Ep508: Forming The Germs - Chris Ashford of What Records

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Nate Goyer

Music, Music History, Music Interviews

4.7 • 579 Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chris Ashford of What Records? discusses releasing the first LA punk single "Forming" by the Germs, rarities, tapes, memories of Darby Crash and early punk scene stories.

Topics Include:

Chris Ashford founded What Records? and knew Germs members George (Pat Smear) and Paul (Darby Crash)
He worked in record stores through high school and was fascinated by record labels
Chris decided to start a label while his friends formed the Germs band
He had no formal education about making records, learned from Richard Fuse at Rhino
"Forming" was recorded in a garage with two-track deck and two microphones
The single had multiple takes but most were erased years ago
B-side used cassette recording from Germs' Cheech & Chong "Up in Smoke" audition
Master tape for "Forming" is missing, possibly in Canada, but Chris owns rights
Cheech & Chong footage shows Germs performing "Sexboy" - same version as B-side
They kept the cassette source secret initially to avoid potential lawsuits
Lou Adler excluded Germs from movie because audiences wouldn't believe they were real
Chris missed the "Up in Smoke" taping because he had to work his day job
He financed all What Records releases including "Forming" himself
Black rectangle on sleeve was intentionally ambiguous, meant as tongue-in-cheek band photo
Address on record was Chris's parents' house where he lived
He quickly moved to P.O. Box and removed address to protect his mother
First pressing had wrong labels on wrong sides due to Monarch pressing plant error
About 1,000 copies were made, most of original pressing was destroyed
600-700 defective records were thrown down hill as frisbees for fun
None of them expected anything significant to happen with the record
"Forming" was technically the first independent DIY punk single from Los Angeles
The record served as legitimizing calling card for the Germs
Darby Crash was gifted lyricist despite his troubled background and demons
Chris received Germs burn from Michelle Ghaffari at the Whiskey without warning
Germs burns became insider thing in summer 1977, wider trend came later
Darby never fully matured, died at 22 before becoming complete person
Germs often performed as chaotic train wreck, unlike disciplined bands like Stooges
Darby had difficult childhood and family problems that created his demons
David Bowie was Darby's favorite outlet, influenced his dreamy/nihilistic worldview
Chris saw potential for Darby to become writer beyond just being lyricist

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds.
0:10.0	Here's your host, the biggest record nerd of them all, Nate Goyer.
0:13.5	Oh, well, hey, everyone, it's Nate.
0:15.3	Welcome to episode 508 of the Final Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds. And ladies and
0:23.0	gentlemen, I'm super, super excited about sharing today's interview with you. It's a conversation
0:27.9	I had with Chris Ashford of what records. Now, there's a question mark on the end of that.
0:34.2	So it should be what records or what records? That's probably the way to say. Chris Ashford
0:38.4	of what records. Now, Chris started what records in 1977 solely to put out the music of his
0:45.8	friend's band. He hung out with a group of people. Two of them turned out to be who we know today
0:51.0	as Pat Smir and Darby Crash. and the band that they were forming at the time
0:55.9	was the germs. And just as the germs were learning their musical instruments, Chris was figuring
1:00.7	out how to make and sell records and learning all the tough lessons along the way. Now, the very
1:06.3	first germ single is forming, and that story is an adventure unto itself, which Chris shares today.
1:13.0	We discussed the very first pressing, the true mono version of the single, of which only a
1:18.8	handful survived today. We talk about the cover art, the insert, three issues, other singles of
1:24.3	what records, including the Dills I Hate the Rich, the Strange cover, which looks like it says the oils, we talk about the rare test pressings and more.
1:32.5	Plus, and I have to tell you this, I have to share, we have a super extended version of this interview up on our Patreon page, patreon.com slash vinyl guide.
1:42.8	And you go there, you sign up, and you get a lot more of this conversation, including
1:47.1	Chris telling stories of the early L.A. punk scene.
1:50.3	When Darby and Pat met Iggy Pop and James Williamson, he talks about working with the
1:55.8	gears and Hawkwind and more.
1:58.1	And I got to tell you, Chris is an absolutely lovely dude. He's contributed so
	...

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