Hells Angels, Pagans, Bandidos & More , A Brief History of American Motorcycle Gangs

* episode starts at min 16*. From war lords, to drug kingpins, Cartels, criminals, gangs, serial killers, and ever day psychos, World on Drugs with Steve Furey deep dives into subjects and people other wont. We analyze it through the lens of comedy, to try and see how and why these people/event went down the wrong road. So come join me, Steve Furey and my funny friends to learn about some of the people who stay in the shadows.

This Weeks guest is Matt Lockwood (IG @mattdaddylockwood and podcast The Big Humble), matt is one of the funniest comics i know and one of my best friends. you can c him touring with a bunch of comedians, or weekly at The comedy Store.

The first motorcycles were invented in the late 19th Century and it took less than 50 years before motorcycle gangs began to emerge around the world. Growing from the fertile soil of counterculture clubs that challenged societal norms, and largely populated by World War 2 veterans, motorcycle gangs have a blood-soaked and drug-fueled history in the U.S. “Sons of Anarchy” has defined motorcycle gangs for most listeners; however, for an older generation, it was the work of Hunter S. Thompson (his book “Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs” (1966)) or the tragedy at the Altamont Free Concert in 1969. As is the case with any criminal group, it’s important to recognize that any “facts” about motorcycle gangs are highly contentious. These organizations heavily rely on secrets, and the creation and maintaining of (sometimes grandiose) myths is vital for recruitment.

Sources

· International Journal of Motorcycle Studies

· https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-gangs-all-here/

· https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/18/how-the-bandidos-became-americas-most-feared-biker-gang/

· https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/motorcycle-gangs/

· U.S. Decennial Census (1940)

· Diehl, Jörg; Fröhlingsdorf, Michael (October 21, 2010). "Hells Angels vs. Bremen Mongols: Biker War Feared in Germany". ABC News.

· Barker T. (2014) Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. In: Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs as Organized Crime Groups. SpringerBriefs in Criminology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07431-3_5

· https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ocgs/gallery/outlaw-motorcycle-gangs-omgs

· https://westjem.com/review/outlaw-motorcycle-gangs-aspects-of-the-one-percenter-culture-for-emergency-department-personnel-to-consider.html

· http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/The_Infamous.pdf

· https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/combating-hate/ADL_CR_Bigots_on_Bikes_online.pdf

· https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19921003&id=RlVTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=24QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5228,818773