Rock 'n' Roll in Orange County

by Chris Epting

  We were approached by the makers of the surf films, the great directors Greg McGillivray and Jim Freeman. Jim has since passed away. But those two brilliant guys said that he knew a couple of us in the band were surfers, and we had become so popular as a band in Orange County that even though we were anything but a surf band, they wanted us to do music for this film they were making called Five Summer Stories. It was only described to us, and so we had to imagine what we were writing to. It really was like Zen archery, but we did it—we just wrote the music for this film. And when we saw what they had put together at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, it was incredible. And they even had us play a special concert before the screening. And it just fit so perfectly. So unwittingly we became modern-day surf band heroes. We had a number-one record in Hawaii, an instrumental called Pipeline Sequence, and our popularity went through the roof. The film helped spread our name around and we had mixed emotions about it because we were not a surf band. We were all over the map—a really, an eclectic bunch of musicians. Jazz to folk to R&B. And our originals reflected that.

  In our ultimate heyday, we sold out a full week at the Troubadour, and that was really our zenith. We opened for everybody from Loggins and Messina to the Beach Boys. And we finally signed with Epic Records.

  I think the reason we did so well in Orange County is that we just represented the mood of the time. Laguna Beach was the perfect launching point for us because it was very laid-back and very artsy and creative. We were hippies of that sort, and so we just fit in perfectly there. But we also did really well in Huntington Beach whenever we played the Golden Bear, which was a lot. There were some really good bands around the area at that time, but everybody seemed to like and appreciate the fact that we were trying to do something original. That we were not just happy being a cover band. With Five Summer Stories, we really kind of became solidified as his hometown heroes.

  Imboden went on to have a successful and varied career as drummer for the Kenny Loggins band, with whom he played on the number-one soundtracks for the prominent 1980s films Caddyshack and Footloose. Since 1990, he’s been the full-time drummer with the band Chicago. But for all he has done, he can never get Honk out of his system.

  Hometown heroes Honk as they looked in the mid-1970s. Author’s collection.

  “We still get together when we can to have some fun and remember the good times. No matter where I go or what I do, it’s impossible for me not to recall fondly the Orange County music scene of the 1970s. It was vital, it was important and it was a lot of fun for many of us, whether we were busy playing in a band or just hanging out at clubs [or] at the Golden Bear watching our musical heroes.”

  From the music industry standpoint, another big event that took place in 1977 was the arrival of the NAMM show to Anaheim California. One of the two largest music product tradeshows in the world, NAMM (which stands for the National Association of Music Merchants) has been held in Anaheim each year since then. The trade-only business show, which caters to domestic and international dealers and distributors, also boasts one of the biggest gatherings of the biggest names in music each January in Anaheim, where musicians both perform and explore the hundreds of product exhibits that are the mainstay of the show. As a result, whenever a big name is in town, there are many concerts and other musical events that take place around the county, which are all connected to the NAMM show.

  While the show is not open to the public, it still remains one of the hottest tickets with many people scrambling to find a connection through either a dealer or artist that might be able to gain them access.

  Throughout the show, there are many concerts, booth appearances and intimate performances held throughout the Anaheim Convention Center. Interestingly, the Anaheim Convention Center Arena, which has hosted so many legendary concerts over the years, is typically taken over by distributors for the event. One wonders if all the dealers and salesmen in that portion of the event are aware of the fact that they are standing where legends such as Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Cream, Elton John and many others performed memorable shows over the years?

  Something else happened in 1977. A little band from Pasadena named Van Halen came down to play the old Retail Clerks Auditorium in Buena Park on October 8. In a few months, the band would head out on its first ever national tour, with Journey and Montrose, just after releasing its debut album in February 1978. It wasn’t the first time the band had played Orange County, though. In January 1977, Van Halen had performed at the Golden Bear. The band appeared with a band called Yesterday & Today (soon to become simply Y&T), and the guys in Van Halen told the club owner, “Take our picture; we will be famous some day.” So she did.

