Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Cuckoo's Nest Club Punk Shows Jan - Mar 1981 (Part 3)


Cuckoo's Nest Club Punk Shows (Part 3 of 6)
Jan - Mar 1981


by Hanson Meyer (hansonmeyer@yahoo.com)

Please understand that this is a work in progress as there is so much to add. So bear with me and check back regularly as I'm constantly adding to this blog. (Last revision 4/15/2024)

This article is the Third Part of a Six Part series and details the chronological history of shows that occurred month by month at the Cuckoo's Nest in the First Quarter from January through March of 1981. The next section (Part 4) chronicles the shows from April through June 1981.


Cuckoo's Nest owner, Jerry Roach, allowed me to take photos of his booking calendar so that I could post them here and archive the exact order of shows during the 1981 calendar year. I have done my best to add the correct flyers and photos from the period.


JANUARY

Jerry Roach's Booking Calendar - January 1981


Newspaper Ad for the Cuckoo's Nest ran on Dec 28, 1980


January 1, 1981: The year of 1981 started off with "Rock Night". The Automatics, The End and The Badgers played.

January 2, 1981: This was the first of two nights that The Dickies played. China White and the Screws opened the show.

January 3, 1981: The Dickies, Eddie & the Subtitles, Wet Picnic, BPeople.

January 4, 1981: The  Ristocrats, Insect Idol and Chaotic Stature played.

January 4, 1981. Flyer for Insect Idol
 
January 6, 1981: The Stepping Tones and Wild Kingdom played for "New Wave Night".


January 7, 1981: More New Wave with The Rentz, The Lobsters and Hey Taxi.

January 8, 1981: Rock Night - Bumper, Hyp-R and Alice Cooperman (an Alice Cooper tribute band) played.

Cuckoo's Nest Ad for early/mid January 1981
 
January 9, 1981: The Adolescents, 45 Grave and the Wounds

January 9, 1981. Flyer for Adolescents and 45 Grave
at the Cuckoo's Nest


45 Grave at the Cuckoo's Nest

45 Grave at the Cuckoo's Nest

45 Grave at the Cuckoo's Nest

January 10, 1981: Middle Class, Circle Jerks and the Wounds were originally billed and an Ad ran in the local paper for this line up. Apparently a couple of changes happened before the show and The Circle Jerks were replaced by UXA (De De Troit). Mad Society also had a flyer out for this show, so they may have played as well. Need to verify this though.

January 10, 1981. Flyer for Middle Class, Circle Jerks and the Wounds
at the Cuckoo's Nest



January 10, 1981. Revised Flyer for Middle Class, DeDeTroit (UXA) and the Wounds
at the Cuckoo's Nest

January 10, 1981. Mad Society's Flyer for the show with Middle Class and the Wounds
at the Cuckoo's Nest

January 10, 1981. Middle Class drummer, Bruce Atta,
at the Cuckoo's Nest

January 10, 1981. Middle Class' Mike Atta, Jeff Atta and Mike Patton at the Cuckoo's Nest 

January 11, 1981: Citizen Fear, Willard & the Rats and Youth Gone Mad played.

January 14, 1981: Jeffrey DARE and Claudet Balentine played for "New Wave" night.


January 15, 1981: Tux Dentist, Axcentric and Tabu played for "Rock" night.


Cuckoo's Nest Ad for mid January 1981

Cuckoo's Nest Ad for mid/late January 1981


Cuckoo's Nest Ad for mid/late January 1981

January 16, 1981: A Rockabilly Friday night with the Blasters and Jimmy & the Mustangs. Agent Orange was on the bill early, but then cancelled.

January 17, 1981: The Suburban Lawns, the Nu-Beams and Mnemonic Devices.


The Nu-Beams at the Cuckoo's Nest

 


January 18, 1981: The Sub Humans from Canada headlined and Social Distortion and D.I. opened the show... each band was payed $50.

January 20, 1981: Bar Victom, Baby Knockers and the Badgers played.

January 21, 1981: The Stains, the Ionics and the Outlines played.

January 21, 1981. Flyer for The Stains, The Ionics and The Outlines
at the Cuckoo's Nest

January 22, 1981: Rock Night - Heavy Music, Cosmic Wave and Finesse played


Cuckoo's Nest Ad for late January 1981


January 23, 1981: The Crowd, TSOL and The Convenience played. The Convenience was replaced by the Screws or vice versa.


January 23, 1981. Flyer for The Crowd, TSOL and The Convenience
at the Cuckoo's Nest


The Famous Photo of TSOL at the Cuckoo's Nest shot by Ed Colver for the Cover of their First Record

January 24, 1981: The Adolescents, China White and the Chiefs played.


January 25, 1981: U.X.B., Red Cross cancelled and was replaced by Citizen Fear, and the Angry Samoans added to become the headliner.


January 27, 1981: The Frantic Ischnoids, Mike Knot's Rubber Band and the opener was supposed to be the Tweezers, but they cancelled.

