The Forgotten Punk Clubs Of Springfield

Take a trip with me, friends, back to Springfield, Mo in the 1990’s. Being a college town, the city of course boasted a multitude of watering holes offering stale, conventional rock bands playing to equally uninspiring audiences. But under the nose of the unsuspecting town a seething cauldron of punk rock mayhem festered and thrived in a series of under the radar (and for the most part illegal) rock venues. Here’s a description of some of the most notorious spots and photos of their current condition:

The Commercial Street Club

This club was originally run by an old-time punker named Frank, and was later passed on to Dave, the vocalist of Now or Never. Situated in the Commercial Street community building, it operated from circa 1988-1992. Some fairly big acts like Clutch played there. Ironically (or maybe appropriately) the space now serves as a substation for the Springfield Police Department.

The Pink House

The Pink House was the residence of Mitch (now Midge), singer and bass player of Boring Dog Cheese Guard. The place was a mess, an old shack-style house on the west side of town that seemed to constantly be on the verge of falling down. Mitch let various bands use the place as a practice space, recording studio, and occasional venue. I remember one memorable show on a Labor Day (I think it was 1994). Disarm set up their gear and started to play at full volume on the front porch of the house. Not surprisingly, the neighbors called called the police, no doubt frightened by the large group of punks and skinheads congregating in the front yard as well as the sonic chaos that was Disarm. Midge no longer lives there, and it looks as though the house has been pretty heavily renovated, with aluminum siding now covering the striking pink paint job of the old exterior.

Culley’s

Culley’s was a shithole of a bar just off the downtown square that occasionally hosted punk shows. Grout played there quite a bit in the late 1990’s. It eventually became a favorite hangout of the local Nazi skinhead crew. From what I understand, a wall collapsed inside the place a while ago, and the owner felt it wasn’t worth repairing. The place is still shuttered today.

Harper’s Bizarre

Maybe the most infamous club in Springfield’s sordid punk history. It operated out of an old storefront on the corner of Dale and National in north Springfield for about eight months around 1996-1997. The venue had a bad rep as a violent place that was not undeserved-I personally saw several people get hurt there bad enough to warrant emergency room trips. To make matters worse, the band Violent Karma practiced there, and brought their drunken skinhead friends with them. Negativity aside, there were several great shows there, among them bills featuring Naked Aggression, Earth Crisis, and Mustard Plug. The place eventually shut down due to lack of heat (the owner wouldn’t fix the gas pipes). In another bit of irony, the space is occupied today by the Nu-Brew coffeehouse, which is a church/Christian rock venue.

The Looney Bin

Probably the overall best space ever occupied by a Springfield punk club, the Looney Bin was located in a storefront on Commercial street, a couple of blocks down from the old Commercial Street Club. It was a huge space, with a loading dock in back and no neighbors nearby to call the cops. It was open for about a year from around 1998-1999, and had a couple of great shows. Today it’s a used furniture store.

The 423 Club

This club was run by some people from the band Thee Fine Lines, who had also been involved in running the Looney Bin. It was open from about 1999-2001. Its name was a bit of a misnomer, as the address was in fact 425 Walnut St. rather than 423. The downtown club was well run, and got some big acts in as well as serving as a venue for some lefty political meetings. There were plans to try to get a federal loan and turn the place into a youth community center, but they fell through and the space is currently vacant.

Last year, the voters of Springfield approved an ordinance banning persons under 21 from any establishment that makes the majority of its money from liquor sales. That, plus a lack of a viable all-ages venue makes booking shows difficult. Today punk shows in Springfield are few and far between, with many of them happening at Billiard’s, a downtown bar that is willing to rent its back room.

There were also a bunch of fly by night punk-friendly clubs in Joplin (Culture Shock, the Dead Cowboy, the Warehouse, Better Than Bemo’s, etc.) as well as some in far-flung places like Ft. Smith, Fayetteville, and Pittsburg, KS. But somebody who knew those places better than I will have to write a history for them.

