Punk rock in California

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Since the mid-1970s,

Los Angeles had a very strong glam rock scene in the early 1970s, mostly centered on the club Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, run by Rodney Bingenheimer, who later, as a disc jockey for KROQ's Rodney on the ROQ, did much to promote LA punk bands. Many figures from this earlier scene would play notable roles in the later punk scene.

In the mid-1970s from 1974 to 1975 a wave of proto-punk bands emerged from Los Angeles, including the Flyboys and Atomic Kid.

The Runaways, an all female teenaged band featuring Joan Jett, managed by Kim Fowley, formed in Los Angeles in 1975, and combined elements of glam rock, hard rock, and early punk rock. The group would become one of the first punk or punk-adjacent bands anywhere to release recordings, with their self-titled debut LP and its single Cherry Bomb released the following year.^[1]

1976–1979

Starting in 1976, following recent releases of recordings by punk bands such as the

In 1978 in

By 1979, hardcore had displaced the Hollywood scene and become the dominant expression called hardcore punk in both Northern and Southern California. By this time, many of the older punk bands had broken up or become relatively inactive. A few, such as X and The Go-Go's, went on to mainstream success as punk or new wave bands.

1980–1984

In the early 1980s in California, hardcore was the dominant form of punk and aggressive music. Notable hardcore bands active in that period included the

Black Flag, T.S.O.L., Fear, D.I., the Adolescents, Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I. and others influenced later metal bands like Anthrax, Slayer and Metallica. These hardcore bands also created a crossover sound. The genre of thrash and early metalcore grew out of this fusion.

The hardcore scene, particularly in Los Angeles and Orange County, gained a reputation for violence due to the formation of several hardcore punk gangs. Reputed violence at punk concerts was featured in episodes of the popular television shows CHiPs and Quincy, M.E., in which Los Angeles hardcore punks were depicted as being involved in murder and mayhem.^[3] In the early 1980s, punk concerts increasingly became sites of violent battles between police and concertgoers, particularly in Los Angeles, but also in San Francisco. Henry Rollins argued that in his experience, the police caused far more problems than they solved at punk performances. At one point, Black Flag was under heavy surveillance by police convinced that the band was the cover for a drug ring.

Cities like Sacramento, Lake Tahoe and neighboring Reno, Nevada followed San Francisco and Los Angeles, creating their own underground hardcore scenes. Local promoter Stuart Katz brought punk rock to Sacramento in the early 1980s starting off with shows in auditoriums at McKinley Park. Katz eventually opened Club Minimal in South Sacramento, booking early hardcore acts such as Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Flipper, Crucifix as well as local bands. The police department shut down the club, but Katz led a 60s style peaceful protest inside the lobby of City Hall, joined by more than a hundred punk rockers. The protest made the cover page of the Sacramento Union.

Nardcore

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Nardcore is a

Around 1977, the first group in the area was a Moorpark band called the Rotters, emulating the new sounds of English punk rock. After playing a few parties for high school age audiences, Agression latched onto the style. The younger, future members of Dr. Know and Ill Repute were in the audiences saying "Oh, we can do that."^[7]

The first venues to regularly host punk shows in the Oxnard area were Casa Tropical (a Quonset hut at the Oxnard Airport), Town and Country (Port Hueneme), Skate Palace (Port Hueneme), and Casa de la Raza (Santa Barbara).^[8]

The local Skate Scene played heavily in the scene, many people riding in backyard half pipes or breaking into backyards with empty pools to skate. "We were all skaters before we were punkers," said Brandon Cruz, singer for several Nardcore bands.^[7]

There was and still is a strong sense of unity and community among the generations of

Punk music was Exploited, Discharge. The bands coming from England, and the bands that copied them were punk bands. The stuff we were producing was an original form of Californian music, thrash, or skateboard punk. It originated here.

