Bad Compilation Tapes

In 1982 BCT published an announcement on the 8th issue of Maximumrocknroll asking punk groups to send their compositions to them.[https://archive.org/details/mrr_9/page/n31?q=Bad+Compilation+Tapes  BCT announcement on MRR] p.32 The announcement was then reprinted in several European magazines and the Italian fanzines TVOR and Attack Punkzine, which contributed a lot to the internationalization of the label. BCT placed a small personal ad in Rockerilla, the most important alternative music magazine in Italy at the time. Syd Migx, the frontman of CCM (Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers),[https://archive.org/details/Flipside411983/page/n46 Flipside, No. 41 (1983) BCT and CCM p.47] responded to it asking the Italian Roberto Schiavo, founder of the F.O.G. (Flowers of Grain Records), to send tapes of Italian punk bands to BCT which he did. From those tapes the label made its first Italian compilation tapes.

The first tape of the label, titled First Strike, included bands from the US such as Clitboys, Future Ruins, Violation, Vatican Commandos (with a very young Moby on guitar),{{Cite web |url=https://moby.com/journal/the-vatican-commandos/ |title=and The Vatican Commandos |date=23 June 2015 |access-date=2020-09-20 |archive-date=2021-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930055844/https://moby.com/journal/the-vatican-commandos/ |url-status=live }} Mr. Epp & The Calculations (the band of Mark Arm and Steve Turner, which later became Green River and then Mudhoney{{Cite web |url=http://www.mudhoneysite.com/side_projectsother_bands_1/mr_epp_and_the_calculations |title=Mr. Epp And the Calculations |access-date=2018-07-19 |archive-date=2018-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802045157/http://www.mudhoneysite.com/side_projectsother_bands_1/mr_epp_and_the_calculations |url-status=live }}), Skoundrelz (the band of famous skater Tony Alva) and Eat The Rich, while the second tape Music On Fire featured bands from the Italian punk scene such as 5° Braccio, Raw Power, Indigesti,[https://archive.org/details/mrr_050/page/n48?q=bct Indigesti Interview on MRR] p.48 Wretched, Stazione Suicida, Crash Box and Rappresaglia.{{cite book| title = Hardcore. Introduzione al punk italiano degli anni ottanta| first = Diego| last = Nozza| publisher=Edizioni crac| location = Fano| year = 2011|isbn = 978-88-97389-02-6}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.stuartschrader.com/sites/default/files/ItalyScumpit.pdf |title=Italian Hardcore Scum Explosion! by Stuart Schrader |access-date=2018-08-05 |archive-date=2018-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805143254/https://www.stuartschrader.com/sites/default/files/ItalyScumpit.pdf |url-status=live }}

The 22nd tape is dedicated to the rising Spanish punk/hardcore scene{{Cite web |url=http://www.shit-fi.com/Nacido_Para_Estorbar |title=BCT released a cassette compilation featuring Spanish 80s hardcore bands |access-date=2019-11-11 |archive-date=2019-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111074548/http://www.shit-fi.com/Nacido_Para_Estorbar |url-status=live }}

The BCT logo was a character called Moe Hawk drawn in black and white by Dan, the singer of Eat the Rich from San Jose. Craig Caron, the founder of Schizophrenic Records,[https://archive.org/details/mrr_231/page/n87?q=bct  Schizophrenic Records Interview] pp.87-88 colored the image and used it to release the vinyl version of the BCT # 18 tape: Thrash, Therefore I Am.

The two tapes were followed by other releases featuring many bands from around the world: the Finns Rattus and Terveet Kädet, the Danish Razor Blades and Disrespect, the Swedes Mob 47, Product Assar, Moderat Likvidation and Anti Cimex, the Germans Äni(X)Väx and Kanalkotzer, the Australians Vicious Circle and the Canadians The Bill Of Rights were just some of the many acts included on the international productions of the BCT label.

Between 1986 and 1987 the publication also extended to other formats under the name of BC Tapes & Records, whose first release was a compilation on LP entitled We Can Do Whatever We Want (International Comp.) which saw a mix of European and American bands and was a best of the first 11 tapes.