  Chapter 3

  THE LATE 1970s–EARLY 1980s

  When the Rolling Stones first came to Orange County in 1978, near the end of their Some Girls tour to play back-to-back shows at Anaheim Stadium on July 23 and 24, it marked a triumphant moment for the band. Unlike the band’s previous American tour in 1975, this show was not based on any sort of major production like the elaborate lotus petal stage it had trucked around the world. For the Stones, it’d all be about stripping down. The stage show was sparse and minimal to match the raw and passionate fire of the album they were promoting this time, Some Girls. The Stones would return to that ballpark a number of times over the years, and many who were there in 1978 recall with glee the energy and intensity of the show. But while the Stones had started to embrace the punk ethos ignited a couple years before by bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, in Orange County there were a number of bands that were channeling the same kind of anger, rebellion and do-it-yourself approach.

  In the city of Fullerton, a teenager named Mike Ness—inspired by the Sex Pistols and the same band that was packing Anaheim Stadium that summer, the Rolling Stones—formed a band called Social Distortion, along with drummer Casey Royer and brothers Frank and Rikk Agnew, who played bass and guitar, respectively. Before the band recorded its debut album, the Agnew brothers left Social Distortion to join the Adolescents, another Fullerton punk band that also featured members from Agent Orange.

  As the OC Weekly described Agent Orange:

  [It was] formed by a cranky, pissed-off 14-year-old named Mike Palm—sounded distinctly Orange County, as opposed to the mostly slash-and-burn approach perpetrated by their peers Social Distortion and the Adolescents. That’s because they injected Dick Dale–inspired surf-guitar breaks and more overt melody lines amidst all the usual thrashiness. In 1981, they released the Living In Darkness album, which included “Bloodstains”—not just a classic OC punk tune, but a classic tune period. The band’s largest following, though, came via an army of skateboarders. They were one of the first bands to tap into the then-still-kind-of-underground subculture, putting their music on the soundtracks of various skate videos. After all this time, Palm still hasn’t gotten a real job, and still tours as Agent Orange with a revolving lineup of players.

  Back to the Adolescents, though—they became one of the leading-edge bands of the 1980s hard-core punk scene. They juggled members many times over the course of thirty years, but their self-titled 1981 debut remains one of the most seminal albums in hard-core punk history.

  A flyer for a show held at New Klub on the Block Costa Mesa. Courtesy of Ernie Grimm.

  Social Distortion finally recorded its debut album, Mommy’s Little Monster, in 1983. The band would not record a follow-up for four years, during which time Ness descended into heroin addiction. Regardless, it was an integral part of what became one of the most important punk movements in the world despite being scattered throughout the unlikely and mostly lily-white bedroom communities of Orange County.

  Also in 1978, one of Huntington Beach’s first, if not the punk band from Surf City also formed. It was called the Crowd and was put together by brothers Jim and Jay Decker, along with guitarist Jim Kaa and, later, drummer Dennis Walsh. Together for just a couple years, and despite its growing popularity throughout Orange County,
in 1982 the band broke up. But in 1987, it found its way back again and continues to make music today with a variety of solo projects and the occasional crowd project as well. The Crowd may have only been together for a brief time at the inception of the Orange County punk movement, but the band was still highly influential. Some punk aficionados think that frontman Jim Decker actually invented slam dancing.

  Another band generally credited with igniting a chunk of the West Coast hard-core punk movement also came from Fullerton. The Middle Class consisted of brothers Jeff Atta on vocals, Mike Atta on guitar and Bruce Atta on drums with Mike Patton on bass. Though they never achieved the success or notoriety of Social Distortion, in a number of other homegrown Orange County punk bands, they remain deeply respected and influential for those who either saw them play or heard one of their few releases.

  As Matt Coker wrote in the Orange County Weekly in 2002:

  “Many hold the Middle Class up as probably the first American hardcore band, which basically meant playing faster downbeat tempos than the first wave of ‘Hollywood’ proto-hardcore bands like the Germs and the Bags,” says Brendan Mullen, founder of the Masque, the Hollywood underground club/rehearsal space considered to be the birthplace of the Los Angeles and Orange County punk scenes…The Atta boys are more surprised than anyone that the Middle Class, which disbanded in 1982, is credited with launching a form of music that was quickly picked up by TSOL and the Circle Jerks, music that soldiers on with Narcoleptic Youth and Litmus Green. Well, they’re more surprised than anyone outside of their band mates, brother Bruce Atta (drums) and Mike Patton (bass).

