Juliette Cook And M On Philadelphia Exurb's Early Hardcore Scene
J: I vividly remember the first time I met you. I can’t remember if it was 1984 or 85. Dawn and I had heard about a hardcore show up in Red Hill, PA. We must have seen a flyer somewhere.
M. I remember shopping carts were involved.
J: Yeah, we almost got arrested.
M. A lot of people almost got arrested that night. You’d see a skinhead chasing a punk down the alley and then you’d hear a crash and a punk was chasing a skinhead back out of the alley. Nobody bled that I know of. That was the A.O.D. show. Adrenaline Overdose played. Pleased Youth, The Clap, and Benton and the Bentonites played. There’s a recording of that Benton and the Bentonites set on YouTube, or at least there used to be.
J: How did you get the word out about the shows?
M. I put flyers everywhere. Newspapers wouldn’t carry that stuff. The punk shows were the news. Dead Kennedy’s lyrics – that’s stuff they don’t publish.
J: So, we went to the VFW hall in Red Hill and it was full of really tall guys with shaved heads and Mohawks and then there was a skinny guy with a bowler hat being tossed around on the shoulders of these big skinhead types. I said to Dawn, “That’s the person I want to know.”
M. That was me, right?
J. Right. At the time, I saw the punk/hardcore/goth scene as one big happy family…
M: That was my family. A lot of the time your blood family is not really family. It was a place for all of us to go and hang out and feel like family – exactly right. It’s like the people who go to see GWAR – everybody is a big happy family. The punk scene was totally different though; it went on and on.
J: It was a place where everyone could be themselves without judgment.
M: It was an extremely conservative time. It was a tough time if you didn’t fit in. If you went to the punk shows everybody was cool together. I don’t know if it’s like that now.
And the music – there’s some really good stuff now and some really not so good. Everybody is tuned to D with some Cookie Monster guy singing, trying to sound like someone else. Cannibal Corpse has been doing it for 20 years. It’s acceptable from Cannibal Corpse. But now, some bands are amazing musicians and then throw that voice in and it’s like… please, just sing.
J: I remember seeing Watts Baldhead at one of your shows. They were great.
M: They were a fun band. That lead singer was blind – she‘d come out in the circle – no fear. I still have their 45.
J: Me too!
M: Electric Lovemuffin played that night. Everybody came over for food after the show.
J: Watts Baldhead was from California How did you end up promoting and hosting them?
M. Some of the bands found me. I was in and article in MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL magazine. I’ve never seen the article, but people would tell me about it. There was a picture of me in the article too, and there aren’t many from that time.
J: What were some of the other bands that you organized shows for?
M: Flag of Democracy, Follow Fashion Monkeys… I got banned from the valley after five shows. They didn’t allow live music in Lehigh Valley until well into the 90s after that. My wife and her high school friends tried to set up shows in the 90s and no place would rent. They were like, “Some kids tore the place up in the 80s.”
M: The guys who owned the place put canvas down on the basketball court. I told them people would be dancing and it wasn’t the do-si-do your partner kind of dancing. So, one guy got taken out on a stretcher – legs went one way body went another in the mosh pit. Nobody got sued. All we had to do then was to have a, “not responsible for loss or injury” sign.
They made me rent a cop. The cop loved me. The mayor couldn’t stand me – he walked into a show while a band was screaming, “f-f-f-f..” At the Flag of Democracy show the fire company turned off the power after 5 songs. Jim went running down the street screaming. They’re still good, F.O.D. – all nice guys. I love those guys to death.
J: You took me to see other shows too. We saw the Dead Milkmen and Social Distortion. I think Gang Green opened for Social Distortion.
M: Gang Green had a cooler between the 2 front seats of their van. There must have been somebody between them putting beer in from beneath because it was always full, like a spring loaded system. Those guys are hilarious. I would go to Boston to see them.
J. I think you were in the van while I was backstage with Social Distortion. Thanks for saving me from those guys by the way. What were some other shows you remember from the 80s?
M. I was going to shows every night back then. It was pretty crazy. I would work, go home, leave, go to a show, go back to work… Some of the greatest shows were The Descendants, Black Flag, 7 Seconds. I saw Suicidal Tendencies play when they released their first album. I saw Agnostic Front, GBH, and TSOL.
At Black Flag it was so packed. I was standing on a pool table because I was kind of tiny back then. Henry was staring me down – and then he gets even more evil looking… I dove off the table – he was incredible and also scary. He’s known to pop off at times - I was maybe 20 feet away.
At Agnostic Front people went crazy; we were literally climbing poles next to the stage. GBH played after them and it didn’t go well. People were packing up amps and turning the lights off.
I saw the Dead Kennedys…
J. I saw Dead Kennedys too in 1985 – maybe we were at the same show!
M. Who opened for them?
J. Scram played – and Little Gentlemen. I can’t remember the venue though. You had Little Gentlemen play at my birthday party in 1986.
M: Yeah, sorry about that. The cops came and shut it down after 3 songs. I was at your house that year when the space shuttle went down. I watched it with your brother.
I don’t feel different – though I’ve learned a lot. I’ve been right about some things and wrong about other things. What I don’t understand is the whole old thing. Most of of my friends don’t want to go skateboarding. I don’t get it when people stop doing things. I don’t surf too often – but its fun. There’s sharks, jellyfish. I remember years later in the 90s I took you to a party. It was at a gun club and we sat on top of a wall while everyone was eating lobsters and we just watched them eat lobsters.
| Juliette Cook is a seeker of adventure and an artist advocate working in non-profit gallery and museum spaces. She organizes exhibitions, raises funds for the arts, and builds strategies to connect artists and audiences in Philadelphia. M is a lifelong friend and event promoter.