D.O.A. is a Canadian punk rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. They are often referred to as being among the "founders" of hardcore punk, along with Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Angry Samoans, Germs, and Middle Class. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to the second wave of the American punk sound as hardcore.

Singer/guitarist Joey "Shithead" Keithley is the only founding member to have stayed in the band throughout its entire history, with original bassist Randy Rampage returning to the band twice after his original departure. D.O.A. has often released music on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles Records, and they have released an album with Biafra on vocals titled Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors.

D.O.A. is known for its outspoken political opinions and has a history of performing for many causes and benefits. Its slogan is "Talk Minus Action Equals Zero." The band's lyrics and imagery frequently advocate anti-racism, anti-globalization, freedom of speech, and environmentalism. In support of the Vancouver 5 defence fund, the band released the single Burn it Down from Hardcore '81. In a 1984 interview, Keithley stated that the Burn it Down 45 had raised at least $2,500, and disclosed that he was called by defence counsel as a character witness for Gerry Hannah while Hannah's sentencing was pending.

Founder Joe Keithley is also the founder of Sudden Death Records which has released music by D.O.A. and several other bands including Pointed Sticks and Young Canadians.

History

Formation and early years (1977–1980)

D.O.A. has its origins in The Skulls, an early Vancouver-area punk rock band that included future D.O.A. members Joey "Shithead" Keithley, along with founding members of the Subhumans, Brian "Wimpy Roy" Goble and Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery.

When the Skulls broke up after an ill-fated move to Toronto, Keithley moved back to Vancouver and formed D.O.A. in early 1978 with himself on guitar, Dimwit's brother Chuck Biscuits on drums, Randy Rampage on bass, This line-up would last from 1982–1983 and later 1985–1986 and produced several notable releases, including the EP War on 45 (now expanded into a full-length album). War on 45 found the band expanding their sound with touches of funk and reggae, as well as making their anti-war and anti-imperialist political stance more clear.

1985's Let's Wreck the Party and 1987's True (North) Strong And Free saw the band taking on a more mainstream, hard-rock oriented production, but without watering down the band's political lyrical focus.

First break-up and reunion (1990–2002)

1990's Murder featured rawer, almost thrash metal production, rather than their original basic punk sound. The same year also produced a collaboration with Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra with Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors. In August 1990, Joey decided he was breaking up D.O.A. but, at the suggestion of promoter Dirk Dirksen, they did a farewell tour of the West Coast, playing their "final" show on December 1, 1990, at the Commodore in Vancouver. In 1991, they released a posthumous live album entitled Talk Minus Action = 0 while Keithley pursued an acting career.

19 months after D.O.A. broke up, Joey Shithead and Wimpy Roy had reunited as D.O.A in the summer of 1992. Fellow Canadian punk rock veteran John Wright from NoMeansNo suggested they hire Ken Jensen from Red Tide as the new drummer, which they did. The "Ken Jensen Memorial Single" EP was released on Alternative Tentacles, including two tracks each from D.O.A. and Red Tide. With John Wright filling in on drums, ninth full-length The Black Spot was recorded. The album featured a more basic, sing-along type punk rock sound that was reminiscent of the band's late 1970s and early 1980s output.

The late 1990s found the band's line-up in turmoil, with Wimpy Roy leaving the band after a decade and a half of service and Kuba joining to play bass from 1997 until 2001. In the same year, the band released a career-spanning retrospective entitled War And Peace. 2004 found the band releasing the ska-flavoured Live Free or Die. In 2006, Randy Rampage rejoined D.O.A. for his 3rd stint in the band.

The line-up remained stable until 2008, when The Great Baldini left the band to be replaced by new drummer James Hayden. Also in 2008, it was announced that Bob Rock, of Metallica fame would be producing the band's next album in time for their 30th anniversary. James Hayden quit before D.O.A. started to record to be replaced by Floor Tom Jones. In September 2008, D.O.A. released Northern Avenger and embarked on their 30th anniversary tour. On the eve of the tour, it was announced that Randy Rampage was being replaced by Dan Yaremko once again.

D.O.A. played several dates in the summer of 2009 as part of the Van's Warped Tour 2009.