In 2002 the label re-issued five cds and one lp of 7 of BCT tapes. BCT worked with a consortium of labels for those re-issues: Enterruption of San Francisco, Human Stench of Pittsfield, MA and Schizophrenic Records of Hamilton, Canada who did 2 releases each in conjunction with BCT. Among these reprints there was Senza Tregua: Granducato Hardcore (2002), an album that for the new edition commissioned the cover of the album to Winston Smith, the historical author of the Dead Kennedys logo and album covers.

Starting in 2020, with the co-operation of Chris Chacon, the BCT tapes have been subject to a remastering process and are being officially re-issued on Bandcamp, under the name Borderless Countries Tapes. Because the original master tapes have been lost, digitally re-constructing the tapes from a variety of sources has been necessary.

In 1984 Chris Chacon reconfirmed his interest in the Italian scene by first releasing cassette releases by Raw Power titled Studio + Live, as well as the two Last White Christmas tapes, which were recordings of the LWC event held on December 4, 1983 in Pisa, Italy by the punk cooperative G.D.H.C. ({{Ill|Granducato Hardcore|it|vertical-align=sup}}).Nozza, Diego (2011). Hardcore. Introduzione al punk italiano degli anni ottanta. Fano: Edizioni crac. {{ISBN|978-88-97389-02-6}} BCT noted in advertisements for the Last White Christmas tapes that the G.D.H.C. organized the event for "Johnny in Jail", and that the cassettes were made available in cooperation with Cessophena Records.{{Cite journal |date=1984 |title=BCT 6 - Last White Christmas One |url=https://archive.org/details/DESORDENSOCIALNumber1TijuanaMexico/page/n7/mode/1up |journal=Desorden Social |publication-place=Tijuana, México |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=8 |via=Internet Archive}} In the same year, some Italian fanzines began to call the label Borderless Countries Tapes, a name that was officially adopted and added to the original name. The name came from the suggestion of an Italian punk fan via mail.

Following the Raw Power release, Chris Chacon organized a tour of the band,{{Cite web |url=https://chrisbct3.blogspot.com/2015/05/raw-power-84-tour-diary.html |title=Raw Power '84 tour diary |date=29 May 2015 |access-date=2019-11-21 |archive-date=2019-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030001429/http://chrisbct3.blogspot.com/2015/05/raw-power-84-tour-diary.html |url-status=live }} which was also the first tour of an Italian hardcore punk band in the United States. During the tour, that included 32 shows in 40 days, Raw Power played at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles with the Dead Kennedys in front of more than 5,000 people.{{Cite book |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9781604739695 |title=Visual Vitriol on Project MUSE |year=2011 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=9781604739695 |access-date=2018-07-20 |archive-date=2015-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323184459/http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9781604739695 |url-status=live }} p.216{{Cite web|url=http://dangerousminds.net/comments/dead_kennedys_international_punk_event_at_the_olympic_auditorium_1984|title=article on Dangerous Minds with video of the concert|date=4 October 2012|access-date=20 July 2018|archive-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819082823/https://dangerousminds.net/comments/dead_kennedys_international_punk_event_at_the_olympic_auditorium_1984|url-status=live}} It was in those days that the independent label Toxic Shock Records of Pomona, California came forward for the release of the second Raw Power album Screams From The Gutter, which was recorded in Indianapolis near the end of the tour, at Paul Mahern's (of Zero Boys) studio in just a day and a half. The album was released in 1985 and sold more than 40,000 copies via independent channels. In the same period BCT published Live in the USA, a cassette with all the best songs recorded on tour (selected from 15 tapes of 20 concerts).

