Mosh pit/slam-dancing, etc.

[Ed Keer]

I posed the mosh pit question to my friend Gavin who
is a little more versed in the history of American
hardcore punk. His replies are pasted below. Note he
suggests a NY origin, possibly borrowed from reggae,
with some song lyrics from the mid-eighties.

>From Gavin McNett:
------------------
Hm.

I first heard the term 'mosh' in 1983, and it was
considered a New York word -- often flourished like a
bit of borrowed  reggae slang (the Bad Brains were
really big then, and lots of people listened to
reggae). You'd hear it appear in phrases like,
"Evvy-body MOSH-i-tup!" Then there's the song, 'Total
Mash,' on Scream's 'Still Screaming' album (circa
'83), where 'mash' referred to a party, a la 'Monster
Mash." My guess would be that 'mosh' is a Jamaican
pronunciation of 'mash,' meaning some kind of wild-ass
party.

I think it was called 'slamming' everywhere else. It
certainly was in New Jersey, and in the fanzines I
read from other places. D'you remember what it was
called in Philadelphia? (I don't remember the term
'slam dancing' ever being used by anyone in the scene
around here. It was a term that your parents or
straight high-school friends would use. And there was
that Quincy episode, etc...)

As for 'pit,' I remember the term being in use in '83
as well, for the place where slamming took place. But
I never heard of a 'slam pit' or anything like that.
Nor even a 'mosh pit,' until later when there were
sort of a different generation of kids at the shows.
Even then, I think it was still a New York term. It
resurfaced later as, you know, part of the national
discourse, maybe as late as 1991-92.... Does that
square with your memories?



...Then there was the term, 'skanking,' which was
directly borrowed from Jamaican slang. 'Skanking'
referred to both that shuffly reggae dance that Rastas
did, and to that exaggerated, belligerent
walking-thing you'd do as you were slamming (or
moshing) in the pit.

Remember Madness's 'One Step Beyond' video -- a ska
song, circa '81? '82? That odd walking thing they were
doing? Compare to the DRI 'mosh man' graphic (I don't
know if that was what DRI called it) of '83 or so, and
the much earlier Shawn Kerri graphic for the Circle
Jerks, circa '80. Kerri calls him the 'Skank kid.'

Interesting puzzle. Hm.

I was wrong about "slam dance." It appears in a
Groinoids song of the same name, written/recorded
circa '81 -- the one on the "Boston Not LA"
compilation. But it was still, you know, considered
louche.

DYS, the band the Groinoids became, had a song called
"Circle Storm" circa '82. And "thrashing" was also an
approved term for awhile. But there aren't many cites
for any of this stuff in song lyrics, surprisingly.
(Although the NJ band Stetz had a song called "East
Coast Slamming" in '82.) It's a struggle to find
references to dancing. I think it was considered
uncool to refer to it.

Key Exception:

http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/circlejerks/ijustwantsomeskank.html

http://www.t-shirtshop.biz/teeshirtshop/cirjerskants.html

Circle Jerks "skank" lyrics and logo, circa '80-'81.
The dance was called the "Huntington Beach Skank" -- I
recall a cite in Slash Magazine, circa '80.)

But here's something. I think we're on the trail now.
Remember how the slow part of a generic NY hardcore
song was called the "mosh part," at least as early as
'83? The word "mosh" had definite sociological
implications: It was something a big, oofy NY skinhead
would say. And on Stormtroopers of Death's "Speak
English or Die" album, 1985 (boy, was that a stinker),
we find "mosh parts" listed on the lyric sheet. S.O.D.
was sort of a heavy metal crossover thing: There were
a lot of copies sold. And the album also has:

Milano Mosh

 You think that, you're really hard
 You think, that you can mosh
 Got your suspenders, and got your boots
 You'd better wear armor, you fuckin' fool
 WE MOSH, until we die
 WE MOSH, until you fry
 You think that you can try
 But can you do... The Milano Mosh


Then there's this:

http://www.purelyrics.com/index.php?lyrics=lecgxnsk

Anthrax started showing up at CBGB's gigs in late '85
or so, IIRC. And when the song "Caught in a Mosh" came
out, it seemed like they didn't know quite what the
word meant, and were just throwing it in to seem hip.
Even the usage was off: As far as I can recall, "mosh"
was invariably a verb. But there it was, and Anthrax
were a rising speedmetal band.
So I think these are the texts that brought the word
"mosh" to the larger public. The "pit" part of things,
I dunno about. But I'd expect a first recorded
instance of '85-'86, perhaps in a speedmetal fanzine
somewhere.
Boy, this really took a chunk out of my work day.
Thanks for asking.

Ed Keer


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