5051

1981-1982

(An historical saga of San Diego punk by lead singer David Klowden.)

N.b.: This carefully researched account of 5051’s history includes references to illegal activities by some participants. Everyone named in connection with these incidents has given his express permission to be identified.

When I sat down to write the 5051 story, I realized that, just as with most of my girlfriends of the ’70s and ’80s, I unfortunately couldn’t remember the beginning or the end. Also, I couldn’t remember most of what happened in between.

So I located Sam ‘Topper’ Kolzar, lead guitarist of 5051, and Matt ‘Guy’ Silver, producer of 5051’s record. It was my first time talking with either of them in over 25 years, so it was fun to reconnect and reconstruct the 5051 years of 1981-82. Other members of 5051 — drummer Joel Roop; guitarist Steve ‘Squirrel’ Oberg; and Squirrel’s half-brother, bassist Scott Harber — are still at large. With the help of Sam and Guy, I offer the following slice of San Diego music history.

As the seventies petered out, two suburban San Diego punk scenes bloomed like fungi under the relentless coastal desert sun: The North County scene that gave birth to The Executives E.P. (1980) and the East County scene that birthed the 5.0.5.1. EP (1981). Both bands departed from the styles of the more established San Diego punk bands that had been exciting audiences of about 100 renegade outcasts at the Skeleton Club at 2^nd in Market in 1979.

Skeleton Club bands included The Zeros, The Penetrators, The Hitmakers (who had already morphed into The Crawdaddys), The Nutronz (who would soon morph into The Battalion of Saints), The Xterminators, The Standbys, The Tokyos, The Upbeats, The Injections, The Verves, DFX2, N.O.N. (the one-man, hot dog-tossing, pseudo-fascist artist, Boyd Rice), and more.

Most of these bands put out one, a few or no records, and many faded from existence after The Skeleton Club was stomped out by Police Chief Bill Kolender’s anti-punk mandate. The styles ranged from New Yorkish three-chord garage rock and roll to New Wave synthy pop to raw R&B to performance-art weirdness and plenty else. That first-wave SD scene emphasized experimentation, wit, tolerance for difference, whiskey, skinny ties, creative uses of plastic garbage bags, and wearing your pants inside-out. Most of the members of these groups had already graduated from (or dropped out of) high school. They were old!

But the new, young & hungry SD suburban bands were influenced by the spazzy ultra-fast whiny teenage weed & amphetamine-driven hyper-punk that had been spreading like a wildfire through Orange County, primarily because it was fun to skateboard and surf to. We in the southland assumed that the North County kids, like Executives singer and OP clothing heir Mike Jenks, all had moneyed parents, fancy cars & unlimited equipment funds, and probably first encountered the new Orange County music as the soundtrack to fistfights over waves.

Initially formed in ‘78 under the influence of English bands like The Jam, The Executives already sounded, when I heard them at the North Park Lions Club in ‘79, something like The Crowd or The Klan, two of the OC bands that brought the gospel of playing really really fast to San Diego.

But the East County kids were different: working/middle class, miles from the beach, living in post-war cul-de-sacs, none over the age of sixteen: we embodied the cliché of Southern California suburban kids for whom punk rock was a rebellion more from stifling heat and boredom than disco and capitalism.

Sam Kolzar, who ‘grew up Grossmont’ — born at Grossmont Hospital, went to Grossmont High School (and later Grossmont College), shopped at Grossmont Center — got the OC punk infection straight from the source. In the late ’70s General Dynamics transferred his dad from San Diego to Orange County. Sam wound up at Troy High School in Fullerton with members of Agent Orange, The Adolescents and Social Distortion. Sam’s mom was a piano teacher and gave him lessons but he switched from piano to guitar because “it was cooler.” Sam remembers learning “Anarchy in the UK” on guitar from Mike Ness of Social Distortion, whom his mother hated because of his scary look (tattoos & dyed hair). These punk bands were getting popular, playing at school assemblies, high school parties, and at the center of the burgeoning OC punk scene centered around Fullerton’s Cuckoo’s Nest nightclub.

When his family returned to San Diego, and Sam to Grossmont High School, he met Jim Symington and Darren Hunt, two of the first La Mesa punk rockers, who brought him to shows and introduced him to other young punks, including Londis Kues and me, who both lived near La Mesa in San Carlos. Sam joined a band called No Age Limit, with Tom Rulon, James Cooper, and Greg Farrar.

Londis and I had met at the North Park Lions Club, where I worked in ‘79 as the assistant to Rene Edgington, whose Shark Productions shows were the only real rival at the time to Laura Frazier’s Skeleton Club.