In the autobiographical novel by Silvio Bernelli entitled I ragazzi del Mucchio, the bassist of Declino, Negazione and Indigesti describes the US tour of the latter, organized and promoted by BCT in 1986

.{{cite book|title=Enciclopedia del rock italiano|editor=Arcana Editrice | first1=Gianluca|last1=Testani|date=2011}} p.202 The label, for the occasion, also produced the EP on 7" vinyl The Sand Through the Green.{{cite book| title = Indigesti. Osservati dall'inganno | first1 = Silvio| last1 = Bernelli |first2 = Rudy | last2 = Medea |first3 = Enrico | last3 = Giordano | first4 = Massimo | last4 = Corradino | publisher=Shake| location = Milano, Italy| year = 2010|isbn = 978-8888865874}} The tour, which lasted 40 days with 20 concerts, departed from Philadelphia and ended up in San Francisco, touching also St. George in Utah with the very young NOFX, who had just released their second album.{{cite book|title=Italian Punk Hardcore: 1980-1989| first1=Angelo|last1=Bitonto|first2=Giorgio S.|last2=Senesi | first3=Roberto|last3=Sivilia | location=|publisher=|year=2015|isbn=}}

In December 2018 the 35th anniversary of Last White Christmas was celebrated with the LWC35 concert in the historic Lumiere cinema of Pisa, the first cinema to be opened in Italy (1899). In the cinema hall there was an exhibition of 35 posters made by Italian and international graphic designers and illustrators for the 35th anniversary of the concert. Among the artists who participated with their own work created for the 35th anniversary of the concert there were: Winston Smith, Craig Henning, John Yarbrough (designer of the cover of the first concert release on cassettes), Tuono Pettinato, Vittore Baroni, Giuseppe Palumbo and Prof.Bad Trip. The official poster of the LWC35 festival was designed by Danijel Žeželj.

In June 2020 an Italian record company reprinted the Last White Christmas concert thanks to the granting of free reprint rights by Chris Chacon of BCT.{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.it/musica/interviste-musica/last-white-christmas-storia-del-concerto-che-ha-cambiato-lhardcore-italiano/519689/?fbclid=IwAR1YtYZOWvumrVXR8QW4HQLQ_GLmfNygncTkyO6jImjXJ6hI47x-VsNREXQ#tapesLast|title=Last White Christmas, storia del concerto che ha cambiato l'hardcore italiano - Rolling Stone Italia|date=3 June 2020|access-date=19 September 2020|archive-date=5 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605171614/https://www.rollingstone.it/musica/interviste-musica/last-white-christmas-storia-del-concerto-che-ha-cambiato-lhardcore-italiano/519689/?fbclid=IwAR1YtYZOWvumrVXR8QW4HQLQ_GLmfNygncTkyO6jImjXJ6hI47x-VsNREXQ#tapesLast|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://www.blowupmagazine.com/prod/blow-up-265-giugno-2020.asp|title= BLOW UP #265 giugno 2020|access-date= 2020-09-19|archive-date= 2020-09-26|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200926112004/https://www.blowupmagazine.com/prod/blow-up-265-giugno-2020.asp|url-status= live}}

{{Columns-start|num=5}}

• Vatican Commandos
• White Flag
• The Accüsed
• Happy Flowers
• Mr. Epp and the Calculations
• Skoundrelz
• White Flag
• Disorderly Conduct
• Deranged Diction

• Vicious Circle

{{column}}

• Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers
• Wretched
• Raw Power
• Not Moving
• I Refuse It!
• Indigesti
• Nabat

