The Oppressed NYC

Genres: hardcore, punk

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About The Oppressed NYC

It's 1981: punk-loving teenage boys decide to Do It Themselves, take a semi-cliched name like The Oppressed, cram into someone's garage, and blast out a bunch of totally raw but somewhat catchy bursts of naive, noisy, punk. And by punk, I mean classic NYC punk rock verging into hardcore---the kind of punk that was played and loved in NYC in 1981-82 (see Ramones, Kraut, Misfits, Bad Brains, Even Worse, Reagan Youth, etc.). Archbishop Molloy High School, an all-boys Catholic facility run by Marist Brothers in semi-urban Briarwood, Queens, was not the most obvious breeding ground for punk bands. In fact, in the fall of 1981, there were less than a half-dozen punks in the entire school. Vocalist Frank N, guitarist Greg Fasolino, and bassist Paul "Goph" Grabowski gravitated towards one another, fueled by their common love of the Ramones, Clash, and Buzzcocks, and like most 16-year-old punk kids at the time, they directed that love of punk music into forming a band, The Oppressed. Faithful listening to the number one punk radio program in NYC at that time, Tim Sommers' weekly "Noise the Show" on WNYU, broadened their musical horizons, exposing them to classic English punk like Eater and Chelsea, current UK faves such as U.K. Subs and Anti-Pasti, more obscure Euro bands like Lama, all the awesome California bands like Bad Religion and Circle Jerks, and of course their local heroes Kraut and Misfits. Joined by drummer Chris Piccione (not really a punk, but a great drummer, and more importantly, one with a basement to practice in), The Oppressed slowly moved from Ramones and Clash covers into their own energized anthems like "Control of You," "The Time Has Come," and Grabowski's snide "I Hate Holidays," mostly expressing the need for less parental supervision and more beer, as well as their dislike of Ronald Reagan. One of the other punks at Molloy, their friend Dave "Ego" Vogt, had already broken into the New York punk scene; his band The Betrayed had even landed their song "Betrayed by You" on "Noise the Show" and placed three songs on the classic "Meathouse" cassette. Vogt's help got The Oppressed the opening slot on a mammoth bill of punk bands (Minor Threat, SS Decontrol, Heart Attack, The Undead, Reagan Youth, Killer Instinct, and New Allegiance) at a VFW Hall in Queens. The concert, slated for July 17, 1982, was cancelled at the very last minute, denying The Oppressed their chance at live notoriety, as they were too young to travel much into NYC. During Piccione's short sabbatical from the band in summer 1982, Reagan Youth drummer Steve Weissman filled in. In October 1982, Grabowski left The Oppressed to join a new edition of The Betrayed; this move effectively split up The Oppressed. The Betrayed lineup with Grabowski was immortalized with "Self Oppression" on the 1983 7" compilation EP "Big City Ain't Too Pretty" on Big City Records. The Betrayed later changed their name to Public Toys. After high school, Grabowski (alongside his "Guillotine" fanzine partner Wendy) played guitar and sang for the notorious Antichrist Newsboys, and then for a DC band called Dead Eddie. Most recently, in 1997, Grabowski sang and played guitar for a No Values show at CBGB. After the Oppressed breakup, N, Fasolino, and Piccione continued for a time as pop-punkers Outcry, and guested on their school chum Pinko Kennedy's obscene comedy-punk project The Penoids before forming the more R.E.M.-influenced The Cave during 1983-84. Frank N later fronted two New York alternative bands, Concrete Witchdoctors and Razor Chamber (joined for a time in the latter by Chris "Jack" Natz and Patrick Blank, the rhythm section of NYC punk legends The Undead), and teamed up with Fasolino again for the projects Goatblood Sacrifice, Pump, and The Sea Beasts. Fasolino later played with The Naked and the Dead, Burning Rome, Rawhead, Wrench, They Eat Their Gods, Lusting for the Cheetah, Sea of Fur, The Deno Blues Gang, and the 2002 and 2005 reunions of The Naked and the Dead. He currently plays guitar for Bell Hollow, and moonlights in The Green Monster Band. Drummer Piccione played in a variety of punk and metal bands including Frenzy, The Jinxed, The Rebels, Mangus Beast, Heckate, Cause for Alarm, and Dirtmoch. He later expanded his range of styles, playing drums for country singer Deke Rivers (including a demo session), traditional Irish musician Sean McCabe, cover band The Answer, and Latin rock act Oso. Piccione was a member of original rock acts Material Witness, Concrete Jungle, and most visibly, Lukabrazi (the latter split in 2003). On March 21, 2006, all four original members of The Oppressed gathered in a studio in Astoria, Queens for a 25th anniversary reunion. Beer was drank and high school memories rekindled, as they ran through most of their old numbers as well as a cover of Social Distortion's "Telling Them." Massive fun was had, and so the quartet re-entered Astoria Soundworks again on April 25, 2006 to record arse-kicking studio versions of five of their old classics for posterity. Both these new takes and all of the band's old 1982 rehearsal recordings can be heard at the band's SoundClick page. Grabowski, N, and Piccione, joined by old friend/classmate Dave Vogt, attempted forming a new punk project during 2006-2007, but it never got off the ground following several rehearsals.

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