  “Twenty years later, you can look at it and say hardcore is where we fit,” Mike Atta says, “but we never felt we were trying to start anything.”

  The Vandals formed in Huntington Beach in 1980. Guitarist Jan Nils Ackermann, singer Steven Jensen, bassist Steve Pfauter and drummer Joe Esclante, in almost no time at all, built a solid reputation both in Orange County and up in Los Angeles, along with other relevant punk bands of the time, including Bad Religion, Black Flag, T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), X, the Germs, Suicidal Tendencies and, of course, Social Distortion.

  In 1984, the Vandals would appear in the film Suburbia, directed by Penelope Spheeris who had already directed the well-known punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization. Perhaps infamously, they also would play a benefit concert that year in Orange County for the Cypress College Young Republicans, being joined with other punk stalwarts the Circle Jerks and the Dickies, among others. The performance drew heavy criticism from the anarchy-driven punk community.

  T.S.O.L. also came together in Huntington Beach in 1978. Originally composed of singer Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emery, bassist Mike Roche and drummer Todd Barnes, the band’s first EP was released in 1981, followed up soon after by a full-length album entitled Dance with Me. Its goth and hard-core stylings immediately made an impact. Throughout the ’80s, T.S.O.L. would morph into a more glam metal band, and all original band members would eventually be replaced. However, in 1991, the original members returned, and they started making music again. The last studio album, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Free Downloads was released in 2009.

  Another influential punk band that grew out of the sand and surf in Huntington Beach was China White. Named for the heroin that killed Germs lead singer Darby Crash and inspired by the punk anthem “Chinese Rocks,” the band originally included vocalist Scott Sisunik, guitarists Frank Ruffino and Marc Martin, bassist James Rodriguez and drummer Richard Katchadoorian (later replaced by Vince Mesa).

  An 1985 ad for a China White show in Garden Grove. Courtesy of Ernie Grimm.

  After hammering it out on both the Orange County and Los Angeles club circuits, in 1981 China White signed to Frontier Records. Its first EP, entitled Danger Zone, was infamous for its front cover depicting a murder scene. The band would split up several years later, but the band has regrouped occasionally over the years with a variety of new members.

  An ad for a show held at the Cuckoo’s Nest in Costa Mesa. Courtesy of Ernie Grimm.

  Along with Social Distortion and T.S.O.L., China White’s legacy remains burned in the punk rock history of Orange County. In 2013, guitarist Frank Ruffino became ill and was in need of a new liver. Bands, including Bad Religion, Black Flag, the Adolescents and many more, donated items for an auction to raise funds for the ailing punk legend. Benefit concerts were also held, but sadly, Ruffino passed away on June 4, 2013.

  The fertile punk rock scene in Orange County meant, of course, that there would need to be venues to accommodate the intense and often physical shows where slam dancing and early forms of mosh pits were evolving. The Golden Bear was far too tame for many of these bands, and so other venues began to almost spontaneously pop up around the county.

  The Cuckoo’s Nest, which was open at 1714 Placentia Avenue in Costa Mesa from 1978 to 1981, became one of the first true punk rock ground zeros in Orange County. But it was never without controversy. Hosting such local favorites as Social Distortion, Agent Orange and others, owner Jerry Roach constantly had his hands full, in large part due to the fact that located right next door to his punk club was a restaurant called Zubies, which was typically populated by a country music–loving crowd. Fights between the two factions became legendary but eventually city officials revoked Roach’s entertainment permits and put his club out of business—but not before its legendary status was etched into the minds of punk fans who traveled far and wide to visit the vaunted venue.

  The 1981 film on the club, called Urban Struggle, detailed not just how local punks attending the club were constantly being harassed by the law but also how Roach felt that authorities were actually trying to stamp out something they considered to be simply a violent fad.

  This ad for legendary punk band Black Flag is from when it played the Cuckoo’s Nest in Costa Mesa. Courtesy of Ernie Grimm.

