 Former location of the Deaf Club as seen in 2015 | |
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| Location | 530 Valencia Street, San Francisco, California, U.S. |
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| Type | music |
| Genre(s) | punk |
| Opened | 9 December 1978 |
| Closed | summer 1980 |
The Deaf Club was a notable music venue located on Valencia Street in San Francisco which remained open for an 18-month period. Its main attraction was punk music. The name comes from the fact the building it was in originally began as a deaf people's clubhouse in the 1930s.
Daphne Hanrahan, manager of The Offs, discovered the San Francisco Club for the Deaf, and was able to rent it on a nightly basis.
She remembers finding the place: “I bought a burrito at La Cumbre and noticed a sign on the fire escape across the street. It said ‘Hall for Rent.’ I went up the flights of stairs and saw two guys watching TV with the sound off. After a very short while, I realized we weren't going to communicate, so I wrote on a piece of paper that I wanted to rent the place. Bill—I never knew his last name—was a mustachioed, lascivious, cigar-chewing character who apparently was in charge. He wrote ‘OK & $250,’ so I wrote ‘OK.’” [1]
The first show as the Deaf Club on 9 December 1978 featured the Offs, started by guitarist Billy Hawk and singer Don Vinil, and later joined by former Hot Tuna drummer Bob Steeler and a rotation of horn players including Bob Roberts, Richard Edson and Roland Young. They were accompanied by The Mutants, who are known for their theatrical performances which often include elaborate props, projections, and comical antics. They are credited with being one of the first "Art-punk" bands in San Francisco, and were one of the most popular bands of the San Francisco punk scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s. On The Rag also participated in the Deaf Club's first show. Over 100 bands such as Northern California's The Dead Kennedys, Tuxedomoon, The Units, The Zeros, Crime, The Dils, Flipper, Negative Trend, Los Microwaves, The Jars, Minimal Man, Voice Farm, Humans, Pearl Harbor and the Explosions, The Sleepers, Avengers, Factrix, Bpeople, S.S.I., NON, MX-80, V.I.P$, K.G.B., Monitor, Blowdryers, BoB, VKTMS, Snuky Tate, JJ180, On The Rag, Noh Mercy, No Alternative; as well as Southern California's Bags, The Alley Cats, Germs, X, Soul Rebels, Walking Dead, Wall of Voodoo, The Rotters, Seizure, Z'EV, Barry Kooda Kombo, Vs., Fillmore Struts, Punts, Inflatable Boy Clams, Jah Hovah, Plugz, Suburbs, The Vandals, The Controllers, Nervous Gender, U.X.A., Dinettes, and some touring bands from Vancouver like D.O.A., Pointed Sticks, and Subhumans, and even touring bands from England like Levi and the Rockats would play this small underground club.
Given the unique nature of the venue and its location in the Mission District near 16th Street and the Roxie Theater, it was enthusiastically supported by the punk and arts community, visited by film greats like John Waters and occasionally challenged by the officials of the San Francisco noise abatement patrol, the police, fire department, health department and the alcohol and beverage control until it closed.[ citation needed ]
The house DJs were Enrico Chandoha who worked on the editorial staff of the early Thrasher Magazine; Jack Fan (an Offs road manager and chef at the Zuni); BBC celebrity Johnnie Walker; and Daphne Hanrahan.[ citation needed ]
About such venues, Brendan Earley of The Mutants comments:
"The earthiness, I guess, of playing places like the Deaf Club seemed to have a lot more energy to them. You know the crowd that started coming to this music in '77, it was maybe a peak of their scene, or the scene at that time. They were not normal kinds of clubs, they weren't places like the Stone, or even the Mabuhay, really. They were neat places to play; often good audiences, and good energy going on." [2]