On May 1, 2010, D.O.A. released their fourteenth full-length album Talk Minus Action = Zero (a similarly titled live album Talk Minus Action Equals Zero had previously been released in 1990). Drummer Jesse Pinner (of the band Raised by Apes) took the place of Floor Tom Jones beginning on D.O.A.'s subsequent August 2010 tour due to Floor Tom Jones' commitments to his job at Canada Post.

In 2012, Joe announced that he would be seeking nomination as an NDP candidate in the B.C. provincial election. As a result, D.O.A. announced an indefinite hiatus, and began their farewell tour on January 18, 2013, in celebration of the band's thirty-five year anniversary.

Second reunion and recent activity (2014–present)

On September 22, 2014, Keithley officially announced on the Sudden Death Records website that he had decided to reform the band with Paddy Duddy on drums and Mike "Maggot" Hodsall on bass, and would be embarking on a Canadian tour in October in support of the recently released live album, Welcome To Chinatown. This line-up recorded and released the studio album Hard Rain Falling in 2015. In April 2016, the band released a new version of "Fucked Up Ronnie" entitled "Fucked Up Donald" (referring to the 2016 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump) as a single.

Members

Current line-up

  • Joe Keithley – vocals, guitar (1978–present), bass (1996–1998)
  • Mike Hodsall – bass (2014–present)
  • Paddy Duddy – drums (2014–present)

Former members

  • Harry Homo – lead vocals (1978)
  • Brad Kent – guitar (1978)
  • Randy Romance – guitar (1978)
  • Zippy Pinhead – drums (1979; died 2019)
  • Simon Wilde – bass (1979–1980; died 1994)
  • Andy Graffiti – drums (1979–1980)
  • Randy Rampage – bass (1978–1979, 1980–1982, 2000–2002, 2006–2009; died 2018)
  • Chuck Biscuits – drums (1978–1979, 1980–1982)
  • Dave Gregg – guitar (1979–1988; died 2014)
  • Brian Roy Goble – bass (1982–1996; died 2014)
  • Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery – bass (1982), drums (1982–1983, 1984–1986; died 1994)
  • Gregg "Ned Peckerwood" James – drums (1983–1984)
  • Kerr Belliveau – drums (1986)
  • Jon Card – drums (1986–1990; died 2024)
  • Chris Prohom – guitar (1988–1990)
  • Ken Jensen – drums (1992–1995; died 1995)
  • Ford Pier – guitar (1994–1996)
  • Wycliffe – bass (1997)
  • Kuba van der Pol – bass (1998–2000, 2002–2003)
  • Brien O'Brien – drums (1997–1999)
  • The Great Baldini – drums (2000–2008)
  • Dan Yaremko – bass (2003–2006, 2009–2013)
  • Floor Tom Jones – drums (2008–2010)
  • Jesse Pinner – drums (2010–2013)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

  • Something Better Change (1980)
  • Hardcore '81 (1981)
  • Let's Wreck the Party (1985)
  • True (North) Strong and Free (1987)
  • Murder (1990)
  • 13 Flavours of Doom (1992)
  • Loggerheads (1993)
  • The Black Spot (1995)
  • Festival of Atheists (1998)
  • Win the Battle (2002)
  • Live Free or Die (2004)
  • Northern Avenger (2008)
  • Kings of Punk, Hockey and Beer (2009)
  • Talk-Action=0 (2010)
  • We Come in Peace (2012)
  • Hard Rain Falling (2015)
  • Fight Back (2018)
  • Treason (2020)

Live albums

  • Talk Minus Action Equals Zero (1991)
  • Welcome to Chinatown (2013)

EPs

  • Positively (1981)
  • War on 45 (1982)
  • D.O.A. & Thor – Are U Ready (2003)

Collaborations

  • Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors (with Jello Biafra) (1990)

Solo albums

  • Beat Trash (2002) – Solo project from Joey "Shithead" Keithley

References

  • The official D.O.A. myspace
  • CanadianBands.com entry
  • Sudden Death records
  • Interview with Joey Shithead
  • Snot Rag interview with Dimwit (1979 )
  • Robert Christgau's review of five D.O.A. albums
  • Scanner zine interview with Joey Shithead
  • Late Night Wallflower interview with Joey Shithead (2007)
  • Toronto Music Scene Interview with Joey Shithead
  • The Ruckus – Audio Interview with Joey Keithley from September 2008
  • 1984 Interview, Guillotine Fanzine / Ragged Edge Collection @ archive.org]