Negative Trend

Negative Trend
Negative Trend at the Mabuhay Gardens in 1978. From left to right are Craig Gray, Steve DePace, Mikal Waters, and Will Shatter.
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	1977–1979, 2008–2010
Labels	Heavy Manners
Associated acts	Grand Mal, The Offs, Theatre of Sheep, F-Word!, The Sleepers, Flipper, Toiling Midgets
Website	negativetrend.net
Past members	Craig Gray Will Shatter Todd Robertson Rozz Rezabek Mikal Waters Steve DePace Rik L Rik Tim Mooney Jonathan Henrickson Ricky Williams Paul Casteel Paul Hood Toby Dick Tom Mallon Tony Sales

Negative Trend was an early San Francisco punk rock band, active between 1977 and 1979. Before they disbanded, the band released one self-titled EP in September 1978.

The former members of Negative Trend would go on to start a number of other notable western US punk bands. Soon after the breakup of Negative Trend, bassist Will Shatter and early drummer Steve DePace went on to be founding members of Flipper, while guitarist Craig Gray and drummer Tim Mooney were among the founding members of the Toiling Midgets. Former vocalists Rozz Rezabek and Rik L Rik went on to become notable punk singers in their own right.

Grand Mal was a short-lived band which formed in July 1977. Its first lineup consisted of Don Vinil on vocals, Craig Gray on guitar, V. Vale, of Search & Destroy punk zine, on bass, and Todd Robertson on drums. Due to his magazine commitments, Vale quickly left the band and Will Shatter replaced him, despite having no previous musical experience. The quartet played only three gigs, sharing bills with bands such as the Avengers, the Dils, and the Dead Boys. During their last show at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, California on November 7, 1977, Rozz Rezabek stepped in as the band's new vocalist, after jumping on stage, not allowing Vinil to continue performing. Vinil then left the band to start the Offs, and Grand Mal became Negative Trend.

On December 14, 1977, the band played their first show under the name Negative Trend at the Mabuhay Gardens. Rozz Rezabek was now the singer of the band, and the rest of the lineup remained the same.

During a show with the Avengers at Iguana Studios, during which Sandy Pearlman was in attendance (although he was really only there to watch the Avengers performance), Rezabek broke his arm while performing on stage after tripping over a microphone cord. Rezabek was notorious for his electrifying performances, oftentimes jumping onto tables and throwing drinks onto the floor.