″A possibly unique aspect of the club was the constant presence of actual deaf people in the hall, who didn't know what to make of their unruly musical cohorts—but counterintuitively, they did seem to enjoy the music. Indeed, punk music might be tailor-made for deaf people to enjoy, because of the constant frenetic thudding of the 4/4 beat that can be sensed as vibrations. As Penelope Houston of The Avengers said, “It was kind of amazing. I think they were dancing to the vibrations. The deaf people were amused that all these punks wanted to come in and rent their room and have these shows.” According to artist Winston Smith, “They put their hands on the table and they could hear the music. It was music they could appreciate because it was so loud.”″ [1]
In an interview Daphne Hanrahan says "The social aspect of being able to participate and be accepted was big for the deaf people. They enjoyed being exposed to a different subculture like their own. It was very convivial, no fights or hassles. [3]
The four partners in Walking Dead Records developed a live compilation project that resulted in an album released by Optional Record distribution of Berkeley, CA on the Walking Dead label: "Can You Hear Me? Music From the Deaf Club." It was recorded on a mobile 8 track by Jim Keylor (also of Army Street Studios), DJ'ed by Johnnie Walker , produced by Daphne Hanrahan who also managed and booked the Club, and coordinated by Peter Worrall. The photos selected for the album were taken by Sue Brisk, the album art was by Diana Miami (aka Diana Stumbo) and the liner notes were written by V. Vale of RE/Search/Search & Destroy. It was recorded live at the club during early 1979 and is a testament to the authentic underground punk and "new wave" scene during that period in San Francisco's music history. The album featured The Mutants' "Tribute to Russ Meyer" and "Monster of Love" and performances from other first and second generation San Francisco Punk bands like:
From the Deaf Club, Walking Dead also produced, with William Passerelli, Dirk Dirksen (Mabuhay Gardens), Paul Rat Bachavich (Temple Beautiful) & Goody Thompson: the Western Front Festival. The festival engaged the Deaf Club and every venue, (including the "art clubs": A.R.E., Target Video, Valencia Tool & Die, Club Foot, the A-hole and Club Generic) in the San Francisco Bay Area that embraced punk culture and music for a week long event.
In a conversation with Daphne Hanrahan at the Deaf Club during a show during the Western Front with one of the Dinettes of San Diego, Joel Selvin, a music critic for the SF Chronicle, who was attracted by the energy surrounding the punk scene, promised to "put the scene on the map."[ This quote needs a citation ] Selvin authored an extensive article published in the San Francisco Chronicle, October 22, 1979 on page 6 entitled "S.F. Goes Punk."[ citation needed ] It documented the scene during that time and included interviews with Dirk Dirksen, Joe Rees, Daphne Hanrahan, Johnnie Walker and Paul Rat Bachavich. He also mentioned the Deaf Club in a subsequent publication: "San Francisco: The Musical History Tour : A Guide to over 200 of the Bay Area's Most Memorable Music Sites" where he disparages the Club as "one of the stranger scenes on the punk rock scene."
Tono Rondone, a member of the Frank Hymng Band, which featured Fritz Fox of The Mutants, remembers a humorous sideline to the history of The Deaf Club: "At one point, there was a headline in the San Francisco Chronicle which told of the temporary closing of The Deaf Club whose headline read 'Deaf Club Closed Due to Excessive Noise Levels.'"[ This quote needs a citation ]
Herb Caen in his daily San Francisco Chronicle column dated Monday August 13, 1979 "Have a Weird Day" said: "I don't know about you, but I find it slightly bizarre that The Deaf Club at 530 Valencia – indeed a social hangout for deaf people – features punk rock groups, such as Zen, Off, The Pink Section, Blow Driers and Mutants. "The louder the better!" beams Edward Juaregui, executive director of Deaf Self Help. "We all like to dance, and we can feel the vibrations." How about the neighbors? "Oh," continued Edward, "they're going crazy. They keep calling the cops, complaining the noise is deafening. Isn't that rich?"
