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Negative Trend was an early San Francisco punk rock band, active from 1977–1979. Before they disbanded, the band released one self-titled EP in September 1978.

The former members of Negative Trend would go on to start a number of other notable western US punk bands. Soon after the breakup of Negative Trend, bassist Will Shatter and early drummer Steve DePace went on to be founding members of Flipper, while guitarist Craig Gray and drummer Tim Mooney were among the founding members of the Toiling Midgets. Former vocalists Rozz Rezabek and Rik L. Rik went on to become notable punk singers in their own right.

Grand Mal (1977)
Before changing its name to Negative Trend, the band was named Grand Mal. When the band formed in 1977, the lineup consisted of Don Vinil on vocals, Craig Gray on guitar, Vale on bass, and Todd Robertson on drums. Vale quickly left the band, and Will Shatter replaced him, despite having no previous musical experience. After playing gigs with bands like the Avengers and The Dead Boys, Rozz Rezabek stepped in as the new vocalist, after jumping on stage during one gig, not not allowing Vinil to continue performing. Vinil then left the band to start The Offs.

Negative Trend One (1977)
On December 14, 1977, the band played their first show under the name Negative Trend at Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, California. Rozz Rezabek was now the singer of the band, and the rest of the lineup remained the same.

During a show with The Avengers at Iguana Studios, during which Sandy Pearlman was in attendance (although he was really only there to watch the Avengers performance), Rezabek broke his arm while performing on stage after tripping over a microphone cord. Rezabek was notorious for his electrifying performances, often times jumping onto tables and throwing drinks onto the floor.

On January 14 1978, after playing six shows in the southern United States, the Sex Pistols played their final show at Winterland Arena in San Francisco, California. The day before the show, someone spray painted the walls of Winterland with the words "Negative Trend". Before the Sex Pistols went on, Malcolm McLaren demanded that Bill Graham, who set up the show, allow Negative Trend to go on before the Sex Pistols. Before the show had started, McLaren asked Howie Klein who the worst band in San Francisco was, and Klein responded saying that it was Negative Trend. McLaren told Graham that if the band were not allowed to play, the Sex Pistols would refuse to play. Graham agreed to let Negative Trend go on after the Sex Pistols. However, by the time the Sex Pistols left the stage and Negative Trend got set up, there was nobody left in attendance, so Negative Trend never got to play.

Negative Trend Two (1977-1978)
In March of 1978, Rezabek quit the band, and Shatter and Gray decided to find a new drummer, due to the that Robertson had failed to show up to a few shows. Mikal Waters would end up replacing Rezabek after the band auditioned a few singers at Iguana Studios, and Steve DePace would replace Robertson on drums. This new version of Negative Trend played their first gig on June 1, 1978.

It was this version of Negative Trend that recorded the band's first studio recordings. The eponymous 7" EP was produced by Debbie Dub. While the record is much more famous now, Dub and the band had a hard time giving the record away when it was produced. The record was released in September of 1978 by the label Heavy Manners. Side one of the record included the tracks "Mercenaries" and "Meathouse", while side two had the tracks "Black and Red" and "How Ya Feelin". The record has been re-released two times, once in December of 1983 by Subterranean Records, and again in April of 2006 by 2.13.61

Negative Trend Three (1978-1979)
In November of 1978, Negative Trend needed to find another singer to replace Waters. Gray and Shatter heard that the band F Word had broken up, and decided to recruit former F Word singer Rik L Rik for Negative Trend. Gray and Shatter also asked drummer Tim Mooney, previously of the band The Sleepers (San Francisco band), to take over for DePace. Shortly after the formation of this version of Negative Trend, the band went to Los Angeles to record demos for Posh Boy Records. However, the only tracks released under the name Negative Trend from the recordings with Posh Boy Records were "Mercenaries" and "I Got Power" on the Tooth and Nail Compilation LP, released by Upsetter Records in 1979. However, all five of the tracks recorded by Negative Trend for Posh Boy Records were released under the name Rik L Rik on the compilation album Beach Blvd.

Negative Trend 3.5 and Break-up (1979)
After only a few gigs with the third version of Negative Trend, Shatter quit the band and was replaced by 16 year old Jonathon Henrickson. After traveling to Austin, Texas to play two shows, Rik decided leave band. The final three Negative Trend shows had guest singers. The final Negative Trend show took place on April 27, 1979 at Mills College in Oakland, California with The Queer and Dead Kennedys. Ricky Williams (musician) did most of the singing at this final show. Mooney, Williams, and Gray would go on to form the band Toiling Midgets.

Reformation (2008-2010)
In July of 2008, DePace put together a version of Negative Trend with himself on drums, Gray on guitar, Paul Hood on bass, and Paul Casteel singing. Rezabek was not asked to perform with the reformed version of the band. After the first gig, Tom Mallon took over Hood's position as bass player. After the second gig, DePace was forced to stop playing due to his commitments with the band Flipper. Tony Sales then replaced DePace on drums. The band went on to play a few more shows before splitting up in 2010.

Former Band Members

 * Craig Gray - Guitar
 * Will Shatter - Bass; died at the age of 31 after an accidental heroin overdose
 * Todd Robertson - Drums
 * Rozz Rezabek - Vocals
 * Mikal Waters - Vocals
 * Steve DePace - Drums
 * Tim Mooney - Drums
 * Rik L Rik - Vocals; died at the age of 39 as a result of brain cancer
 * Jonathon Henrickson - Bass
 * Paul Hood - Bass
 * Paul Casteel - Vocals
 * Tom Mallon - Bass
 * Tony Sales - Drums

Discography

 * Negative Trend (1978, Heavy Manners)