(San Diego mod pioneer Dean Curtis recalls the impact of this seminal band’s 1982 California visit.)
It was in the spring of 1982 when I realized the Southern California mod scene was growing by leaps and bounds. Many of us in San Diego made the day-long trek up Highway 1 to see The Jam at Perkins Palace in Pasadena. Few of us had highway-legal scooters (mine was a 125cc Lambretta), so we had to take the scenic route along the beaches. We were harassed a bit by the Marines in Camp Pendleton for not wearing proper footwear for motorcycle riding, but they eventually let us through.
Our asses were aching by the time we got to Long Beach, and the drive along PCH through all the South Bay beach towns seemed endless. But it was all worth it, as we showed up at the theater the next day on a rumor and got to see the band run through their sound check.
After the set of several songs they came down to the seats to chat with us. They were friendly, and I remember they were surprised there were any mods in the U.S. because it was strictly a British phenomenon in the 1960s. I can’t remember everything we talked about, but they were very nice and seemed genuinely interested in us. We also got some autographs. (I got mine on the back of a flyer I had in my pocket for a show by the band The Direct Hits.)
By the evening of the show, there were more scooters in front of the theater and in the side parking lot than I had ever seen in any one place. There must have been around 100-200 scooters!
It was quite a sight to behold, and gave us a feeling of how big the scene had become. A reporter for the LA Times came over to chat with some of the crowd and snapped a photo of me and a friend.
Here are some pictures of the crowd and scoots in front.
Oh yeah, the show was great! It was a sell-out all three nights. Read more of the LA Times’ review here.
I just found out on the TheJamFan.net that The Jam played Southern California several times in the late ’70s. Did anyone here go to any of these shows? I wasn’t aware of the band until sometime in 1980.
The Whiskey A-Go-Go, LA, October 1977
The Starwood, LA, April 1978
UCLA Royce Hall, April 1979
Santa Monica Civic Center, March 1980
— Dean Curtis
Can someone refresh my memory on licenses and restrictions on scooters? Did they require a standard motorcycle license?
Never was much of a Jam fan. But I do remember Dennis Borlek had a guitar that was signed by Paul Weller that day. I can’t imagine him bringing a guitar on a 100 mile scooter trip--perhaps he just had the pickguard with him?
Ray: That’s a funny idea! Signing a pickguard with no guitar is like getting your cast signed (by Paul Weller) before breaking your leg.
PS: I listened to All Mod Cons a LOT. I should probably add it to my list of formative vinyl sides.
Side note: The Direct Hits (on the flyer I used for autographs) at the time had Paula Pierce in the band (later of the Pandoras and then off to join the garage band in the sky). I remember seeing them the night before the Jam show somewhere in LA, and they were fabulous.
Matthew: Scooters at the time could be driven on the freeway if they had turn signals and enough power (the 200cc P200s were freeway legal). But they weren’t fun to ride at freeway speeds. I rode on the back of a friend’s P200 once from Stanford to San Francisco and didn’t have a very good time! Foot pegs were sometimes an issue. I had cops tell me that I didn’t have foot pegs so it was illegal to drive (scooters have running boards).
KGB FM used to play entire albums so you could tape ’em (who remembers).Myfriend Mark Melson and Myself had tapes of “This is the Modern World” and I think a live show too.I don’t remember there being any sort of scene connected with the music in San Diego at that time (1978 maybe) but I was pretty young so …
I used to have Heaven Tonight by Cheap Trick that I taped when they played the entire album on KGB when it first came out around ’78. That was a pretty bold thing to for them to do… they never mentioned taping the albums on the air, but it was obviously the reason they were doing that. I dont know how I missed out on taping This Is The Modern World though…actually that was the only album by the Jam that I ever owned…great album.
My girlfriend at the time went to that show at Perkins Palace along with some other people I knew, but for some reason I didn’t go. I think that was their very last tour.
The Jam’s Perkins Palace gig inspired this contribution from Bart Mendoza — thanks, Bart!
Did anyone see Paul Weller at the Spreckles a few years back? He did quite a bit of Jam and Style Council material.
no but i did see him play an acoustic show at 4th a b a few years ago and saw an awful lot of grown men crying during certain numbers, it was a terrific show though.
Living in Pasadena, the other day I just drove past the venue that was Perkins’, and once again lamented its demise. It’s being totally gutted for either condo space or retail space. What a shame -- it originally was the Raymond Theatre, dating to the early 1900’s.
