OK so....big dork ass me.
Yup that's right BIG DORK ASS.
No shocker that I would call myself that.
You see you know when you go to the fair and you watch them make cotton candy. Well that's my brain.
Just so you can really get the visual here's a video.
My head is full of hot, pink, fluffy sugar that melts in your mouth and gives you a total sugar high that later sends you to a diabetic coma. That's right...my brain in a nut shell. But it sure does make life interesting.
Well then my friend Robin says----> P.... I didn't write that, but I'm glad people liked it. Mine is the next article, remember I said the third one down. So in the spirit of things here you go....
Punk Rock Folklore: The Words of Women
Robin H., longtime fan and participant.
on initiation to punk culture and beyond
Toledo Punk Rock Girlie
When I started writing this piece, I was thinking what makes me qualified to write about the punk scene in Toledo and Tucson. Shouldn't it come from the bands themselves, then I realized HELL it's the kids listening to the bands that make the scene. Otherwise it would just be some wankers on stage playing for themselves. So here it is a little piece of my story- just a girl from a working class family that was born into the armpit of the world; Toledo, OH. Oh now don't get pissed off if you are from there, we all know that is what everyone calls it!
It is hard to remember exactly when and where it all began. It is not like one day you wake up and think- I've got it! I am going to go buy some combat boots, a DK album and become a punk! That gets into the whole defining thing, is it the music, the clothes, or the attitude that makes you punk? I will let you mull that over. What I'm saying here is that the immersion or submersion into the scene happened slowly over time. Seems like maybe I met a few kids that skated and it looked like a whole hell of a of fun. Then as I learned to skate I was turned on to some really awesome music. The next thing I know I was pilling into a 1970s something VW rabbit with a hole in the floor and venturing out to see some band. It could have been any band but it happened to be the NECROS from Maumee, Ohio. The raw power of the show won me over in about 30 seconds. I just remember standing there, thinking oh my god what the fuck is this and why didn't I know about it until now. I was probably 15 at the time. If you haven't heard their rendition of "Walking the Dog" you really should. Go! Find it now!
After seeing the Necros, I was determined to find shows and other kids that loved this music and understood what was happening in the world and in my head. Luckily for me music was amazingly plentiful in good old Toledo. At the time we had the NECROS and The STAIN and other raucous bands whose names sadly I have forgotten. Buying records, reading Flipside and Maximum Rock n Roll, and going to shows became my distraction from inner turmoil and concern for the state of the world. Shows were cheap back then and most in Toledo were all ages, which was great because the majority of us were way underage. Our core group consisted of about 4 girls and sometimes our respective boyfriends and various other people that ebbed and flowed from our circle. Speaking of circle, I had to miss the Circle Jerks when they played in Detroit because it was 18 and over and my "adult" friends promised they would leave me standing in the dark cold streets of Detroit if I couldn't get in because there was no way they were going to miss the show. The same thing happened with the Cramps and many others.
Those of us under 18 were lucky that some bands decided Toledo was worth the stop. There was a country western bar that we affectionately called the "hole in the wall" that opened up for punk shows on Sunday afternoons. MDC played there. I am pretty sure that was the show where I jammed my thumb and my hand was swollen for like a week. I think I must have eaten gallons of Tofutti after Dave planted the seed on that one.
The "hole in the wall" offered us a place to release our anger and pent up frustration. The music was often politically charged and not only did we come out feeling like we could deal with another week we often ended up learning a thing or two. It was an awesome scene; at least from where I was standing. We thrashed hard and I often came home tattered and bruised, but not as a result of fights just from pure unadulterated moshing. If someone fell in the pit numerous hands were on you to pull you out before you got trampled. Being there gave me a feeling of community. One of the chicks from our group used to say something to the affect that we were individualists looking for someplace to belong. Now that might not seem very punk to some out there but it really is more fun to belong to a group of freaks than to be the only one. Being a girl in the scene was a pretty great place to be during the whole high school thing. We didn't care about clothes, being popular, or our hair being perfect which seemed to be a past time of other girls in the 1980's. That left a lot more time to expand our minds.
OK so enough of that side note- let's get back to the music. Sometimes our search for music took us across the Michigan border. Went up to Detroit to see Black Flag, who played with Painted Willie at the Greystone (if my poor memory serves correctly). I can't remember how many of us climbed into my boyfriend's parent's yellow station wagon to make the journey, but the car was packed! Found out many years later when I was talking about this night in front of my mom, that perhaps we forgot to mention to our parents that the show was not in Toledo (oops). Upon arrival we pushed our way to the front of the stage. The lights dimmed and out roared Henry in his black silky shorts. It was only moments before his hair was wildly flailing about and he was dripping in sweat, which he kindly shared with us in front. Henry rocked back and forth for the entire set. His energy commanded that the crowd participate. We moshed until we were ready to pass out but could not let up since the band never once slowed. The drive home that night was pretty silent as we all tried to recover from being mesmerized for hours.
