Fear

FEAR is a punk rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1977. The group helped shape a fast, confrontational Southern California sound, and they jumped into national view after a chaotic 1981 appearance on Saturday Night Live. Singer and guitarist Lee Ving has led every era.

How The Band Got Started

Lee Ving and Derf Scratch launched the band in 1977 with Burt Good on lead guitar and Johnny Backbeat on drums. According to early accounts, photographer Bob Seidemann suggested the name. The first single, “I Love Livin’ in the City,” arrived in 1978. Soon after, Philo Cramer and Spit Stix replaced Good and Backbeat, setting the 1978 to 1982 core lineup.

Film, TV, and a Notorious Night

Director Penelope Spheeris met Ving and Stix flyering on Laurel Canyon Boulevard and featured FEAR in The Decline of Western Civilization in 1981, capturing a set that mixed insults, gallows humor, and onstage confrontations. That same year, John Belushi pushed for FEAR’s booking on the Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live. A pit of slamdancers included Belushi, Ian MacKaye, Tesco Vee, Harley Flanagan, John Joseph, and John Brannon. Cameras and set pieces were damaged, the live broadcast cut to commercial during “Let’s Have a War,” and reports pegged the bill at about $20,000. FEAR also appeared in Ralph Bakshi’s animated film American Pop, with Ving credited as Lee James Jude.

Song Histories and Disputes

“Johnny Are You Queer?” connects back to FEAR’s demo “Fetch Me One More Beer,” written by Philo Cramer and John Clancy. Managers Bobby and Larson Paine reworked it with new lyrics, gave it to the Go Go’s, then to Josie Cotton, whose version became a hit. Publishing was settled by an agreed coin toss, which the Paines won. The song “Neighbors,” first offered to John Belushi’s film of the same name, later surfaced as a Ving release with vocals by Belushi and Ving.

Albums and Major Phases

The Record landed in 1982 on Slash Records. After touring, Scratch was dismissed, and short term bassists passed through, including Eric Feldman and Flea, before Lorenzo Buhne took the role. FEAR played the 1983 “Rock Against Reagan” event in Washington, D.C. With Ving producing, the second album More Beer arrived in 1985. Band accounts say it was cut in two days. A label rep later claimed it took a year. Either way, it delivers the band’s bulldozer approach with sharper studio punch.

The live set Live…for the Record captured a 1985 Spin Radio performance and was issued in 1991. After heavy touring, Cramer and Stix departed over money disputes, and Ving worked in Austin as Lee Ving’s Army. That lineup morphed back into FEAR for Have Another Beer with Fear in 1995. American Beer followed in 2000, pairing Ving and drummer Andrew Jaimez with Richard Presley and Mando Lopez. The album included fresh recordings of older material alongside new songs.

2000s To Recent Years

FEAR joined the Warped Tour in 2008. Derf Scratch died in 2010. A front to back rerecording titled The Fear Record was released in 2012. In 2018, Ving reunited onstage with Philo Cramer and Spit Stix, joined by Eric Razo and Geoff Kresge. In 2022, the group announced it had secured the master rights to The Record and planned a 40th anniversary edition. Touring continued in 2023. The album For Right and Order arrived on October 31, 2023, the first new studio album in 11 years, and the first full set of new originals in 23 years. The lineup featured Ving, Stix, Kresge, and Razo, with songwriting contributions from Cramer. Releases continued into 2024 and 2025, including singles and a streaming cover.

Members

• Lee Ving, lead vocals and rhythm guitar, 1977 to present
• Philo Cramer, lead guitar, 1978 to 1993, 2018 to present
• Spit Stix, drums, 1977 to 1993, 2018 to present
• Eric Razo, lead guitar, 2018 to present
• Amos Cook, bass, 2024 to present

Selected Former Members

• Derf Scratch, bass, 1977 to 1982
• Flea, bass, 1982 to 1984
• Lorenzo Buhne, bass, 1984 to 1988
• Will MacGregor, bass, 1988 to 1993
• Scott Thunes, bass, 1993 to 1995
• Mando Lopez, bass, 1997 to 2008
• Johnny Backbeat, drums, 1977
• Andrew Jaimez, drums, 1993 to 2018
• Burt Good, lead guitar, 1977 to 1978
• Dave Stark, lead guitar and backing vocals, 2011 to 2018

Discography, Studio Albums

• The Record (1982, Slash Records)
• More Beer (1985, Restless Records)
• Have Another Beer with Fear (1995, Sector 2 Records)
• American Beer (2000, Hall of Records)
• The Fear Record (2012, The End Records), rerecorded version of The Record
• For Right and Order (2023, Atom Age Industries and Fear Records)
• The Last Time (2024)

EPs and Singles

• “I Love Livin’ in the City,” 7 inch, 1978, Criminal Records
• Fuck Christmas, 7 inch, 1982, Slash Records, later added as a bonus track on some editions of The Record
• “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” 7 inch, 2011, The End Records
• Paradise Studios Sessions Vol. 1, 2, 3, 7 inch EPs, 2014 to 2016, Atom Age Industries and Fear Records
• “Neighbors,” 7 inch with John Belushi, 2016, Atom Age Industries and Fear Records
• “Fuel To The Fire” b w “People Person,” recorded 1992, released 2019
• Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock & Roll) EP, 2023, Atom Age Industries and Fear Records
• “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” b w “Brainwash,” 2024, Atom Age Industries
• “Trash (A Benefit For David Johansen),” March 2025, Atom Age Industries
• “A Hard Days Night,” streaming single, April 2025, Cleopatra Records

Live Releases

• Live…for the Record (1991, Restless Records)

Compilations and Soundtracks

• The Decline of Western Civilization (1980, Slash Records)
• Get Crazy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1983, Morocco Records)
• Repo Man Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1984, San Andreas Records)
• SLC Punk Original Soundtrack (1999, Hollywood Records)

Covers and Tributes

• Artists who recorded FEAR songs include A Perfect Circle, Bad Religion, Blatz, Course of Empire, Rob Crow, Dark Angel, Demoniac, Dog Eat Dog, From Autumn to Ashes, Guns N’ Roses, Harvey Milk, Indecision, Megadeth, M.O.D., Poster Children, Sacred Reich, Soundgarden, S.O.D., The Reatards, and Turbonegro.