History
Fang's first record under the name Fang was an "experimental record", according to the band; the "Yukon Fang" single. Fang guitarist Tom Flynn and bass player Brian Beattie, his former bandmate from the bands Tapeworm and Safety Patrol, put out "Yukon Fang" as a duo and Fang was formed. The original incarnation of Fang toured the country once, only to break up shortly thereafter with Beattie moving on to Texas where he later formed the band Glass Eye. In the early fall of 1981, Flynn began playing with drummer Chris Ritter. They soon added bass player Chris Wilson and began playing shows in the Bay Area as a three piece, with Flynn on vocals. While this was happening, Sam McBride, the band's soon-to-be vocalist, was singing with future Fang drummer Greg Langston in the band Shut Up. In early 1982, Ritter was replaced with drummer Joel Fox, and at Fox's audition he brought along his friend McBride, who volunteered to be the band's singer. The lineup solidified as McBride (vocals), Chris Wilson (bass), Tom Flynn (guitar), and Joel Fox (drums). Together they contributed the song "Fun with Acid" to the Not So Quiet on the Western Front compilation album. Shortly thereafter, guitarist Tom Flynn founded the label Boner Records and released Fang's debut album Landshark and their EP Where the Wild Things Are. Tim Stiletto drummed on the latter. These two releases are now considered classic East Bay punk.
In January 1986, the "Spun Helga" LP was recorded in West Germany with McBride singing vocals, and two Germans named Joe (Guitar) and Ollie (Drums) playing instruments. We Bite Records in Germany released the LP, but in the U.S. it was handled by National Trust Records. Fang next released was 1987's "A Mi Ga Sfafas?" (The title literally means "Give Me Head?"). The lineup during this era was McBride, Bill Collins (guitar), Joe Miller (bass), and Steve Chinn (drums). Drummer Mike Branum replaced Chinn and Fang recorded the album "Pissed-Off Buddah", which remained unreleased until 2008, when it was released with Fang's other albums "Spun Helga" and "A Mi Ga Sfafas?"
In 1989, during a heroin binge, Sam McBride strangled his girlfriend, Dixie Lee Carney, to death and was sentenced to six years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.
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