Londis and I were already in our first band, Crucified Youth, who through my connection to Rene, garnered opening spots for a couple shows at the Lions Club. On guitar was the late Doug Havens, who was James Dean cool, with bright red hair and a white Fender to match his white 60s Ford, which we all once nearly died together in on the freeway. Doug worked in a gas station on Fletcher Parkway and stored a rolled-up a pack of cigarettes in the sleeve of his t-shirt. I think he’d moved to SD from Texas.

Crucified Youth and No Age Limit played a show together in April of 1981 at the Distillery East. Not long after that, No Age Limit and Crucified Youth fell apart and the band Redrum was formed from its remains. Sam says he quit No Age Limit because Rulon was recruiting musicians who had professional training and had ambitions that Sam didn’t share. Redrum soon changed its name to 5.0.5.1 and Sam came to a practice in my garage, decided we were raw enough for him, and convinced Squirrel that we’d be better with a second guitarist. We were all still in high school, though Squirrel was a year older and on the verge of graduating from, I think, Clairemont High. His half-brother, Scott, played bass. Joel Roop from Helix High School took over drums from Randy Knox, from Monte Vista High, who was constantly struggling with the challenge of his attempt to embrace both punk and Mormonism.

The name 5051 was suggested to Squirrel by Londis (though Sam doesn’t remember Londis’ input). I remember that Londis had been in San Francisco and learned (no doubt from direct experience) that 5051 was the police code for a situation involving a mentally unstable person, used sometimes in punk cases since you’d have to be crazy to dress like that. Of course, Londis got it wrong. The code was 5150 (later used as the name of a shitty Van Halen record), but by that time we’d already played shows as 5051, so we kept the meaningless name.

5051 gigged constantly from our forming in mid-’81 to our demise in early ‘82. Tim Mays helped us out, and we also had success in getting a bunch of gigs at parties. 5051 opened for a lot of touring bands: TSOL, The Circle Jerks, Funeral, The Cramps, Christian Death, and others that I can’t recall.

One memorable performance at Headquarters, opening for Red Rockers, degenerated into a riot. While we were onstage playing, chairs started flying and the police were called in immediately. The riot is a blur to me, but after the cops had driven everyone out, Sam and Joel tried to go back for their equipment and were thrown to the ground and kicked by the police, who had correctly determined that our music had instigated the destruction.

Sam remembers that our last ever show at The Adams Avenue Theater was a disaster. Usually the opening band, we were used to playing early. Our youthfulness and exuberance had made us local punk favorites. But at that last Adams show, we headlined, performing much later and much drunker. We also had a record that had just come out (though it didn’t have a cover yet) and people perhaps expected a more polished band. Sam also reminds me that he and some other band members at the time were doing every drug they could get their hands on. After that gig, Sam and Joel decided to quit. Sam says meth was involved in his decision.

The ep that 5051 recorded in 1981, one of SD’s first records in a style that later became known as hardcore, was only possible because of the efforts of Matt ‘Guy’ Silver, who grew up near SDSU in the neighborhood where my family had lived until 1977. Here are some passages from an email from Guy, and a few of my comments in brackets:

Between 9th and 10th grade, I went to a summer program at The American School in Switzerland located in England. I was there during the skinhead riots of 80 / 81. I met a bloke who was a punk at the school and he re-styled me, exposed me to some alternative mod and punk rock there (The Exploited, Ian Dury, The Damned). I grew a wisp of hair from my bangs and bleached it. I wore my IZOD alligator logo upside down, wore Converse, etc. I came home from England early – kicked out for drug usage.

Sometime during the summer of ‘80 I saw you. I seem to recall that it was at the Aztec Arcade – the video game establishment at San Diego State and the main place where I grew up from around 12 years old all the way through college. You were with your girl friend at the time. I can’t recall her name [it was Dana Ellis] – but everyone thought she was hot. You never seemed terribly interested in her. [Not when I was playing Asteroids!].

One day, I simply walked up to you and re-introduced myself. I recall you barely remembering me – or you were simply being polite. But, I had the look and you were my first punk rock friend. I told you I had returned from England, shared stories of the riots, and mentioned I would be attending Crawford High for the first time. You told me you knew people at that high school and would introduce me around. You asked me who I had been listening to and, by then, I had discovered Black Flag. The funny part was that though it was an LP, it was played back at 45 RPM. I didn’t know that, but said it dragged and was slow. You laughed and told me to turn my record player to 45 RPM. It was genius! [That was the 45 rpm 10’ EP, “Jealous Again.”]

