Punk Tulsa History

[HuffyCane]

If you haven’t seen Oil Capital Underground, an indie movie about the influence of Tulsa on the punk scene and a history of punk bands and clubs in Tulsa from 1978-1995, it’s free on Amazon and well worth your time. If you were young in that era, lots of great old photos and grainy videos of the city and it’s venues in the 1980s. And good memories. Nitro. 323. SRO. Ikon. Crystal Pistol. Barely any mention of the Dresden Bombers who were an excellent excellent act. Too much mention of None of the Above. NOTA were big, but not that big.

If you are young now and have an interest in classic punk, next wave or thrash, it’s also worth your time. Most people have no idea the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, Meat Puppets, etc played T Town in their day.

I’ll neither confirm nor deny you can see Ol Huff in the crowd in one shot of Nitro.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Wow...just reading that description brought back so many memories. I've never heard of that documentary, but I'm definitely going to check it out.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

If you haven’t seen Oil Capital Underground, an indie movie about the influence of Tulsa on the punk scene and a history of punk bands and clubs in Tulsa from 1978-1995, it’s free on Amazon and well worth your time. If you were young in that era, lots of great old photos and grainy videos of the city and it’s venues in the 1980s. And good memories. Nitro. 323. SRO. Ikon. Crystal Pistol. Barely any mention of the Dresden Bombers who were an excellent excellent act. Too much mention of None of the Above. NOTA were big, but not that big.

If you are young now and have an interest in classic punk, next wave or thrash, it’s also worth your time. Most people have no idea the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, Meat Puppets, etc played T Town in their day.

I’ll neither confirm nor deny you can see Ol Huff in the crowd in one shot of Nitro.

Regrettably I didn't come onto the scene early enough to see NOTA or Dresden Bombers.('88-'89) I wish I had been in the scene in the early 80's, but I wasn't old enough. Do you remember all of the names of the Dresden Bombers?

I did see a lot of Baby M. Mike Comstock dated a roommate of mine for a while. She took off with the band for a little bit, when they went out to Chicago?(Can't remember if Chicago is right, too long ago.) She and her twin were roommates of mine. Too bad how his life ended, for him and those around him. That band was really talented if other things hadn't come in between.

 

[HuffyCane]

No idea on the Bombers. I just liked the music. I wasn’t really into the social scene. I would go to a show with a friend or two and then head back to campus as quickly as possible.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

No idea on the Bombers. I just liked the music. I wasn’t really into the social scene. I would go to a show with a friend or two and then head back to campus as quickly as possible.

I probably didn't know any of them cuz they were a Norman/OKC band IIRC. I just figured somebody in the band might have migrated to Tulsa, and I knew them, or of them. I got heavily into the scene while going to school. I was friends with the Mike Naifeh circle of pals. He was a cousin of K. Rahal. This is making me sad. So many that went before their time, Naifeh included. His jazz trio are all dead now. Pat Murray was the last to go, recently. A lot of my friends were 10 years older than me, so I heard a lot of stories.

 

[HuffyCane]

Yeah. I remember Mike being around. His sisters and their friends too. I don’t really talk with them. Different circles. But I knew who they were at the time.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Yeah. I remember Mike being around. His sisters and their friends too. I don’t really talk with them. Different circles. But I knew who they were at the time.

You probably know Sheila better than others? She's an attorney. I believe she was his cousin.

 

[HuffyCane]

I think that’s right. It’s been a long time.

 

[Weatherdemon]

I actually have a pic of some friends outside of Ikon that made it into that film. A few buddies of mine that were in the music scene back then and I all took our spouses to watch this at Circle Cinema. It was a lot of fun!


Those were pretty good times in Tulsa.
So many options on original music to offset all of the cover bands. And, just the number of big bands you could see for $15-$20 was awesome!
Too bad Reggae Fest got to big for its self. I loved going to those at Boulder Park.

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

You can never have enough NOTA in your life. NEVER! There's a lot of people pissed that their band didn't get in. The guys who put the doc together unfortunately had to make some decisions that didn't sit well with some people.

