Iron Cross
(April 1981 - 1985)Sab Grey - vocals
Mark Haggerty - guitar
Wendel Blow - bass
Dante Ferrando - drums
Sab Grey, once known as Sab Useless, was a regular fixture at early DC punk shows. He made his way down with the Baltimore punk contingent, and talked up his band, Cell 19, though no one ever heard about them actually playing a show. By the time he moved to DC in 1981, he had adopted more of an "oi" appearance. "Oi" was a style of dress and music that was coming out of England, and one that involved more of what would be considered a "skinhead" fashion. At this point in time, however, the DC scene did not make any real distinction between punk rockers and skinheads, and certainly the more political (nationalist and/or racist) aspects of that movement had not come into the picture. Sab was one of the original tenants of the Dischord House along with Ian, Jeff, and two of The Untouchables, Rich and Eddie. In early 1981 Sab met up with Dante and Mark, two Georgetown Day School kids who had played together in a number of bands (Punk Ruins, The Outsiders, Broken Cross) and formed Iron Cross. After practicing and performing with a string of bass players, including Cynthia Connolly and Chris Haskett (who actually plays bass on the "Flex Your Head" tracks), they started playing with Wendel soon after SOA broke up. Aside from three songs on the "Flex Your Head" compilation, the band only released two singles (on their own Skinflint label), but certainly made their mark as one of the first American "oi" bands.
Photo: Sab Grey by Tiffany Pruitt