The Dils - I Hate The Rich

Growing up in Northern England in the 70's I was around at the right time to experience the new, exciting music that was named punk rock. Actually, that isn't quite true, if I had have been a couple of years older and from a bigger city then i might have managed to latch onto things a little earlier. The first albums i bought were Machine Gun Etiquette, Inflammable Material and Give Em Enough Rope. I never got to see The Pistols or The Clash live though i did manage the likes of Siouxsie And The Banshees and PIL. Almost right time, almost right place, almost. Though as a 13 year old Grammar School boy i do remember listening to John Peel and eagerly devouring Sounds and the NME. Back in those days, London seemed an exotic place, a far away city with a rich and varied cornucopia of bands and gigs. The American punk scene was made up of bands like The Ramones, The Dead Kennedys and The Dickies, beneath that not much registered with me and I suspect this is the case with many other UK punk fans. So whilst many of the people reading this grew up on music from bands like The Dils, it probably wasn't till many years later that others, like myself, became aware of them. Forming in 1977 in Carlsbad, California (though soon relocating to San Francisco) and noted for their left wing politics they released only a fairly small amount of material but were influences on a multitude of impressionable youths. They split in 1980. This is their debut single, I Hate The Rich.....

I hate the rich
they should dig the ditch
I hate the rich
got a life without hitch, life without a hitch

I hate the rich
I don't want their money
I hate the rich
and it ain't so funny

look at the poor
crawling on the floor
look at the poor
always wanting more, always wanting more

look at the poor
all they need is money
look at the poor
now it ain't so funny

i hate the rich
look at the poor
i hate the rich
i hate them all