Remembering Milwaukee's New Music Scene

VIOLENT FEMMES

Photo courtesy of Reprise Records.

BY DAVID LUHRSSEN WITH BLAINE SCHULTZ

In the summer of 1981, The Violent Femmes were “discovered” by The Pretenders, who were playing next door at the Oriental Theater that night. Reminding the U.K. band of the buskers on London streets, they spontaneously added the trio to their concert as an unannounced opening act.

The unanticipated gig didn’t have an immediate result beyond a great story to tell, but that story initiated a chain of events that led the Femmes to a contract with Slash Records. But their debut album wasn’t released until 1983. In 1982 they continued to play city streets or nonconventional-for-rock venues such as the openminded Jazz Gallery, where a young Paul Cebar often performed.

1982 did see the release of debut albums by several Milwaukee “new music” acts, including Those X-Cleavers, Einstein’s Riceboys and, memorably, the LP on Thermidor Records by Oil Tasters, the guitar-less, saxophone-powered trio guided by the genius of Richard LaValliere. Anything cool and local found airplay on WMSE, whose 91.7 FM signal reached citywide only the year before. Many newer groups such as Couch Flambeau, The Deleriants, Tense Experts and The Shemps debuted with inexpensive cassette albums. Vinyl 45s were also relatively inexpensive. 1982 saw local releases by punk rock bands such as The Dominoes and The Prosecutors (early home to Kevn Kinney), the roots-rock Red Ball Jets and Plasticland, whose visionary neo-psychedelia would be praised by artists as diverse as Prince and R.E.M.

The summer of 1982 saw the closing of The Starship, Downtown Milwaukee’s hub for all things punk and post-punk. The hardcore punk elements from that scene found refuge in rented bars and halls such as Irene J’s, Top of the Hill, Lincoln Arcade and the Crystal Palace. Top bands from that subculture included The Crusties, Sacred Order and Die Kreuzen, who gained international respect by the end of the ‘80s as their sound evolved.

Bands from the always diverse Milwaukee rock culture found work at large establishments such as Century Hall and The Palms and rock clubs including The Toad and Teddy’s. October 16, 1982, saw the Crazy Shepherd’s Celebrity Ball at UW-Milwaukee’s Fireside Lounge with Oil Tasters, The Prosecutors and The Essentials, whose leader Pat MacDonald would find success with Timbuk 3—the band named by Milwaukee songwriter Jim Spencer.

David Luhrssen cofounded The Express with Kevn Kinney and is now Managing Editor of the Shepherd Express. Blaine Schultz is a longtime Milwaukee musician and Staff Writer for Shepherd Express.

Cassettes photo by nautiluz56/Getty Images.