Social Distortion was formed in late 1978 by frontman Mike Ness out of Orange County, California. The original lineup consisted of Ness on lead guitar, Rikk and Frank Agnew on guitars, and Casey Royer on drums[2]. Ness met Dennis Danell, who was a year older, in high school and insisted he join the band on bass guitar even though Danell had never played an instrument before. When Danell was brought in, Frank, Rikk and Casey left to form their own band.[2] Mike and Dennis remained the only constant members for the next two decades, with bass and drums changing hands every few years.
Their first single, Mainliner/Playpen, was released in 1981 on Posh Boy, the label responsible for releasing the first singles and albums of many of the local O.C. punk bands[2]. A disc jockey by the name of Rodney Bingenheimer of KROQ-FM was responsible for much of the radio play inOrange County, California, that punk received in the early 80's, and took a liking to Social Distortion, releasing the single "1945" on his 1981 compilation album, Rodney on the ROQ, Blood On The ROQ in 1983, and The Best Of Rodney On The ROQ in 1989.
In 1982, the band—now consisting of Ness, Danell (who now played rhythm guitar), Brent Liles on bass, and Derek O'Brien on drums—embarked on their first national tour with fellow punk band Youth Brigade, a trip chronicled in the punk rockumentary Another State of Mind, which was not released until 1984.
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