# Feelin' the Love for the band Social Distortion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198 "2008-03-05T16:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/1 "2008-03-05T16:30:20Z")
In [this thread over in IMHO](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=457978), brave Doper \*\*Cluricaun \*\*offers up a shirt for evaluation and is mostly slagged. But there is hope - it has led to a reference to the great band \*\*Social Distortion \*\*- to which \*\*Cluricaun \*\* remarked: > [@](#): > > If nothing else if this shirt and my thread about it potentially introduced someone to Social D, which is more than most of my other shirts have ever done ergo this must be a truly great shirt. So my duty is clear - spread the word on Social D. They come up pretty regularly here on the Dope, so I am hopeful most music-minded Dopers at least know of them, but just in case - here is what I wrote in Cluricaun’s thread: > [@](#): > > Mike Ness is the leader of the band Social Distortion. Truly great punk coming out of SoCal since the 80’s. Holds onto punk energy and rebellion while embracing Johnny Cash and other country-ish themes of white trash outlaws that never win. Social D is all about tattoos and the grimy side of town. Best songs include (but are in no way limited to): > > - Prison Bound (but must be the Live at the Roxy version) > - Ball and Chain - see video here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cf6k4yJyv0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cf6k4yJyv0) > - Story of My Life - see video here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuKOc\_Mpumc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuKOc_Mpumc) > - Ring of Fire (amazing punk cover of the Cash/Carter original) > - Bad Luck - see video here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhC0231FRA8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhC0231FRA8) - the guitar tone at the beginning of the song is chock full of grindy goodness > - Sick Boys > > And many, many others. > > I am a huge fan. So - Social D lovers, chime in. Social D initiates, you’re welcome! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/2 "2008-03-05T16:40:53Z")
There’s a local Social D tribute band around here called Sick Boys. The singer’s voice is spot on for Mike Ness’s. They do a good job and we’ve had a couple good shows with them. Ring of Fire is my favorite Social D song (even though it’s a cover). ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/3 "2008-03-05T16:41:05Z")
Yes, damn good stuff. I think of it more like rockabilly than punk, though. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/4 "2008-03-05T16:45:13Z")
Maybe punkabilly? Saw them live for the first time at VooDoo Fest in New Orleans. Liked them a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/5 "2008-03-05T16:46:45Z")
Social Distortion is and will always be one of my favorite bands. It’s just straight up balls out rock and roll, of which there is very little these days. Even my mom likes Social D and in bars where there’s some available on the jukebox it seems to play nearly non-stop. Great beer drinking, pool shooting, card playing music. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/6 "2008-03-05T16:49:27Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Social Distortion is and will always be one of my favorite bands. It’s just straight up balls out rock and roll, of which there is very little these days. Even my mom likes Social D and in bars where there’s some available on the jukebox it seems to play nearly non-stop. Great beer drinking, pool shooting, card playing music. [/QUOTE] If you’re wearing the right shirt. 😃 (I have heard them referred to a lot of ways: punk, rock, rockabilly, psychobilly, etc. I tend to go with \*\*Cluricaun’s \*\*“straight up balls out rock and roll”) ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/7 "2008-03-05T16:54:37Z")
I love Social D., both their music and lyrics. 2 great songs that haven’t been listed are: I Was Wrong Death or Glory (their cover of The Clash song) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/8 "2008-03-05T17:02:22Z")
Another big fan here (just to represent for the late-40’s lawyer segment of the fanbase). Was very pleased to turn my teens onto Social D - my youngest (Mommy’s Little Monster) plays them over the sound system while working at a suburban DQ. To my mind, they have just the perfect blending of punk and twang. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/9 "2008-03-05T17:05:24Z")
LOVE. One of my most favorite bands ever. My favorite songs (although I love so many): Sick Boys Highway 101 Story of My Life This Time Darlin’ Mommy’s Little Monster Born To Lose Winners and Losers Ball and Chain Nickels and Dimes Angel’s Wings And their covers of Ring of Fire and Under My Thumb And a whole bunch more. 🙂 I saw them last month at The Fillmore and they rocked, of course. It was my first time back in a mosh pit in like 15 years. I had an awesome time and can’t wait to see them again. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/10 "2008-03-05T17:12:06Z")
I was a huge fan in college and still respect them immensely. Saw Mike Ness on his solo tour in the late 90s. Watched him try to beat the crap out of a guy in the audience who had pissed him off. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/11 "2008-03-05T19:18:11Z")
I like “When the Angels Sing” because it just seems kind of sweet that even a hood like Mike Ness finds comfort in the presence of God. (And I’m not particularly religious myself.) It is mildly strange, though, to realize that the guy pounding the skins on that song is not former D.O.A. member Chuck Biscuits, as the liner notes of _White Light, White Heat, White Trash_ indicate, but latter-day Journey drummer Deen Castronovo. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/12 "2008-03-05T19:23:57Z")
