university Libraries Homepage

Bad Brains Logo

Bad Brains

Bad Brains are one of D.C. punk’s most influential and iconic bands. Debuting at the beginning of 1979, the quartet of HR, Dr. Know, Darryl Jenifer, and Earl Hudson pushed punk to its musical extremes in the brief years before they moved their homebase from D.C. to New York in the early 1980s. Equally known for their blistering speed, instrumental virtuosity, and extolling of a positive mental attitude in their songs, Bad Brains helped define the sound of hardcore punk.

Drawn from the Paul Bushmiller collection on punk, the Sharon Cheslow Punk Flyers collection, the D.C. punk collection, the D.C. punk and indie fanzine collection, and the Robbie White collection on the Slickee Boys.

Tap or hover over an image to learn more.

Fliers

A black and white flier for a punk rock event. At the bottom, there is a drawing showing the location, and to the left is an image of a musician.
Bad Brains - house show, Forestville, Maryland, 3/17/1979
Black and white handwritten flier. The words and letters are of varying sizes and styles, creating a playful and chaotic aesthetic.
Bad Brains, Snitch, Penetrators, Kid Band members - Varsity Grill, College Park, Maryland 3/25/79
Black and white vintage flier. There is text showing event details and featured bands, and an image of three women at the center.
Bad Brains, Insect Surfers, NME - Madam's Organ, Washington, D.C. 8/25/79
Flier featuring faded, grainy images of band members and text promoting the shows.
Teen Idles, Bad Brains - Madam's Organ - Washington, D.C., 1/26/1980
Black and white flier with a large illustration of 4 men in the shadows, and under it are the event details.
Bad Brains, Trenchmouth, Teen Idles - Madam's Organ - Washington, D.C.,1/25/1980 and 1/26/1980
Flier with text that is all contained in a horizontal rectangular strip centered at the top half of the page, and there is a large picture of a top-view of a man sitting and looking up, holding up a head.
Bad Brains, Black Market Baby - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C., 8/8/1980
Flier with illustrated portraits of the four band members at the center, and text underneath about event details and supporting acts.
The Stranglers, Monochrome Set, Bad Brains - Ontario Theatre - Washington, D.C., 10/22/1980
Black and white poster with stylized text, such as cut out letters, and images.
(Show 1) Minor Threat, Untouchables, S.O.A., Bad Brains, Best - 1929 Calvert St. - Washington, D.C.; (Shows 2 and 3) Unheard Music Festival: Nurses, Untouchables, Type-O, S.O.A., Half Japanese, G.I., Wiggly Mittens, Fluffy Pig - D.C. Space - Washington, D.C., 12/13/1980, 12/17/1980, and 12/18/1980
Handwritten flier for benefit concert featuring bands S.O.A., Minor Threat, Untouchables, etcetera.
S.O.A., Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Untouchables, Best, A Reggae Band - 1929 18th St. NW - Washington, D.C. (circa 1980s photocopy of original), 12/13/1980
Three show flier, containing event details and imagery of skulls and a skull army.
(Show 1) Untouchables, Minor Threat, S.O.A., Bad Brains - 1929 Calvert St. - Washington, D.C.; (Shows 2 and 3) Unheard Music Festival: Minor Threat, S.O.A., Zones, Nurses, Type-O - D.C. Space - Washington, D.C. (Three separate concerts are listed on flier. Circa 1980s photocopy of original), 12/13/1980, 12/17/1980, and 12/18/1980
Bad Brains flier. All of the text is large and stylized in different fonts, and there is one small illustration of a woman at the top right with her eyes covered by a black rectangle.
Bad Brains, Government Issue, and Minor Threat - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., April 4, 1981
Government Issue (G.I.) flier, black and white collage style. Featuring cowboy-themed images, live performance details, and featured bands such as State of Alert (S.O.A), Youth Brigade, and Red C.
Government Issue, Minor Threat, and Bad Brains - Washington, D.C., April 4, 1981
Black and white State of Alert flier, with the band name (S.O.A) in large stylized text at the top, and and the featured bands underneath with event details.
State of Alert, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat - Washington, D.C., April 4, 1981
Black and white flier with a minimal drawing of a map at the bottom left showing the location.
The Subhumans, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat - Washington, D.C., May 22, 1981
Flier for a Bad Brains event with handwritten text and an illustration of a man with a deformed face, resembling a skeleton.
Bad Brains and The Faith - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., January 3, 1982
Green Bad Brains flier. There is a drawing of an angry lion with a Star of David symbol on top of its head.
Bad Brains and Minor Threat - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., April 29, 1982
Bad Brains flyer with a photo of the bandmembers in front of handwritten details.
Bad Brains, Scream, Beefeater, and Outrage concert flier – Floodzone, Richmond, Virginia, March 7, 1986

Zines

Critical List fanzine in black and white collage style, featuring newspaper headlines, silhouetted figures, musicians, and assorted text.
Critical List, Issue 2, 1981
Black and white vintage cover page with a collage of images, two of them being musicians, and the title is "descenes".
Descenes, Issue 4, December 1979

About

Persistent Vision presents the University of Maryland's digitized special collections materials related to punk in the Washington, D.C. area. Most of these materials reside at Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. These materials help to tell the story of a subculture and a community that has thrived since 1976.

Curators: John Davis, Ben Jackson
Design: Ben Jackson, Natalie Salive
Authors: Ben Jackson, John Davis, and Jessica Grimmer

With help from: Cindy Zhao, Jeremy Gottwig, Amanda Henderson, Gabby Cameron, Hayden Kramer

Contact Us

Special Collections in Performing Arts is located in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library on University of Maryland’s College Park campus.

For general information about the library and our collections, contact us