Back Alley Café
January 24th, 2006
Not much seems to exist on the Internent on this short-lived punk and pseudo-punk hangout in an alley in northwest Washington, D.C. It was just a stone’s throw from where I worked at the time, the Ha’ Penny Lion, a popular hangout for DC lobbyists and other K Streeet wannabees. On a side note, I should mention that a good portion of the restaurant’s pre-lunch rush receipts came from the 11:00 A.M. lobbyists regulars ready to get a buzz-on before noon. And yes, the bar was full by noon.
From what I remember from my friends who were “in the scene,” the “Back Alley” occupied space unused by Mr. Days, a jock/sports bar, the type of which I’ve visited perhaps only once (and that was in Baltimore, not DC). The irony seemed to make it even more popular–jock bar by day, punk bar by night.
Almost every night, I would see a guy (who looked to be a light-skinned African-American bike courier) wearing a faded Batman t-shirt (before it became cool to wear them and way before it became geeky to wear them); Ben, the DJ (whom I would ask nightly to play or mix certain songs); and a few other people I shouldn’t mention right now.
I used to talk to Ben a bit. He DJ’d at Cagney’s sometimes, too. It was at the Back Alley that I first learned about Bauhaus, Public Image, LTD., Killing Joke, etc. Yes, I know that some will say that those bands are the “standards,” but in DC, there wasn’t much opportunity to hear those bands anywhere at the time. The local alternative station WHFS didn’t play that music too much, and there weren’t many other places to explore alternative music.
are you talking about skate?
I actually edited out a couple of the names I remembered (for privacy reasons), but skate wasn’t one of the names that I’d heard before (that I recall now, anyway–memory’s getting hazy!). But if you’re referring to the guy wearing the Batman shirt, I’d imagine there weren’t too many African-Americans hanging out at DC punk clubs wearing Batman shirts at the time.
Skate was a “mod” kind of guy. His real name is Wayne Devers. I used to work at the Back Alley. I can’t remember the bike messenger’s name; I remember him though.
Skate was heavy set, about 5′10″, sandy blond hair.
Ben was skinny, about 6′1″, curly, unruly brown hair.
It’s funny you mention Bauhaus, Public Image, LTD., Killing Joke as being standards. Heck, in 2008 they are Classic Rock.
But in 1985 you simply couldn’t hear those songs on the radio. Sure, WHFS would spin one or two once in awhile, but they had that lingering Deadhead/Hippy vibe, along with what would become Americana. There was no Internet, no Usenet, no way to spread the word about great bands.
It’s impossible to describe. There was NO way to find out about bands. Either you worked at a record store, you had friends who did, you knew bands, went to shows or were turned onto artists by a friend.
So the Back Alley was kind of like a radio station fulfilling an unmet market. The age group was 14-30, so everyone had vague memories of 1960’s hits, and the cool ‘old’ stuff was from 1979. So I could spin a set that was The Who/The Clash/Funkadelic/Ramones/Led Zeppelin/James Brown/REM/Dumptruck/Liquid Liquid/Vigil and everyone would dance.
It looks tame today, but in 1985 such a set was as cutting edge and out there as possible. Situated in the Golden Triangle of 1970’s-era DC watering holes, we got lots of foot traffic of lookie lou’s and interns slumming from Rumours.
I don’t think you can do that anymore in a dance club.
I moved onto Cagney’s after BA closed, then BA II. When Nirvana got big, we took off. I would play Teen Spirit and people would scream, jump up off their seats and dance.
That only happened during one period of my career, and only for that song, for about 6 weeks in the Fall of 1991.
Well, now REM, U2, Elvis Costello and Nirvana are AAA, and my setlists would seem trite to the average 20 year old. No matter.
At least bands like The Clash and Pistols now get their due and the respect they deserve. In 1978 I would get grief at HS for listening to that “New Wave, Punk Rock faggot bulls*it”. Now those bands are in the Rock Canon.
We came, we saw, we conquered, we danced, we had a great time, and now it is in the past.
Ben, awesome post. I always loved the music you played. Sorry if I’ve said this before, but here goes. Once I asked if you could mix New Order and The Doors, and you said no, it wouldn’t work. I’m not disagreeing or anything, but that’s just one of those things that I remember.
Yeah, a lot of those bands you mentioned are now considered almost mainstream–you can get some of them from the BMG record club.
Vigil–I don’t recall that name. It took a while, but I finally found something on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDgIQrSlG-g Sounds pretty good so far.
