Suburban Struggle: the Campaign to Suppress Punk in Costa Mesa, California (1978-1981)

As 1980 rolled around, all was not well in “the land of salad bars and condos”—at least for the local businesses surrounding the Cuckoo’s Nest.  (“Where the L.A. Rock is,” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1979.) The presence of the punks at the Cuckoo’s Nest and its immediate environs drew the ire of a number of local business people, and these local businesses decided to take collective action against the Cuckoo’s Nest by pressuring the City to exercise its regulatory and police powers. Continue reading “The local business community mobilizes against the Cuckoo’s Nest”

Part II details the genesis of the attack against the Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s important to note that the attack–at least initially–was spearheaded by the local business community, and more specifically, the Cuckoos’ Nest’s immediate neighbors.  Collectively organized, these local businesses would prod what appeared at first to be a disinterested City bureaucracy into action.  In Part II, we’ll see how local business organized against the Cuckoo’s Nest and effectively convinced the local government to intervene.

The uptick in punk programming at the Cuckoos’ Nest coincided with the genesis of underground punk scenes in Orange County (which probably didn’t generate scenes until late 1979, or 1980). Continue reading “The rise of underground punk scenes in Orange County: Fullerton and the Beach Cities”

Punk, it turned out, was good for business.  Or phrased more guardedly, punk guaranteed “consistent[]” “modest success” for the Cuckoo’s Nest. (“Cuckoo’s Nest – ‘the’ new music spot,” The Register, February 22, 1981.)  In mid-1979, Roach told one music reporter that he “found kinetic energy and increased cash by booking advocates of a supposedly dying style.” By June 1979, Roach remarked that “The thing is it’s not getting any smaller.   You’ve got to come to grips with it.  Whenever I do a show, it sells out.  What can I say, I’ve got to do more.” (“Punk Rockers Find Roosting Place in Mesa,” Daily Pilot, June 15, 1979.) Continue reading “The Cuckoo’s Nest becomes the major hub of punk rock in Orange County”

Roach and his business partner Williams did not conceive of the Cuckoo’s Nest as a punk venue.  Originally, the Cuckoo’s Nest offered traditional rock music entertainment.  Shortly after the 325-person venue became operational in early 1978, however, the Cuckoo’s Nest started booking “New Wave” shows, which included punk rock. Continue reading “The Cuckoo’s Nest’s first taste of punk”