They’re one of my favorite bands as well, punk or otherwise. I’m always a late bloomer, so I blew off seeing them at one of the late '90s Warped Tours, probably in favor of some trendy ska band. Luckily, I got into them a few years later and got to see them live at a nicer indoor venue in 2005. Mike Ness was as awesome as ever. For all Social D fans, do yourselves a favor and check out Mike’s two solo albums, _Cheating at Solitaire_ and _Under the Influences_. Both are good, but _Cheating at Solitaire_ is one of my all-time favorite albums – I actually prefer it as a whole to any Social D albums in their entirety. The music still has a hard, dirty, dangerous edge, but it is a lot more “rootsy” than Social D. There are several twangy old covers (including my favorite version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice”), and fantastic guest musicians like Brian Setzer and Royal Crown Revue’s swingin’ saxman Mando Dorame. The music sounds like it belongs in a Quentin Tarantino movie, which I mean as a ringing endorsement. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/13 "2008-03-05T19:26:51Z")
I used to cover “Bad Luck” in one of my bands. My bass player dug Social Distortion so we worked up one of their tunes. I liked them ok but I was never into punk that much. I enjoyed playing “Story of My Life” on Guitaro Hero 3, though. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/14 "2008-03-05T19:28:41Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] They’re one of my favorite bands as well, punk or otherwise. I’m always a late bloomer, so I blew off seeing them at one of the late '90s Warped Tours, probably in favor of some trendy ska band. Luckily, I got into them a few years later and got to see them live at a nicer indoor venue in 2005. Mike Ness was as awesome as ever. For all Social D fans, do yourselves a favor and check out Mike’s two solo albums, _Cheating at Solitaire_ and _Under the Influences_. Both are good, but _Cheating at Solitaire_ is one of my all-time favorite albums – I actually prefer it as a whole to any Social D albums in their entirety. The music still has a hard, dirty, dangerous edge, but it is a lot more “rootsy” than Social D. There are several twangy old covers (including my favorite version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice”), and fantastic guest musicians like Brian Setzer and Royal Crown Revue’s swingin’ saxman Mando Dorame. The music sounds like it belongs in a Quentin Tarantino movie, which I mean as a ringing endorsement. [/QUOTE] Recommendation for Ness’s solo work seconded. And for sheer guest star firepower, it’s worth mentioning that \*Cheating \*also includes a duet with Bruce Springsteen…I belive the song is Misery Loves Company… ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/15 "2008-03-05T19:29:59Z")
[QUOTE=Jackknifed Juggernaut] I love Social D., both their music and lyrics. 2 great songs that haven’t been listed are: I Was Wrong Death or Glory (their cover of The Clash song) [/QUOTE] Wow. I’ve never heard their version of _Death or Glory_ - what is it on? _Mommy’s Little Monster_ was always my favorite but a close second is Mike Ness’ cover of Marty Robbins’ _Big Iron_. Back in the early '90’s they were one of the few really cool bands to played Fresno, CA with any regularity. We saw so few decent shows that whenever Social Distortion came to town it was a huge event. I always loved the fact that at every show there would be this group of “frat guys” (the type not specifically) who would just stand at the edge of the pit and shove whoever was coming around the pit edge. As most of you probably know, this is some really poor pit etiquette and it would invariably end up in a brawl. The best part was that one time Mike Ness stopped the show and gestured toward the “frat guys” and instructed the security to “Kick those assholes out - they started it.” ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/16 "2008-03-05T20:38:42Z")
Another Social Distortion fan here. The hard-to-categorize bands tend to be favorites. (And I told Cluricaun that I **liked** the shirt!) ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/17 "2008-03-05T22:30:22Z")
Saw them in concert about… 15 years ago, maybe? I liked them, but have grown to really dislike the singer’s voice. They still play them CONSTANTLY on the “new rock” station in San Francisco. I’m a little tired of them… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/18 "2008-03-05T22:51:31Z")
[QUOTE=wheresgeorge04] Saw them in concert about… 15 years ago, maybe? I liked them, but have grown to really dislike the singer’s voice. They still play them CONSTANTLY on the “new rock” station in San Francisco. I’m a little tired of them… Joe [/QUOTE] Haven’t heard too much Social D but that can’t be as bad as the ones in Orlando who still play System of a Down and Disturbed on heavy rotation. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/19 "2008-03-05T22:53:05Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] Haven’t heard too much Social D but that can’t be as bad as the ones in Orlando who still play System of a Down and Disturbed on heavy rotation. [/QUOTE] Oh man, tell me about it! Orlando “rock” radio is the worst I’ve ever heard. Thank goodness for WPRK from Rollins College for actually playing cool, eclectic, interesting music and not the constant stream of nu-metal and cock rock. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198/20 "2008-03-06T01:21:44Z")
That’s it? Social Distortion, one of the most kick ass rock bands of all time only warrants 18 posts? That’s fucking depressing right there, that is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feelin-the-love-for-the-band-social-distortion/440198.md?page=2)