'GI'

For being achingly unpopular, the Germs are an interesting collection of … a walking punk band stereotype.

The group was Jan Paul Beahm and Georg Ruthenberg (they actually sound like guys from Kraftwerk)

, who would make names for themselves under different names: Darby Crash and Pat Smear. They went through drummers like socks including a stint by future Go-Go Belinda Carlisle, who actually never played with them thanks to a batch of mono.

The band’s first show was at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, where Crash stuck the microphone in a jar of peanut butter and the group made noise until they were kicked off. Nothing like making a statement.

They recorded one album, this one, produced by Joan Jett. All during, the band was handcuffed by hard drug use, heroin being the intoxicant of choice.

The band split only to get back together for one show at the behest of Crash, who supposedly told Smear he needed cash in order to buy heroin for his suicide. After some haunting quotes at the show, four days later, 

Crash indeed died of an intentional drug overdose, a pact with a friend. The next day, John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman making Crash’s death a bullet point.

Smear infamously was witness to a similar meltdown when he joined Nirvana late in its existence until Kurt Cobain swallowed the business end of a shotgun. He also joined Dave Grohl in the Foo Fighters.

At some point around 2007, a film was developed about the Germs with hunky actor Shane West portraying Crash. Coincidentally or not, to the surprise of everyone on Earth, West had fronted a pop-punk band. After the film’s release, the Germs actually began performing with West as the lead singer.  

If I were the Germs, I would’ve played one show with West and used the money to buy drugs in order to overdose.