Agent Orange is an American
rock band formed in
Orange County, California in 1979. The band is one of the first to mix
punk rock with
surf music. They first gained attention with their song "Bloodstains" which they released on their own 7" E.P. An early demo of the song was presented to
KROQ,
Pasadena radio station's D.J.
Rodney Bingenheimer, which soon became one of his show's biggest hits.
Besides having Mike Palm and Scott Miller as original members, Steve Soto was the power trio’s first bass player, the one who played on the first "Bloodstains". The Darkness Version of this song later appeared on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. Soto later left the band to form The Adolescents. With new member James Levesque on bass, the group found their way to the famous Living In Darkness sessions at Brian Elliot recording studio (Elliot is most known for having composed Madonna’s hit "Papa Don’t Preach"). The result of these sessions was their first long player, Living In Darkness (originally released by Posh Boy Records in November 1981). In 1988, Brent Liles replaced James Levesque on bass and later that year, Agent Orange recorded Living In Total Darkness, which was a re-recording of the original Living in Darkness album with a few new songs mixed in. This album did not go national and very few copies exist. In 1989, Derek O'Brien replaced Scott Miller on drums and in 1990, Agent Orange recorded Real Live Sound. This is the only Agent Orange recording to feature the Palm/Liles/O'Brien lineup. Sam Bolle replaced Brent Liles in January 1992, and remained with the band until May 2003, when he left to join Surf Guitar Legend Dick Dale's band, where he remains to this day.
Agent Orange has had an enormous influence on the skate punk or skate-core scene even though band members stated on Living in Darkness that "We don't like skating at all."
Entire history of band