In those days I unfortunately wasn’t much into the Jam (although I sure am now) and didn’t bother to go to the show. I also temporarily had for some reason, even then, mixed feelings about the growing popularity of the scene up here. Anyway, I didn’t bother to go. This was in my own town, no less! What more could one ask for?
A couple days before, a friend and I heard that the band was staying at the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, less than a mile from our neighborhood. Having nothing better to do, we threw on our parkas and strolled down there, and in less than 30 seconds we ran into Bruce Foxton, drink in hand, near the lounge. With no contingency plan, we merely nodded and said ‘hi’ to each other, and went on our way. I don’t know if we thought we were too cool to get an autograph or what.
On the first night of the concert (May 29) I cruised past the venue and was shocked speechless by the display of scooters. There must have been 75+ along front of the venue, and another 30 round the corner on Holly Street. The pics on my site are from the third night, so you can imagine what it was like on the first night. That right there was very inspiring. I’m sure everyone who saw that had the same feeling.
The following Sunday while looking through the L.A. Times Calendar section, I saw Robert Hilburn’s review of the concert and distinctly recall admiring the photo of who I now understand were Larry Nadler and Dean Curtis, and how they had ridden all the way from SD. I remember digging Larry’s coat and being surprised that they both were wearing those black and white Shelleys, since my friend Brett (who was a Jam fanatic) was the only mod any of us had ever seen who wore those. In fact I remember being surprised to read that there was a scene outside of the L.A./O.C. area. That’s how insular I was, I guess.
As a Long Beach Mod, I remember well the Perkins Palace show. My friends band Solidarity opened for them. Somewhere in a box in the garage I have negatives from that night, and I still have Solidarity’s single as well as a live tape I recorded when they played at my going away party in 1981.
Way cool site. I wish there was the same thing for the Long Beach scene. Going to high school with The Vandals, nights in Hollywood. Punk/Mod crossovers, whatever the evening required.
Good Times.
-jim
Heeeere I Ayum!
Back and happy to be loggin on to this one.
Perkins Palace was not only the site of that wonderful Jam show (I can remember every outfit I wore for both nights I was there) but all the 2Tone shows during the same era…The Beat, Selecter, The Specials…that place had quite a run during that era and meant a lot to all of us.
Every time I drive through LA and see the exits for Pasadena I harken back to trying to make some of those wicked (10mph!) tight exit ramps on a scooter with 10inch wheels. We did it though.
Nights after the show dragging Colorado Blvd. just like thte little old lady…on to the ON club to see the Untouchables etc…how many mods can you fit in one motel room?
One…two…three…CRUNCH.
Three.
The world may never know…
Go betta with Lambretta.
Patrick
Yes, the Beat played Perkins on Halloween, 1981.
The Specials did an impromptu performance at the ON, believe it or not.
A guy told me he’s writing a screenplay about some kids trying to find the Jam at the Huntington Hotel during that Perkins gig, but I don’t know how serious he is about it.
Maggie!!!!
Love you. Miss you. Nice to know you found us here. Do a search on your name--you came up a while back.
mags!!! o woman, i miss you. so, so much. you are someone who i have thought of a lot over the years.
so glad to see you are semi-close to me. i’m in southern oregon and about to potentially move to portland.
xoxoxoxox
The Jam show memories: Louis’ lime green Pinto packed to the gills with booze, lug it all into the hotel, party ensuing, and the manager telling us she has called the cops, and we have about ten minutes to clear out. We found another room elsewhere, but had to keep it to a minimum to prevent being ousted again. The daytime rehearsals, got my City Gents patch, and one of my favorite button down collar shirts signed by Weller and Foxton, but missed Buckler. Calling my mom with the story that my scooter had broken down, and I couldn’t get parts for a day or two, so that I could stay for the last show also (it was right before I graduated form high school, and I missed school). Still one of the greatest concert memories of my life. Dean, I remember hearing of that Santa Monica Civic show, but didn’t have the resources to get there. I wasn’t into the mod scene at that point.
Maggie, are you on Facebook? Many of your old friends are there. I was just talking about you at the St. Patrick’s Parade, Monica and I were there together with our kids.
Mags! So good to see you. Hie thee to Facebook. Most of us are there. And some photos of you, BTW.
As to the thread at hand, I remember that trip. I scouted out the start of the route several times as I was trying to break in the engine on my new P200E prior to the journey and would ride up and down PCH between La Jolla and Camp Pendleton. I remember we were forced to ride on the freeway (even the lowest CC scooters) through Pendleton. I think the ride was something like six hours all the way up due to the fact that, aside from the Pendleton stretch, we used surface streets all the way.
