Hardcore History: John Joseph of the Cro-Mags

[@konstantingeorgiev7521]

Has anyone noticed that in every single hardcore / punk / trash documentary you watch, there is always a Misfits and Bad Brains reference? Every single one! Hell, I bet if you watch a documentary about Oasis, there will be a Misfits/Bad Brains reference! How fucking influential were these bands, its crazy!

[@petersenoah]

Awesome. I had the pleasure of meeting this man. He gave me a copy of the book in the video: "The Perfection of Yoga" by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. He's an amazing man, and is so welcoming. He refused to shake my hand until I hugged him. He's the reason why I make a lot of the choices I do. He's what a real legend is.

[@ANDYWOUNDSABRXS]

When Cromags toured Australia a while back now, I got to meet him a few times, He gave me his auto biopgraphy, I think the same book you speak of and like a care package almost of random Krishna, diet, spiritual stuff. Signed them all, he was great.

[@ANDYWOUNDSABRXS]

me?

[@fogpumas]

"so welcoming" LMFAO, this guy is the biggest prick I've ever met in my life. I wish Harley had ventilated him when he had the chance a few years back

[@stephenowens8398]

Met John at an event in Canada in 2019, gave me his book signed it and came and sat with me in the resturaunt for dinner, as I was on my own, told us all stories about the old days in NYC later that night.Yup he is the real deal!

[@patshaller2504]

the cro-mags are awesome. Stop hating on someone's lifestyle the music rocks. That's what matters. That's a good thing he opposes meat. If you're a good human being and enjoy your life that's what matters. Straight edge or not. I'm not straight edge guy either. Yet I respect what he says if he doesn't push his ideas on me.

[@fogpumas]

Harley's band.

[@jacobespinosa9848]

Amazing. Just saw the Cro mags perform in south Texas!!! Corpus Christi to be exact. Well needless to say it was one of the best show I've been too! The energy is off the scale and I love how he spreads the message of being brothers and uniting. Seekers of truth!!!

[@ReelAnglerReviews]

Just discovered this legend. This dude is hardcore with everything. Really inspiring individual.

[@tylerarriola1831]

John Joseph, you sir are a gentleman and a scholar.

[@fogpumas]

and a mouthbreather and liar to boot.

[@hunterwoodward5535]

I hope I look like that when I'm 50.

[@TomTreeMan]

Hunter Woodward i am about to turn 50 two & a half months. Im in decent shape myself.

[@Pinebrookjohn75]

It takes lots of hard work

[@higler.]

go Vegan!

[@aabracadavra]

Watch Forks Over Knives (it's on his hoodie in the video). That's what saved the dude.

[@DavidSiciliano2100]

You have shitty standards.

[@laceyvcu]

Met John in DC like 6 years ago he said I had beautiful eyes and I smiled the whole back on the blue line.

[@borislavhristov1064]

"... and not having daydeams about the shit that I wanna do!" What a great guy and an inspiration.

[@jcsk8]

I don´t know why, but just found this video now. 2018. Five years have passed. Cro-Mags is one of my favourites hardcore bands of all time. I´m from Brazil and I have listened to them and Sick of it all for a long time. I´m not really into their philosophy, but musically speaking their great.

[@sillypenta]

Love his HR impression. "YES RASTAFARIII!!!"

[@saintr3394]

Simply AWESOME!!!!!!! Who would have known our.generation man.. taking care of people in N Y i am lost for words.... Saw them at fenders ball room back in the day Thank you for helping others!!!!!!!!

[@stevewills735]

Mr. Bloodclot! what an inspiration you have been to the punk world.! cheers brother you look great!

[@mouija1450]

I respect John Joseph. My wife has a phD in molecular biology and teaches at a university in upstate NY, and we both approach life from a scientific perspective. She's adopted science as a religion, and I remain an absolute atheist with skepticism of all faith and technology as fallable. I don't personally follow a dietary plan aside from what nutrition my body needs and asks for, but I deeply respect someone with a noble cause larger than themselves that abstains from vices. I don't believe in an afterlife or reincarnation, but I do believe in the human obligation as an alpha species to provide stewardship for a delicate planet.

[@glennwilson19]

forks over knives hoodie.... want!

[@andydiaz6384]

saw these dudes live a few years back at Churchills pub in miami.. can't remember if Harley was there but it was a hell of a show... specially when they played life of my own

[@SamShadow93]

Interesting fact, Arthur Googey is a high school principal now

[@mikev9074]

My dumb ass on stage at 10:19 !! great show as usual

[@TomTreeMan]

I spoke to John and Joe H/C, after a show in Philly at the Church, and we hypothesized that I wasn’t just the oldest man in the pit, but the only grandfather as physically interactive with the energy output, (& all the proper respect and etiquette) and who can take more than I dish out! Lol plus work as a barricade and pit security team member at the most awesome venue ever, on 1402 N.9th St. in Reading, PA, “Reverb! It’s about the music!”

