Live Early Flea (pre RHCP circa 1980)

[The Owl]

Found this cool live recording featuring Flea circa 1980 when he was in a band called Anthym which shortly after renamed itself What Is This.

Even though he was relatively new to bass at the time, he was playing his ass off already.

 

[Michedelic]

Found this cool live recording featuring Flea circa 1980 when he was in a band called Anthym which shortly after renamed itself What Is This.

Even though he was relatively new to bass at the time, he was playing his ass off already.

That band essentially was the RHCP, in embryonic form. Formed at LA’s Fairfax High School, also in the band were guitarist Hillel Slovak, drummer Jack Irons, and guitarist Alain Johannes(earlier Fairfax alumni had been Phil Spector and Jerry Stoller of the Leiber/Stoller songwriting team). Anthony Kiedis was a roadie. What the Peppers started out as was a joke side project under a different name initially. Both bands, functioning separately, eventially got signed(Flea had split to play with punk band Fear, and returned to just the Peppers’ camp). Slovak and Irons soon decided to concentrate on the Peppers only, leaving Johannes the odd man out; he then formed a duo with keyboardist Natasha Shneider called Walk The Moon, which morphed into the trio Eleven when Irons returned on drums. They were a great band in the XTC pop mold that went unnoticed(I saw them live once, she was fierce on keys and vocals). After a few albums with diminishing returns, Irons eventually joined Pearl Jam, the other two became QOTSA auxiliary players; she also did some acting, but died from cancer. Johannes went on to be the fourth member of Them Crooked Vultures.

 

[josephbass86]

Gives me strong Devo vibes