Wendy rode on the back of my scooter on the way up, even though she had broken up with me and was dating Paul Brewin (who drove his Volvo sedan).
I think I own the guitar whose pickguard was signed. I bought it from Dennis several years ago. There’s a cheezy copy pickguard on there now (which came from me, originally, if my hazy memory serves) because Denno still has the original one with the sig.
I actually did the same thing (brought just a pickguard to get signed) when Queen got their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Brian May, who typically signs the body of the guitar, was kind enough to sign my pickguard due to something my wife said. It’s on my #1 guitar, and I still play it even though there’s a signature right where the pick hits. I didn’t want to risk bringing the guitar with me as we had been on a week-and-a-half long vacation, traveling to visit different friends throughout SoCal, and leaving it in the car would have been too great a risk for my favorite guitar.
James H. wrote: “Calling my mom with the story that my scooter had broken down, and I couldn’t get parts for a day or two, so that I could stay for the last show also (it was right before I graduated form high school, and I missed school).”
James, is that the time you broke down in El Segundo on the way back to SD, and we stayed the night in LAX with our parkas for blankets? I loved the look on peoples faces in the morning when we woke up! Could never do that these days with airport security.
Thanks for the great article. Saw The Jam on the second night at Perkins Palace, plus stood in line at Tower Records to get my albums autographed by them. Honestly, Perkins Palace in the early ’80’s had great shows, from The Specials( with Rhoda Dakar singing the Boiler), The Beat, etc.. even saw Madness at the Country Club in Reseda during their Nuts in May 1981 tour. I totally remember the huge SD contingent on scooters, but I thought it was at the Specials gig. Thx for the memories and photo’s.
Denise, I was at that Madness show at the Country Club too. In the encore the band encouraged the audience to join them on stage but the bouncers tried to stop it of course. I jumped up right as a bouncer grabbed my jacket, ripping my suit jacket right up the center vent! I still made it and danced for the rest of the show onstage.
Stumbled onto this site looking for audio from the 1979 Royce Hall gig (which I also attended).
Went to all 3 nights at Perkins. Have a good boot of the May 30th show.
My friend Alan Schwarz from Huntington Beach was friends with the band (he hung out with them when he was over in England) and so we went over to the Huntington to hang out, and at one point had Bruce over to the house I was living in at the time in Arcadia. Good times 🙂
Here’s a shot of Alan visiting with the band in the studio:
(Also saw a lot of those same shows others have mentioned, like The Specials/Selecter/Madness/The Beat -- I saw The Beat and then immediately dashed over to the Country Club that same night to see Echo and The Bunnymen!)
D’oh -- guess you can’t post HTML in a comment. Here is the photo of Alan & Bruce:
Dean Curtis and Larry Nadler outside the show:
This particular show we waited endlessly for the boys from the Jam to exit. Finally a bouncer let me in the back and onto the stage. I took some picks of the “green room” where there were loads of beer bottles and a picture of the Transglobal Express sign that draped the rear of the stage. On the stage floor was a bass string from Bruce Foxton’s Rickenbacker which I proudly stuffed in my parka. The picture of Dean and Larry here that I snapped was not the only one. I also have a couple of Patty and Dennis on his “Batman” themed Lambretta.
Funny..Great minds think alike Dean!…I sent Mathew a whole blog story with photos on this night about a year and a half ago…maybehe can dig out my side on this and link it to Dean’s more mature and insightful version? That would make it a kinda -“He said” vs “SHE Said” recall of a most memorable night of Mod Madness!!
Kirk, great hearing from you here!
Sounds good to me Kristi!
Matthew, would that be possible?
>>Matthew, would that be possible?
Dean: Indeed! Here’s Kristi’s account:
“One of the first larger-name concerts I remember going to was The Jam at Perkins Palace in Pasadena in 1982. I think it was the year of ‘That’s Entertainment,’ and the single was hugely popular on college radio as well as LA’s KROQ, the newly born San Diego ‘alternative’ radio station 91X.
“San Diego was the land of scooter rallies, so it was only fitting that a huge rally of young Mod Cons swerved their way up I-5 for the day to see the The Jam perform live in all their glory. I was just 16 and a little shy, but these snapshots capture me mingling with friends and acquaintances. I love the snapshot of all the scooters lining the street in front of The Palace — it looks like Brighton Beach ca. 1962.
