Fresh Fruit 20

The first and best wave of L.A. punk bands from 1977-1979 all broke up under-documented and unsigned, with the exception of X, the Germs, and, to a lesser extent, the Plugz. But the legacy of incredible pioneers such as the Weirdos, Dils, Controllers, and Screamers was the wide success of the harder, faster, younger bands that followed. The interest the 1977 bands awakened not only inspired the formation of Black Flag, Circle Jerks, T.S.O.L., Social Distortion, Agent Orange, Fear, the Adolescents, and others, but helped create a national market, enabling the newer bands to find labels, put out albums, and tour regularly. the Adolescents were perhaps the first of this second wave to put out an LP widely distributed throughout the U.S., selling well over five digits in 1981 (following on the heels of San Francisco's Dead Kennedys, who broke the doors open with their immortal Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables the previous year).