• RIP
• Último Resorte
• Frenopaticss
• Anti/Dogmatikss

{{column}}

• Äni(X)Väx
• Kanalkotzer

• Kaaos
• Rattus
• Terveet Kädet

• The Bill Of Rights

{{column}}

• Mob 47
• Moderat Likvidation
• Anti Cimex

• Akutt Innleggelse

• The Razor Blades
• Disrespect

{{column}}

• Cólera
• Inocentes
• Ratos de Porão

• Funeral Oration

• Xpozez

{{columns-end}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|title=Studies in Latin American Popular Culture - Volume 9 |author=Vv.Aa.|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=1990}} p. 82
• {{cite book|title=Enciclopedia del rock italiano|author=Cesare Rizzi|location=Milano|publisher=Arcana|year=1993}} p. 481
• {{cite book|title=Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story|first=Clark|last=Humphrey|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|publisher=Feral House|year=1995|isbn=978-0922915279}}
• {{cite book|title=Lumi di punk: la scena italiana raccontata dai protagonisti|first=Marco|last=Philopat|location=Milan, Italy|publisher=Agenzia X|year=2006|isbn=978-8895029085}} pp. 219, 221 and 222
• {{cite book|title=Teste Vuote Ossa Rotte 1980-1985 storia di una caoszine hardcore punx|first=Stiv|last=Rottame|location=Milano|publisher=Edizioni Lovehate|year=2006|isbn=978-8897389026}}
• {{cite book|title=Costretti a sanguinare. Il romanzo del punk italiano 1977-1984|first=Marco|last=Philopat|location=Torino|publisher=Einaudi

|year=2006|isbn=978-8806183059}}

• {{cite book|title=Noise/Music: A History | first=Paul|last=Hegarty|location=|publisher=Continuum|year=2007|isbn=978-0826417275}}
• {{cite book|title=More than Music: Einblicke in die Jugendkultur Hardcore (Cultural Studies)|first=Marc|last=Calmbach|location=Bielefeld, Germany|publisher=Transcript-Verlag|year=2007|isbn=978-3899427042}} pp. 119 and 153
• {{cite book|title=Do it yourself. Culture di resistenza e azione diretta | first=Andrea|last=Fornaca|location=|publisher=Bepress|year=2009|isbn=978-8896130063}}
• {{cite book|title=I ragazzi del Mucchio | first=Silvio|last=Bernelli|location=Milano|publisher=Sironi Editore|year=2009|isbn=978-8851801274}} pp. 43, 94, 164-165 and 174
• {{cite book|title=American Hardcore: A Tribal History | first=Steven|last=Blush|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|publisher=Feral House|year=2010|isbn=978-1932595895}} pp. 374, 390, 393 and 398
• {{cite book|title=Visual Vitriol: The Street Art and Subcultures of the Punk and Hardcore Generation | first=David A.|last=Ensminger|location=|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=2011|isbn=978-1617030734}} p. 216
• {{cite book| title = The Art of Punk: The Illustrated History of Punk Rock Design |first1=Russ|last1=Bestley|first2=Alex|last2=Ogg|first3=Dennis|last3=Loren|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|publisher=Voyageur Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0760344101}} pp. 162–164
• {{cite book|title=Left of the Dial: Conversations with Punk Icons|first=David A.|last=Ensminger|location=|publisher=PM Press|year=2013|isbn=978-1604866414}}
• {{cite book|title=No more pain. Viaggio nell'anima|first=Antonio|last=Cecchi|location=Pisa|publisher=Ed. Area Pirata Record|year=2017|isbn=978-8894207606}} pp. 70–72
• {{cite book|title=Brave Punk World: The International Rock Underground|first=James|last=Greene|location= Lanham, Maryland, U.S.|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2017|isbn=978-1442269842}} p. 192
• {{cite book|title=Dritti contro un muro. L'hardcore punk italiano degli anni '80 raccontato da 140 protagonisti| first=Giorgio|last=Senesi|publisher=Feltrinelli|year=2019|isbn=979-1220047739}}
• {{cite book|title=Dalla parte del torto. Una storia hippie punk e rave|first=Pablito|last=El Drito|location=Milano|publisher=Agenzia X|year=2020|isbn=978-8831268271}}

• {{cite AV media|title=Italian Punk Hardcore: 1980-1989 Il Film - The movie| first1=Angelo|last1=Bitonto | first2=Giorgio S.|last2=Senesi | first3=Roberto|last3=Sivilia | location=|publisher=LoveHate80, F.O.A.D. Records|year=2015}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20201022234803/http://maximumrocknroll.com/label/bad-compilation-tapes/ BCT reviews on MMR]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022234803/http://maximumrocknroll.com/label/bad-compilation-tapes/ |date=2020-10-22 }}

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