Beginning and Victory Records
After releasing a series of demo tapes, the band was picked up by Victory Records and released their debut LP Crime Ridden Society on the label. The track "Our Fight", which appears on Crime Ridden Society and proclaims an anti-racism message, was originally performed by Confront. Ironically, OLC has been accused by many as being a racist band, due in no small part to the lyrics of the track "Pure Disgust", which reflect a right-wing stance on immigration issues. OLC, along with Victory, tried to combat their racist image by releasing One Life Crew t-shirts with the lyrics to "Our Fight" printed on the back, and included a post card along with the vinyl version of the album that likened the song to Agnostic Front's "Public Assistance".
The band was dropped from Victory Records after a fight broke out during their set at the 1996 Cleveland Hardcore Festival. Though many claims have been made as to the actual reason OLC was dropped from the label, Victory's stance remains that they do not condone violence. Victory Records had 1,000 post cards printed explaining their decision, and mailed out to their customers. Allegedly, all remaining copies of Crime Ridden Society on cassette, CD, and vinyl were destroyed, making it a very sought-after album in collectors' circles.
Upset with Victory's decision, two prank phone calls made by Chubby Fresh were recorded and subsequently released on the Internet. The calls were placed to members of Victory Records' most popular bands at the time, Earth Crisis and Snapcase.
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