Editing Social Distortion (section)

===Early years (1978–1982)===
Social Distortion was formed in 1978 by Mike Ness, inspired by [[the Sex Pistols]] and many other British punk bands as well as [[Rock music|rock]] acts such as [[the Rolling Stones]]. Aside from Ness on guitar and [[Casey Royer]] on drums, early members included Mark Garrett on bass and former [[Cal State Fullerton Titans men's basketball|Cal State Fullerton basketball]] player Tom Corvin on vocals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thepitchkc.com/news/article/20609776/channeling-social-d |title=Channeling Social D |publisher=The Pitch |date=March 18, 2004 |access-date=June 1, 2019}}</ref> Garrett was succeeded by Rikk Agnew<ref name=EricBlair>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkvd23BGDpE |title=Rikk Agnew & Eric Blair part 2 His youth, Social Distortion and O.C. punk |publisher=The Blairing Out with Eric Blair Show |date=March 23, 2019 |access-date=January 9, 2020}}</ref> in late 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://strangereaction.com/2019/04/08/an-interview-with-rikk-agnew/ |title=An Interview with Rikk Agnew |publisher=Strange Reaction |date=April 8, 2019 |access-date=June 1, 2019}}</ref> On the origins of the band's name, Royer recalled "Mike was like 15, trying to play guitar but he couldn't. Social Distortion was named for my distortion pedal, which I gave to Mike to play 'cause back then he was no good."<ref name="AmerHardcore">{{cite book|last1=Blush|first1=Steven|author-link1=Steven Blush|last2=Petros|first2=George|author-link2=George Petros|title=American Hardcore (Second Edition): A Tribal History|date=October 19, 2010|publisher=[[Feral House]]|location=Port Townsend, Washington|isbn=978-1932595895|page=98|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFJjCwAAQBAJ&q=agent+orange+placentia|access-date=March 10, 2018}}</ref>

Their early music was composed by Ness with lyrics by Royer and sometimes Corvin, and many songs were retired after only a few performances. After Corvin left in the fall of 1979 to attend graduate school at [[Bob Jones University]], Ness recruited his high school friend [[Dennis Danell]] to join the band on guitar even though Danell had never played an instrument before. When Danell was brought in, the other members left as they did not want to wait for him to learn.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brokenheadphones.com/?p=3593|title='CAUSE CASEY ROYER OD'D HIMSELF |publisher=Broken Headphones |date=March 14, 2011 |access-date=June 1, 2019}}</ref> Before joining the [[Adolescents (band)|Adolescents]] in 1980, Royer and Agnew played with Garrett in a separate band named Social Distortion consisting of Royer on vocals, Garrett on bass, Rikk Agnew on drums, and [[Frank Agnew]] and Tim Maag on guitars.<ref name=EricBlair/> Social Distortion's first real show was in early 1979 at the Cuckoo's Nest nightclub on Placentia Avenue in Costa Mesa, California. Ness and Danell  would remain the only constant members for the next two decades with bass and drum members changing every few years. Both the Adolescents song "[[Kids of the Black Hole]]" and Social Distortion song "The Playpen" chronicled this period of the band's history.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Social Distortion’s first single, “Mainliner” b/w “Playpen” featuring Ness on guitar and vocals, Danell on bass, and Carrot on drums, was issued in 1981 by [[Posh Boy Records|Posh Boy]], the label responsible for releasing the first singles and albums of many of the local O.C. punk bands.<ref name="history" /> [[Rodney Bingenheimer]] of [[KROQ-FM]] was responsible for much of the radio play in [[Orange County, California]], that punk received in the early 80s, and took a liking to Social Distortion, featuring the single "1945" on the second volume of the compilation album, ''Rodney on the ROQ''. The same song would also appear on 1983’s ''Blood on the ROQ'' and 1989’s ''The Best Of Rodney on the ROQ'' compilations.

In 1982, the band—now consisting of Ness, Danell (who now played rhythm guitar), [[Brent Liles]] on bass, and [[Derek O'Brien (drummer)|Derek O'Brien]] on drums—embarked on their first bi-national tour of the US and Canada with fellow punk band [[Youth Brigade (band)|Youth Brigade]]. The trip was chronicled in the punk [[rockumentary]] ''[[Another State of Mind (film)|Another State of Mind]]'', which was not released until 1984.