“By the way, more than half the scooters there were from San Diego County. You can see how proud the boys were while riding their Vespas-and they look so charming! I don’t remember all the names, but some of the Mod Mugs include Marty; my future boyfriend Paul Phipps; Larry (who we called Lumpy, poor fella); Chris Turek (Jerry Cornelius’ brother), my sister Vicki and her future husband Russell Stevens.
“I remember the concert as being high octane and upbeat. I was sitting (actually not sitting, but dancing) in the mezzanine/nosebleed area. All of the fun of the night crashed to an end when I got into a POW WOW fistfight with some blockhead redneck who was picking on me. I was frisky in those days, and didn’t take to bullies. I remember him and me swinging at each other, then rolling down the mezzanine stairs until we were crushed against the balcony railing! How many of us had stupid fights like that back then? I guess it was our hormones or something.
“Around this time I recruited Manual Scan to play at a Torrey Pines High School dance.
“I remember how thrilled I was to land them a great-paying gig — I think they earned around $500, which was a lot of money 20+ years ago. This was the era of Bart Mendoza, Kevin Ring, David Fleminger and Dave Anderson.
“I was single at the time of the concert and dance, and obviously still involved in my high-school activities. Soon thereafter, my sister Vicki and her boyfriend Russell introduced me to Paul Phipps. In short time, Paul Phipps and I and I became inseparable and entrenched in young love, and I started to distance myself from my high-school scene. As people are known to say — I was ‘too cool for school’! After all, I had become a Downtown Girl!
“Those were good times!”
Kristi,
Unfortunately, as gigs in San Diego go, $500 is still considered a a really good-paying gig for a local band. While all other pay scales have risen over the years, bands are still getting approximately the same amount they got in the 70s! (And thanks for getting us the gig when that amount of money actually meant something.)
Kristi wrote:
“One of the first larger-name concerts I remember going to was The Jam at Perkins Palace in Pasadena in 1982. I think it was the year of ‘That’s Entertainment,’ and the single was hugely popular on college radio as well as LA’s KROQ, the newly born San Diego ‘alternative’ radio station 91X.
I think the big “breakthrough” song was “Town Called Malice”, since it came out around ’81 or ’82 on the album this tour was for (“The Gift”). We used to call KGB and B-100 and request that song so often that they actually started playing it. 91X probably started playing “That’s Entertainment” also around that time, but it was a much older tune.
Thanks for the reminiscence and pictures Kristi!
Dean:
I went to The Jam’s Royce Hall gig.
I was also at the Santa Monica Civic gig -- I actually got to the Civic at 9 AM and was the first person in line, so I was front & center right up against the barricade. Wish I’d had a camera!
I also went to all 3 Perkins Palace shows. My good friend Alan Schwarz from Newport Beach had made friends with The Jam and had visited them in the studio in 1980 when he went to England. Here is a photo of Alan with Bruce Foxton, taken by Paul Weller:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1002/1111132150_a7aa74d696_o.jpg
During the Perkins Palace shows, the band stayed at the posh Huntington in Pasadena. Alan and his girlfriend and my ex and I all went over to visit, and brought Bruce back with us to the guest house my ex and I shared in Arcadia at the time. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Bruce.
BTW, I should’ve been at the Starwood show in 1978 as well, but I was an idiot and saw Be-Bop Deluxe at the Shrine Auditorium that same night instead. One of those “What the Hell was I thinking?” moments. You make those stupid mistakes when you’re 19!
I also saw both of the From The Jam shows (HoB Anaheim and the El Rey) a short while back. Fantastic gigs! Russell did a great job filling Paul Weller’s shoes.
Hah, I didn’t read the whole thread before posting that last post -- if I had I would’ve realized I posted the same thing back in May of last year .. d’oh! Oops 🙂
P.P.S. There’s a bit of irony in that I came back here looking for references to The Specials playing at Perkins Palace on August 14th 1981 ($8.50 ticket!). I just saw the reunited Specials (well, 6 of the 7 anyway) at Club Nokia last night (April 15th 2010) and it was off the hook!!! The whole balcony was shaking from everyone skankin’ up a storm. Fantastic gig!
I scanned some Jam memorabilia and other stuff from that era. I was lucky enough to be present in the studio for much of the recording of “Sound Affects”even drove Paul & Bruce to KFC in London with my sisters car.
I was at that Perkins Palace show and it’s true, there’s probably never been such a collection of scooters in one location in California at one time. It was a great show but short—I think they only played for about an hour. No encore.
They only played an hour, but what nonstop energy! Both “Move On Up” and “The Gift” took the roof off of Perkins Palace.