The Sleepers - New Wave Against Black Lung Benefit, Mabuhay Gardens, San Francisco, March 1978

The Sleepers New Wave Against Black Lung Benefit Mabuhay Gardens San Francisco March 20 or 21, 1978 01. (opening jam) 02. The Dogs 03. Sister Little 04. Linda 05. No Time 06. Seventh World 07. I Wanna Be A Pilot 08. Time Has Come Today Michael Belfer Paul Draper Tim Mooney Ricky Williams Photo of Ricky Williams by Ruby Ray, 1978. Photo of The Sleepers by Richard Peterson, 1978. L to R: Ricky, Mooney, Paul, and Michael. Please support the estate of the late Michael Belfer by purchasing his superb book When Can I Fly? (which features an introduction by the legendary Jon Savage) about his time in various bands and his survival through a maze of drugs and the music business. https://hozacrecords.com/product/pre-... The following is excerpted from: https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?tit... By fall 1977 labor negotiations between the U.S. coal industry and its workers became deadlocked; the right-to-strike over unsafe working conditions became a hotly contested topic among several being discussed. Particularly compelling was the story of a group of miners in Stearns, Kentucky, who had been on strike since July 1976 in their quest for union recognition. The Washington Post would describe the strike in Stearns as “thoroughly dramatic as anything from labor’s great organizing days: armed camps, company cops, shootings, woundings, jailings, beatings, suffering families and resolute men and women.” During December 1977 the United Mine Workers went on strike, and it’s no understatement to say this caused a national energy crisis which would later be described by a coal industry official as “… an industrial Armageddon.” Within two weeks of returning from London, Howie Klein and members of the Dils, Negative Trend, the Nuns and Magister Ludi organized a huge two-night benefit for striking coal miners. At an organizational meeting held on March 10th, plans for the benefit were finalized and ninety percent of the gate money was earmarked for the strikers in Stearns, Kentucky. Nuns' guitarist Alejandro Escovedo told journalist Lynn X, “The idea for the benefit seemed like a good opportunity to get everyone thinking, to raise the consciousness a little more.” Escovedo added, “It's not like all of a sudden we're taking a political stance or anything... People always mistake being socially aware for being political.” On March 22, the day after the benefit, a cashier’s check for $3,300 was cut and sent to Stearns, Kentucky. Members of the United Mine Workers voted on March 24 to approve a third contract proposal, resolving the strike on a national level (this came after President Jimmy Carter’s unsuccessful invoking of the Taft-Hartley Act on March 6, a law designed to force strikers back to work). John Silvers, drummer for the Dils, recounts that they later heard from the miners in Stearns: “They wrote us back… and said, ‘We don’t know what punk rock is, and we don’t know what that scene is all about, but God bless you.’” Sadly, the saga of the miners in Stearns ended in defeat during May 1979, when they lost their long-awaited representation election. Recording taken from the long out of print Various Artists CD "Miner's Benefit" (White Noise Records). Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.