Ann Arbor MI offered yet another place to get our Midwest music fix. Saw the Laughing Hyenas there at some tucked away venue. Again I remember being blown away. The crowd contained some bewildered college students that were obviously a little nervous by the well dressed punks that came out for the show. Our group was wide eyed and relieved to be out of Toledo for the night.
Overall, I would say the Toledo scene was a pretty peaceful. The only time I remember a huge fight ever breaking out was at my very own graduation party. A group of Jocks showed up bound and determined to hate. They came into the house where the party was happening and started beating on people, calling the guys queers, etc. There were some bottles smashed upon heads, it was pretty crazy. Luckily no one was severely hurt.
So there you have it.I roamed within the Toledo scene from around 1984-1988. We skated a lot, went to a lot shows, and cruised the streets looking for something to do. If it was too damn cold to go out or if there was truly nothing to do_we could always entertain ourselves in my basement watching recorded tapes of "The Young Ones" or the movies "Sid and Nancy", "Repo Man", or "Suburbia". VHS was relatively new so still exciting! I recently found the tapes that lived in my car during that time- a1985 brown Mazda GLC-which the guys used to enjoy skating over since it was nice and round. The soundtrack to these fine years included- The Cramps "Bad Music for Bad People", Flipside Gasatanka Records "Tape fanzine two", Rat Music for Rat People, Black Flag "Slip It In", DK "Bedtime for Democracy" and MDC "Smoke Signals".
The old GLCs engine seized up on the way back from a trip to Indiana. It was replaced with a 1985 Ford Escort DIESEL (yes, Diesel) wagon, which I loaded up 8 days after my 18th birthday so that I could head for the next adventure in Tucson. Toledo was just too damn cold_environmentally and socially! By the way that car got between 50-60mpg; and they now say the technology isn't available for better MPGs. What bullshit, but that is for another rant at another time.
and... of coarse my other little blog...
The Random Ramblings of a 21st Century Midwife
Those are my hands on that baby... if you were wondering.
Yup that's right BIG DORK ASS.
No shocker that I would call myself that.
You see you know when you go to the fair and you watch them make cotton candy. Well that's my brain.
Just so you can really get the visual here's a video.
My head is full of hot, pink, fluffy sugar that melts in your mouth and gives you a total sugar high that later sends you to a diabetic coma. That's right...my brain in a nut shell. But it sure does make life interesting.
Well then my friend Robin says----> P.... I didn't write that, but I'm glad people liked it. Mine is the next article, remember I said the third one down. So in the spirit of things here you go....
Punk Rock Folklore: The Words of Women
Robin H., longtime fan and participant.
on initiation to punk culture and beyond
Toledo Punk Rock Girlie
When I started writing this piece, I was thinking what makes me qualified to write about the punk scene in Toledo and Tucson. Shouldn't it come from the bands themselves, then I realized HELL it's the kids listening to the bands that make the scene. Otherwise it would just be some wankers on stage playing for themselves. So here it is a little piece of my story- just a girl from a working class family that was born into the armpit of the world; Toledo, OH. Oh now don't get pissed off if you are from there, we all know that is what everyone calls it!
It is hard to remember exactly when and where it all began. It is not like one day you wake up and think- I've got it! I am going to go buy some combat boots, a DK album and become a punk! That gets into the whole defining thing, is it the music, the clothes, or the attitude that makes you punk? I will let you mull that over. What I'm saying here is that the immersion or submersion into the scene happened slowly over time. Seems like maybe I met a few kids that skated and it looked like a whole hell of a of fun. Then as I learned to skate I was turned on to some really awesome music. The next thing I know I was pilling into a 1970s something VW rabbit with a hole in the floor and venturing out to see some band. It could have been any band but it happened to be the NECROS from Maumee, Ohio. The raw power of the show won me over in about 30 seconds. I just remember standing there, thinking oh my god what the fuck is this and why didn't I know about it until now. I was probably 15 at the time. If you haven't heard their rendition of "Walking the Dog" you really should. Go! Find it now!