[@TomTreeMan]

I eat meat, and I’m still an old healthy galoot, but John is correct, meat or not, its about what you do and don’t ingest! I abstain from processed garbage and trans fatty acids, keep a well balanced and nutritionally deliberate agenda when you shop, and there will be no reason to “watch your diet” your diet will watch you!

[@fullofcool]

10:02 for the chick creepy crawlin' in the pit!

[@juanhernandez3067]

no karate in the pit. she looks absolutely useless.

[@juanhernandez3067]

@Captain Maxwell i hope you don't breed

[@juanhernandez3067]

@Captain Maxwell I have a sense of humor, just not one for retarded girls like 10:02

[@evanabbott2737]

@Captain Maxwell good for you, sir!👍😁

[@mohammedaliqurashi9473]

this guy is a real punk rocker

[@yourmomisstrange]

More Hardcore History please

[@halfgridhomestead]

Nice. Just found him on an episode of Healthy Living with Chef AJ at foodytv. Love his story.

[@Cracklotus]

Love the clockwork orange intro music. Also great band.

[@noahjohnson9554]

Changing my lifestyle very inspired

[@aronfalk823]

yo wtf when i was at Rockefeller center last year this dude approached me and said he was gathering money for homeless people. I gave him like 10 box and got one of those NYC beanies however some time after that situation it struck me maybe that guy just tried to scam me? Seeing this makes me think otherwise

[@cheesytrees]

Hey, if you got a beanie out of it, it's not really a scam. But I feel you.

[@shermsmoke]

How'd you get scammed if you got a beanie playboy?

[@Jonny2guns1984]

john lays it out 8:20 strive for all, believe in yourself and pursue your passions in life, weather it's making music or whatever you dig. what life's about...

[@brianherald5756]

I remember seeing the cro mags at 14 years old and still listen to fhem at 49

[@4dereksouza]

more hardcore history please!!!!

[@mikethecan93]

Saw the original cro-mags at lamour in Brooklyn around 1986. He’d the best front man ever

[@keysersoze3977]

Wow!!!! Arthur Googy?? That's awesome.. We need more people like JJ.

[@Nunyabizzle]

Best thing I've seen on noisey

[@anyroxtar]

enjoyed watching this a lot. Thank you

[@VegPowerWorld]

You fucking kick ass buddy!!! Keep it up John Joseph!!! Hope to meet you someday! :)

[@anziehsachen]

last song is hard times by the cro-mags

[@tbnterprises]

Great band, I saw these guys back in the 80's.

[@beatthecrowd001]

great video and interview and by the way I was at the show filmed in this video

[@Executioner_of_Time]

No amount of spirituality and veganism can stop this mans New York macho tough guy posturing.

[@pacu9]

Seems like it’s legit tho

[@TzadikTheManic]

Thank you for such a great upload. Grew up listening, breathing, living NYHC - I really appreciate seeing this footage 👏👏👏

[@thatkidcori]

Hell yeah Noisey, more hardcore please

[@wra7h]

He does look good for 50

[@RaBob]

what is the name of the some that start at 9:16 ?

[@ChikaraGuy]

Hard Times

[@Samodrei]

holy shit clayton patterson! way to go noisey

[@matty2x302]

Dude is still kickin it !!!!! I remember seeing them many many moons ago playing with Agnostic Front, you needed your fucking A game to even think of staying up close to stage, crazy ass NYHC kids, cherish those memories, glad to see he’s still going 💪 strong, me, well I ain’t gonna lie I’m a 52 year old round belly meat eating mutha fucka, but still love the music 🎸☠️. LONG LIVE NYHC

[@xisotopex]

how many original members on stage that wrote the music and the lyrics?

[@hiroshi138]

@8:13, "look I'm not gonna judge people who drink or whatever", @8:21 proceeds to speak self-righteously about "guys my age sitting in a bar drinking and talking about what they used to be". I'm an 80's kid too and I loved the Cromags, Agnostic Front, Warzone and all the rest but I was never straight edge and never will be because their elitist posturing is just as bad as the fascist attitudes they claim to be against.

[@dancehall420]

+Hiroshi13 - he's not judging them, as he says right after he doesn't want to be that in his own life. And to say they're "elitist posturing" is absurd. These dudes have been living it hardcore since before it was hardcore. I wonder if you see the irony of your comment.

[@SnappedNeck]

"heres a novel about how angry straight edge makes me, thanks for reading"

[@hiroshi138]

^^^ what novel?

[@a3lfeoxld]

I have been Straight Edge for 25 years - not all of us are 'elitist'. So dumb to lump everyone together, don't you think?

