Cuckoo's Nest Club Punk Shows Oct - Dec 1981 (Part 6)

 

 Cuckoo's Nest Club Punk Shows (Part 6 of 6)
Oct - Dec 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 3/14/2021)

This article is the Last Part of a Six part series and details the chronological history of shows that occurred at the Cuckoo's Nest during the time period spanning from October through December 1981.

The "Slam Pit" at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

OCTOBER 1981

Cuckoo's Nest Booking Calendar for October 1981

October 1, 1981 (Thursday): Top Jimmy, Mnemonic Devices, Rockin Rebels

October 1, 1981 Flyer for Mnemonic Devices, Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs at the Cuckoo's Nest

Mnemonic Devices on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

October 2, 1981 (Friday): Black Flag, TSOL, Red Cross

Jack Grisham of TSOL on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

October 3, 1981 (Saturday): China White, Symbol Six, The Blades, Red Scare. The Blades were on the calendar, but no slot or $$$ assigned to them

Eric Leach of Symbol Six on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

Butch Livingston of the Blades on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest

October 4, 1981 (Sunday): Overkill, Saccharine Trust, Minutemen, Descendents

October 4, 1981 Flyer for Overkill, Saccharine Trust, Minutemen, Descendents at the Cuckoo's Nest

October 4, 1981 Flyer for Overkill, Saccharine Trust, Minutemen, Descendents at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

October 6, 1981 (Tuesday): Youth Brigade, Raw Sewage, Comintern, Funeral. 

October 6, 1981 Flyer for Comintern at the Cuckoo's Nest

October 8, 1981 (Thursday): DIY Magazine Night - Red Rockers, Wasted Youth, Shattered Faith, Duane Peters

October 8, 1981 Flyer for Red Rockers, Wasted Youth, Shattered Faith at the Cuckoo's Nest

October 9, 1981 (Friday): Hated, Youth Brigade, Modern Warfare, Resistance. Youth Brigade apparently only played at the Cuckoo's Nest twice, once on Oct 6th, and then again on this date three nights later. There is a story about punks spray painting a number of punk band names and a slogan "Death to HB Pigs" on a long wall around this time. Years later, Youth Brigade took credit for it. Could it have been done this night?

October 10, 1981 (Saturday): Eddie & the Subtitles, the Abandoned, AKA, Jesse Jones

October 10, 1981 Flyer for Eddie & the Subtitles, The Abandoned, AKA, Jesse Jones at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

October 14, 1981 (Wednesday): L.A. Sleeper, Axcentric, Jerico Shakes

October 16, 1981 (Friday): Social Distortion, The Blades, Deep Six, Black Bird

Social Distortion on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest Friday, October 16, 1981 (Photo by Ed Colver)

 

October 17, 1981 (Saturday): Cal Slam II - The Shadows, Legend

October 21, 1981 (Wednesday): Ashwood, Steve Eric

October 23, 1981 (Friday): Sub-Humans, Stains, Mentors, Descendents

October 23, 1981 Flyer for Sub-Humans, Stains, Mentors, Descendents at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

October 24, 1981 (Saturday): 45 Grave, MIA, CH3, Circle One, Trash

October 28, 1981 (Wednesday): Earwigs, Saigon, The Grouz, Stigmata, More Nice Shoes Than Women

October 29, 1981 (Thursday): Squid, L.A. Sleeper

October 30, 1981 (Friday): Agent Orange, The Hated, the Rockaholics

October 31, 1981 (Saturday): China White, The Blades, AKA, Jesse Jones. I was at this show and hung out with Marc of China White a little bit afterwards. I remember asking him about a song that I had heard on Rodney on the ROQ but they didn't play it that night. I wanted to know the name and all I could do was hum a few bars... He knew exactly which song it was telling me it was "Solid State". He said that was one of their older songs and they didn't play it anymore, but it was on the record, "Life Is Ugly, So Why Don't You Kill Yourself". So I bought the record.

The photos below the flyers are believed to be the Blades as identified by someone on the Cuckoo's Nest Facebook page.

October 31, 1981 Flyer for China White, the Blades, AKA at the Cuckoo's Nest

October 31, 1981 Flyer for China White, the Blades, AKA at the Cuckoo's Nest

The Blades on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

 

The Blades on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest

NOVEMBER 1981

Officially, this is the last full month the club was open. It was due to a show at the end of the month that permanently closed the doors of the Cuckoo's Nest in December, 1981.