My association to you, along with my England experience / stories, gave me credibility and introduction to the scene. Through you I met some heavies like Marc Rude and those who would become my Crawford crew – initially Mike Berba and Richie Rippy. You may have introduced me to Rick Lima and Scott Klasna. [It’s possible]. Ricky’s brother, Paul, became the 12-year-old singer of the Skullbusters and to this day owns GP Motorcycles in San Diego. [Let’s get a Skullbusters page on the Che Underground!] That was my first web of friends.

Like lots of us, I smoked too much pot, drank too much beer (I also loved Jim Beam), and THEN couldn’t wait to get to the show to score some white crosses…There was one show 5051 played at where I was watching the door – collecting tickets. I was wasted on something… and a girl walked by and poked me with a needle. I was sure that she had poisoned me or shot me with some acid or something weird. Because I was so stoned, hopped up on crosses, and whatever, that’s all I remembered. I also seem to recall District Tradition playing that show with 5051.

That’s the first time I met Tommy Rulon and began a friendship, of sorts, with him. [Tom Rulon is currently sober and doing well. I ran into him two weeks ago at Mama’s Bakery.] I also made flyers for the 5051 record and shows. Another random memory is when I was too sick to attend the Circle Jerks show. I hated my father for not letting me leave the house that night. I was sick, for sure. But I missed that show!

Quick interjection of a memory here: Guy was one of the first young punks I knew with a car — a caramel-colored Datsun B210. In 1981 I had my license suspended for driving his car with an open 12 pack box with four closed beers in it stowed behind the backseat. I was the only one who didn’t drink at a party in El Cajon, and Guy was drunkest of all, so I was the designated driver. I also didn’t know about the beer in the car. The cops pulled us over because Guy was waving his feet out of the window as we drove away from the party. When I went to court my parents were disappointed with the judge who rewarded my responsible behavior with a suspension and fine. He must’ve wanted to demonstrate through punishment that just being around underage drinking made me a menace to society. Or maybe he didn’t like my looks.

Right away when Guy started hanging out, he decided to use his connection — his cousin Harlan Lansky ran Western Audio recording studios — to try and help us make a record. Here’s Guy’s take on how it came about:

My cousin owned a recording studio and was trying to press singles and get distribution deals. I was watching it from the stands and finally said, ‘Hey, I know some bands! What can I do?’ He guided me from there. He gave us the $500 for 500 singles deal. The recording and pressing singles at Western Audio wasn’t our only model, however. As punk bands came to town they would bring singles to sell. So, we knew that was what others were doing and since we wanted to be like the bands we respected, we just figured that’s what we needed to do. I knew how to get that process (record / press) done – and viola – my relationship to 5051 began.

Guy doesn’t remember the recording session, but Sam recalls that we spent weeks practicing the six songs we recorded at Western Audio. I remember that the music was mostly laid down live, with the vocals and a little guitar overdubbed. Sam also remembers that we did everything in one or two takes. Harlan was nice but he clearly wanted to get these cheap, noisy kids out of his big-time studio. I remember feeling that Harlan was just trying to be nice to his cousin, and that he was rather indifferent to us. Sam says the whole record was recorded in about three hours. Guy told me over the phone that Harlan doesn’t remember 5051 at all.

Guy explains the process of trying to get the record out:

I had planned to send them around the US, network through the mail as that’s how it was done back then, and get into Maximum Rock and Roll. I swear I was going to make 5051 big, especially when, on the heels of this, I did the same deal with District Tradition. Then I almost produced The Skullbusters, but the guitarist [the late Chris Smith?] of Battalion of Saints ‘stole’ them from me! I don’t recall how we got the money together.

With DT, I got $125 from each band member. I met with Tommy’s dad who asked me lots of questions before writing the check. I figure that’s how we did it with 5051 – but can’t be certain. [Sam can’t remember, but I think Guy’s right that we all pitched in] I designed the lyric sheet. (I was so proud to get the ‘computer type’ from some early computer users I knew). Joel / Sam did the cover, which was the swirl. I think I did the lettering.

We couldn’t afford to have the cover reproduced, so we took some unwrapped singles to a show and Marc Rude stood up on stage at the mic to get them sold. He talked heartily about 5051 and told people to support a local band so we could buy cover art. Someone I’d never seen before bought a single and proceeded to break it into pieces in front of the stage. [Now that’s punk!] I was so pissed and totally shocked. Marc Rude just looked at me with a puzzled look – like, I have NO idea what that’s about.

