Suicidal Tendencies

Judging from their name, Suicidal Tendencies were never afraid of a little controversy. Formed  in Venice, California, during the early '80s, from the beginning the group's leader was  outspoken vocalist Mike Muir. The outfit specialized in vicious hardcore early on -- building a  huge following among skateboarders and thus lending a major hand in the creation of  skatepunk -- before eventually turning their focus to thrash metal. Early on, the group (whose  original lineup included Muir, guitarist Grant Estes, bassist Louiche Mayorga, and drummer  Amery Smith) found it increasingly difficult to book shows due to rumors of its members'  affiliation with local gangs and consistent violence at their performances. The underground  buzz regarding Suicidal grew too loud for labels to ignore, though, as the quartet signed on with  the indie label Frontier; issuing Muir and company's classic self-titled debut in 1983. The album  quickly became the best-selling hardcore album up to that point; its best-known track,  "Institutionalized," was one of the first hardcore punk videos to receive substantial airplay on  MTV, and was eventually used in the cult classic, Emilio Estevez movie Repo Man, as well as in  an episode for the hit TV show Miami Vice (for which the group made a cameo appearance).