  The Cuckoo’s Nest is famed for being the first place to ever have a “slam pit.” But more important are the bands that it hosted, which went beyond the modern-day punk heroes like Circle Jerks, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and the Dickies. The club also saw appearances from a wide range of artists who no doubt inspired many of the young punks who were forming bands in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Velvet Underground legend John Cale, the Damned, the Ramones, XTC, Squeeze, Iggy Pop and the Cramps all spent time at the Cuckoo’s Nest.

  It may not have been there long, but in many ways, the Cuckoo’s Nest was to Orange County what CBGB was to New York City, a musical underground birthplace that caused significant culture shifts.

  In 1982, the club reopened under new name, the Concert Factory. There was a new owner and an entirely new slate of bands, ranging from heavy metal to new wave, that came into play. But it didn’t last long. Eventually, the building became part of the Zubies complex before being demolished altogether in the late 1990s.

  But the place lives on in the music. That’s because the club was immortalized in a song called “Pat Brown” by the Vandals—a true story about a punk fan who allegedly tried to run over two cops outside the Cuckoo’s Nest, thus prompting one of them to fire shots into his fleeing car.

  Guitar Legend Dick Dale first opened a nightclub in Riverside in 1968, and in the early 1970s, he purchased a beer bar called the Playgirl Club in Garden Grove. He renamed it the Rendezvous in homage to the ballroom in Balboa where he became famous and, over time, expanded it into an eighteen-thousand-square-foot music megaplex. He appeared there often, booked big touring bands and, eventually, opened Rendezvous II in Huntington Beach.

  An ad for the legendary punk club the Cuckoo’s Nest in Costa Mesa. Courtesy of Ernie Grimm.

  It might be worth noting here that while it may seem like all the rock ’n’ roll history in Orange County was testosterone fueled, if we backtrack a few years to the mid-1970s, something happened before the punk movement that was certainly influential.

  As Suzanne Rush noted in Record Collector magazine in 2013:
/>
  The band that spawned one of rock’s most durable female icons was born in a suburban rec room in greater Los Angeles. Suzi Quatro–wannabe, Joan Larkin, had to take four buses from the San Fernando Valley to meet up with drummer Sandy Pesavento at her Brady Bunch–like homestead in Huntington Beach. But, the moment the two 16-year-olds began to jam on “All Shook Up,” they knew they’d finally found rock ’n’ roll compatriots. This guitar-drum duo, who rechristened themselves Joan Jett and Sandy West, would form the nucleus of The Runaways, the first all-girl rock band to get a record contract. The rest of the lineup would variously include: Micki Steele, Lita Ford, Cherie Currie and an ever-changing roster of bass players.

  Standing outside West’s home today in Huntington Beach, it’s hard to believe that the Runaways were essentially born in the small suburban garage. Yet they were. And while West never achieved the superstardom of her cohort Joan Larkin, her legacy literally remains carved into Orange County.

  The Runaways. Author’s collection.

  Sadly, West passed away from cancer in 2006 at the age of just forty-seven. But in 2013, in the southern Orange County city of Dana Point, a special memorial was dedicated to her. Her band mate Cherie Currie, who is now a well-known wood sculptor, created a sculpture in her honor. It depicts a mermaid playing electric guitar and was commissioned by Kenny’s Music Store in Dana Point as a tribute to West. On the memorial pedestal that supports the sculpture, Currie inlaid a pair of West’s drumsticks. The store where the memorial is located is at 24731 LaPlaza in Dana Point.

  While punk rock may have been flourishing in Orange County in the early 1980s, it didn’t preclude the introduction of larger venues to accommodate bigger-name acts as the county’s population continued to grow. By this time, the Anaheim Convention Center Arena was not booking nearly as many shows as it once had, and it was too small to accommodate many of the larger commercial acts that were touring nationally. Fortunately, in 1980, the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater was built by the Irvine Company. The facility opened in 1981 and automatically became a magnet for arena touring acts. The very first year it opened, the amphitheater hosted Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Dan Fogelberg and Ozzy Osbourne. In fact, a live concert performance by Osborne recorded on June 12, 1982, entitled Speak of the Devil, was released in 2012.