In the spring of 1977, the Ramones appeared in Norfolk Va., at Old Dominion University’s Webb Center. Soon after, as from London to Los Angeles, bands playing punk rock appeared in the Tidewater area. These bands presented a vocalist in front of one or two guitar players, a bass player and a drummer. Rarely, the bands would include a keyboard player, and there were very few solos. The songs were short and tightly structured, with simple lyrics.
Over the summers of 1975 and 1976, the music of bands like the Ramones and the Stooges had been played over the PA's of local skateboard parks. And just like most of America, very little punk music was played on the radio. So a close knit group of people came together with a shared musical taste, and the Ramones concert of 1977 was the spark that created the early punk and "new wave" bands in Tidewater.
Punk Cover Bands (?)
The first band in Tidewater, following the Ramones show, was Daily Planet, followed soon by Tango Storm. The Taj Mahal opened on Little Creek Rd. in 1978, a club where local bands could play. Touring bands such as the Slickee Boys and the Bad Brains played there as well. More mainstream bands like the Rave, later called the X-Raves, and the Naros (named after a popular local movie house) appeared, providing the Tidewater market with a variety of bands.
Unfortunately, the Taj closed in the spring of 1981. On the other hand, the appearance of MTV gave the X-Raves and the Naros a market. But the major venue for punk and hardcore closed just when hardcore and thrash bands from the UK, New York, and the west coast were beginning to tour extensively.
Just as in those cities, a second wave of punk bands appeared in Norfolk and Va. Beach. The Spitterz, with Bob Brunckhorst (later of KJB) playing bass and Mike Land playing guitar, appeared in the fall of 1981. Like Daily Planet, Spitterz had one set of originals and two sets of covers. While it may seem to be contradictory to have a punk band playing covers, with the demise of the Taj Mahal the only way any band could play in Tidewater was to have three sets of mostly cover songs. With Intent, with Andre Ceniceros singing was another of these bands. With Intent quickly morphed into Front Line, with songs written mostly by guitarist Jeff Clites.
Richmond, Amnesty Concert, and More Richmond
Clites got in touch with various musicians in Richmond, and by the summer of 1982 Front Line was opening for the Dead Kennedy’s and Black Flag there. Front Line had a half hour set of originals, and a cover of Bobby Vinton’s “Blue Velvet” that had to be heard to be believed. But no clubs in Tidewater would book these bands, despite herculean efforts by Clites.
The Spitterz played their last show in April 1982 at a former strip club in Norfolk. Brunckhorst and guitarist Mike Land got together with drummer Kevin Kerr and began writing songs under the name the Blanx.
That summer, Amnesty International’s Tidewater chapter put together a show at Northside Park in Norfolk. The idea was to present several bands playing divergent styles of music while Amnesty International had a table with information. Bands included the Blanx, Front Line, Richmond’s White Cross, a band playing music similar to the Doors called the Unknown, and local rock favorites Teaser. The show was cut short when the crowd reacted to White Cross and Front Line by throwing bottles.
This was not the problem with the people booking bands for clubs, the problem was they had little concept of the “underground” music world. The Wave, in Va. Beach, let Clites book punk bands in the fall of 1982, but only on Tuesday nights. When Clites tried to explain to them that bands were on tour from places like New York, Britain, and the west coast, his explanations fell on deaf ears.
With different singers, Clites and a rhythm section of Rusty Floyd on drums and me on bass soldiered on. We were called Bonesaw with Pat Walsh singing and God’s Will with Dale England singing. Our shows were all between Richmond and New York. Our last show was in July 1983, in Richmond opening for Britain’s G.B.H. We released a posthumous record, Hey! You're On MY Property Son in 1984.
Land left the Blanx. Joy Kelsey (later Brunckhorst) joined the band on guitar, and the band was successful as The KJB.
The scene continued to develop, and by 1985 clubs were playing punk music. A documentary about the area’s scene, Hardcore Norfolk is currently in production and will be released in the late summer or early fall of 2011. Information on the current Tidewater scene in general and the trailer for the movie are viewable on the Hardcore Norfolk website.
Donald Marchand - Currently, I am a teacher. I teach Social Studues at a small school in southern Maryland. But I think I've been a lot more in my life. ...
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