— Doug Moody^[7]

1984–1992

By the mid-1980s, many major punk acts such as Black Flag and Dead Kennedys, had broken up. Other bands that had remained such as T.S.O.L. and Circle Jerks began to change their sound in favor of more hard rock or metallic directions^[20][21] while other bands such as D.I., Agent Orange and the Adolescents continued on with their standard Punk Rock sound and released new material throughout the mid-1980s and 1990s. In 1985, Bad Religion reemerged from a hiatus and returned to Punk Rock with their 2nd EP, Back to the Known, featuring a sound that would later be continued and expanded on with albums like Suffer and No Control.^[22] During this time period a new generation of bands emerged, influenced by their early 80s predecessors. This new scene would produce bands such as ALL, Chemical People, Guttermouth, Urban Scum, Jughead's Revenge, Lagwagon, the Offspring, Pennywise, Face to Face, and Big Drill Car, and in San Francisco, No Use for a Name, Jawbreaker, the Lookouts, and the Swingin' Utters.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s,

in Davis played punk music.

1993–present

In 1989, Social Distortion signed with

Heatseekers

chart.

Also in 1993,

Dammit

". Two years later the album was certified platinum with one million copies sold.

Soon thereafter, Green Day and the Offspring were joined by

pop punk

, whose influence had an extensive impact in the genre.

Current nardcore

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As of 2019, there are a handful of bands that play punk rock music that hail from Oxnard and surrounding areas: Bare Minimum, Bootleg Brigade, Global Warning, Civil Conflict, Crazy D & the Nutz, Dead Heat, Malice Thoughts, Marron, Mullholand, Omega Point, Sordo, Violation of Probation and 3-Day Holocaust. As do many of the original Nardcore bands, Dr. Know, Ill Repute, False Confession, and Stalag 13. There has also been a revival of Nardcore as of late 2018 thanks to promoters such as Midnight Society Productions, Bangerz Only, Sleep Away, David Stalsworth (drummer of the above band, Civil Conflict), Ventura Pyrate Punx, Skip Nasty, and Casa Anarkia. The musical style has transcended the years, recently becoming a faster brand of punk. In the early years of Nardcore, there was a scene of localism with songs such as "Oxnar'd by Ill Repute and "Locals Only" by Agression. Nardcore music now includes various musical sub-genres that all fall within the umbrella of punk: thrash metal, skate punk, surf punk (due to Ventura being a beach community), powerviolence, youth crew punk, hardcore and others. The music scene involves a large mix of people as Oxnard and surrounding areas are racially diverse. Band members are predominantly Hispanic of Mexican descent.^{[citation needed]}

Marron has released two LP records. Sordo has various split cassette tape, as well as split vinyl releases with bands of the same genre.

Art

The proliferation of punk concerts and albums in California generated a like proliferation of

.

Diverse punk rock artist and groups

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According to historian gaye Theresa Johnson the emergence of ethnic punk rock bands in Los Angeles was a result of double marginalization of individuals within the African-America and Latino communities during the late 1970s.

San Francisco and Los Angeles were major centers for both gay and punk subcultures, and there has long been crossover between them, with bands such as MDC featuring openly-gay frontpersons. When the queercore scene emerged in the early 1990s, California cities were major hubs of this emerging subculture. Pansy Division, a defining band in the queercore scene, hailed from San Francisco. In Los Angeles, Extra Fancy was one of the first post-alternative punk rock bands to be led by an openly gay individual, Brian Grillo.^[26] Grillo's intimidating look went against the stereotypical image of a gay male and was supposed to depict a radical homosexual enraged against machismo.^[27] Vaginal "Creme" Davis was an African American artist from Watts that emerged from the queercore scene in Los Angeles.^[28] Davis became well known for challenging the mainstream view of the gay community. He called it the "ultimate conformist culture" and said, "I never fit into the mainstream gay world and never will."^[28] Davis performed in drag and began a band with Alice Bags where its members dressed up as teenage Latinas.^[28]

Notable venues

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Notable punk rock venues in California