Cuckoo's Nest Booking Calendar for November 1981

November 6, 1981 (Friday): Dischords, Saigon, Comintern, Hari Kari

November 6, 1981 Flyer for Dischords, Saigon, Hari Kari at the Cuckoo's Nest

Todd Hall of Saigon on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest

  

 

Comintern's Setlist from their last show at the Cuckoo's Nest

 

November 7, 1981 (Saturday): Symbol Six, Deep Six, No Crisis

November 13, 1981 (Friday): Saccharine Trust, Blades, Stains. The Dickies were originally scheduled to play this date, but it was changed to one week later on November 21st. Flyers had already been made when the change took place as evidenced below.

November 13, 1981 Flyer for a Dickies show that didn't happen

November 14, 1981 (Saturday): Colin W., Rockaholics, Rockabilly Rebels, Overkill, the Shadows

November 20, 1981 (Friday): Dickies, Blades, Dischords. The first of two Dickies shows this weekend. This show was the first show they had done back at the Cuckoo's Nest since Chuck Wagon had died less than five months before. I was there that night and this was the second time I had seen the Blades within a month and the third time I had seen the Dickies within a year. 

November 20, 1981 Flyer for the Dickies, Dischords at the Cuckoo's Nest

Jesse Rodriguez of the Blades on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest

November 21, 1981 (Saturday): Dickies, Eddie & the Subtitles, The Hated

November 25, 1981 (Wednesday): Rockabilly Rebels, Rockin' Rebels

November 26, 1981 (THANKSGIVING): Social Distortion, Dischords

November 27, 1981 (Friday): The Misfits, Circle One, File 17, Raw Sewage, the Scientists. This was the night that was the turning point that officially closed the Cuckoo's Nest for good. According to Jerry Roach, two of the Misfits band or crew hid inside the Nest when it closed that night. When Jerry locked the front door and left, the two opened the back door and proceeded to break down the PA System with the other members of the band and load it into their van. They apparently sold it on their way to San Francisco the next day.

November 27, 1981 Flyer for Misfits, Circle One, Raw Sewage, File 17, The Scientists at the Cuckoo's Nest

The Misfits on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest on November 27, 1981

Glenn Danzig of the Misfits on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest on November 27, 1981

Jerry Only of the Misfits on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest on November 27, 1981

Doyle of the Misfits on stage at the Cuckoo's Nest on November 27, 1981

November 28, 1981 (Saturday): Saigon, Modern Warfare, Godhead. The flyer for this show shows that the Misfits were supposed to play, but they only played on 11/27/81 and then left for San Francisco with the Cuckoo's Nest PA System in their van. I'm not sure if this show actually happened, but Jerry did say that he rented a PA system to do a couple more shows after the house PA went missing.

November 28, 1981 Flyer for Saigon, The Misfits, Modern Warfare at the Cuckoo's Nest

DECEMBER 1981

Here are the last few dates. Jerry thought that maybe he borrowed a PA System to try to keep things going at this point. But nothing was booked after December 5th as it was too much hassle for him to continue without a PA System and it was this that served as the final straw that broke the camel's back. The Cuckoo's Nest was no more...

Cuckoo's Nest Booking Calendar for December 1981

Jerry said that he tried to rent a PA System or the bands brought their own and thought maybe he had one for a night or two following the theft of the house PA and so the first two shows of the month happened as follows.

December 4, 1981 (Friday): Circle Jerks, Overkill, The Sins.

December 5, 1981 (Saturday): China White, CH3, Circle One, Saigon. A young Greg Kazen went to the show that night and recalled that Saigon played and not Circle One. He remembers the lineup clearly as this was the first show he had ever been to. He said that China White had thrown stickers into the crowd and he grabbed one and put it on his "shitty Datsun".

 

The remainder of the shows on the calendar didn't happen. And it was at this point in December 1981, that without a house PA System, Jerry Roach finally closed the doors of the Cuckoo's Nest for good. And ironically, it wasn't the City Council or the local Police that shut the club down... It was some punks from New York on their way through town who stole the PA and sold it on their way to San Francisco.

THE END

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Thank you in advance for any comments, stories or additions for this historical archive of the shows at the Cuckoo's Nest. If you know of a photo credit I haven't acknowleged, please let me know so I can update this blog with the credit. 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.

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 1980

PART 3: Cuckoo's Nest Club Shows Jan-Mar 1981

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

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

PART 6: YOU'RE ALREADY HERE!