Ozark Punk Rock Gets Mainstream Coverage

Music writer Ben Westhoff has written a pretty good intro article on the old Ozark punk scene for the Crawdaddy website. (Crawdaddy, for those of you who don’t know, was one of the first rock n’ roll magazines. It preceded both Rolling Stone and Creem. It now exists only online.) I’m quoted quite liberally in the piece, as are several other persons involved with the scene. This humble blog is also mentioned. Check it out.

The Aleatoric-To The Celebration Of All Slain Hope CD-R And Forever Yours 7”

As the Ozark punk scene declined in the late 1990’s, kids who might have been punks in previous years went instead to the hardcore and emo scenes. The Aleatoric was the best band to come out of this emocore movement in Springfield at that time, and they developed quite a following during their brief existence. Formed by two former members of the Springfield punk act the Fremen, the Aleatoric was greatly inspired by the chaotic, heavy metalish band The Dillinger Escape Plan. Their shows featured a double-guitar assault coupled with the screeching vocals of their bass player Josh and some great drumming courtesy of Nate. Their fan base was very devoted: rather than slamming, they tended to engage in sort of a free-form dace expression, including the occasional cartwheel. I remember the vibe at their shows was much more mellow and friendly than at the average Springfield punk show at the time. They released the ponderously titled To The Celebration Of All Slain Hope CD-R in 2001. Shortly thereafter they added co-vocalist Eric to the mix and recorded the Forever Yours 7” in 2002. The record was co-released by Fortuna per Letum out of Virginia and Holy Fury Records in France. The band broke up not long after the record’s release.

To The Celebration Of All Slain Hope CD-R

1. Melvin Udal
2. Strapped To A Track
3. Subtle Reversements

Forever Yours 7”

1. Let The Devil Wear Black
2. For My Farewell
3. Subtle Reversements

Enjoy

The Richards-Demos

Around 1994, a punk band called the Phuckers started playing shows in Joplin. They were somewhat lacking in technical ability, but their vocalist Dan managed to hide this fact with his incredibly energetic stage act. Imagine Jello Biafra on speed. They eventually got a new bass player, changed their name to the Richards, and greatly improved their playing and songwriting. They recorded three demo tapes of varying quality during their existence as a band. The tracks here are taken from two of those, both recorded in 1995. The first five tracks are from a recording originally included on the “A Boy and His 4-Track” tape compilation, while the final two come from the “Lets Go to Michigan” demo tape released by the Joplin-based label Reality Impaired. While music recordings cannot fully capture the intensity of the band, there are some really great songs here: “120 Seconds” is a deft parody of the then-popular MTV program 120 Minutes, “Loretta” describes the late-night antics that often occurred at the Joplin Denny’s, and “Conform or Die” has to me always perfectly encapsulated the desire of young punks to maintain their individuality in the face of the stifling cultural wasteland of small town America. Three of the four members of the band later went on to form U$MC, in which the insanity of the Richards was transformed into a razor-sharp punk maelstrom.

1. 120 Seconds
2. Loretta
3. Conform or Die
4. No More Room
5. Let’s Go to Michigan
6. Cops
7. She’s an Idiot

Enjoy

Sodomites-Copulation in the Nation CD

The Sodomites were a not-too-serious three-piece punk band out of Joplin. They had an amusing stage act and some seriously raunchy lyrics. I remember booking them at a show in Springfield in the mid-1990’s. They bagged on the other bands, insulted the crowd, and generally seemed to be having a good time. The band provided some good-natured fun as a counterbalance to some of the more serious punk bands around then. They released this professionally recorded and produced CD in 1995 on their own Psycho Motor Disorder label. It definitely has some worthy tracks, from the gonzo insanity of “Adolescent” and “Die” to the surprisingly catchy pop tune “Larry”. Two of the Sodomite’s members later joined up with a former guitar player of the Richards to start another jokey punk act called Vanilla Christ, who had a memorably funny segment in the Ozark Babylon documentary.

