posted 10-24-2002 02:33 PM         

I can only tell you that I misspent a great deal of my youth there, starting in probably 1978 with Spitphire, a mostly female band which also at one time included Dan Rinaldi (sp?) of The Litter. They were doing Mott, Bowie and even Led Zep, paving the way for the 60's garage-rock covers of The Hypstrz, and The Suicide Commandos. I was there one night of the "Hypstrization" live recordings. I wasn't in town for some of the seminal nights down there (Blondie, Talking Heads) but then went on to see the Police (first van tour across the US), B-52's (ditto), Penetration, Pearl Harbor & the Explosions, Nikki and the Corvettes, Rachel Sweet, Charlie Burton, and more local acts than I can remember. Looking back, that list certainly looks more "new wave" than "punk." I probably saw Husker Du at The Longhorn, although I only have memories of Entry shows, Naked Raygun, Effigies were probably there.

posted 10-24-2002 10:44 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by DEA:
Reading that poster/hand bill, all that I can say is "Holy fucking shit."

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I was thinking the same exact thing.

posted 10-25-2002 01:57 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by DEA:
Reading that poster/hand bill, all that I can say is "Holy fucking shit."

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posted 10-25-2002 12:33 PM         

quote:

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Originally posted by RC:

LB-ARCHIVES

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L to R: ?, Babette ? (RIP?), Bob Stinson's ex (can't remember her name, Chris?), Arpad and Bob, right?

posted 10-25-2002 01:40 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Laggard:
I was thinking the same exact thing.

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posted 10-25-2002 08:48 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by MO:
L to R:

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That might Nancy Diamond on the far left.
Or it might be Julie Baustert.
You tell me, it's been a number of years.
(Thanks for the QC Tin)

posted 10-25-2002 10:26 PM            

Yeah, The Longhorn seemed to have been at the center of a lot of weirdness.. as well as Shawn & Danny!

I remember seeing Lili Tomlin there at some show or another.

posted 12-03-2002 12:06 AM            

(Eddie Money at the Longhorn? woohoo.)

posted 12-03-2002 04:58 AM            

The Longhorn was a real "scene," in a way that I haven't experienced since. The people were intelligent, interesting characters -- with a sense of humor about it all. Later on, when people seemed to be trying to prove how "punk" they were, it wasn't nearly as much fun.

When national acts played there, they'd often set up chairs on most of the dance floor. The 2nd time Talking Heads played there (spring 1978), I was watching the Suburbs, the opening act, when this guy sat down right in front of me. He really looked like David Byrne but nobody else seemed to notice him, so at first I figured I must be wrong. Finally I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, are you David Byrne?" He said he was, and I told him I liked his music, blah, blah, blah. Then I asked him how he liked the Suburbs, and he said he thought they were pretty good. I told him that they had just released their first record (the red vinyl EP on Twin/Tone). I found out later that David Byrne bought the Suburbs' EP at Oar Folk the next day!

And people actually danced at the Longhorn. I was probably in better condition then than at any other time in my life because I used to dance my ass off night after night. Dancing to bands like the Suicide Commandos and the Suburbs was damn strenuous exercise!

posted 12-14-2002 12:00 AM         

My god - one of the flyers mentions a band I was in - The Situation - but I had been kicked out by the time they played Zoogies. My friend who was still in the band said that they were heckled at first - "Get off the stage!", but then people started dancing.

My experience with the Longhorn, which I'm pretty sure was Zoogies by the time I ever made it in there, was on new band night, which as this thread reminded me was called Tiger Night. I was 16 or 17 years old and playing drums in a band called A Blaze Of Glory. We played Tiger night three times. That's the way it was back then. You played three Wednesdays in a row. The first Wed, you'd go on first, the second Wed you'd do the middle slot and the third Wed you'd headline. I can't remember the other bands but I do remember Hartley Frank screaming at one of them for being all underage. He was a guy you didn't want to get anywhere near.

I think A Blaze of Glory might have played once or twice on normal nights.

I remember reading once that Bill Batson said his greatest regret in life was not punching Hartley Frank. And Ernie's greatest regret was not letting Bill punch Hartley Frank.

A Blaze of Glory was put on "the permanent guest list" by a booker there that liked us. I used this as an excuse to get in when I was underage. I would go there (all the way from Lino Lakes) and say I had forgotten my drivers license or some such thing and tell them I was I on the permanent guest list. And that got me in. There was a doorman that recognized me and I was always happy when he was working. I remember how unhappy he looked when the bar converted to a gay bar. He got a job at Duffy's soon thereafter.

I did my guest list trick 6 or 7 times, and I think most of those times, I saw L73. Never saw any of the big shows there. One time, I went to see "The Pop" (Arista new wave band) and they had cancelled and L73 was playing.

Like Zom, I had no idea when the bar changed over to a gay bar. I realized something was up when I went into the main room and there were male strippers on stage. They still had punk/new wave bands on upstairs. The bar closed soon after that. The place was packed too. It must have been too little too late.