Marginal Man

Marginal Man was a punk band from Washington, D.C., comprising guitarist Kenny Inouye, bassist Andre Lee, guitarist Peter Murray, drummer Mike Manos, and vocalist Steve Polcari. Formed in 1982 (after the dissolution of Artificial Peace, a band that included Murray, Manos, and Polcari), Marginal Man made their live debut in January of 1983 at D.C.'s legendary 9:30 club, opening for Faith and Minor Threat. After polishing a number of songs on-stage, they headed into Inner Ear Studios with Ian MacKaye and recorded Identity, which was released in early 1984. Somewhat surprisingly for a band in the tightly knit D.C. punk community, the band left the homegrown confines of Dischord for Enigma offshoot Gasatanka for the following year's Double Image. A few years came and went until the band's third and final record, Marginal Man, saw the light of day -- albeit posthumously -- through Giant. The band broke up in 1988 before it was released. Throughout the years, Dischord has kept Identity in print, but a German company "reissued" Double Image without authorization in the late '90s; once Inouye received word of the bootleg, he went about making a legitimate CD issue of the record, and he re-released it in 2001 with improved sound and liner notes. ~ Andy Kellman