1. Flesh Gordon
2. Psycho Girl
3. Spring Valley Shopping Mall
4. I Can’t Fuck Your Wife
5. Freaks
6. Adolescent
7. Scum
8. Larry
9. Good Time Classic
10. Die
11. I Hate What I Do
12. Deborah
13. Good One

Enjoy

A Tale of Two Cities

The Ozark punk scene was focused in southwest Missouri’s two largest cities: Joplin and Springfield. There was one notable band based in Lebanon, Mo (AWOL 13), and a handful of punk music fans in smaller towns like Neosho and Nevada, but is was Springfield and Joplin that produced the notable bands and hosted the big shows in the 1990’s. It was about an hour’s drive between the two punk strongholds, and pilgrimages were commonly made by both bands and fans to attend shows and parties. However despite their close proximity the scenes in Springfield and Joplin were very different. The scene in Joplin was a lot bigger. In Springfield, a punk show featuring all local bands was lucky to draw 50 people. In Joplin, crowds of 150 punkers or more were not uncommon at local gigs. People in the Joplin scene were also as a whole younger, cleaner living, and more friendly. Kids as young as 12 attended punk shows in Joplin, and you never had to worry about getting beat up (although the backbiting could get a little extreme sometimes). Springfield, on the other hand, had an older scene with lots of drugs, violence, and general unpleasantness. I personally attended several punk shows in Springfield that ended with one or more persons having to go to the emergency room. There was a period when several Joplin-based bands refused to play shows in Springfield. If this all seems to painting Springfield in a bad light, remember I’m a Springfield boy myself, and I loved the place. We punk people in Springfield kind of developed a tough attitude, and in a weird way took pride in being able to take care of ourselves in such a rough scene. I always loved both scenes, with Joplin providing some good, positive fun while Springfield would give you a dose of tough reality. Like a bizarre yin and yang dynamic, Springfield and Joplin complemented each other, and their respective punk subcultures provided balance and inspiration to each other.

Peacekeeper Missile-Demo

Peacekeeper Missile was the brainchild of Elroy, an enigmatic Springfield scene regular of considerable musical talent. The band never played out live so far as I can remember, but existed solely as a recording vehicle for Elroy’s sharp musical compositions and thoughtful lyrics. The songs here were recorded in 1994-1995, and were originally released on the “Boy and His 4-Track” compilation tape. The first five tracks feature Elroy on drums and vocals, along with Dane and Tyler from Brine on guitar and bass respectively. The last song, an unsettling instrumental, has Elroy on drums and guitar and Rob from Disarm on bass.

1. How Can We Fight?
2. Bloodied
3. Immune
4. How Far Are You Willing To Go
5. Another Nail
6. Secure

Enjoy

Looking for Memories

In addition to posting music created by old Ozark punk bands, I’d also like to start writing some pieces on the history of the scene. The thing I love most about punk is that it’s not just a musical movement, although that part of it is very important. Punk is also very much a subculture, a place for social outcasts to become friends and express their individuality. I’m planning to write a series of pieces on the important venues, events, and people who helped make the scene what it was. If anybody has stories or pictures from the old scene they’d like to share, please send them my way. I’d also like to find out if there’s still a punk scene shaking in southwest Missouri. I moved out of the Ozarks several years ago, and it’s my impression that the punk scene there kind of got swallowed up by the emo and hardcore movements. However, I’d love to be proven wrong.

Disarm-Demo Tape

Disarm was a drunken, sloppy, and very entertaining band that played out around Springfield for about a year in the mid-1990’s. Comprised of two former members of Force Fed Patriots along with drummer Rob and vocalist Liz, they pounded out simplistic and rough mid-tempo punk songs with surprisingly astute lyrics. Rob and Liz were still high school students at the time, and under the dubious tutelage of the older members Dave and Klint, the band played a lot of house shows along with the occasional appearance at an authentic rock venue. This five-song demo was recorded in 1994, and was originally released on the “A Boy and His 4-Track” compilation tape.