[@nothx962]

I'm not straight edge but I wish I was. God forbid someone is honest and proud of not taking the path that 90% of other punks from that era did...or does it offend you because I said the word God too? if your using words and phrases like elitist posturing to describe arguably one of the pioneers of hardcore and your sensitive about one straight edge persons opinion hardcore might not be for you. this music was STARTED on the idea of speaking your mind, even if people like you don't agree. I was in a hardcore band with 2 straight edge vegans and I made it work, as did they. keep being sensitive, politically correct, and hypocritical and lemme know how you enjoy your time in the hardcore scene...

[@manny75586]

I don't give a shit about his spiritual beliefs or personal politics, Cro-Mags are legends.

[@robbin52018]

What a great guy! Wonderful he got his life together!

[@BigSlimmyD]

Outstanding

[@francomas1]

What about that live footage of the Brains? Could you please upload the entire stuff? Looks like some pro stuff.

[@tritondriver1]

Giving Back - True Hardcore

[@TASHXC12]

Do more episodes like this!!

[@theflexator]

ive met these guys in hamburg at the chrismas in europe 87 tour. really nice guys. the first they asked me if i have some weed. i had. so we went backstage and smoked and talked a bit. My friend became a hare krishna and vegan after that and still is. he had a nice live and lives in india now i became a heroin addict after that and had a shitty life I live mostly in jail now. so there is something true in that.

[@bobbyberetta4206]

Felix Schmiedecke how u doing lately? Hope ur alright.

[@celticchild8024]

Prabhupad was racist, look it up

[@stephenowens3687]

I saw them at Leeds Queens hall on that tour. They blew the other bands off stage that day. I met John at an event in Canada a few years ago and i gave him the ticket stub from that show and thanked him for turning my health around with his book ' Meat is for pussies' .Top man.

[@chriscee546]

He's now 60 and lives with his mom in a retirement community lol

[@S-Theo]

Who ?

[@chriscee546]

JJ ​@@S-Theo

[@nathanmcwayne5705]

When I started watching this video I assumed CMs had a new younger singer. You're amazing! Im 48 and definitely found inspiration in your story. Thanks for being true and you. -n8

[@michaelsylvia7562]

50 years old, that's ridiculous

[@deluge71]

What a great musician and stellar human being. John Joseph is a saint.

[@SYMPATRIC]

great musician? can you expand on this please?

[@themusicgraveyard600]

sympatric exactly, wrote no Cro-Mags material, his vocals needed to be re-recorded and he was shown how the songs needed to be done, and he plays no instrument 😳 uh....

[@deluge71]

Re-recorded by who? Himself? I'm not doubting you, just wondering what the story is behind your accusations.

[@tomwebb10]

not true, read his book. Harley stole his shit.

[@drugstorecow0i]

Harley wrote 90% of the lyrics and wrote the music with Parris Mayhew for AOQ. JJ wasn't the original singer in 1981 either it was John Berry and then Eric Casanova took over for a bit and that's when most of the songs on AOQ were written. The songs JJ and the "Cro-Mags" play nowadays are all Harley and Parris Mayhew's songs. JJ wrote some lyrics but not much. It's just facts man

[@grype83]

Age of Quarrel is one of the best hardcore albums ever made. With such potential to make great music it is a shame what happened with the band. Unfortunately i was a little too young to see the them play together. I started going to shows when i was 13 in the mid 90's and missed out on a lot of great bands. I'm happy that i still go to shows sometimes these days and get to see some great old bands play still but it does not look like i will ever get to see the original Cro-Mags line up on stage together.

[@royjameson2097]

Yea Alpha Omega is a trash album in my opinion but age of quarrel is so damn good it's legendary. Also I don't know if you ever listened to Both Worlds but that is another band that John was in after the Cro-Mags.

[@reditalianranger2045]

I saw cro-mags yesterday, they opened up for Hatebreed in Philadelphia

[@rocker4577]

Keep em coming...

[@stephanx2384]

I watched this as well as the episode with Harley. Also I do follow Parris Mayhew through Facebook. All three of them appear to be very reasonable and nice guys. Makes you wonder why they couldn't get along.

[@bdmaggsmaggs5632]

You follow Parris and you don't know? I believe his version of events over anyone... !

[@bdmaggsmaggs5632]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXOvl55_hpqtbdE Truth. There is a part 2 as well.

[@tinaperko7825]

hope I look like that when I'm 50. "Meat is for Pussies" must be the most important book I've ever read in my life

[@VDRP]

Who can't the Cromags still gig in smaller venues (watching the start of this video)? oh and what's the song played at the end of the video?

[@tbnterprises]

Philip Cavanagh "Hard Times", It's on Age of Quarrel.

[@thehauntedfisherman1792]

+ineedarealjob yep!

[@VisualJusticeFIlms]

There might be something to veganism. Dude is 50 but could pass for 30.

