Archbishop Molloy High School, an all-boys Catholic facility run by Marist Brothers in semi-urban Briarwood, Queens, was not the most obvious breeding ground for punk bands. In fact, in the fall of 1981, there were less than a half-dozen punks in the entire school. Vocalist Frank N., guitarist Greg Fasolino, and bassist Paul "Goph" Grabowski gravitated towards one another, fueled by their common love of the Ramones, Clash, and Buzzcocks, and like most 16-year-old punk kids at the time, they directed that love of punk music into forming a band, The Oppressed. Faithful listening to the #1 punk radio program in NY at that time, Tim Sommers' weekly "Noise the Show" on WNYU, broadened their musical horizons, exposing them to classic English punk like Eater and Chelsea, current UK faves such as U.K. Subs and Anti Pasti, more obscure Euro bands like Lama, all the awesome California bands like Bad Religion and Circle Jerks, and of course their local heroes Kraut and Misfits. Joined by drummer Chris Piccione (not a punk, but a great drummer, and more importantly, one with a basement to practice in), The Oppressed slowly moved from Ramones and Clash covers into their own energized anthems like "Control of You," "The Time Has Come," and Grabowski's snide "I Hate Holidays," mostly expressing the need for less parental supervision and more beer, as well as their dislike of Ronald Reagan.

One of the other punks at Molloy, their friend Dave "Ego" Vogt, had already broken into the NY punk scene; his band The Betrayed had even landed their song "Betrayed by You" on "Noise the Show" and placed three songs on the classic "Meathouse" cassette. Vogt's help got The Oppressed the opening slot on a mammoth bill of punk bands (Minor Threat, SS Decontrol, Heart Attack, The Undead, Reagan Youth, Killer Instinct, and New Allegiance) at a VFW Hall in Queens. The concert, slated for July 17, 1982, was cancelled at the very last minute, denying The Oppressed their chance at live notoriety, as they were too young to travel much into NYC. During Piccione's short sabbatical from the band in summer 1982, Reagan Youth drummer Steve Weissman filled in.

In October 1982, Grabowski left The Oppressed to join a new edition of The Betrayed; this move effectively split up The Oppressed. The Betrayed lineup with Grabowski was immortalized with "Self Oppression" on the 1983 7" compilation EP "Big City Ain't Too Pretty" on Big City Records. The Betrayed later changed their name to Public Toys. After high school, Grabowski (alongside his "Guillotine" fanzine partner Wendy) played guitar and sang for the notorious Antichrist Newsboys, and then for a DC band called Dead Eddie. Most recently, in 1997, Grabowski sang and played guitar for a No Values show at CBGB.

After the Oppressed breakup, N., Fasolino, and Piccione continued for a time as pop-punkers Outcry, and guested on their school chum Pinko Kennedy's obscene comedy-punk project The Penoids before forming the more R.E.M.-influenced The Cave during 1983-84.

N. later fronted two New York alternative bands, Concrete Witchdoctors and Razor Chamber, and teamed up with Fasolino again for the projects Goatblood Sacrifice, Pump, and The Sea Beasts.

Fasolino later played with The Naked and the Dead, Burning Rome, Rawhead, Wrench, They Eat Their Gods, Lusting for the Cheetah, Sea of Fur, The Deno Blues Gang, and the 2002 and 2005 reunions of The Naked and the Dead. He currently plays guitar for Bell Hollow, and moonlights in The Green Monster Band.

Drummer Piccione played in a variety of punk and metal bands including Frenzy, The Jinxed, The Rebels, Mangus Beast, Heckate, Cause for Alarm, and Dirtmoch. He later expanded his range of styles, playing drums for country singer Deke Rivers (including a demo session), traditional Irish musician Sean McCabe, cover band The Answer, and currently, Latin rock act Oso. Piccione was a member of original rock acts Material Witness, Concrete Jungle, and most visibly, Lukabrazi (the latter split in 2003).

On March 21, 2006, all four original members of The Oppressed gathered in a studio in Astoria, Queens for a 25th anniversary reunion. Beer was drank and high school memories rekindled, as they ran through most of their old numbers as well as a cover of Social Distortion's "Telling Them." Massive fun was had, and so the quartet re-entered Astoria Soundworks again on April 25, 2006 to record arse-kicking studio versions of five of their old classics for posterity.

Grabowski, N., and Piccione are currently planning a new punk project.

DISCLAIMER:
To avoid any confusion, we must state that our punk band known as The Oppressed locally in New York in 1982 is not in any way affiliated with the contemporaneous British oi band The Oppressed, and we had no knowledge of the UK band also existing at that time. This NYC Oppressed came by our name independently and did not "steal" it, so don't bother writing to this site to complain. You can call us wankers, though, if you like.

Ramones, Circle Jerks, Bad Religion, The Clash, Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedys, The Damned, Social Distortion, Kraut, Misfits, Eater, TSOL, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Chelsea, Lama, Anti-Pasti, X-Ray Spex, U.K. Subs, The Avengers, Slaughter and the Dogs, The Germs, Generation X, Stiff Little Fingers, The Adverts, The Stooges, Reagan Youth, The Betrayed

The Oppressed 25th Anniversary reunion (March 21, 2006).

The Oppressed cartoon by Michael A. Dattoma (1982).

BAND MEMBERS:
Frank Nestola - vocals
Greg Fasolino - guitar
Paul "Goph" Grabowski - bass/backing vocals
Chris Piccione – drums

The Oppressed at Archbishop Molloy High School (1982).

RELATED BANDS ON SOUNDCLICK:
BELL HOLLOW
BURNING ROME
THE CAVE
CONCRETE WITCHDOCTORS
GOATBLOOD SACRIFICE
LUSTING FOR THE CHEETAH
OUTCRY
PUMP
RAWHEAD
RAZOR CHAMBER
SEA OF FUR
THE GREEN MONSTER BAND
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD
THE PENOIDS
WRENCH