1. Fake
2. Power
3. Joe Blow
4. Lonley
5. I Can't Think

Enjoy

Ozark Babylon-VHS Tape

This is a little-seen, full-length (112 min.) documentary on the Ozark punk scene released in 1998. It contains live footage and interviews with General Zod, Initial Detonation, The Rowskabouts, Satan’s Ice Cream Truck, Brine, U$MC, Vanilla Christ, and Grout. It also has interviews with some of the regular scene people around at the time, as well as random silliness. It’s a great portrait of the Ozark punk subculture of the 1990’s, showing both its high and low points. The interviewees talk about a lot of the issues that plagued the scene then, like backbiting, the lack of local support for the bands, and the Nazi skinhead problem (the infamous Born Against Nazi incident is mentioned at one point). Considering the amount of work that went into the video’s production, little was done to promote it, and only about 30 copies were produced. It’s gratifying to be able to post it here to a worldwide audience.

Update: When Megaupload ceased to exist a few months ago, it took this video file with it. Rather than post it in chunks on Mediafire, I decided to just upload the whole thing to Youtube. You can see the movie here. 

The Giant Penguins-s/t CD-R

The Giant Penguins were a Springfield act that included members of both Fugue and the Fremen. They were around for about a year, playing Ramones-inspired rock mostly at basement shows and the local punk venue of the time, The Looney Bin. They released this (deliberately?) low-fi CD-R on Wee Rock Records, a Springfield label, in 1999. It includes sixteen studio cuts and five live tracks.

1. This Girl Sucks
2. Juvenile Living Dead
3. Commercial Street Kids
4. Denton Affair
5. Surfin’ Samurai
6. Pit Bull
7. If Lee Ving Was My Dad
8. I Want To Believe
9. Black Widow
10. Melissa
11. Garbage Man
12. Spud Boy
13. La Magra
14. Plastic World
15. Speed
16. It’s the End
17. I Want To Believe (live)
18. Black Widow (live)
19. Denton Affair (live)
20. Garbage Man (live)
21. You Hate Me and I Hate You (live)

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Grout-Do You Have 12:38 To Waste? Cassette

First, there was Pisser. Pisser was comprised of a bunch of drunken metalheads from Springfield who put together a six-piece joke punk band. Pisser was either really funny or incredibly boring, depending on how intoxicated both you and the band were. After a while, four of the members of Pisser decided to start a slightly more serious punk band called Grout. Early on, their singer Froggy wore a bald knobbers mask on stage and would throw around a painful-looking chunk of wood, referring to it as his “Grout Stick”. They released a demo tape called “Self-Made Morons” that was not particularly good. After another year or two, the band went through a lineup change, got a kick-ass drummer, dropped the Grout Stick silliness, and settled into a redneck-tinged variety of punk music along the lines of Antiseen or Cocknoose (although I would rate them as better than either of those two bands). They released a professionally recorded tape entitled “Do You Have 12:38 To Waste?” in 1996. It’s included here, along with a bonus track recorded the next year.

1. Fender Bender
2. Government Cheese
3. Idiot’s Life
4. A-Ward
5. No Means Maybe
6. High Class Loser
7. Picture of Health

Bonus Track:
8. Missing Dick


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Update:

Grout got back together recently with a different lineup, and is playing shows occasionally in Springfield. Check out their MySpace page here.

My New #1 Wanted Band: The Royal Nonesuch

These guys aren’t a punk act per se, but damn did they kick much ass. The Royal Nonesuch was a 60’s-style garage act from Springfield that played out in the mid to late 1980’s. (They were the first live band I ever saw. It was 1986-I was twelve. They were opening for Judy Tenuta. I have no explanation.) For those of you not familiar with the band, check out their music video and witness the awesomeness. I’ve got their first 45, the “Something Strange” single (pictured), but am lacking anything else. If anyone has any of their stuff, please share. I probably won’t post it here, but really, really want to hear it. Thanks.

