RIGHT FROM THE START, me and d boon found something really different about this movement we stumbled upon versus the other two ways we had experienced rock and roll music up to that time: women were involved, I mean REALLY involved. it was a bags gig up in west hollywood and we drove all the way up from pedro in what became a HUGE sea change for our lives. up to that point, music for me and him was either us together in his bedroom trying to copy the licks of songs from records which was in a way happening cuz it was very personal (except for not realizing music could be actually a form of YOUR OWN expression and not just trying to imitate someone else) or arena gigs where we sat way in the back to experience something which was feeling more and more like for us nuremberg rallies, the way we felt froze out, less and less we wanted to be there.
anyway, a chance encounter w/nickey beat (he was drumming for the weirdos and was from our pedro town) provided us w/news there was a scene where people wrote their own songs (he must’ve heard us all pathetic trying to “recreate” someone else’s recording) and that’s what led us to see the bags . . . there were actually two women in the band, one was on bass. definitely the singer was using lyrics to express herself, it didn’t seem like connect the dots to us—sadly, we didn’t really think about lyrics as anything more than lead guitar or some kind of sound. sure, there was bob dylan but he seemed like a weird old relative at a thanksgiving chow, muttering stuff w/meanings meant for him. alice bag sang words like she meant for you to be trying to get exactly what she meant—it was profound on us. w/out thinking, my mouf fell open and out fell “we can do this” towards d boon and he shook his head—not left to right but up and down. if this lady was willing to let the freak flag fly then what the fuck were we trying to do w/music except just be together?
it was incredible and empowering. everything for us after that changed forever. we started going to gigs, all kinds of ladies were in the bands, were also gig-goers . . . pretty much it seemed like the folks onstage and those who were not were actually like taking turns playing for each other. it was all so unpredictable—this was late ’70s punk for us and things hadn’t been “codified” or whatever word for lamed-out that really hurt big parts of the movement . . . although that never really fucked w/us cuz luckily those ethics we found so happening we kept personal and miles from getting compromised.
people like me and d boon “weren’t supposed” to be involved in what some claimed to be rock and roll and so very much we felt kindred spirits to the sisters involved—they were inspiring and balls out. it was an exciting time for us and believe it or not, alice bag is still charging hard—I heard she’s gonna make another solo album soon. I was invited last year to be on a panel to talk about the “old days” at a famous university that was being organized by a lady but all the people on the panel were gonna be guys—WHAT?! I told her “thank you very much but no,” cuz that’s not the way it was for us, it’s not what made me what I am today.
I am so glad this book is coming out, it’s very important to set the record straight and let people know about the women involved in the moment in the old days cuz in my opinion it can mean a lot for younger ladies AND men these days who might be trying to figure out how to really open things up and change rusted corrupt hierarchies that do nothing but strangle genuine human spirit. punk was not just a way of dressing or even a style of music, it was for us a state of mind and hallelujah the sisters who were part of it then to make it real for some corndogs like me and d boon down in the harbor. I just can’t express enough gratitude for that. let these ladies tell you in their own words—it’s the best way I think to explain what I’m trying to get at here in this foreword spiel.