Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea recently shared a post on Instagram revealing the bands and the solo musicians that inspired him as a teenager. The photos were of musicians from the Punk Rock bands that emerged in LA during the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
Flea was ranked the second greatest bassist of all times by Rolling Stone magazine and has been an inspirational rockstar since his emergence in the rock and roll scene in 1982. He was initially introduced to punk rock by Anthony Kiedis, but according to his latest posts, his inspirations were rooted elsewhere.
He stated that the LA punk rock scene motivated him and gave Flea a goal. The bassist expressed how much fun punk rock is and how it changed his life. He revealed that his punk inspirations were The Alleycats, X, Weirdos, The Bags, and Suburban Lawns. Flea also posted a photo of Anabella from Bow Wow Wow because he had a crush on her, even though the band wasn’t punk rock.
Here is what he stated in the caption:
“Looking at this book of photos by Anna Summa. Images of the LA punk rock scene I fell in love with as a teenager. It changed my life, taught me that motivation and intent are everything, no matter the artistic vehicle that contains it. And it was unbelievably, wildly, dangerously, fun.
The images in order are Diane Chai(singer and bassist of The Alleycats) Exene Cervenka of X, then comes an image which is titled ‘Unidentified Audience Member’ in the book, but I see my friend Little Dee who was hilarious and smart as a whip. She tragically died from a drug overdose rest in peace Little Dee.
Then John Doe of X, My dear friend John Denney of the Weirdos next to bassist Cliff Roman of the Weirdos, Alice and Pat Bag of The Bags, Exene, Su Tissue of Suburban Lawns, and the last pic is Anabella of Bow Wow Wow, who is not from the LA punk scene but was so awesome. I had a huge crush on her, and I have to put her in any way.”
It is common to see musicians being inspired by others. However, it is usually bands that are accomplished and well-known in the music industry. Flea, with RHCP, became much more acknowledged than the LA punk rock bands he mentioned in his post. They inspired the bassist, even though they weren’t even close to being as successful as RHCP.
You can see the photos he posted below.
