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Doug Moody. Oh Doug Moody… The Roger Corman of American Hardcore.  On the wikipedia entry for Mystic Records you’ll find the following information:

Mystic was founded by Doug Moody who wanted it to be a platform for America’s youth to voice their opinions musically. The label attracted Hardcore Thrash and Speed Metal (a term Moody is credited with coining) bands. In its heyday (between 1983 and 1985), Mystic released over 100 different records with several hundred artists. Moody was assisted in his efforts by Philco Raves (who assisted in recording and production) Bill Karras (sales and distribution) and Mark Wilkins aka Mystic Mark, (Record and Tour Promotion)…

There’s no doubt this was written by one of the people it mentions, but it’s at least somewhat informational. Now way back a while ago I’d heard Doug had a career in the recording industry prior to Mystic, and after some internet clicks, I found a record of that on this blog: Selections From The Punk Vault. If you scroll to the bottom and read through the comments you can see Moody and a couple of his associates chime in and give the full picture of how the Mystic empire came to be. I’m not going to excerpt it at length here, but suffice it to say, the dude was in the music industry working with everything, from Classical, to Gospel, to Doo-Wop, it’s insane that for some of us  he’s most known not for the dozens of Gold records of 50’s and 60’s artists that he A&R’d, but for releasing records like this comp: We Got Power.

In practice this is probably the best Mystic compilation and, in the classic Mystic style it’s seriously filled to the edge of the record with songs; 40 to be exact. One big difference is that it’s got a lot more “big names” than most other releases on Mystic. As explained through the comments in the above link, the folks at Mystic did not start a punk label because they were a part of the scene, they were just looking for a niche. When you look back at the insanely large 80’s Mystic Catalog it becomes obvious that it was just about producing a product quick and cheap for basically, any hardcore band (so it seems). The same way Roger Corman was basically just throwing together whatever he could on a limited budget looking for a returned. Quality and ability generally don’t seem to be concerns once you start to sample the Mystic back catalog.  It’s like a hardcore junksale. If you wanna get down on your hands and knees you might find something cool, but it ain’t gonna be much. Still it’s hard to argue with this particular tracklist:

1. THE AUTHORITIES “I Hate Cops” / 2. THE NIP DRIVERS “Tang” / 3. JFA “Middle America” / 4. DR. KNOW “Savior” / 5.WHITE FLAG “Celabate” / 6. WHITE CROSS “Nuke Attack” / 7. FUCK-UPS “Bacon and Eggs” / 8. PUTRID GIRLS “1 2 3 4″ / 9. ILL REPUTE “Count the Odds” / 10. STALAG 13 “Selfish” / 11. REBEL TRUTH “Monkey’s Paw” / 12. WILLFUL NEGLECT “E.M.S. & D.” / 13. TAR BABIES “Confused” / 14. MECHT MENSCH “Might Makes Right” / 15. GRAVEN IMAGE “My World” / 16. THE VACANT “Caught by the Mafia” / 17. ADRENALIN OD “World War 4″ / 18. THE CLONES “Conform to the Norm” / 19. THE BIG BOYS “Brick Walls” / 20. SIN 34 “Not” / 21. MINUTEMEN “Party With Me Punker” / 22. DAYGLO ABORTIONS “Scared of people” / 23. CAUSTIC CAUSE “Look to the Left” / 24. DON’T NO “Blind Ambition” / 25. S.V.D.B. “Flames of Hell” / 26. PATRIOTS “Cavity” / 27. HATED PRINCIPLES “Survival At All Costs” / 28. CRANKSHAFT “New Wave Homos” / 29. URBAN ASSAULT (S.F.) “Night on the Town” / 30.URBAN ASSULT (Tahoe) “Rock’n'Roll Burnout” / 31. 7 SECONDS “Wasted Life Ain’t No Crime” / 32. JACK SHIT “Follow the Leader” / 33. ATHEISTS “Music I Can’t Stand” / 34. ROMULANS “Judgement Day” / 35. NO LABELS “Ego” / 36. ARMED RESPONSE “Too Gross for Comfort” / 37. DERANGED DICTION “Crooning” / 38. FALSE CONFESSION / 39. MANIMALS “Things Under My Bed” / 40. RED CROSS “Pseudo Intellectual”