Edit: OMG! I remember that song! I LIKE that song! I’ve got to find it somewhere… Wow, thanks for reminding me of this song.
Thanks for the great post!
“Once I asked if you could mix New Order and The Doors, and you said no, it wouldn’t work.”
Holy Crap! I remember that!
Keep in mind that the audience was secondary. I was playing my favorite set to what I would like to hear, and if people danced, so much the better. Honestly, I considered it an artistic outlet. I dreamt of mixes and music for 25 straight years.
Still, to this day, one will pop into my head and I will jot it down.
You can find Vigil in DC. It’s very rare - CD or LP or the German 12″ of “I Am Waiting”. I remember someone asking me about the band, and I said to speak to the drummer. He’s drinking at the bar. And I gestured to my right where X-Factor was being poured drink after drink by Sharveen or Marco or Erin.
Who else showed up? Brian Baker. The Dischord crew wouldn’t for the most part. The Fleshtones.
It was a great time. I couldn’t have done those sets 3 years earlier or later and had them work, and I think WDC was the perfect city for it.
Lucky me.
Ben, Joe Bonomo here. I’m living in IL now but lived in the DC suburbs and went to UMCP in the 80s and my friends and I hit BA weekly. What fantastic memories. You were great We cheap-drank and danced our way through college with you.
I published a biography of the Fleshtones last year with Cointinuum Books called Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band. I don’t remember seeing the Fleshtones at BA. Makes sense that they’d hit it during one of their 9:30 Club “Fleshtones Weekends.” Would’ve been cool to run into them there.
I’ll always have great memories of BA.
Joe
Joe!
Good to hear from you. Peter Zaremba dropped by one night with his friend Leslie, who told me he was there (and I didn’t believe her). When I said that on mic, Pete pops his head above the DJ booth and said:
“I’m right here!”
Egg on my face. Played “right side of a good thing” and Peter danced like a lunatic.
Erin:
Vigil Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/originalvigilband
Very cool. Do you remember the year?
Considering the number of beer cups I used to count at the end of a BA Friday night, Zaremba might’ve been there and I don’t remember….
Ben, would you believe that I got the Vigil CD in the mail today? I found a copy on sale at Amazon.
I’m in a rush, but I wanted to ask–do you have any set lists? Like I said, I was a big fan of your music, so I’d love to mine for goodies.
Some artists I’ve been enjoying lately include Adam Freeland, Evil Nine, Film School, Electrelane, Clinic, Synax (Fluke offshoot), etc.
Setlists? No.
But I remember what I played and can drum up a list easily.
Actually, I guess setlists aren’t really necessary. It’s just always good to get new ideas for music.
Would you believe that K-Tel put out an excellent compilation of music from around that time? I’ve found a few bands on it that I’d never listened to.
Here’s a link and a track listing:
http://www.amazon.com/Gimme-Indie-Rock-Vol-1/dp/B00004S80C/
Disc: 1
1. Pink Turns To Blue - Husker Du
2. Little Furry Things - Dinosaur Jr
3. Too Far Gone - My Dad Is Dead
4. My Favourite Dress - The Wedding Present
5. I Love My Leather Jacket - The Chills
6. Cruisers Creek - The Fall
7. Sweet Little Hi-Fi - Pussy Galore
8. Touch Me I’m Sick - Mudhoney
9. US Teens Are Spoiled Bums - Half Japanese
10. She’s Fetching - Big Dipper
11. Jangle Town - Nikki Sudden
12. Watching The Candles Burn - Eleventh Dream Day
13. Black Venetian Blind - Giant Sand
14. Swimming Ground - The Meat Puppets
15. I’m Ready - Scrawl
Disc: 2
1. Slipping Into Something - The Feelies
2. Barnaby, Hardly Working - Yo La Tengo
3. Nothing Left To Lose - The Wipers
4. Sun God - Squirrel Bait
5. Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing - The Minutemen
6. Andelusia (Instrumental Version) - Savage Republic
7. Ghosts Of American Astronauts - The Mekons
8. Blue Thunder - Galaxie 500
9. Take Me To The Other Side - Spacemen 3
10. Everything’s Explodin - The Flaming Lips
11. Creepy Smell - The Melvins
12. Black Coffee - Black Flag
13. Coca-Cola & Licorice - Death Of Samantha
14. I’m Alright With You - The Pastels
15. Molly’s Lips - The Vaselines