Ethan Davison a fan said "The most interesting thing about the Deaf Club was that it was a real Deaf Club. The members stood around with the rest of us drinking the pow- erful drinks. I don't sign, so I never “spoke” to any of them, but what I was told was that they enjoyed our music because they could feel the vibrations on the floor. I imagine that they also enjoyed the visual display, for we were the most visually interesting visual community at the time. People would dye their hair a different shade of blue, green, or purple every week. It can now be said that I never had trouble buying a Bloody Mary, even though I was sixteen." [4]
Kathy Peck, of the Contractions, remembers the Deaf Club fondly, explaining that, "The place was filthy. My boots would stick to the floor. The deaf people would dance to the vibration of the beat. Daphne Hanrahan would do a radio show with Johnny Walker (BBC punk rock DJ) on the side of the stage, it seems. Daphne Hanrahan, manager of the Offs discovered the San Francisco Club for the Deaf in 1978, and was able to rent it on a nightly basis. It was great fun. The Deaf Club was more a like a neighborhood place, very underground, in the Mission District. People would give the deaf sign for a beer as the Offs, the Contractions, Middle Class, No Alternative, and the Dils played. People like Ginger Coyote (Punk Globe) would hang out, dance, and drink. The bathroom was full of graffiti. We'd load in, and the punk bands would always get in crazy fights, especially Brittley Black, drummer of Crime, who fell out of the upstairs window many a night.The deaf people were receptive. They could “hear” through the wooden floor—a simple floor, made from planks or linoleum. It could catch the vibrations. FrankMoore from the Outrageous Beauty Pageant was there in his wheelchair that people dragged upstairs, since it was on the second floor. Dirk Dirksen (Mabuhay club promoter and San Francisco music icon) nurtured his career. [4]
As Bonnie Hayes from the Punts says, “The club was utterly un-controlled, which was one of the best things about it. It was basically like a big, really messy party at someone's house. It seemed private, like an inside thing --- you would meet everybody and be in the family.” [4]
In a conversation with Klaus Flouride of The Dead Kennedys he looks back at the state of the Deaf club."I remember it being working-class, but I don't remember it being that dingy, but we played an awful lot of pretty dingy punk clubs. That didn't ever impress upon me that much. I think that “California Über Alles” might have come out by the time we played there, but I really don't think so, because we still had 6025 in the group. So, it was still before we had a single out. We were still early on in the thing. There was a folding table in the back. They sold cans of Budweiser. I think it was for like a buck apiece. Back then, you could get Buds for $2.50 or $3.00 a six-pack, or something like that, so they were doing okay. That was your bar. The thing that impressed me the most was that when we were watching the Germs I was right up front, and I was trying to talk to the person next to me. Everybody was grabbing somebody's ear and hollering to try and talk, whereas the deaf members, the people who were deaf and frequented the place on an everyday basis, would just lean forward towards the stage and sign each other— no problem with communication." [4]
Esmerelda Kent of Noh Mercy recalls that, "The Deaf Club was down the street from our “house” which was a ginormous storefront, 1920s dry goods store on Valencia Street that is now Artists Television Access (ATA Gallery) at 992 Valencia St., where me, Tony Hotel, and our manager (and Tuxedomoon's manager) Adrian Craig lived. We had a huge basement that had secret passages (connecting all the block) where we used to record and practice. The Deaf Club was my favorite club because of how strange it was. One night after we played at the end of the night, I went backstage and changed and I thought everyone had left because it was so quiet I was sure I was alone. I went out and the room was full with over a hundred people all signing. I wondered if drunk deaf people slurred their sign language.They loved the music because they could feel it. Deafness knows no specific demographic, so rich, poor, old, young, black, Asian, anyone could be and often was deaf and they were all there. Who knew? It was great to write a note of what you wanted to the bartender and see old ladies drinking with spiked mohawk punks." [4]
The club closed with a party hosted by the artist and filmmaker Bruce Conner. [ citation needed ] The club had a history of being closed for various reasons, such as by the fire marshal for the lack of sprinklers. Holding private parties with a closed door policy was a way of it continuing to run. [ citation needed ] The DEAF CLUB closed after the WESTERN FRONT, a September–October festival of West Coast Bands, which went underreported. As Biafra said, "The magic of the DEAF CLUB was its intimate sweaty atmosphere, kind of like a great big house party. The club remained raw to the very end.
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington, D.C., and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics".
The Mabuhay Gardens, also known as The Fab Mab or The Mab, was a former San Francisco nightclub, located at 443 Broadway Street, in North Beach on the Broadway strip area best known for its striptease clubs. It closed in 1987.
Units were an American synthpunk band that was founded in San Francisco in 1978. It was active until 1984. They were one of America's earliest electronic new wave bands, and have been cited as pioneers of synthpunk, also retrospectively known as "electropunk". The Units were notable for their use of synthesizers in place of guitars, and multimedia performances featuring multiple projections of satirical, instructional films critical of conformity and consumerism.
The Teen Idles were an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in September 1979. Consisting of teenagers Nathan Strejcek, Geordie Grindle, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, they recorded two demo sessions and the 1980 Minor Disturbance EP before breaking up in November 1980. The influential independent record label Dischord Records was originally created with the sole purpose of releasing The Teen Idles Minor Disturbance 7" record. They were an early landmark in the D.C. hardcore movement, and MacKaye and Nelson would later form the seminal punk rock outfit Minor Threat.
