By – Jackie Lo

SST was THE record label everyone wanted to be signed to in its heyday. What started as a mail order business for ham radio enthusiasts that Greg Ginn created when he was just 12 years old, eventually became one of the most influential independent record labels putting out some of the greatest underground records of the 80s and 90s. “Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records” is a collection of stories, research, and interviews collected by Jim Ruland that tells the whole story of SST Records.

A detail that I loved in the book was that each album discussed is accompanied by its SST release number starting with SST 001 (Black Flag Nervous Breakdown) and you’ll get it all starting with Black Flag, the violence at their shows, LAPD camping out outside SST’s office to Minutemen, Meat Puppets, and Husker Du.  You’ll get the goods on the rift between Rollins and Ginn, find out how Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, Ciccone Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and Soundgarden got involved and watch the world of music spin on its axis with the rise of MTV then right itself with the inclusion of videos for underground and independent music with the MTV show 120 Minutes that I used to love to stay up late to watch. I loved learning more about Raymond Pettibond, the artist (and younger brother to Ginn) who was behind the Black Flag three bars logo and the cover of “Goo”, to just name a few, and be inspired by the iconic imagery behind some of my favorite bands. You’ll also be beyond frustrated at some of the bands SST turned down (cough Nirvana cough ) and eventually see the turn that started their downfall.

Slowly, bands like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. became disenchanted with the label due to the lack of quality of acts being signed, long waits for new music due to a lengthy backlog of releases, and, most importantly, the bands weren’t getting paid. With lawsuits and bankruptcy piling up, SST stopped releasing material by the late 90s.  Yes, nothing lasts forever but I loved reading all of the stories, knowing why some of my favorite bands signed and left SST, and temporarily living in the world of what it was like for SST and these artists in a time when they were just trying to make it while creating some of the most incredible music that I still love today.

My favorite SST releases:

1. Black Flag – Damaged (SST 007)
2. Husker Du – Zen Arcade (SST 027)
3. Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime (SST 028)
4. Meat Puppets – Meat Puppets II (SST 019)
5. Dinosaur Jr. – Bug (SST 216)
6. Sonic Youth – EVOL (SST 059)
7. Bad Brains – I Against I (SST 065)
8. Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me (SST 130)
9. Sonic Youth – Sister (SST 134)
10. Screaming Trees – Even If and Especially When (SST 132)