Rest in peace, Esther Wong Just logged on to Punknews.org and learned that Esther Wong, the little Chinese lady who showcased punk and new wave bands like X, Oingo Boingo and the Go Gos in her Madame Wong's club, has died. I didn't know anything about her, but she was apparently a legend in L.A. punk circles -- the godmother of punk as the media call her. I only knew about her from reading We Got the Neutron Bomb, and this makes the third time in less than 48 hours that I've referenced that book. (The others are here and here.)
From the AP story on MSNBC:
The native of China originally booked Polynesian bands to play at her restaurant, but when hardly anyone showed up to hear them she decided to take a chance on rock acts. Almost overnight in 1978, hundreds of people began showing up at her Chinatown restaurant to hear the new sounds, and she opened a Madame Wong’s West in Santa Monica that same year.
“Before, I didn’t think I’d ever like rock music,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 1979. “Now I can turn it on, and it doesn’t bother me.”
As her clubs flourished, Wong quickly became known as a no-nonsense proprietor. She once halted a performance by the Ramones until the band members left the stage and cleaned up the graffiti they had put on a bathroom wall. She rarely booked female singers, calling them “no good, always trouble,” and she was known to go into the audience to try to sniff out marijuana smokers.
I wonder what Jenny Lens would have to say about her? Jenny, I know you're busy, but maybe you'd post something in the comments section here?