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Darby Crash (born Jan Paul Beahm) (A.K.A. Bobby Pyn) (September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 punk
Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock....
 musician who, along with long time friend Pat Smear
Pat Smear

Pat Smear , is a guitarist who has been a regular member of several well-known bands, albeit of different subgenres: The Germs, Nirvana and the Foo Fighters....
 (born Georg Ruthenberg), co-founded The Germs
The Germs

The Germs are an influential American punk band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1977 to 1980 and reformed in 2005. Their 1977 single , "Forming"/"Sexboy", is generally regarded as the first punk record from Los Angeles....
.

h had a troubled childhood: The man he grew up believing was his biological father left the family and his older brother died of a drug overdose
Drug overdose

The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced....
. When in his teens, his sister revealed in an argument that his biological father was really a Swedish
Swedish people

Swedes are people from Sweden or of Swedish decent. Unlike the United States, United Kingdom, and Australian Censuses, Statistics Sweden does not classify the Swedish population by race or ethnicity....
 sailor named William Björklund.






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Darby Crash (born Jan Paul Beahm) (A.K.A. Bobby Pyn) (September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 punk
Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock....
 musician who, along with long time friend Pat Smear
Pat Smear

Pat Smear , is a guitarist who has been a regular member of several well-known bands, albeit of different subgenres: The Germs, Nirvana and the Foo Fighters....
 (born Georg Ruthenberg), co-founded The Germs
The Germs

The Germs are an influential American punk band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1977 to 1980 and reformed in 2005. Their 1977 single , "Forming"/"Sexboy", is generally regarded as the first punk record from Los Angeles....
.

Early life

Crash had a troubled childhood: The man he grew up believing was his biological father left the family and his older brother died of a drug overdose
Drug overdose

The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced....
. When in his teens, his sister revealed in an argument that his biological father was really a Swedish
Swedish people

Swedes are people from Sweden or of Swedish decent. Unlike the United States, United Kingdom, and Australian Censuses, Statistics Sweden does not classify the Swedish population by race or ethnicity....
 sailor named William Björklund. Crash attended IPS (Innovative Program School), a school within University High School in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
. The IPS program was a notoriously free-form academic program that combined elements of est
Erhard Seminars Training

Erhard Seminars Training, an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, offering a highly popular and controversial two-weekend course known officially as 'The est Standard Training.' The purpose of est was to allow participants to achieve, in a very brief time, a sense of personal transformation and enhanced power....
 and Scientology
Scientology

Scientology is a Scientology beliefs and practices created by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics....
.

Before the Germs, Beahm and Pat Smear
Pat Smear

Pat Smear , is a guitarist who has been a regular member of several well-known bands, albeit of different subgenres: The Germs, Nirvana and the Foo Fighters....
 called themselves "Sophistifuck and the Revlon Spam Queens", but had to shorten this name because they didn't have enough money to put the full name on a t-shirt. For a short period up until their acclaimed gig at the Whiskey A Go Go, Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Carlisle

Belinda Jo Carlisle is an United States singer. Carlisle has enjoyed success twice during her career, first as lead singer and founding member of the seminal, all-female band New Wave music band The Go-Go's, then as a successful international solo artist....
 was a member of the band. She appears on the first track of the live CD, where she introduces the band as "sluts". After a short stint under the name Bobby Pyn, Beahm changed his name to Darby Crash. The Germs became an important Los Angeles-area punk
Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock....
 band, known for their chaotic live shows. The Germs soon dominated the L.A. punk scene. They can be seen in the 1981 film The Decline of Western Civilization
The Decline of Western Civilization

The Decline of Western Civilization is a 1981 in film American documentary film directed by Penelope Spheeris about the Los Angeles, California punk rock scene from 1979 to 1981....
, directed by Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris

Penelope Spheeris is an United States film director, film producer, and screenwriter....
. Crash discussed taking drugs onstage to avoid feeling injuries from fan violence and "creeps out there with grudges".

