Ex-CRO-MAGS Frontman JOHN JOSEPH Rules Out Reunion, Blasts HARLEY FLANAGAN For Re-Recording 'The Age Of Quarrel' Album

Former CRO-MAGS singer John Joseph has blasted the band's founder Harley Flanagan over the latter's decision to re-record CRO-MAGS' debut album, 1986's "The Age Of Quarrel", for inclusion in the feature documentary "Harley Flanagan: Wired For Chaos", which charts Harley's tumultuous life and survival. A full-length re-recording of "The Age Of Quarrel" is expected to arrive later this year to coincide with the LP's 40th anniversary.

During a recent appearance on The T&F Podcast, Joseph stated about Flanagan's new version of "The Age Of Quarrel" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's already recorded. None of the original members that played on the record are involved. I guess my former bass player feels — whatever. I don't know why he did it. I don't know. Who cares, dude? I'm doing new music. I mean, the dude put out a five-CD box set — I don't know — three or four years ago, and without our permission of live performances. [He] didn't take care of anybody in the band, so whatever, dude. If you need money, I don't know. Who cares? I'm doing new music. And as far as I'm concerned, that's a classic record. And I think a lot of people are kind of sounding a similar vibe to the whole thing. Why do that? Go write some new music, dude. So, whatever."

After the interviewer noted that a better option might have been for Harley to "remaster" the original "The Age Of Quarrel" album, John said: "He doesn't own the masters. Steve Plotnicki from [the defunct record label] Profile owns the masters. We were talking with Joe Nelson [co-founder of Trust Records], who I trust, and they just did the BAD BRAINS catalog. He's been trying to get the rights from Steve Plotnicki, but apparently the old bass player threatened him online or whatever, and the guy was, like, 'Well, now I'm never giving you the masters. And you can sue me. I got millions of dollars' and whatever the hell. I told Joe anyway, if he puts that record out, I don't want nothing to do with the re-release. It's a dead issue at this point for me. I got another BLOODCLOT record coming out, and I'm doing some other music."

Addressing Flanagan's decision to re-record "The Age Of Quarrel" with Harley's lead vocals, John said: "What are you gonna do? You actually think you're gonna do a better job? And as raw and hardcore as it was… I mean, a lot of people don't know, I sang that record straight through. I did one song after another after another after another. Is that my vocal ability now? I should hope not. But, anyway, it is what it is. It was a classic time. I came out of the temple and injected … teachings. That's why I named it 'The Age Of Quarrel', Kali Yuga, all of that."

Joseph also talked about the possibility of a reunion of the CRO-MAGS' classic lineup, saying: "That dude [Harley] was reaching out to me all the last couple years to do the 40-year reunion. Nobody wants to be involved. That's where it's at. And I learned my lesson, after giving somebody multiple chances and just pulling the same old bullshit over and over and over. Money missing, fucking just treating people like shit. That's why G-Man [drummer Garry Sullivan] and all of them just quit. He's [Harley] got a documentary out. How come none of the original members that were in the MAGS are in it? You gotta ask yourself that. I don't think Kevin [Parris Mayhew] or Doug [Holland] or Mackie [Jayson] or myself would have really anything good to say. So that's the end of that issue."

John added: "There will be no reunion shows. There will be no record. He can go do whatever he wants. I could care less."

John also talked about the fact that AGNOSTIC FRONT vocalist Roger Miret was asked to join the CRO-MAGS in the early 1980s prior to the recording of "The Age Of Quarrel".

"Homeboy [Harley] had the audacity to say, like, 'I wonder what would've happened if we would've got Roger instead of [John],'" Joseph said. "It's, like, you wouldn't have gotten 'The Age Of Quarrel'. That's what would've happened. And that's no disrespect to Roger. He's done great with AGNOSTIC FRONT. It's a different vocal style. I got respect for Roger and everything he's done over the years in AGNOSTIC FRONT. That's not a dig at him. But it's my fucking band. I was in there since day one. The original lineup wasn't even Mackie and Parris. It was me, him on bass, Dave Stein and Dave Hahn, the BAD BRAINS manager. We rehearsed for months. I mean, it's in The Big Takeover magazine. There's the proof. All this shit, I'm not the original singer and all this, is nonsense. It's always been to try to discredit me for whatever reason. I could care less."