Name	Image	City	Dates	Notes
924 Gilman Street		Berkeley	1986–present
The Allen Theater		South Gate	2002–2007
Aquatic Park		Berkeley	1980s	Hardcore/crossover festivals billed as "Eastern Front" and nicknamed "Day on the Dirt" were annually held here in the 1980s.
Barrington Hall		Berkeley	until 1984	Former student co-operative residence
The Casbah		San Diego	1989–present
Cathay de Grande		Hollywood	1980s
Chain Reaction		Anaheim	1990s-present
Che Cafe		San Diego	1980–present
The Coconut Teaszer		Los Angeles[29]	mid/late 1980s–mid 2000s	8117 Sunset Blvd.
Chuck Landis' Country Club		Reseda	1979-1990s
Cloyne Court		Berkeley	1980s–2000s	Student co-operative residence
Cobalt Cafe		Canoga Park	1990–2014
Cuckoo's Nest		Costa Mesa	1978–1981
The Deaf Club		San Francisco	1978–1979
The Elite Club		San Francisco	early 1980s	Venue is currently, formerly, and better known as The Fillmore
The Farm		San Francisco	late 1970s–1980s
Fender's Ballroom		Long Beach	1984–1989
Grand Olympic Auditorium		Los Angeles	1980–2005
Great American Music Hall		San Francisco	1972–present
Hong Kong Café		Los Angeles	1979–1981	In Chinatown
Koo's Arts Cafe		Santa Ana	1994 - 200?	First all ages venue in Orange County
Mabuhay Gardens		San Francisco	1976–1986	In North Beach
Madame Wong's		Los Angeles	1978–1985	In Chinatown
The Masque		Los Angeles	1977–1979
Mission Records		San Francisco	1990s
The Phoenix Theater		Petaluma	1982–present
Raji's		Hollywood	1980s–1990s	Hastings Hotel building, 6160 Hollywood Blvd.
Rock on Broadway		San Francisco	1984–1985	In same building as The Mabuhay, lower level of 435 Broadway
Ruthie's Inn		Berkeley	until 2002
Showcase Theater		Corona	2000s
The Smell		Los Angeles	1997–present
SOMA		San Diego	1986–1999 2002–present
Starwood		Los Angeles	1973–1981
The Stone		San Francisco	1980–1990	412 Broadway
The Sound of Music		San Francisco	1980-1987	162 Turk Street in the Tenderloin.
Target Video		San Francisco	1978–1981
Valencia Tool & Die		San Francisco	late 1970s–early 1980s
The Warfield		San Francisco	1979–present
Trocadero Transfer		San Francisco	1990s
Warm Water Cove		San Francisco		informal, park setting
Whisky a Go Go		Los Angeles	1964–1982 1986–present

Notable labels

While a few bands like Green Day, the Offspring, and AFI appear on major labels, many of the bands are signed to local independent punk labels. Many of these labels were started by local musicians as a way to sell their own bands' records, but grew into labels with a large roster of bands. Some of these labels include:

• Adeline Records – started by Pro Skater Jim Thiebaud, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, and his wife Adrienne Armstrong.
• Alternative Tentacles – started by Dead Kennedys member Jello Biafra
• Asian Man Records – started by Skankin' Pickle's Mike Park
• BYO Records – started by Youth Brigade's Shawn and Mark Stern
• CD Presents Records - started by David Ferguson
• Dangerhouse Records – started by former Screamers member David Brown
• Epitaph Records – started by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz
• Fat Wreck Chords – started by NOFX's Fat Mike
• Fearless Records
• Frontier Records
• band Less Than Jake
  .
• Geykido Comet Records
• Gravity Records - started by Heroin
• Hellcat Records – started by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz and Rancid's Tim Armstrong
• Hopeless Records
• Kung Fu Records – started by the Vandals' Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald
• Lookout! Records
  – started by the Lookouts frontman Larry Livermore
• Mordam Records
• Mystic Records
• the Minutemen
• Nitro Records – started by the Offspring's Dexter Holland and Greg K.
• Pure Noise Records
• Posh Boy Records
• Punkcore Records
• Slash Records – associated with the fanzine Slash
• Slap-a-Ham Records
• SST Records – started by Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn
• Subterranean Records
• Sympathy for the Record Industry

Fanzines

• Cometbus
• Flipside
• Maximum RocknRoll
• Razorcake
• Slash

See also

• Music of California: Punk rock
• StreetArt: The Punk Poster in San Francisco 1977–1981

References