AWKWARD THOUGHT LIVE ON CRUCIAL CHAOS WNYU FEBRUARY 29, 1996 
AWKWARD THOUGHT LIVE SHOTS (TAKEN AT THE SPIRAL & CBGB’S IN NYC SINCE NO KNOWN SHOTS OF THE WNYU SET EXIST) PROVIDED BY AWKWARD THOUGHT GUITARIST SCOOT HORTON
I had personally been going to the Crucial Chaos radio show since the early 1990’s just to hang out. I never went to school at WNYU but I would just go to the radio station to see the usual cast of characters working the station at the time like Johnny Stiff, Evan Cohen, and Glen Lorieo. Always had to get past the guard downstairs to get permission to take the elevator up to the studio, but somehow, I always made it past him. Rachel Rosen took over after Johnny left and I continued to go and hang out. Before the internet or cell phones, Crucial Chaos was one of the top things for NYHC, finding out about new bands, new music, old music, shows, and hardcore punk news. It also served as a gathering place to hang with other NYHC characters at the time. Having your band’s song played on the radio station was cool enough, but playing a set live-in-studio on Crucial Chaos was a rite of passage.
The year 1996 and around that time was the height of Striving For Togetherness Records releasing so many NYHC bands and we were friends with most of them, so we had so many friends in the studio with us. It was a crowded control room and a packed studio room. The No Redeeming Social Value guys would always sneak up loads of beer which of course was not allowed so they always caused mayhem especially when the security guards would try to kick them out, hence the ruckus during one of the songs.
I am sure everyone in the band was nervous about playing live on the airwaves. It’s easy to say it was all relaxed and fun, but there is always nervousness because each member did not want to fuck up and have that be the impression of the band. You knew that many people were listening at home and recording the set to cassette on their boombox. Having friends packed into the studio room and knowing my friend Glen Lorieo was setting up the mics and mixing everything was cool. It was truly a party in the radio station! Glad we had the opportunity to do something that so many legendary NYHC bands were able to do, which is play live in studio on Crucial Chaos.
-JOHN FRANKO, VOCALS – AWKWARD THOUGHT (2025)
CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN TO THE AWKWARD THOUGHT LIVE ON CRUCIAL CHAOS SET 
Track Listing: “Cut You”, “People”, “Lost Dog”, “Bury The Good Meat”, “With Nothing To Do”, “Keep Off The Grass”, “Static”, “Can’t Live On That”, “Torsion Badger”, “Evil”, “Cop Song”
This is actually one of my favorite sets that I ever engineered. Awkward Thought were a great band that somehow fell through the NYHC cracks. Their debut album, “Mayday” is an all time, slept upon NYHC classic! And from a technical standpoint, this was one of the sets that made me realize that any band that had two guitarists automatically sounded much better/bigger. (This is something that most of us in bands (hopefully) learn when recording our music: That two guitars panned left and right are just “magical” for giving you a much bigger sound.)
So first off, right from the jump this set is “Chaos”. Mike D of No Redeeming Social Value fame curses within the first seconds of being on air! Forcing the host, Rachel Rosen, to “take action” and relieve him of his announcing duties and summarily deputize Kevin Gill of SFT Records to read off the list of songs that had just been played. Thus leading to a random shout out to “The Whole Detroit Crew”! Haha
And, fast forwarding a bit to the second song “People”: At the very end of the song someone in the peanut gallery completely butchers the lyrics!! Which caused the singer, John Franko, to edit the song out of the set when he included this set at the end of their “To Serve & Protect” demo. He was so pissed that they screwed up what are probably the most simple lyrics in the Awkward Thought catalog! Haha This is why you don’t hand the mic off to people in the crowd everyone!!
In the middle of the song “With Nothing To Do” a ruckus can be heard. According to the liner notes of the aforementioned “To Serve & Protect” demo: “The control room mic was accidentally turned on when a fight broke out between Dean, Kent and Mike from NRSV and the WNYU security guards. Dean broke a guard’s nose while severely fracturing his own leg in the process. Kent wound up with three broken ribs. Mike got away uninjured! Needless to say NYPD and EMS showed up to cart the boys away! The show went on!” Even though I was there I can neither confirm nor deny the validity of this account as I was busy mixing the band! Haha
A few other reasons that help to make this a top set for me is that all and all there is some good banter throughout this set. Many bizarre jokes that always make me laugh. Another reason is that John was kind enough to give me a shout out at 16:55! Haha… and at the very end of the last song “Cop Song”, bassist Joey I, does his own “D.I.Y. delay effect” when he says, “We’re Awkward Thought… Awkward Thought… Awkward Thought… Awkward Thought…” haha I’ve always been a sucker for “D.I.Y. delays”!
-GLEN LORIEO (2025)
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