Initial songwriting and formation

In 1977, friends Frank Navetta and David Nolte began writing songs on acoustic guitars with the intention of forming a band. They initially called themselves “The Itch”, until Navetta came up with the name “Descendents”. By the end of the year they had failed to attract any more band members, so Nolte left to join the Last with his brothers. In late 1978 Navetta, joined by drummer Bill Stevenson , and with Nolte switching from guitar to bass, revitalized the Descendents project. Nolte sang with the group at several of their early performances alongside Navetta, but by the spring of 1979, The Last were becoming more active and he left the Descendents again, being replaced by bassist Tony Lombardo . The lineup of Navetta, Lombardo, and Stevenson recorded the band’s debut single at Media Art studios and released it on their own label, Orca Records, named after Stevenson’s fishing boat. Navetta sang “Ride the Wild” while Lombardo sang “It’s a Hectic World”. Nolte produced and mixed the session, and his brother Joe turned the lead guitar level up, resulting in the guitar being very loud in the mix.