After seeing the Necros, I was determined to find shows and other kids that loved this music and understood what was happening in the world and in my head. Luckily for me music was amazingly plentiful in good old Toledo. At the time we had the NECROS and The STAIN and other raucous bands whose names sadly I have forgotten. Buying records, reading Flipside and Maximum Rock n Roll, and going to shows became my distraction from inner turmoil and concern for the state of the world. Shows were cheap back then and most in Toledo were all ages, which was great because the majority of us were way underage. Our core group consisted of about 4 girls and sometimes our respective boyfriends and various other people that ebbed and flowed from our circle. Speaking of circle, I had to miss the Circle Jerks when they played in Detroit because it was 18 and over and my "adult" friends promised they would leave me standing in the dark cold streets of Detroit if I couldn't get in because there was no way they were going to miss the show. The same thing happened with the Cramps and many others.
Those of us under 18 were lucky that some bands decided Toledo was worth the stop. There was a country western bar that we affectionately called the "hole in the wall" that opened up for punk shows on Sunday afternoons. MDC played there. I am pretty sure that was the show where I jammed my thumb and my hand was swollen for like a week. I think I must have eaten gallons of Tofutti after Dave planted the seed on that one.
The "hole in the wall" offered us a place to release our anger and pent up frustration. The music was often politically charged and not only did we come out feeling like we could deal with another week we often ended up learning a thing or two. It was an awesome scene; at least from where I was standing. We thrashed hard and I often came home tattered and bruised, but not as a result of fights just from pure unadulterated moshing. If someone fell in the pit numerous hands were on you to pull you out before you got trampled. Being there gave me a feeling of community. One of the chicks from our group used to say something to the affect that we were individualists looking for someplace to belong. Now that might not seem very punk to some out there but it really is more fun to belong to a group of freaks than to be the only one. Being a girl in the scene was a pretty great place to be during the whole high school thing. We didn't care about clothes, being popular, or our hair being perfect which seemed to be a past time of other girls in the 1980's. That left a lot more time to expand our minds.
OK so enough of that side note- let's get back to the music. Sometimes our search for music took us across the Michigan border. Went up to Detroit to see Black Flag, who played with Painted Willie at the Greystone (if my poor memory serves correctly). I can't remember how many of us climbed into my boyfriend's parent's yellow station wagon to make the journey, but the car was packed! Found out many years later when I was talking about this night in front of my mom, that perhaps we forgot to mention to our parents that the show was not in Toledo (oops). Upon arrival we pushed our way to the front of the stage. The lights dimmed and out roared Henry in his black silky shorts. It was only moments before his hair was wildly flailing about and he was dripping in sweat, which he kindly shared with us in front. Henry rocked back and forth for the entire set. His energy commanded that the crowd participate. We moshed until we were ready to pass out but could not let up since the band never once slowed. The drive home that night was pretty silent as we all tried to recover from being mesmerized for hours.
Ann Arbor MI offered yet another place to get our Midwest music fix. Saw the Laughing Hyenas there at some tucked away venue. Again I remember being blown away. The crowd contained some bewildered college students that were obviously a little nervous by the well dressed punks that came out for the show. Our group was wide eyed and relieved to be out of Toledo for the night.
Overall, I would say the Toledo scene was a pretty peaceful. The only time I remember a huge fight ever breaking out was at my very own graduation party. A group of Jocks showed up bound and determined to hate. They came into the house where the party was happening and started beating on people, calling the guys queers, etc. There were some bottles smashed upon heads, it was pretty crazy. Luckily no one was severely hurt.
So there you have it.I roamed within the Toledo scene from around 1984-1988. We skated a lot, went to a lot shows, and cruised the streets looking for something to do. If it was too damn cold to go out or if there was truly nothing to do_we could always entertain ourselves in my basement watching recorded tapes of "The Young Ones" or the movies "Sid and Nancy", "Repo Man", or "Suburbia". VHS was relatively new so still exciting! I recently found the tapes that lived in my car during that time- a1985 brown Mazda GLC-which the guys used to enjoy skating over since it was nice and round. The soundtrack to these fine years included- The Cramps "Bad Music for Bad People", Flipside Gasatanka Records "Tape fanzine two", Rat Music for Rat People, Black Flag "Slip It In", DK "Bedtime for Democracy" and MDC "Smoke Signals".
The old GLCs engine seized up on the way back from a trip to Indiana. It was replaced with a 1985 Ford Escort DIESEL (yes, Diesel) wagon, which I loaded up 8 days after my 18th birthday so that I could head for the next adventure in Tucson. Toledo was just too damn cold_environmentally and socially! By the way that car got between 50-60mpg; and they now say the technology isn't available for better MPGs. What bullshit, but that is for another rant at another time.
and... of coarse my other little blog...
The Random Ramblings of a 21st Century Midwife
Those are my hands on that baby... if you were wondering.
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and, I've said it before and I'll say it again.. you have the coolest job EVAR!!