Most outside observers would say that these kids “didn’t know how” to dance. The dance floor was crowded with people gyrating wildly to the music and having a good time trying to keep up with the tempo changes and stops-and-starts. On that first visit to the Electric Banana, I could tell I was amongst kindred spirits. Although I had a lot of good friends, I didn’t particularly care for where I grew up or went to school. I wasn’t the type who went to the high school dances. By this time commercial radio and popular music had pretty much hit rock bottom.
THUNDERBIRD CAFE PITTSBURGH CAPACITY TV
I don’t watch TV or listen to commercial radio. Why, this place served canned beer in paper cups! Where were the draughts? But I loved it and knew I’d be back again and again.Įxcept for my interest in sports, I was never into the mainstream pop culture. They didn’t care for the music or the drink selection. My friends came along out of curiosity, like they were going to the zoo. My first visit to the Banana was in 1980. It was natural, then, that I would want to check out the local scene. I wish I could remember everything I purchased that first time but I'm pretty sure that among them was the single "Tell That Girl to Shut Up" by Holly and the Italians, far superior to the version they later put on an album.Ĭourtesy of Tracy Hurley Martin, pictured with a few friends circa 1985.Įither it was an all-ages show or somebody had a sale on fake IDs. The next day I thought, boy, that was stupid, and ventured back, went inside, and bought a few records. My friend and I got as far as the front door, saw the posters of mean-looking punks in the window, got scared, and ran away. The only aspect of punk rock that was getting any media attention at that time was the violence. Cardboard boxes of albums sat on card tables. It was a tiny space, a few doors down the street. At that time it wasn't at the location currently occupied by Juke Records. I bought my first punk records at Jim's Records in Bloomfield like just about every other punk fan in Pittsburgh. And how can I forget seeing the Psychedelic Furs and the Five at Pitt, then rushing to the Banana to end a perfect night with Rip It Up? You just had to see that show, based on nothing more than the names of the bands. I remember seeing the Dogs and the Wurms on the same night. One of those Black Flag shows was a July 4 th spectacular in 1981 that ran from 2:00 PM to 2:00 AM with Black Flag as the tenth of ten bands. Memorable shows by out-of-town bands included the dB's and Polyrock-those two shows were major coups for the Banana-as well as Black Flag, the Dancing Cigarettes, and the Minutemen. The F-Models from New Philadelphia, Ohio (and part of the Akron/Kent scene) and the Dogs from Erie weren’t exactly “local” bands but they played the Banana so often that we considered them a big part of the Pittsburgh punk scene.
Local bands that I liked to see back then included Actual Size, Boystown, Cardboards, Carsickness, Dress Up As Natives, Easter Island, the Features, the Five, Ground Zero, the Imprints, 96 Tears, November’s Children, the Shunts, Stick Against Stone, Velvet Moon, the Wake, the Whereabouts, and the Zippatones.
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