Died On This Date (August 14, 2005) Esther Wong / The Godmother Of Punk; Owned Madame Wong’s in L.A.
themusicsover Esther Wong
August 13, 1917 – August 14, 2005
Esther Wong was a Chinese immigrant who landed in Los Angeles in 1949. By the mid ’70s, Wong and her husband were running Chinese restaurant that presented a Polynesian floor show in L.A.’s Chinatown. When business started to slow down by the end of the decade, Wong reluctantly allowed a local promoter to start booking local punk bands on her stage. At the time, most of the city’s venues were banning such acts. The promoter and Wong soon parted company and Wong started bringing music she enjoyed – the more pop leaning new wave. In 1985, the club was seriously damaged in a fire and within a few years, Wong opened Madame Wong’s West in Santa Monica where she continued building her reputation as the “Godmother of Punk.” The list of acts that played Madam Wong’s during their early years includes Guns ‘N Roses, Black Flag, Blondie, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oingo Boingo, Fear, the Ramones, the Go-Gos, and the Police. Esther Wong died of emphysema on August 14, 2005, the day after her 88th birthday.
Steven Wells was a British music journalist whose aggressive writings appeared in respected music magazines like NME. During the late ’70s and early ’80s, he touted the greatness of such punk acts as Black Flag and Butthole Surfers and the Mekons. For a time, Wells was also a stand-up comic, supporting such acts as Gang Of Four and the Fall. In 1992, Wells co-formed a video production company, directing videos for the likes of Manic Street Preachers and Skunk Anansie. Steven Wells died of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of 48.
Simon Wilde was the bassist for Rabid, and then briefly for the Vancouver punk band, D.O.A. Formed in 1978, D.O.A., along with Minor Threat, Black Flag and Bad Brains came to be known as the flash point of hardcore punk. Wilde died as a result of a brain tumor on May 4, 1991
Darby Crash is best remembered as founder and lead singer for influential Los Angeles punk band, the Germs. Formed in 1977, the Germs were part of the same scene that produced X, Fear, the Circle Jerks and Black Flag. In 1977, they released a single, “Forming,” which is regarded by many to be the first punk record to come out of Los Angeles. The Germs disbanded in 1980, with Crash going on to form the Darby Crash Band, that didn’t last much longer than a handful of gigs. He got the Germs back together for a reunion show on December 3, 1980. Four days later he took his own life by overdosing on heroin in an apparent suicide pact with friend, Casey Cola who actually survived the OD. In 1981, Crash and the band were featured prominently in Penelope Spheeris’ acclaimed documentary on the L.A. punk scene, The Decline of Western Civilization.
