Club Foot

Last updated

Club Foot was a large live-music venue in Austin, Texas, in the early 1980s. Located downtown at the corner of 4th and Brazos Streets, it had a reputation as a punk rock venue for its support of local and touring punk bands, but it also booked a wide variety of other types of music. [1]

Contents

Location

Club Foot was located in a two-story warehouse that was partially underground, on 4th St. between Brazos St. and Congress Avenue, just east of the Greyhound Bus Station. The club featured a large picture window overlooking the bus staging area, and a bar made from a Lincoln Continental that was cut in half. Today, the Frost Bank building exists on the site of both buildings.

History

The structure had previously been the home of at least two other nightclubs. In 1977 it was a club called Boondock's, which featured live bands. Subsequent to that, it was a club called Crazy Bob's. The club was purchased in 1979 by David Ladd an entrepreneur involved in the real estate development business and motion pictures. It was converted into a Gay Disco called "Rushes" which opened March 17, 1979. The Grand opening several weeks later was packed with people from all over the country to see Grace Jones perform. It was huge success but as the Disco scene began to fade it became a showcase club for local bands and evolved into a punk rock venue. [2]

Club Foot published a calendar called "Footprints" that included detailed descriptions of upcoming concerts under the slogan "all the news that's foot to print." In 1983, Club Foot was the site of the first Austin Chronicle Readers Poll Music Awards, an annual show that has become the kickoff event for the South by Southwest Music Conference (SXSW) each year.

Notable acts

The headliner for the opening night at Club Foot was The Stranglers. Among those playing there during the approximately three years it was open were Uranium Savages, U2, Willie Nelson, R.E.M., James Brown, Sam and Dave, the Skunks, B. B. King, Carl Perkins, King Sunny Adé, Stevie Ray Vaughan, X, Burning Spear, Stray Cats, Dr. John, Big Boys, John Lee Hooker, Leon Russell, Ian Hunter, Joe Cocker, Iggy Pop, John Hiatt, Stanley Turrentine, Albert King, The Blasters, NRBQ, Richard Hell, Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul, Mitch Ryder, John Cale, Delbert McClinton, The Go-Go's, The Romantics, Jesse Sublett & the Secret Six, Joe Ely, Echo & the Bunnymen, Sir Douglas Quintet, Sam and Dave, John Kay and Steppenwolf, Billy Idol, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Junior Walker, Joe King Carrasco and the Crowns, Charlie Musselwhite, UK Subs, Anti-Nowhere League, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Big Youth, Rare Earth, The Ventures, The Lift, The Standing Waves, Patterns, Gun Club, Roky Erickson, Pete Shelley, The Nighthawks, Grace Jones, David Johansen, The Neville Brothers, Wall of Voodoo, The English Beat, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Sparks, Maria Muldaur, The Fleshtones, Rank and File, Romeo Void, The Take, The Strays, Edgar Winter, Flipper, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Huey Lewis and the News, Savoy Brown, Bow Wow Wow, The Plimsouls, Garland Jeffreys, Mighty Diamonds, Marianne Faithfull and T-Bone Burnett. Hosted by Wendy O. Williams and Eric Johnson, Plasmatics, Metallica, Juluka

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Damned (band)</span> English punk band

The Damned are an English rock band formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk rock band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976), release a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977), and tour the United States. They have nine singles that charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40.

Pub rock is a rock music genre that was developed in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against the expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock and flashy glam rock scenes of the time. Although short-lived, pub rock was live rock played in small traditional venues like pubs and clubs. Since major labels showed no interest in pub rock groups, pub rockers sought out independent record labels such as Stiff Records. Indie labels used relatively inexpensive recording processes, so they had a much lower break-even point for a record than a major label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Texas</span> Overview of music traditions in the U.S. state of Texas

The U.S. state of Texas has long been a center for musical innovation and is the birthplace of many notable musicians. Texans have pioneered developments in Tejano and Conjunto music, Rock 'n Roll, Western swing, jazz, punk rock, country, hip-hop, electronic music, gothic industrial music, religious music, mariachi, psychedelic rock, zydeco and the blues.

The story of Tennessee's contribution to American music is essentially the story of three cities: Nashville, Memphis, and Bristol. While Nashville is most famous for its status as the long-time capital of country music, Bristol is recognized as the "Birthplace of Country Music". Memphis musicians have had an enormous influence on blues, early rock and roll, R&B, and soul music, as well as an increasing presence in rap.

