Christ on a Crutch

I dated this girl named Veronica Stoffels around 1987-1989. Some of her highschool friends from the Tri-Cities were in a band called Diddly Squat, who released one 7" and played around a bit. In 1988 Diddly Squat broke up, around the same time one of the members tragically drowned in the Columbia River.

Nate Mendel, who played in Diddly Squat (and later in Sunny Day Real Estate and the Foo Fighters) explained in a 1998 interview what happened next:

"Diddly Squat drummer Eric Akre and I then conspired with friends in a Washington D.C. band called Christ on a Crutch (with included Product of Rape singer Glen Essary) to reform that band in Seattle. In the six month interim between Diddly Squat and Christ on a Crutch, I moved to Seattle and played in a straight edge band called Brotherhood. This band had pretty great songs but was weighted down with burden of being a straight edge band. It was really fun, though. Christ on a Crutch got together and played for a few years, doing tours and putting out a bunch of singles and an LP. We played at an anarchy festival once. This band died in 1993."

This history is pieced together from a bunch of sources and my own memory, hopefully it's correct. Christ on a Crutch began in Washington DC in the Summer of 1983 when Jerry, Wayne, Glen and Dave performed under the name Turtles Basking in the Sun. By '84 they had taken the name Christ on a Crutch. In '85 Glen moved to the Tri-Cities the band played as a 3-piece with Jerry singing and did some recording. In 1986 Glen came back to the band as the singer and is on the first album "Spread Your Filth" on Over the Top records. Glen and Jerry both relocated in '88 to Seattle and re-formed Christ on a Crutch with ex-Diddly Squat bandmates Nate Mendel on bass and Erik Akre on drums (Erik's sister is Carrie Akre of Hammerbox fame, and Erik has gone on to play drums with a lot of bands).

When Christ on a Crutch gelled as a 4-piece in Seattle, they were completely awesome. Since my girlfriend at the time was friends with the band, I ended up hanging around partying with them a bunch and got to know them, they were totally cool guys. They played around a lot at places like Washington Hall and the Party Hall. I remember a pretty infamous show at Washington Hall where first they threw out a zillion egg cartons into the audience, then chainsawed a pumpkin on stage. The entire floor was coated in pumpkin goop and people were throwing the cartons everywhere, it was complete chaos and a super slippery pit. Another time they played a demolition party in the U-District for a boarding house that Mike from Aspirin Feast lived in behind the Wilsonian Apartments. The band's final show was at Rkcndy in 1993, this photo is of Jerry at that show. New Red Archives later released all Christ on a Crutch's material on CD.

Christ on a Crutch discography:

• 1987, "Spread Your Filth" 7" (500 pressed, Over the Top)
• 1987, "Spread Your Filth" LP (2000 pressed, Over the Top)
• 1989, song "Off Target" on "State of the Union" compilation LP (Dischord Records, re-mastered and released on CD in 2002)
  
• 1990, "Kill William Bennet" 7" (Black Label)
• 1991, "Crime Pays When Pigs Die" LP (New Red Archives)
• 2000, "Spread Your Filth: The Doughnut and Bourbon Years" CD (New Red Archives, re-issue of 1st LP)
• 2000, "Shit Edge and Other Songs for the Young and Sentimental" CD (New Red Archives, re-issue of 7"s and past compilation tracks)
• 2000, "Spread Your Filth/Shit Edge" double LP (New Red Archives)