Los Angeles
Los Angeles appears in 6 Songsheets issues: Early New York Hip-Hop, Afrobeat, LA Punk (Early 80s), The Minneapolis Sound, Darkwave and Synth Goth and Dubstep. 7 artists in the archive came from here, including Sandra Izsadore, X and Germs. Key places include The Masque, Whisky a Go Go and The Starwood. The issues date 3 events here, from 1984 to 2013.
Fela's ten-month stay in 1969 proves catalytic, exposing him to Black Panther politics and the revolutionary consciousness of African Americans that would reshape his music's purpose. Though he arrives playing highlife-jazz fusion, encounters with Sandra Smith (later Sandra Izsadore) and the Black Power movement provide the ideological framework he'd been missing, transforming his artistic mission entirely. The city's fusion of political activism and musical experimentation—from Watts to the Sunset Strip—gives Fela the template for making music that's simultaneously danceable and defiantly political.
Scenes
Artists from Los Angeles
- Sandra Izsadore
Sandra Izsadore was a singer, songwriter and activist living at the center of the Black Power movement in Los Angeles when she met a touring Nigerian bandleader named Fela Kuti in 1969, whose group Koola Lobitos had come to America to play.
- X
X is the rare Hollywood punk band that outlasted hardcore's takeover of the scene, fusing punk aggression with rockabilly and roots rock rather than chasing speed for its own sake.
- Germs
Darby Crash, born Jan Paul Beahm, led Hollywood's most volatile punk band with a mix of charisma and self-destruction that made him legend and cautionary tale at once.
- Fear
Lee Ving fronted Fear with a hard rock swagger and a deliberate taste for offending everyone in the room, onstage and off.
- Wendy & Lisa
Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman came to Minneapolis from Los Angeles as members of the Revolution, and their fingerprints are all over Prince's mid-1980s peak: 'Purple Rain' (1984) and 'Sign o' the Times' (1987) both carry their keyboard and guitar work.
- Drab Majesty
Los Angeles' Drab Majesty, active since 2011, folds new age textures and indie rock instincts into a darkwave frame, part of the same 2010s revival that produced Boy Harsher and reintroduced the genre to festival stages.
- Skrillex
Sonny Moore, from Los Angeles, sang in the post-hardcore band From First to Last before releasing dubstep EPs as Skrillex in 2010, among them Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.
Places
- 1The Masque1977-1979 · LA Punk (Early 80s)
A cramped basement rehearsal space on North Cherokee Avenue that became ground zero for Hollywood punk in 1977-1978, hosting chaotic early shows by the Germs, X, and the Screamers. Brendan Mullen's venue was unlicensed, filthy, and essential.
- 2Whisky a Go Go1964-present · LA Punk (Early 80s)
The legendary Sunset Strip club that transitioned from hosting 1960s rock to becoming a key venue for LA punk and hardcore, though its commercial atmosphere often clashed with hardcore's DIY ethos.
- 3The Starwood1973-1981 · LA Punk (Early 80s)
West Hollywood nightclub where the Germs played their final reunion show on December 3, 1980, four days before Darby Crash's suicide. It was a crucial venue for the transition from art punk to hardcore.
- 4Hong Kong Cafe1978-1982 · LA Punk (Early 80s)
Chinatown restaurant and bar that hosted punk shows in its back room, providing a more intimate alternative to the Whisky and serving as a bridge between art punk and hardcore.
What happened here
- 1984Black Flag releases four albums in one year
Black Flag releases My War, Family Man, Slip It In, and Loose Nut in 1984, stretching SST's resources and experimenting with slower, heavier sounds that influence later grunge.
LA Punk (Early 80s) - 2007Justice releases † and wins MTV Europe Award
Justice's debut album and their rework of "Never Be Alone" win best video at MTV Europe Awards, marking French Touch's second wave breakthrough.
French Touch House - 2013Random Access Memories released
Daft Punk's fourth album, featuring live musicians like Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams, wins five Grammys including Album of the Year.
French Touch House