Initial Detonation-s/t 7” and So Selleth the Shepherd, So Buyeth the Flock 7”

Of all of the bands profiled here, Initial Detonation came the closest to achieving some amount of popularity outside of the Ozarks. The band consisted of former members of Encrusted and Satan’s Ice Cream Truck along with Larry on drums and Jeanene providing some scorching co-vocals (guitarist Roger had also played in the original lineup of the LA punk act Total Chaos). They adopted an anarchist-thrash sound that was very popular at the time, and were clearly aiming for bigger and better things than playing local shows. They put out one demo tape, and then released their first record, a self-titled 7”, in 1998. They followed up with another 7” the next year, both records being released on Sensual Underground Ministries out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Both records received great reviews, particularly from Slug & Lettuce. Maximum Rock ‘n Roll complemented them on their “great crusty style”, which I always found amusing. The band looked ready to become a big act in the anarchist crust scene, but broke up during what sounded like a really hellish two-month nation-wide tour. As far as I know, they’re the only Ozark punk band with their own wikipedia entry.

s/t 7”

Mary Kay Commandos
I am
America the Poisoned
Did You

So Selleth the Shepherd, So Buyeth the Flock 7"

Society of Robots
So Selleth the Shepherd, So Buyeth the Flock
Jesus Slaves
Silver Linings

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Update:

One of the former members of I.D. maintains a MySpace page dedicated to the band. You can see it here. And in other and more bizarre news, I recently learned that Jeanene, co-vocalist of the group, was a participant on the now-defunct network TV show “Extreme Makeover”. It looks like the corporate network people paid for a shitload of plastic surgery, or used some black magic ritual to transfer her consciousness into a new body. Check out the photos and decide for yourself.

Brine-Operation Manual and Learning Process 7”s

After Now or Never broke up, Brine took on the mantle of best punk rock act in Springfield, Mo. The band started out as a four piece called Uncle Fester, and released a demo tape in the early 90’s. After their original vocalist quit, the band’s bass player Tyler took over singing, and under their new name the band improved tremendously. Tyler’s distinctive bass playing style meshed well with his brother Dane’s guitar licks and Mike’s tight drumming. They released their first 7” “Operation Manual” around 1996, and it contained some strong playing and songwriting. But it was on their 1998 e.p. “Learning Process” that the band reached their full-throttle potential. Tyler wrote non-rhyming, heavily political lyrics that proved that any piece of writing can be matched to any music so long as you don’t mind pronouncing words in ways they’ve never been pronounced before. Both releases came out on Amendment Records out of Virginia, and while they got good reviews, the band never achieved much popularity outside of the Springfield area. A darn shame, considering how my better they were than most of the lefty punk bands around at the time.

Operation Manual 7"

1. Slacker
2. Fraternity Song
3. Numb
4. Mechanics
5. Velcro Head
6. Thesis Statement No. 1

Learning Process 7"

1. Rehearsing Death
2. Letter to Shaun
3. Every Little Thing Counts
4. Quote Unquote
5. Problem Solving
6. Untitled [Smoking Song]
7. Priority List
8. Faith




Enjoy

Gabe’s Most Wanted

I’ve done a pretty good job of saving all of the old tapes, records, and CD’s released by Ozark punk bands back in the day. However, there are a few holes in my collection. If you possess any of the recordings listed below, please contact me at the e-mail address listed on the right and I will be eternally grateful.

The Rising Sun-Definitely at the top of my want list. The Rising Sun was an anti-racist skinhead band active in Springfield, Mo in the late 80’s. I know they released at least one demo tape, which was quite good as I remember it.

Force Fed Patriots-FFP was a Springfield band that was around for a couple of years in the early 90’s. They released a demo tape which I seem to have lost somewhere along the line.

Queen City Punks-OK, we’re getting really obscure here. These guys played out around Springfield in the early 70’s with other local acts like Granny’s Bathwater and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. They were supposed to have sounded kind of like the New York Dolls. I have no idea if they ever recorded anything. (BTW, did you know the New York Dolls played a gig in downtown Springfield in 1973? The opening acts were the Queen City Punks and…Lynyrd Skynyrd!?)

Skullduggery-I’m not completely sure this band even existed. Supposedly they were a punk act comprised of SMSU students and played out in the mid 80’s. They may have released an LP.

Many thanks to anyone who can help!

