New Song – Club 88
I remember the waitress at Club 88
On Pico and Granville 1978
I’ve had this song on the back burner for a while and I’m glad to say it’s finally finished. Lyrically, it’s about a time long ago in a faraway land (OK, Los Angeles in the late 1970s). Musically it’s a bit retro as well, as I wanted to recreate a 1980s power pop sound that fit the era.
Club 88 was a nightclub in Santa Monica that, for a few short years, was a popular venue for the punk, power pop and new wave bands that sprung up in the LA music scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. My band, The P-15s, played there often, along with other bands such as The Lies, Daily Planet, X, The Blasters, The Motels, the Go-Gos, and too many others to name. We opened for John Hiatt soon after he signed with MCA. And I ate at the Mexican restaurant across the street with Bill Bateman and Dave Alvin of The Blasters and Lux Interior and Poison Ivy of The Cramps.
I’m not sure if it’s my advancing age or the current state of the world that brought this song on, but it was fun to escape back in time for this musical moment. A bit of nostalgia, name dropping and naughtiness. And all of it is true.
I remember the waitress at Club 88
On Pico and Granville 1978
Budweiser in bottles was what we all drank
Back then, back then
We were boys with guitars playing songs that we wrote
In a dingy apartment with smoke in our throats
A friend knew a friend who worked at Capitol Records
Back then, back then
Grab your guitar and sing that sweet melody
For the working girls
Today and tomorrow will soon be a memory
Don’t forget the working girl
Don’t forget the working girl
New wave and punk bands were breaking the law
Exene was drinking her beer with a straw
That waitress was keeping an eye on us all
Back then, back then
The Go-Gos and Blasters were playing one night
At a table up front someone started a fight
She dipped like Ginger Rogers and kicked like Bruce Lee
Back then, back then
Hrab your guitar and sing that sweet melody
For the working girls
Today and tomorrow will soon be a memory
Don’t forget the working girl
Don’t forget the working girl
Turn off the amplifiers
Turn out the lights
The music’s over
Come back another night
Another night
Another night
Another night
Christmas was coming, I sat at the bar
Early one evening before the show started
I asked for a chance, she laughed and she danced
Back then, back then
Then the boys from the bands, like wise men arrived
Bearing gifts for the girl who put stars in their eyes
She was everyone’s friend and nobody’s fool
Back then, back then
So grab your guitar and sing that sweet melody
For the working girls
Every tomorrow will soon be a memory
Don’t forget the working girls
Don’t forget the working girls