INTERVIEW: N.O.T.A II
NOTA at the Crystal Pistol December 1982.
No Idols: How was punk accepted in Tulsa?
Bruce Hendrickson: From the very beginning, and this holds true for every local band, the reaction to punk shows was volatile. Until the Bleu Grotto in 1980 there were no regular clubs ready to embrace the local punk scene; club owners were focused on promoting the laid-back blues of the Tulsa Sound popularized by Leon Russell and JJ Cale. Clubs that did give our scene a try usually pulled the plug by the end of the first night. The clash of cultures between punks and the assorted rednecks, bikers, cowboys, and hippies we encountered was both hostile and predictable. We would show up on open mic night at a biker bar like the Amber Lounge, within seconds we would be playing under a barrage of ashtrays and beer bottles. We were probably lucky no one was seriously injured or killed at these debacles. Punks were on occasion beaten savagely by ranting rednecks hurling homophobic insults
What stage was the Tulsa punk scene at as 1980 turned into 1981?
With the closing of the Bleu Grotto at the end of 1980, we spent 1981 wandering in the wilderness looking for a new place. For a while, a juice bar down the street from the Grotto called Bongo Syllys started doing shows. This was the heyday of local legends Los Reactors with Joe Danger on Farfisa organ, Roger Scott’s Stooges inspired guitar, Tommy Gun Waggoner on bass, and Darrell Smith on drums. Los Reactors were real trailblazers - touring regionally and putting out vinyl.
Soon other legendary bands like Russell’s Fayetteville band the Mutant Fish, Bleu Grotto veterans the Flyin’ Dots, the Insects, and improvisational punk-funk geniuses the Zebramakerz were drawing large enthusiastic dancing crowds. The owner of Bongo Syllys actually booked Black Flag, but the show never came off. The owner received a letter from a city council member threatening his licenses if he booked notorious out-of-town bands “with no redeeming social value.” The show was canceled and the club closed its doors shortly thereafter. Another victory for the local political power structure. Things were about to change.
We had always been fortunate that Starship Records and Tapes next to the University of Tulsa campus made new music and hard-to-find records available. Later they were joined by Mohawk Music as the Tulsa scene grew.
In the summer of 1981, Tulsa became a test market for a new 24/7 music video cable TV channel MTV. Suddenly Tulsans were forced to “turn and face the strange” as music videos by artists with unusual fashions and haircuts were beamed into their living rooms. Tulsa’s young people were being exposed to Iggy Pop, the Pretenders, and Devo. Not Hardcore Punk necessarily, but one could catch glimpses when snippets of The Decline of Western Civilization were shown on news features about slam dancing and LA punk rock violence. Tulsa was in the midst of an oil boom and tens of thousands of people were moving here from all over the country. The local gilded elites found their control over information-flows undermined. The same forces that successfully covered up the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre were now forced to confront a new reality.
When did national Hardcore bands begin playing in Tulsa?
Greg Sewell had worked with Joe at the Bleu Grotto. Greg’s mother-in-law Charlotte owned a cowboy bar on North Sheridan in a commercial retail working-class neighborhood where loud punk music was less likely to draw attention. Greg persuaded Charlotte to do shows on her slow Tuesday nights when the club was empty. Charlotte somehow managed to keep her weekend cowboy crowd and her Tuesday night punk audiences separate - which allowed shows to go on without the usual culture clash.
Greg took a different approach than Joe had done; Greg decided to take the scene ‘underground’ in order to keep it off the radar where the authorities were concerned. In early March 1982 Black Flag and Saccharine Trust played the first Hardcore Punk show at the Crystal Pistol. They returned to LA and spread the word about a club in Tulsa where you could make enough money to be worth a stop. That show put the Tulsa Underground on the map nationally.
The next Hardcore band Greg booked into the Crystal Pistol was CH3. Greg came to us and asked us if we would consider opening for out-of-town bands as we had done at the Bleu Grotto - though now these would be national touring Hardcore bands. His offer came at the perfect moment. We had become friends with Russell and had issued him a standing invitation to join the band. For a long time we had considered adding a fourth member to boost our intensity level and velocity as the Hardcore tide of fury gathered momentum - but it was essential to find the right person. Russell’s shredder guitar prowess, his songwriting ability, his ability to contribute vocals were all factors - but most importantly he shared our musical philosophy and influences. Russell was in a different league musically; something of a prodigy he grew up in the same part of Arkansas as Johnny Cash. He had been taking Country and Bluegrass guitar lessons by the time the Beatles arrived in New York in 1964. His early ‘70s band Hot Sox had played shows with the likes of the MC5 and Ted Nugent. He was a seasoned veteran and brought real gravitas to the band.
Russell was hesitant to move to Tulsa from his native Arkansas; however, after a trip out to San Francisco with singer Barrie Evans, Russell called Jeff and accepted our offer in the Spring of 1982. Bringing Russell into the band was another learning curve for the rest of us; at first, we were hanging on by our fingernails as we completely reworked our set to accommodate the Hardcore thrash songs he and Jeff started writing. Greg’s offer would allow us to test ourselves against the Hardcore bands out touring.
Jeff at Sooner BBQ in Norman, Oklahoma on December 11, 1982. This show was originally supposed to happen at a different venue in Norman the day before but was called off due to a bomb threat. Photo: David Falls
The CH3 show went really well, Mike and Kimm were really encouraging - even though they blew us away that night. That show was followed by a flood of bands: Battalion of Saints, Code of Honor, Fang, Husker Du, Social Unrest, and Articles of Faith among others. The summer of ‘82 was an idyllic moment for us that we remember fondly to this day. It was a transformational period of time when we morphed from None of the Above to NOTA - using the acronym was an idea Russell suggested. We were truly a different band.