IT'S PARTY TIME

Earlier this evening when I was driving south, I had one of those moments; the sort that isn't really deja vu, but makes you think of as different time. It was about an hour before the sun went down, and being that it was a sunny day and the sun was low, the shadows were long. I flashed back to all of the drives to L.A. (going north) in the early evening, to make it up there in time for one show or another. That trip down memory lane traveled past the Whiskey, the Masque, Tommy's, Turner's Liquor, Power Burger, that shop on Sunset that had a hologram in the window, Pinks, and other landmarks, ultimately landing me at a house on Detroit Street.

The unassuming supermarket in the photo above was the unofficial libation supplier of the nearby Detroit Street house. (Photo: Hilda Daniel)

That particular house was where my brother lived for a short time, and it had among it's tenants and visitors, a pretty significant portion of L.A.'s punk rock shake. By that I mean, not the major players, but tuned in, even after the much heralded first wave. I only made it to the house a few times, but every visit was memorable. (It was a party house par excellence, at least when I was there.) The one particular moment that entered my drive time dulled brain was standing in the entryway of the house, near one of my brother's room mates who had just returned from a party somewhere, slouched on the couch and more than a little tipsy. She was semi-singing and semi-shouting the lyrics to 45 Graves "Concerned Citizen," "You are not my friend!" It was, in my mind, an archetypal L.A. early 80s moment, and I've thought about it every time I've heard 45 Grave since. So, this is for K (who out of courtesy, will not be more positively identified) and the other Detroit Streeters.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

45 Grave - Concerned Citizen mp3 at Mustard Relics
45 Grave - Evil mp3 at Mustard Relics
45 Grave - 45 Grave mp3 at Mustard Relics
45 Grave - Black Cross mp3 at AliceBag.com
Bonus pain in the ass to download link:

Darker Scratcher - Full LP in zip format at Fantasmi Macchina (Right after where it says "Get it here" click on link that says "LAFMS") The first 45 Grave recording "Riboflavin Flavored, Non-Carbonated, Poly-Unsaturated Blood" was on this fine LAFMS compilation. The whole LP, which also features the Boyd Rice and Daniel Miller's "Cleanliness and Order" is entirely worthwhile and very different from the punk stuff of the time. LAFMS was the Los Angeles Free Music Society, which leaned towards the experimental.

Los Angeles Free Music Society home page