A cover band is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the format marketable for smaller venues, such as pubs, clubs or parks. The bands also perform at private events, for example, weddings and birthday parties, and may be known as a wedding band, party band, function band or band-for-hire. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is often called a top 40 band. Some bands, however, start as cover bands, then grow to perform original material. For example, The Rolling Stones released three albums consisting primarily of covers and then recorded one with their own original material.

Austin's official motto is the "Live Music Capital of the World" due to the high volume of venues hosting live music performances in the city, sometimes over 100 on the same night. Austin is known internationally for the South by Southwest (SXSW) and the Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festivals which feature eclectic international line-ups. The greatest concentrations of music venues in Austin are around 6th Street, the Warehouse District, Downtown, Central East Austin, South Congress, the Red River District, the University of Texas, South Lamar, and South Austin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armadillo World Headquarters</span> Bygone Texas music hall in Austin

Armadillo World Headquarters was an influential Texas music hall and beer garden in Austin at 52512 Barton Springs Road – at South First Street – just south of the Colorado River and downtown Austin. The 'Dillo flourished from 1970 to 1980. The structure that housed it, an old National Guard Armory, was demolished in 1981 and replaced by a 13-story office building.

The Jammy Award is an awards show for bands typically referred to as jam bands and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and Shapiro. The Jammy Awards returned in 2008 to the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, after taking a one year break.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irving Plaza</span>

Irving Plaza is a ballroom-style music venue located within the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music in Leeds</span>

The Music in Leeds ecompasses a variety of styles and genres, including rock, pop and electronic. While groups like Soft Cell, the Kaiser Chiefs, the Wedding Present, Utah Saints and the Bridewell Taxis have gained success in the mainstream, Gang of Four, the Sisters of Mercy, Chumbawamba and the Mission have helped to define genres like punk rock, gothic rock and post-punk.

New Sincerity is a trend in music, aesthetics, literary fiction, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy that generally describes creative works that expand upon and break away from concepts of postmodernist irony and cynicism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palladium (New York City)</span> Former concert hall and nightclub

The Palladium was a movie theatre, concert hall, and finally nightclub in New York City. It was located on the south side of East 14th Street, between Irving Place and Third Avenue.

Joe "King" Carrasco is a Tex-Mex new wave guitarist, vocalist and songwriter currently based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Raul's was a live music nightclub at 2610 Guadalupe Street in Austin, Texas in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which started off as a Chicano music venue, but then specialized in punk rock music. The location is near the University of Texas campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inner Sanctum Records</span>

Inner Sanctum Records was a record shop in Austin, Texas. The retailer was variously cited as the first indie record shop in Texas and, at the time of its closure, the oldest in Central Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Ragan</span> American musician

Charles Allen Ragan is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the guitarist and vocalist of the band Hot Water Music. Ragan has also released a variety of solo material, including a series of 7-inches on No Idea Records, a live album and three studio albums on Side One Dummy Records.

The Skunks are a three-piece rock band formed in 1977 in Austin, Texas. The band debuted in early 1978 at Raul's, quickly became a mainstay of the Austin, Texas music scene. They rapidly expanded their fan base beyond early punk/new wave into clubs whose audiences crossed the spectrum, including the Armadillo World Headquarters, the Continental Club, Dukes Royal Coach, Club Foot, Liberty Lunch, and many others in the late 1970s and early 80s. The Skunks music channeled classic rock influences, such as The Rolling Stones and The Who with Seventies cult figures such as the New York Dolls and The Velvet Underground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Sublett</span>

Jesse Sublett is a musician and writer from Austin, Texas. As a musician he is best known for his long-running rock trio, The Skunks. His essays and journalism have appeared in a wide range of publications, and he is also known for his mystery novels featuring a bass-playing sleuth named Martin Fender.

Carla Olson is a Los Angeles-based songwriter, performer and record producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Bonnaroo Music Festival</span>

The 2016 Bonnaroo Music Festival was held June 9-12, 2016 in Manchester, Tennessee. This marked the 15th consecutive festival since its inception in 2002. Bonnaroo saw its lowest attendance to date in 2016 with 45,537 tickets sold. A 38 percent decrease from the previous year

References

  1. "Dead Venues Live: Episode One," narrated by Jesse Sublett, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4stbqi9Wiw&feature=player_embedded
  2. Jesse Sublett, Never the Same Again: A Rock n' Roll Gothic (Berkeley, Boaz/Tenspeed Press 2004).