This is American history written in spray paint and old back issues of Flipside magazine that is now on the record forever. Markey deserves major recognition over the historical importance of finding further stories to tell from this unique time period. In other words, “So you think you know Punk?” Turns out there is a lot we had no idea about.
To think that a music movement that endlessly excited me in my youth still has more material to mine excites me endlessly. Growing up didn’t turn out so bad after all.
I knew about Pat Fear, but I had no idea about Bill Bartell, which is certainly not a crime. Bartell seemed to enjoy working in the shadows, like the man in the trench coat on the Casablanca record label. Part of the fun of The Secret Lives Of Bill Bartell is finding out he was secretly the guy behind some well-known ripples in the alternative music wave.
“…the biggest secret seismic punk revelation unearthed yet…”
How well-known depends on how deep into Generation X you are, as a lot of us are now balls-deep in our 501 blues at this point. While I can’t reveal the big secrets spilled here, I can comment on the minor revelations that come to light along the way.
First, Bartell was rocking The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” look in public more than a decade prior to the release of the video. The retro mustache made Bartell stick out like a sore thumb amongst a sea of sore thumbs, an impressive punk feat. It is much more acceptable now to imagine his Super Trooper look in a punk setting than it was back then.
It was all part of White Flag’s role as a hardcore watchdog, making sure to highlight all the lines drawn in the sand and then erase them. Also, Bartell had excellent songwriting skills. At a time when a lot of hardcore was electric pots and pans being beaten together, White Flag was writing actual catchy tunes, raw as stolen sushi.
As confounding as he can be on first encounter, you will grow to like and admire Bartell the more you learn about him. That this information is now available is astounding, as no one who knew Bartell while he was alive knew everything that we know now, thanks to Markey. The Secret Lives Of Bill Bartell is the biggest secret seismic punk revelation unearthed yet.
Time to get confused flying over the dateline again.
The Secret Lives Of Bill Bartell screened at the 2025 Slamdance Film Festival.
"…one of the most nuanced and mature treatments of the Los Angeles punk scene to date."