January 28, 1981: Rumor had it that Black Flag was going to play, but it didn't end up happening... Rocker bands Tabu and Tux Dentist played instead.

January 29, 1981: Rock Night - Headliner was Vengence, a Rolling Stones tribute band called the "Rolling Clones" was supposed to play but they cancelled and were replaced by  L.A. Sleeper. The opening band was Future Gender. When I was in Uniform Choice the following year in 1982, we were scheduled to play at the Concert Factory but there was a time slot conflict. The club had double booked us with the band Vengence. They demanded that they play instead of us and the club folded and cancelled us and let them play. I remember we stayed and mocked the band their entire set. They were whiny, fat rockers that looked like a heavy version of Van Halen with shiny pants so tight you could see the veins in their balls. They mistook our mockery as being "Vengence Army" fans and gave us stickers... I still have one today on my old guitar case from that gig.

January 29, 1981. Flyer for LA Sleeper
at the Cuckoo's Nest

January 30, 1981: The NuKats, The Barbies and Null & Void played. Jerry had issues with bands for this nights as a lot of them cancelled including the Big Boys, the Lobsters, Shane & the Haircuts and the Stepping Tones.


January 31, 1981: Again, a lot of cancellations and changes for this night. The final line up ended up being The Gears, TSOL and the Dischords. Bands that cancelled or couldn't do the gig were Castration Squad, the Stains and the Assassins. An interesting note about this night is that on Jerry's calendar he has a note that says "Kid Shot". This is the night of the infamous "Pat Brown" incident. The details of what happened can be found at: Cuckoo's Nest Wikipedia




FEBRUARY

Jerry Roach's Booking Calendar - February 1981



Cuckoo's Nest Ad for the beginning of February 1981

 

February 1, 1981: Minute Men, Toxic Era and 4th Reich played. D.I. was supposed to headline, but cancelled.

February 1, 1981. Flyer for D.I. but they cancelled and the Minutemen headlined the show
at the Cuckoo's Nest


February 1, 1981. Ticket for DI


February 1, 1981. Ticket for Toxic Era

February 3, 1981: First Class, Pilot Ron and Octive played. I believe the local news program "Two on the Town" came to do a story about the Cuckoo's Nest this night and were scheduled to come by at 7:30 according to Jerry's Calendar.

February 4, 1981: New Wave Night - The Waves, Nu Direction and The Victor Broadcasters played.

February 5, 1981: Rock Night - Jet Ace, Dash 501 and High Velocity played. Finesse was slated to play but was replaced by Dash 501.

February 6, 1981: The Circle Jerks, The Crowd and Legal Weapon played. Originally China White was on the bill but they couldn't make it and the Crowd took their slot. Other bands Jerry considered for this show but couldn't do it were TSOL and the Stains.


February 6, 1981. Flyer for Circle Jerks, China White (who cancelled) and Legal Weapon
at the Cuckoo's Nest

February 7, 1981: The Suburban Lawns, Mnemonic Devices, Wet Picnic and Tux Dentist played. This night started out to be a punk show, but the bands cancelled and it turned into more of a main stream new wave night. Originally booked were the Adolescents, Agent Orange and Middle Class.

February 8, 1981: The Bondage Boys, The Convenience and Movement played a Sunday punk show.

February 8, 1981. Ticket for the band Movement
at the Cuckoo's Nest


February 10, 1981: The Badgers, Innocent Bystander and the John Scott Band played.

February 11, 1981: Wednesday Rock Night - No Sugar, Axcentric and James Dean played.

February 12, 1981: Suburbia, The Greg Young Band, The Steve Bass Band and Automatic Pilot played.

February 13, 1981: Not sure exactly which bands played this night. Five bands were listed but usually only three bands actually play. The bands listed were Frantic Technoids, the Stepping Tones, the Lobsters, The Pub Calsure and the Naughty Sweeties.

Cuckoo's Nest Ad for mid/late February 1981


February 14, 1981: Agent Orange, the Angry Samoans and the Hated played. The Dickies were on the Calendar for this date but they were apparently not confirmed and then replaced by Agent Orange.


February 14, 1981. Flyer for Agent Orange and the Angry Samoans
at the Cuckoo's Nest



Cuckoo's Nest License/Permit "SUSPENDED"


February 16, 1981: Monday. The Cuckoo's Nest license/permit was "SUSPENDED" on this day pending a review. None of the shows following this date actually happened until the club reopened on May 1st... a total of two and a half months. One week later on February 23rd, the club permit was actually REVOKED. I'm listing the shows as they appear in the Booking Calendar anyway as they would have happened. Some of the bands had already printed flyers and distributed them.


February 17, 1981: The bands booked to play this date were M.I.A., Social Distortion?, the Diversions and Confederate. CANCELLED

February 18, 1981: New Wave - The I's and 4 o'Clock were booked to play. CANCELLED

February 19, 1981: Rock Night - The Thai Breakers and Bumper were booked. CANCELLED

February 20, 1981: Adolescents, Eddie and the Subtitles and TSOL booked. China White and the Hated were also on the Calendar this date but were crossed off. CANCELLED

 

February 13 - March 28, 1981 Show Listing. Cuckoo's Nest Listed Feb 20-21.