U$MC-The Rise and Fall of the Middle Class CD-R

It’s pretty safe to say that this 1999 release by U$MC (Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children) is the best punk album to ever come out of Joplin, MO. Considering some of the other bands around at the time (Encrusted, Initial Detonation, etc.) that’s no small praise. I’ll always remember the night when these guys opened for Blanks 77, the Quincy Punks, and the Dropkick Murphys and blew them all off of the stage. Wee Rock Records released this disc, which unfortunately never got much notice outside of the Ozarks. Included here are the twelve tracks from the CD as well as a red-hot outtake song from the same recording session.

1. Caveat Emptor
2. Hate Junkie
3. Big House
4. Yes Sir
5. Dickhead
6. 88 Hell
7. Corpse Fucking Retro Prick
8. Idoicide
9. Bury My Heart at Jonestown
10. Happy Egos
11. My Room

Bonus Track:

12. Die Heathen Die

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Encrusted-Coverup Demo Tape

Encrusted was an anarchist band from Joplin, Missouri who played some very bracing and aggressive shows before folding during an ill-fated west coast tour. They managed to release this demo tape in 1995 during their brief existence as a band. Two of the group’s five members later played in Initial Detonation, another anarcho-punk outfit that actually managed to get some attention outside of the Ozarks (more on them later).

1. Control to Destruction
2. Murder, Pray, and Die
3. March of the Redneckkks
4. Throw it Away
5. Something
6. Addict
7. U.ASS.A.

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Squelch-Unreleased Demo

Squelch wasn’t a punk band in the strict sense of the word. With Jay’s (guitar/vocals) white boy rap style, Bill’s spot-on drumming, and Quarter’s funky bass playing, they kind of had a weird punk/rap/groove sound that I for one found to be rather good. They were the de facto house band and the old Harper’s Bizarre club, and got to open for some fairly big acts. This demo was produced in 1997, and was the only recording made by the band. The group decided not to release it for reasons I still don’t understand, as the sound quality and playing are great. This is the first time it’s been made available to the general public.

1. Kill Me a Hippie
2. Dream
3. What’s the Point?
4. Fuck the Blue
5. Redneck Dick
6. You’re Gonna Burn
7. Grey
8. Slick 50
9. Fight for Your Right to Party
10. Cheat to Win

Enjoy.

Obey: We Have Guns! 7" Compilation

This comp. was released in 1994, and was a pretty good picture of the Springfield punk scene at the time. 500 copies were pressed, with 500 more being released a couple of years later on Wee Rock Records (the repress was missing one of the Brine songs due to a pressing error). The original pressing came with a booklet with art and lyrics from each of the bands. The record got generally positive reviews, and was the only vinyl release to contain songs by the Cheerleaders, Disarm, Boring Dog Cheese Guard, and Devolve.

The Cheerleaders-Heil Mr. Horsepower
Dolomite
Disarm-Power
Boring Dog Cheese Guard-Obey
Brine-Tearing
Paternalism
Devolve-Hombres y Cosas

Enjoy.

Now or Never-Live in 1992

Now or Never still gets my vote for best punk band to ever emerge from the Ozarks, period. Although they were only around from circa 1989-1992, they influenced a whole city’s music scene, and helped to keep a lot of kids off of drugs through their forceful anti-dope lyrics (this is back when straight edge was still a punk thing, before it became known as a subculture filled with Hare Kristinas and jocks). Dave (the band’s energetic frontman) also ran the Commercial Street club, Springfield’s only punk venue at the time. This meant that NON got to open for some pretty big punk acts, many of which got blown off the stage by these local unknowns. They released one demo tape, as well as this live recording, made at their last show. Dave’s astute lyrics captured many of the punk scene’s problems, such as backbiting (“Rumors”) and the tendency of straight edgers to lose their edge when they turn 21 (Seven Year Itch”). Coupled with the band’s tight rhythm section and double-guitar assault, the recording makes for an intense listening experience.

1.Shut the Door
2. Changes
3. Now or Never
4. Self Respect
5. Lies
6. Living Hell
7. Orphan Child
8. Before it Ends
9. Stagnation
10. Git-n-Go
11. Never Rest
12. Rumors
13. Wall of Voices
14. Expectations
15. Time to Change
16. Seven Year Itch


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