Later life and suicide


Shortly after the Germs split, Darby and Pat went on to form the short-lived Darby Crash Band
Darby Crash Band

The Darby Crash Band was a music project started by Darby Crash and Pat Smear, founding members of the Los Angeles punk rock band, The Germs, formed after the band split in 1980....
. Circle Jerks
Circle Jerks

The Circle Jerks are an American punk band, formed circa 1979 in Hermosa Beach, California. It was formed by Black Flag 's original singer, Keith Morris, and future Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson....
 drummer Lucky Lehrer
Lucky Lehrer

Lucky Lehrer is a drummer from Los Angeles, California, voted the best punk drummer of all-time by fanzine, Flipside . He was originally trained in jazz but most famously played in LA punk rock bands, particularly the Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, Bad Religion, Darby Crash Band and LA's Wasted Youth, among others....
 joined the band on the eve of their first (sold-out) live performance, when during soundcheck, Darby kicked out the drummer they'd rehearsed with. The band, described by Smear as "like the Germs, but with worse players", played only a few gigs to lukewarm reaction before splitting up.

Shortly after that, Crash contacted Smear about a Germs "reunion" show, claiming it was necessary to "put punk into perspective" for the punks on the scene. However, Smear later claimed that Crash secretly wanted to earn money for enough heroin to fatally overdose. Since Darby had described this scenario many times in the past, Pat did not take him seriously.

On December 3, 1980, an over-sold Starwood
Starwood Club

The Starwood Club was a popular club in West Hollywood, California during the 1970s and 1980s. Many punk bands and heavy metal bands started their careers playing at The Starwood....
 hosted a final live show of the reunited band, including drummer Don Bolles. At one point, Crash told the audience, "We did this show so you new people could see what it was like when we were around. You're not going to see it again". Hillel Slovak was at this show. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers tried to gain admittance but the show was sold out.

Crash committed suicide
Suicide

Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"....
 on December 7, 1980, at age 22. Unreported at the time, Crash had overdosed on heroin
Heroin

Heroin is a opioid synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. It is the 3,6-acetate ester of morphine . The white crystalline form is commonly the hydrochloride salt diacetylmorphine hydrochloride, however heroin Freebase may also appear as a white powder....
 in a suicide pact with close friend Casey Cola, who ended up surviving. She insists that he did not intend for her to live, nor did he change his mind at the last minute and intend for himself to live. As he lay dying, he attempted to write "Here lies Darby Crash" on the wall, but did not finish. Outside the world of Germs' fans, news of Darby's death was largely overshadowed by the murder of John Lennon
John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon, Order of the British Empire was an English Rock music musician, singer, songwriter, artist, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles....
 the next day. A local news station mistakenly reported that Crash had died from an overdose of sleeping pills.

What We Do Is Secret

Crash and The Germs are the subject of the 2007 biopic film What We Do Is Secret
What We Do Is Secret (film)

What We Do Is Secret is a punk rock biopic directed by Rodger Grossman based on the seminal 1970s Los Angeles punk band, The Germs, and their lead singer, Darby Crash....
 which stars Shane West
Shane West

Shane West is an American actor and singer. He is perhaps best known for his roles on the television series ER and Once and Again and in the film A Walk to Remember ....
 as Crash, Bijou Phillips
Bijou Phillips

Bijou Lilly Phillips is an United States actress, model , and singer. Some of her larger film roles include Bully , Havoc , Hostel: Part II, and Tart ....
 as Lorna Doom, Rick Gonzales as Pat Smear, and Noah Segan
Noah Segan

Noah Segan is an American character actor. Segan appeared in Brick , Adam & Steve and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the role of Conner Lockhart on Days of our Lives, real-life Germs' drummer Don Bolles in What We Do Is Secret and Basil in The Picture of Dorian Gray....
 as Don. The theatrical release was dated for August 8, 2008.

External links