We had about 5 boxes of records at my home. I began sending them around, took them to Off the Record and Blue Meanie. They would take only 5 at a time. I sent some to radio stations, and to the Charred Remains guys. Then, 5051 broke up very soon after the single was covered and wrapped in plastic. We had a band meeting / rehearsal scheduled at Joel’s house. Instead of playing, the band sat down and I watched, stunned, as you all decided to break up. You had been getting more distant from the punk scene, growing your hair, critical of the scene (no one wanted to hear that), and listening to other types of music. Even I was unsure where your head was at.

You and Squirrel were always the ‘leaders’ of the band, but neither of you seemed to be caring much about the other’s opinion. You would quickly disconnect emotionally / intellectually / physically between songs in rehearsal. During the break up, Sam and Joel got angry, Squirrel was nonplussed, and you turned to me and said, ‘Let’s leave.’ We did. It was over just like that. There were no attempts to reconcile.I don’t exactly recall what happened to the remainder of the singles, but I have a guess. When I was really young, maybe 6 years old, I bumped into Harlan at a canyon by our house. He and a friend were whizzing records into the canyon to watch them disappear and / or break. I was fascinated watching them fly so far. One day, in a fit of anger, angst, or need for closure after the 5051 thing, I seem to recall doing the same with the remaining three or four boxes of singles. [My favorite part of Guy’s story!]

In my interview with Sam, he remembered frustration that it took so long for the record to come out. It was recorded in January ’82 but didn’t come out until many months later, when the band had already broken up. Guy’s point that we didn’t have money to make the cover and lyric sheet explains some of the reason for that long interval, his other point that he was drunk and on drugs may explain some of the rest of it.

As for the meeting at Joel’s (more likely at Sam’s), I think Guy’s characterization of my disillusionment with the punk scene by that time was accurate. I definitely thought bands like The Crawdaddys were capturing the spirit of rock and roll in a way that was more exciting to me than in the increasingly violent and serious punk scene, that was diverging into two strains: hardcore ala Minor Threat and the kind of pre-goth dark music of bands like Christian Death. The fact is that I liked early Black Flag much more than Henry Rollins’ Black Flag. And I had always liked bands like the Jam, The Clash, The Buzzcocks, The Beatles, Surf music, and all the old 50s rock and roll 45s I’d inherited from my parents’ friend, the late Scott Dyke, (a New Orleans jazz musician who collected old Victrolas). When I first got into the new music scene in ‘78, I dug the variety of music and didn’t care about labels or cliques – those were the aspects of high school I was rejecting, so when the punk scene grew larger and became more obsessed with macho identity and violence, I became less interested.

The Crawdaddys in 1982 sounded just as good (and exactly the same) as they did at The Skeleton Club in ‘79, and that was the glory year for me, the spirit of which I wanted to keep alive. I started hanging out at their shows, where, I must admit, the go-go girls with the miniskirts and false eyelashes were more attractive to me than the ones in the punk scene with the pierced nipples and tendency toward vomiting and cutting themselves.

As for Sam, he was disappointed that the 5051 song ‘Too Late’ was chosen for the Charred Remains compilation. It’s a very slow (ridiculously long for punk) dirge about nuclear war (with amusing 16 year old lyrics: ‘No mom or dad to fall back on then/but then is now & this is the end’) that led some people to think that 5051 was a dark and spooky band ala Christian Death. In fact, that song alone was probably responsible for 5051 being continually paired with bands like Christian Death, Funeral and the like. But we were really a high-energy OC-style punk band with leftist/atheist themed lyrics. Sam didn’t want to put on make-up and a wedding dress and start writing songs about cutting your wrists in a cemetery, and neither did I. Squirrel, however, gravitated toward the gloom.

5051 was bound to split up, like most bands, over creative differences and drug use. And also girlfriends: Squirrel’s obsession with ex-girlfriend Wendy Pyro may have contributed to his alienation from the band.
All of the members of 5051 kept playing music. Mild-mannered Scott played in Dave’s Brother Phil. I was in the Mystery Machine and TTHs. Sam and Joel were in Testament of Fate and a number of other bands. I believe Squirrel was in Friends of Ghosts before moving to the Bay Area decades ago.

I never struggled with drugs, which caused a lot of trouble for some of the other guys. I preferred girls. Sam and Joel have kids. I have none. Scott and Squirrel are ciphers. Just as The Zeros were San Diego’s first punk band (Hell, they were California’s first punk band) and The Nutronz were San Diego’s first hardcore band, 5051 was San Diego’s first all high school-age hardcore band, and the first of its type in SD to make a record.

And for that reason, the meaningless name 5051 gained and still has a little meaning.

5051 plays “El Salvador”: Listen now!
5051 plays “All by Myself”: Listen now!
5051 plays “Pressure” Listen now!