Romeo Void was an American new wave/post punk band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. The band primarily consisted of saxophonist Benjamin Bossi, vocalist Debora Iyall, guitarist Peter Woods, and bassist Frank Zincavage. The band went through four drummers, starting with Jay Derrah and ending with Aaron Smith. The band released three albums, It's a Condition, Benefactor and Instincts, along with one EP. They are best known for the songs "Never Say Never" and "A Girl in Trouble "; the latter became a Top 40 pop single.
The Screamers were an American electropunk group founded in 1975. They were among the first wave of the L.A. punk rock scene. The Los Angeles Times applied the label "techno-punk" to the band in 1978. In the documentary Punk: Attitude (2005), vocalist Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys cites the Screamers as a key influence on their group and as one of the great unrecorded groups in rock history.
Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band formed in the late 1970s at the beginning of the punk rock movement. Pulling influence from punk and electronic music, the group, originally consisting of Steven Brown and Blaine L. Reininger, used electronic violins, guitars, screaming vocals and synthesizers to develop a unique "cabaret no-wave" sound. Bassist Peter Principle joined the band and in 1979 they released the single "No Tears", which remains a post-punk cult classic. That year they signed to Ralph Records and released their first album, Half-Mute. Eventually, Reininger left the group, and Tuxedomoon relocated to Europe, signing to Crammed Discs and releasing Holy Wars in 1985. The band separated in the early 1990s, only to reunite later that decade. They all have remained together since releasing the album Cabin in the Sky in 2004.
The Cockettes were an avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus in the fall of 1969. The troupe was formed out of a group of hippie artists, men and women, who were living in Kaliflower, one of the many communes in Haight-Ashbury, a neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Hibiscus came to live with them because of their preference for dressing outrageously and proposed the idea of putting their lifestyle on the stage. Later in the storefront at 992 Valencia Street, now Artists' Television Access.
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The Mutants are an American band, notable in the history of San Francisco punk rock and new wave music. They are known for their theatrical performances which often include elaborate props, projections, and comical antics. They are credited with being one of the first "Art-punk" bands in San Francisco, and were one of the most popular bands of the San Francisco punk scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Target Video is a San Francisco-based studio, founded by artist Joe Rees, collaborating with Jackie Sharp, Jill Hoffman, Sam Edwards and others. The studio archived early art performance, punk and hardcore bands on video and film. Performers such as the Sex Pistols, the Dead Kennedys, The Screamers, The Cramps, William S. Burroughs, The Clash, the Avengers, Mark Pauline, Survival Research Labs, The Go-Go's, John Cooper Clarke, Bauhaus, X, The Dils, Johanna Went, Talking Heads, Black Flag, Flipper, D.O.A and Crucifix were recorded in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. In addition, videos often included interviews with members of the bands.
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Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda County, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Oakland and Berkeley areas.
The Uptones are an American ska band, based in Northern California. Formed in 1981 by a group of high school students in Berkeley, California, The Uptones were influenced by the English 2 Tone sound, as well as the British mod scene, punk rock, and the original Jamaica ska sound. The Uptones were one of the first U.S. bands devoted to playing ska and were an influence on the burgeoning West Coast punk/ska scene. The band reformed with core founding members in the early 2000s and continued to play live shows throughout the Bay Area until 2018.
Formed circa 1978, The Offs were a punk/ska band from San Francisco, started by guitarist Billy Hawk and singer Don Vinil, and later joined by former Hot Tuna drummer Bob Steeler and a rotation of horn players including Bob Roberts, Richard Edson and Roland Young. The Offs were active in the early days of the San Francisco punk rock scene.
Valencia Tool & Die, (VT&D), was a 1980s San Francisco music venue and art gallery founded by Peter Belsito and Jim Stockford, that presented punk, new wave, and new music performances, as well as performance art, film, and visual art shows from 1980 through 1983.
Joel Selvin is an American San Francisco-based music critic and author known for his weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle, which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of pop music—including the No. 1 New York Times best-seller Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock with Sammy Hagar—and has interviewed many musical artists. Selvin has published articles in Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, Billboard, and Melody Maker, and has written liner notes for dozens of recorded albums. He has appeared in documentaries about the music scene and has occasionally taken the stage himself as a rock and roll singer.
The Jars were a new wave band from Berkeley, California, active from 1978 to 1982. According to Subterranean Records founder Steven Tupper, the Jars were one of the first bands to successfully combine 1960s garage and 1970s punk. They recorded two singles and were known for opening for many top punk and new wave bands that appeared in San Francisco during this period.
Jack Boulware & Silke Tudor. [(Gimmie Something Better)], Penguin Group USA 2009: Chapter 10 "No One's Listening"
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