About Cro-Mags
Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal.
In April 2019, founding member Harley Flanagan reached a settlement with former singer John Joseph and former drummer Mackie Jayson in which Flanagan would retain exclusive rights to the Cro-Mags name while Joseph and Jayson would move forward under the name, Cro-Mags "JM".
How the Cro-Mags formed is disputed by the band's founding members. In Tony Rettman's 2014 book NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980-1990, guitarist Parris Mayhew states that the band formed after he had put up a number of posters around New York in search of band members, to which Flanagan responded. In the same book, other people involved in the New York hardcore scene suggest that the band formed under the name Mode of Ignorance, with an original lineup consisting of Dave Hahn on drums, Mayhew and Dave Stein on guitar, John Joseph on lead vocals and Flanagan on bass. During its early existence, the band went through frequent lineup changes. Mayhew explains that this was because "Harley would see some kid with a shaved head and think 'This kid is hard... let's bring him into the band.' Then I would end up tolerating some horrible, talentless person for however long it took Harley to realise that the guy had no talent". Joseph left the band soon after to live in Puerto Rico and then Hawaii, and was replaced by Eric Casanova. One Cro-Mags lineup from this time consisted of Flanagan on drums, Mayhew on guitar, Todd Youth on bass and Casanova on vocals. By the time the band played their first live performance, Youth had been replaced by Roger Miret, however soon after Casanova was kicked out of the band due to the birth of his son interfering with scheduling. By this time, Joseph had returned to New York and so rejoined as the band's vocalist. Youth briefly re-joined the band after Miret's departure, at the same time Robb "Nunzio" Ortiz joined as an additional guitarist. A few months later, the band changed their name to the Cro-Mags.
However, Flanagan claims in his 2016 autobiography Hard-Core: Life of My Own that he and Mayhew met in 1980 after being introduced by Paul Dordal, they began writing music together soon after and formed the band with vocalist Eric Casanova, who only performed with the band twice. Following this, they would go on hiatus as Flanagan went to California then Canada, during which time he wrote and recorded demos for the songs "Everybody's Gonna Die", "Don't Tread On Me", "By Myself" and "Do Unto Others". After returning to New York in 1983, he regrouped the band and he, Mayhew and Casanova began writing again, using his demo tracks as a basis.
Flanagan also claimed in a 2018 interview with Blabbermouth.net that he formed the Cro-Mags in 1980 with guitarist Dave Stein, drummer Dave Hahn and vocalist John Berry and that the band's first performance was at the Peppermint Lounge opening for the Stimulators the same year. He thought the band was not ready to debut using their real name, so instead performed as Disco Smoothy. After this performance, the group disbanded and in 1982–1983, Flanagan recorded four tracks in Songshop Studios in New York City with Denise Mercedes of the Stimulators, the tracks set to be released by Rat Cage Records but issues regarding management prevented the project to come to fruition. He then recruited Eric Casanova on vocals, before meeting Parris Mayhew in 1983, who then joined as guitarist, along with drummer Mackie Jayson. This final story by Flanagan is supported by John Joseph in his 2007 autobiography The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon, however Joseph instead states the band formed in 1981 and that he was the band's vocalist prior to Berry but left prior to the Peppermint Lounge performance because he thought the name they were performing under was not serious enough.
The band's debut album The Age of Quarrel was released in 1986, which was mostly written by Parris Mayhew and Flanagan, some songs being based on a four track demo that Flanagan had recorded solo in 1982 while on the West Coast. Joseph parted ways with the band again after The Age of Quarrel, leaving Flanagan to sing on the second Cro-Mags album, Best Wishes , which had a more heavy metal-influenced sound. The next album, Alpha Omega , saw the return of Joseph singing along with Flanagan. According to cofounder Parris Mayhew, he wrote most of the album with guitarist Rob Buckley. However, neither Mayhew or Buckley played on the actual recording, and the writing has been disputed by Flanagan and others. The Cro-Mags disbanded but later recorded the album with the return of Doug Holland and a new rhythm guitarist, Gabby Abularach.
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