Earlier today (Saturday, January 17),Joseph took to his Facebook page to write: "I was the original [CRO-MAGS] singer in 1981. When the band broke up in August of 1981 after months of rehearsals — due to reasons the late Dave Hahn gave in The Big Takeover magazine (in the comments). The bass player then formed a cover song band called, 'THE DISCO SMOOTHIES' which I wanted nothing to do with. John Berry (RIP),who was a friend, sang at that one show at the Peppermint Lounge. it was not billed as the CRO-MAGS.

"I was glad to be a part of that band over the years, write lyrics, and sing on 'The Age Of Quarrel' as well as other records," he continued.

"'The Age Of Quarrel' has stood the test of time because it came from a good place. We were all 100% invested. It was never about money or ego. We were on a mission, and that translated to the live performances as well.

"I've moved on for good from anything involving the CRO-MAGS, as I feel its far better to let the legacy of what once was, remain a part of the history that can never be re-lived, re-written, imitated, RE-RECORDED, or erased by anyone."

In early January, a freshly re-recorded version of the CRO-MAGS classic track "Hard Times" was made available online. The song arrived just in time for the 40th anniversary of "The Age Of Quarrel". This version, dubbed the "Wired for Chaos Session", also celebrates the aforementioned documentary film of the same name.

During an appearance on the Lipps Service With Scott Lipps podcast, Harley stated about a possible reunion of the CRO-MAGS' classic lineup: "For whatever it's worth, man, I've always been open to any kind of communication with any of those guys about whatever, and always have been. But sometimes people just get so dug in on shit that they lose sight… Honestly, I can't say that fans really would give a fuck about me playing with any of those guys again at this point, because we're doing well, we're touring a lot, life is great, but if the fans really wanted it, and more so if those guys ever wanted to give those fans what they wanted, I'm always open for the conversation. Because at the end of the day, as a musician, you're an entertainer, right? I mean, that's what you're getting paid to do, is to make people feel good or get some steam off or whatever that emotion is — that's your job. So if that means that you gotta get on stage and do that, and you know you can do it with these guys and people are gonna be super pumped, then what the fuck, man? I mean, I just don't see the big fucking deal [of] just playing with people that you may not necessarily love just for the sake of, you wanna make fans happy, you wanna make people happy. But fortunately for me, I feel like I'm doing that right now any goddamn way."

In 2018, Flanagan filed a suit against Joseph and drummer Mackie Jayson regarding ownership of the CRO-MAGS name. A year later, Joseph and Jayson reached an agreement with Flanagan over the rights to the CRO-MAGS name. At the time, it was announced that going forward, Joseph and Jayson would perform as CRO-MAGS JM while Flanagan would get to use the CRO-MAGS name for his own version of the band.

In October 2022, Flanagan announced that Joseph would no longer be able to use the CRO-MAGS JM name to promote his live shows. As part of a settlement between Flanagan and Joseph filed on September 30, 2022 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Joseph agreed not to use the CRO-MAGS mark, the CRO-MAGS JM moniker or any derivative thereof for any of his projects. Since that time, the CRO-MAGS mark has only been used by Flanagan.

When Flanagan sued members of the group for allegedly using the CRO-MAGS name without his permission, he claimed that CRO-MAGS was his idea when he formed it back in 1981. Flanagan filed a lawsuit against the then-most recent lineup of the group — including Joseph — in part for copyright infringement, saying he trademarked the "Cro-Mag" name for recording in 2010 and for merchandise in 2009 and then again in 2017.

According to the New York Post, Harley claimed in the lawsuit that the other members of the CRO-MAGS took over the band around 2002 when "Flanagan's first son was about to be born… and Flanagan had to stop touring to help with the baby."

"Wired For Chaos" arrived in theaters last June.