The punk rock movement started in the 1970s and finally made its way to Rockdale at the very end of that decade. Or at least that’s when my friends and I became aware of it.
None of us were really into country music or going dancing at the KC Hall but we did give it a go our sophomore year. It just wasn’t happening.
Then along came punk rock music and we got into it as much as you’re able to in a rural setting and not being of legal age.
Our parents, however, did let us go to a few concerts at Auditorium Shores in Austin where we saw groups like DEVO and the B-52’s.
And of course the punk movement wasn’t just about the music. Fashion also played a big part.
I remember putting on 18 to 20 pair of socks, alternating one white and one black, until I had them all on. Then I rolled each pair down separately creating black and white rolls up to my knees. Tucked my black pants into the socks and finished off with a Nehru jacket that was horizontally striped in orange and black. It sounds like a Halloween nightmare now, but I got lots of compliments back then for my creativity.
My high school group all went to the same college and were joined by other like-minded friends. By that time in the early 1980s punk rock was already mainstream. I don’t know whatever happened to DEVO after “Crack That Whip” and “Working in a Coal Mine,” but the B-52’s are still around, if decidedly less punk.
No one in my group can remember the name, but San Marcos had a punktype bar that we all discovered one night. It had black walls and played the kind of music we liked to dance to. And as I recall it was one of those places that charged you x-amount of money at the door and we were able to drink beer from a keg for the rest of the evening.
We had a good time there and at another place called The Green Parrot, which was a very different kind of yuppie atmosphere.
One memory I have of the bar whose name none of us can remember was getting kicked out of it one night. And I can honestly say that I was completely innocent. That time anyway. It was all my friend Candy’s fault.
Candy had undiagnosed Marfan Syndrome which eventually killed her many years later once we all found out about it. One of the most common symptoms of being a Marfan is terrible eyesight. And I mean really terrible.
Candy grew up with a domineering grandmother who decided all of her hair and clothing choices during junior high and high school which included regular Toni Home Perms.
Once we got to college she grew out her naturally straight blonde hair and made it a little more blonde. At six feet tall with long blonde hair, you can imagine how popular she was with the boys. Especially the tall ones.
And she also decided at that time to live out Dorothy Parker’s famous quote, “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses” so she went around completely blind most of the time.
The night we got kicked out of the nameless bar, Candy busted open a bathroom stall door and stepped directly into the panties of a girl who was in there using the toilet. A struggle ensued and they both ended up on the floor.
And this place was a dive bar; a place where you would not want to be on any part of the floor, let alone the bathroom floor.
Of course all of that went on in the ladies room so I was not privy to it happening, but a couple of girls in our group were witnesses.
The girl on the toilet caused a huge ruckus and we were all invited to leave.
Kicked out of a dive bar. How embarrassing.
But what a funny memory to have. kyle@rockdalereporter.com
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