The funniest part in the doc is when Jeff from NOTA was getting interviewed. He said he was out mowing the lawn and his wife yelled out to him that somebody was on the phone. That was actually Brian and myself from Crimes Against Humanity asking if he wanted to play guitar for us b/c we knew NOTA had broken up in late 86. Jeff said, "I should've kept mowing the lawn."

Anyhoo, Jeff ended up playing for us and gave us instant credibility. Made us so much better. He was 33 and the rest of us were 16, so he had to do some babysitting from time to time. I think a little footage from our OKC gig opening for some Seattle band named Diddly Squat in 87 or 88 made the doc as well.

Pretty sure this song made it in as well. It's been a few years since I've seen it at the original screening.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Crimes Against Humanity

Their bass player was a badass.

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

Their bass player was a badass.

He was all right lol. I wrote the music for that particular song, so of course it starts out with a 90 mph bass line.

 

[Chris Harmon]

He was all right lol. I wrote the music for that particular song, so of course it starts out with a 90 mph bass line.

I didn't realize you guys were like 15 when you started. My nephew was 12, I think, when he and his buddies started Crooked X back in 2007. They got a record deal way too fast and a couple parents ended up ruining it all. My nephew was the frontman and wrote all the songs. He eventually left the band in 2010, and they went downhill fast after that. Still had some highlights while he was doing it. Had a good debut album, with one song making it into the top 40 on the rock charts. Opened for KISS in Sweden. Opened for Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Skid Row and Buck Stone Cherry several times.

 

[Weatherdemon]

I didn't realize you guys were like 15 when you started. My nephew was 12, I think, when he and his buddies started Crooked X back in 2007. They got a record deal way too fast and a couple parents ended up ruining it all. My nephew was the frontman and wrote all the songs. He eventually left the band in 2010, and they went downhill fast after that. Still had some highlights while he was doing it. Had a good debut album, with one song making it into the top 40 on the rock charts. Opened for KISS in Sweden. Opened for Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Skid Row and Buck Stone Cherry several times.

Very cool!

 

[Chris Harmon]

Very cool!

Here was their cover of Another Brick in the Wall that they did during their set to open for KISS in Sweden...

 

[HuffyCane]

How do you do anything else normal in your life after you’ve opened up for KISS at 16?

 

[Chris Harmon]

How do you do anything else normal in your life after you’ve opened up for KISS at 16?

Lol...I agree. He is now a chemical engineer for a big oil company in Houston.

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

I remember we talked about Crooked X way back when. It's such a random business. If you're blessed to be given the tiniest of opportunity windows, there's still just so, so many variables that can slam that sumbitch shut. Glad your nephew is all grown up and doing well, unlike some people I know who still think they have a shot at 50-years-old. (Although there's certainly nothing wrong with that!)

 

[Chris Harmon]

I remember we talked about Crooked X way back when. It's such a random business. If you're blessed to be given the tiniest of opportunity windows, there's still just so, so many variables that can slam that sumbitch shut. Glad your nephew is all grown up and doing well, unlike some people I know who still think they have a shot at 50-years-old. (Although there's certainly nothing wrong with that!)

He still plays and writes some, but doesn't really do anything with it. It's amazing that they got signed by EMI/Capitol and were managed by Doc McGhee and Spencer Proffer, yet have nothing to show for it. They ended up making no money on the deal.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

He still plays and writes some, but doesn't really do anything with it. It's amazing that they got signed by EMI/Capitol and were managed by Doc McGhee and Spencer Proffer, yet have nothing to show for it. They ended up making no money on the deal.

Not even any small bit of royalties? That 5 cent check per year might come in handy.

 

[old.guy]

Back in college I was patiently explaining to my younger brother that the bass was the backbone of a rock 'n' roll band and he said,"You should call your band 'The Jellyfish.'"

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Back in college I was patiently explaining to my younger brother that the bass was the backbone of a rock 'n' roll band and he said,"You should call your band 'The Jellyfish.'"

Who played the jellyfish?