Cuckoo's Nest Ad for Late February and Early March 1981. None of these shows happened due to Club Closure


February 21, 1981: Adolescents, 45 Grave and Legal Weapon were booked. Others on the Calendar for this date but were crossed off were Middle Class and China White. CANCELLED

February 21, 1981. Flyer for Adolescents, Legal Weapon and 45 Grave
at the Cuckoo's Nest



Cuckoo's Nest License/Permit "REVOKED" on Feb 23rd



February 23, 1981: Tazar, Charming Colors and High Velocity were booked. CANCELLED


February 24, 1981: The Lines, Jerico Shakes and Stage Fright were booked. CANCELLED


February 25, 1981: Metro Hotel, Heavy Music and Riff Raff were booked. CANCELLED


February 26, 1981: Naughty Sweeties, Nu-Beams and Nu Direction were booked. CANCELLED

February 26, 1981. Flyer for the Naughty Sweeties
at the Cuckoo's Nest

Februrary 27, 1981: Circle Jerks, Castration Squad and the Hated were booked. CANCELLED. Also on this date an article came out in a local newspaper. The article defended the club and cited how the police were a little too militant towards the club (article below).





February 28, 1981: The Weirdos and Discords were booked. Others were on the Calendar but crossed off for this date including Middle Class and the Blasters. CANCELLED




MARCH

None of these shows in the Cuckoo's Nest Booking Calendar happened in the month of March due to the Club closing its doors at the hands of the Costa Mesa City Council. These shows were booked in February before Jerry's permit was suspended and then revoked and you can see where he started to call the bands to let them know the club was closed. He made an "X" through the days that he had officially cancelled. Word probably traveled fast and he finally stopped making notations in the Calendar. I'm listing the shows that appear in the Calendar as they would have happened even though they were all cancelled.


Jerry Roach's Booking Calendar - March 1981


March 3, 1981 (Tue): Black Flag was booked and an ad even ran in the local newspaper promoting it. CANCELLED

March 4, 1981 (Wed): Channel 3, The Men, Axcentric and Chris Wolley were booked. CANCELLED

March 5, 1981 (Thu): The Waves, No Sugar, Tux Dentist and First Class were booked. CANCELLED

March 6, 1981 (Fri): The Adolescents, TSOL and the Hated were booked. Originally, the Dickies were supposed to play this date (and it was even advertised in the newspaper), but they were moved to the next night. CANCELLED. The flyer below is a rarity as most bands didn't make flyers because the shows were cancelled. This example must have been made must have been made just prior to the club shutting down.

March 6, 1981 flyer for TSOL and Adolescents at the Cuckoo's Nest (Courtesy of Michael Colacion)

 

March 7, 1981 (Sat): The Dickies, Rainbow School and the Brat were booked. CANCELLED

March 9, 1981 (Mon): Political Crap (Duane Peters) was booked and cancelled. CANCELLED

March 10, 1981 (Tue): The Badgers, The I's and Pop Rock were booked.
CANCELLED
March 11, 1981 (Wed): Maji, A Blind Man's Holiday and L.A. Bugs were booked.
CANCELLED

March 12, 1981 (Thu): X-Streams (ska band), Little Round World, The Stepping Tones, L.A. Sleeper and First Class were booked.

CANCELLED
March 13, 1981 (Fri): Circle Jerks ?

CANCELLED
March 14, 1981 (Sat): The Weirdos and The Blasters ?

CANCELLED
March 15, 1981 (Sun): Jerico Shakes and Spit Fire were booked.

CANCELLED
March 17, 1981 (Tue): High Velocity.
CANCELLED

March 18, 1981 (Wed): Black Flag ?
CANCELLED
March 19, 1981 (Thu): Byron and Red Scent were booked.

CANCELLED
March 25, 1981 (Fri): High Velocity was booked.

CANCELLED
March 26, 1981 (Sat): Greg Young Band, Axcentric and Chris Wolley were booked.
CANCELLED


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Click Here for the Next Part:

APR - JUN 1981 (PART 4)

 

Thank you in advance for any comments, stories or additions for this historical archive of the shows at the Cuckoo's Nest. If you have any flyers, photos or other types of attachments to add to this archive, please email them to me directly at hansonmeyer@yahoo.com. If you have photos or know of photos or other content appearing in this blog without proper credit, please contact me at the email above so that I can add or modify that information to ensure proper credit. Thank You.

The other parts of the Cuckoo's Nest shows can be found at these links: 

PART 1: Cuckoo's Nest Club Shows 1977-1979

PART 2: Cuckoo's Nest Club Shows Jan-Dec 1980

PART 3: YOU'RE ALREADY HERE!

PART 4: Cuckoo's Nest Club Shows Apr-Jun 1981

PART 5: Cuckoo's Nest Club Shows Jul-Sep 1981

PART 6: Cuckoo's Nest Club Shows Oct-Dec 1981


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