, but I’m not so sure if, where and when right now and I don’t call it my own anyway in contrast to their mentioned full length album. (It’s pretty hard to get some proper informations about this band, so that’s the cause why this here may seem ‘shorter’ and ‘not-so-detailed’ like the precursor posts of this posting series, just that you know it.)

DOC. MARTEN had been an American Skinhead band that always used to focuss pretty strong on a political or (how they used to call it) social side and not so much on the subcultural and Way of Life side of things, and this they’ve also propagated in interviews back then. They had a strong and pretty militant patriotic (and maybe nationalistic) and also anti-communist stance, like a lot of other more or less right wing American Oi! bands of the 1980’s due to the fact that this was the last and also pretty heated phase of the so called Cold War so that a lot of a militant potential in society was created and that also found its expressions in the different subcultures and for that DOC. MARTEN also used and still use to be a pretty good example. But they’ve always used to have some really damn strong and good lyrics, no matter if you take the issues they’ve dealt with or the way how they’ve dealt with them. And also they always stayed away for all what I would say away from any WP and/or NS stuff. (At least if we’re not talking about the back then still future to come of one of the mentioned band members…) Anyhow, great lyrics, and they’re also worth a read today and still speak really a good healthy dose of truth even still today, no matter if some now may like it or not. (If written already in the future enough about late Cold War bands and ideology and society and subculture so that I won’t repeat myself again here, just read for example th stories about the ARRESTING OFFICERS, NEW GLORY, BEST DEFENSE and/or the YOUTH DEFENSE LEAGUE, and you will know what I’m talking about.)

Musically DOC. MARTEN played some sort of a mixture out of Oi!, R.A.C., and Rock & Roll and Rock music in general. It was and is all very rockin’ and guitar dominated and also pretty melodic, yet damn heavy, and if you can imagine a great mixture out of the TEMPLARS, early R.A.C. like BRUTAL ATTACK and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN you should know pretty good how DOC. MARTEN used to sound, and they should also be interesting for fans of the dutch BADLANDS. Also musically they had and still have a lot to offer and it’s basically totally free of any Hardcore moments or Tough Guy attitude (something that was pretty unusual for American Oi! back then), and anyhow also musically DOC. MARTEN are very relevant even still today, especially when it’s about how they’ve melted symphonic melodies together with a streetcharmed heavyness and all cultivated with strong roots rockin’ impressions, something you won’t be able to listen to that often, no matter if back then or today or in-between this two time periods. So you should take care of getting your hands finally on their great “ONE LAND TO CARE FOR” full length album anyhow asap, point and fact!!! I don’t know what the bandmembers used to do after the defunction and split of DOC. MARTEN, beside the fact that Brent Eaton used to play in and for the WP NS Hate Core band AGGRAVATED ASSAULT after his career in DOC. MARTEN.

That’s it for now (like I’ve already mentioned was it a very hard to get any informations about this band so don’t wonder about the ‘shortness’ of this entry), next stop in this series will be Boston, MA and next up then will be the almighty and infamous STARS & STRIPES, so be prepared for it (but don’t ask me when it will come). Also no video clips found by now, but I will try it sometime again or I will maybe get by myself a little clip settled together or so, we will see. Keep the spirit alive!!! Oi! Oi! Oi!