The Naked Raygun Web Archive

Pierre Kezdy, Jeff Pezzati and my mom. A night I'll never forget.

Naked Raygun were that band that summed up for me everything that punk rock was supposed to be. Sure they were loud and fast, but if that was all you wanted you could just listen to Minor Threat for the seven hundredth time. Naked Raygun also pulled off the pop/punk mixture (carefully molded by years of listening to the Buzzcocks) as well as proving that punk rockers didn't have to sour-faced, over-wrought, politically-correct poops all the time. Naked Raygun were fun.

They showed cartoons before their gigs. They gave away free shit. They lowered John Haggerty's guitar to him from the ceiling, dryly commenting that they would have had him fly up there but "Bon Jovi beat us to it." They told jokes and stories, they made you laugh, they recorded a tribute to Slim Pickens and they made the world a better place. The first time I saw them kick into "Surf Combat" at the Metro in 1986, I knew I would never be the same again.

September 16th, 1986. Another night forever stamped into my brain.

Eventually this page will have more information about Naked Raygun than anyone will ever want to know. Interviews, biographies, discographies, photos (I was an avid NR shooter) and other assorted tomfoolery.

Since their passing, it seems the band has been somewhat forgotten, and I think this is a goddamned shame. The Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt and Urge Overkill all owe the band dinner for setting the stage upon which they made their success. While I imagine this page will be mainly visited by my friends who will smile nostalgically at the times they remember, I can only hope that some punk rock kid will go out and pick up a copy of All Rise and find out what the fuss was all about.

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Photo Gallery

Interview w/THIS fanzine - 1989

Discography

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Greg Dunlap - gdd@tezcat.com