[@Thornspyre81]

He had those kinda genes too. His dad was athletic, a boxer. He had those genes that give you a natural athletic frame.

[@S-Theo]

Not really im carnivore and look younger

[@4LetterName]

It's really just good genetics.

[@mitchelladams7930]

Love ya John alwaya have allways will.

[@SplatterKing]

I accidentally met john initially when he was handing out Bhagavad Gita by rockerfellar center. A few years later turns out hes a friend of my friend and he used to come by our job and just chop it up about NYHC and diet. Every conversation with him is enlightening, vegan or not

[@Blackgreenpoznan]

0:29 whats the song?

[@sweetfishbaby2785]

Show you no mercy by Cro Mags

[@superdan422]

Clayton Patterson's beard says to me: "Bad Life Decision", and its backed up by his 24k grill

[@Coleman_H]

He looks ridiculous lol. To each their own though

[@benlawless9539]

John Joseph is a personal hero of mine 😂 this absolute MAD-LAD

[@eazeye.1825]

9:00 thats danny schuler right there.. the brooklyn equivalent to mackie :p

[@Hrashkov]

do more things like sthis noisey

[@marcpadilla1094]

That was great.

[@seanXradmer]

That kid at 10:09 needed a punch in the face.

[@CucNamCham]

where is Jeff ?

[@FGP_Pro]

We got to know!

[@theblackarchiebunker2558]

so when are you going come up with some new material?

[@MrRudieJust]

YES.

[@davedennison7386]

JJs book is a great read, I'm not a massive fan but age of quarrel is fuckin class......so is life of dreams by crumbsuckers...

[@kangaroo86]

What's the song they're opening with?

[@Rtoir]

Marianne C "Show You No Mercy", "The Age Of Quarrel" Album.

[@kangaroo86]

Institutionalized Atu Thank you!!

[@friendlywalrus6971]

what's the song that plays in the beginning?

[@drybokes7055]

+FriendlyWalrus It's from the film a clockwork orange. Dunno what it's called.

[@friendlywalrus6971]

+Dry Bokes Lmao I know that. I meant the first cro mags song

[@MarianoBg]

+FriendlyWalrus It's called "Show You No Mercy"

[@jimjones3099]

No Flanagan, No cromags.

[@JC-rc3ec]

HF is a snitch

[@dimitrisdm6997]

bullshit...John and mackie are more than enough

[@royjameson2097]

Harley is a homophobic, juice head.

[@robh2o]

What a dude!!!!!!

[@hal900x]

The title of this video is misleading. When does it get to the history part? I've known John is a religious zealot for decades now, what I don't know about is early cro-mags and his younger self.

[@mmcd8596]

+hal900x read his book. Evolution of a Cro-Magnon. Most interesting life ever.

[@bigreg47]

Yo brother John Joseph can u send me a copy of the yoga book/meditation.

[@Pinebrookjohn75]

Go to Amazon and order it.

[@FarAwayEyes64]

i wish John would teach Harley how to be a nice person and treat people with respect

[@rista22]

Fuck off

[@Kittykat-v9m]

+Brendan Fenton Who wrote this?? Why do you say that about Harley?

[@BabyGorillaTV]

hardtimes

[@molr]

They some and better now than 20 years ago!

[@nyhcbd]

funny how i love cro-mags and hardcore, beatdown (mainly the 80's/early 90's stuff) but i never was into bands like misfits (though not hc) or bad brains... i like danzig's first albuns and kinda enjoy Static Age from the misfits and, about bad brains, only enjoy one or two tracks but it was always hard for me to enjoy their early hc stuff... too much speed, no heaviness and no rhythm, if i can say so...

[@jmw1436]

AOQ ruined me for almost everything else "hardcore". Nothing comes close

[@S-Theo]

Whast aoq?​@@jmw1436

[@cornejo1931]

Fuckin love the CRO-MAGS !!!

[@Meyepadwe]

at 00:11 I thought the guy on bass was going to play Jeremy by Pearl Jam lol...

[@bozosaurus666]

JJ is my hero!!!!!!!!!!!

[@chrisbrett1868]

Fn awesome. Going to 171 ave a to take a pic Sunday. Fn a

[@Capgungoesbang]

I grew out of listening to a lot of hardcore punk but I never grew out of the Cro-Mags.

[@noahmonroy4649]

My kind of Sponcer.!

[@jasonbates7947]

awesome

[@edwynbillingham6366]

6:54 the coat on the left looks like real fur

[@jamiebroughman5626]

punkrock saved me looking for the next fight

[@bigreg47]

I would love riding but dont have the money to get one. I dont know about swim.lol i do the tri.

[@TheLexiconDevils]

Eric Casanova was the first lineup

[@shermsmoke]

The angel dust kept him young and healthy