| Archived Interviews |
This website exists today only because courageous, intelligent and daring women back in the 1970's decided to break the rules of society. They rallied together under the banner of the punk movement. Many of them are no longer with us. This page is dedicated to their memories. Because many people have written to me to suggest other people to interview and wondering how I choose the women I interview, I want to explain my criteria for inclusion in this section. They are: 1) You must be a woman - or have been one at the time. 2) You must have been active in the L.A. punk scene before 1980. By active, I mean actively participating by frequently going to shows, taking photos, writing, being in a band, supporting the scene in some way. This section was never intended to be a "celebrities only" section. It's an oral history of the early scene from the female perspective. 3) You must be able to send me your answers via email. I don't talk on the phone. I have previously sent interviews via email to women who would seem to be obvious choices for inclusion but they have either not responded or have told me they are working on it and then they forget about it (you know who you are). So if you know someone who belongs in this interview series, remind them to finish up their interviews and send them in. Everyone gets the same eight questions. No space or time limitations. Since I think that women's voices have already been over-edited by others, I reserve the right to refuse to edit these women's responses. Instead, I intend to publish them in their entirety, raw and unexpurgated. LET THE WOMEN SPEAK! |
conducted May 2008 |
I am going to be answering the questions you sent me in a cumulative essay. I simply do not process memories and questions in a linear manner. I tried to be linear in graduate school, but I find I am breaking away from the brainwashing of a controlled, foolish environment such as universities provide. So here goes…Oh to the freedom of a creative essay… I came into the punk scene during the late 1970’s. I made all my connections at the Whiskey a Go Go. Becky, Crazy Keith, Jill Masters and Al Flipside and “crew” were my friends. I also knew Gaby Berlin, Gerber, and Jane Wiedlin and was inspired by Penelope Houston, along with her band, The Avengers. It was so fucking fantastic then. I hung out with the Middle Class, Germs and knew the Go-Go’s when they practiced at the Masque. My clothes were often given freely to (or should I say taken away by) both Bobby Pyn and Margo. It might be black, straight leg pants or a large pink button-up shirt with dark pink polka dots. One had to be very careful. I am a pivotal character between the early punk scene and the 80’s punk scene. Both scenes were different but I love them both. They were wild, wonderful days. I am now in the process of writing my memoir to be published, yet I will not include much of these early days (I will leave that to others). I am starting my memoir with my first Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine that I worked on, which is issue 16. That was my first Flipside cover, with the band Fear. I was a trained graphic artiste, which in those days meant rubber cement and X-acto knife. Al and I fell in love and I moved to Whittier and there I stayed for 10 years to become a co-editor, publisher and slave for Flipside Fanzine. In the early days, Al Flipside and I would get out our rebellious frustration in creative ways. On Sunset Blvd., near the Whiskey a Go Go are the worst billboards lining the streets. For fun, Al would fill up these little glass bulbs that he found in the garage. He would fill them with paint of all colors. We had a lot of these in the car. We would aim for the worst images we could find of stupid billboards and open fire. The most beautiful explosion of colors would cover the billboards and then we would run. It was vandalism at its best. We made something so ugly, beautiful again. At that time the peace sign of the hippies become the “V” of the punks: “Vice, vandalism and violence.” It was like being a wild child; we were so close then, running, leaping and laughing in love. Then we would run into the Whiskey, record store or down the alley for some more beer to gulp down. The 80’s punk scene was spread out from Los Angeles to Orange County (all around the world too!). Flipside grew from a local Xerox ‘zine to a glossy cover 8,000 print run. Flipside became a job for me. We came out with records, videos and had a mail order business that was like Christmas every day. I feel staff women Joy, Michele and Helen are women that were a big part of the punk scene and Flipside during the 1980’s. I love so many bands. My best live shows that I experienced are seeing The Jam, The Misfits, and Charged G.B.H… Now, I recently went to Mr. T’s Bowl in Highland Park and danced wild with the Poor Excuses. I also like The Black Widows and an all girl band from San Diego called Wild Weekend. In conclusion, he he, I read Nicole Panter’s comments about the “personal agenda to revise history,” and that is not my objective. I just want to tell it as I experienced it the best that I can before I die. I have been pushed aside and ignored many times… not anymore. I am a Mom, housewife, artist, writer, praying mantis if I have to be, and punk (I see it a cyclical way) and I love it. Wild and Free by Hudley I was talking the other night with my brother. We agreed that what was so great about Flipside, putting out the fanzine, is that no one told us what to do. We had total freedom. Total creative freedom… there was no limit to what we could do. We weren’t concerned with popularity or what is now “politically correct”. We did not care about censorship or copyrights or any bull like that. I have had similar experiences of this freedom. Once, when I was riding in the hills above Topanga Canyon, over the Mulholland Hills, my friend and I were riding our horses. Ruff had a gray appaloosa and I was riding a white mustang I named Sony. We often would go for long rides on our horses in the hills. This time, our destination was Topanga Canyon beach. On our long journeys we would tell long stories. She might start and I would continue… the stories were often very funny or scary. On this particular ride we were close, or above the town of Topanga when all of a sudden, like lightning, a giant buck deer jumped right in front of us. The buck was bigger than our horses and his antlers taller still. He was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. He turned his head to look at us… chewed sideways, and then leaped like a reindeer over and down the hill. I saw and experienced a truly free and wild animal. It makes me explode inside with joy to think about it. Another feeling similar to total freedom is when it rained at my parent’s home. I grew up in Woodland Hills and we had a dirt road leading to my home until I was thirteen years old. My parent’s house was up on a hill and we had a view of the San Fernando Valley. I used to sit up on my parents chimney during thunder and rainstorms, watching the storm clouds moving around the valley. At times, I imagined that it was a great symphony and that I was conducting some wild and wondrous rain storm, and the smell of the eucalyptus tree that grew next to that chimney fills my senses at this moment. The smell of the wet bark reminds me of the feeling of total freedom…this is still what I strive for in my life. Hudley Dedicated to Al Flipside- a wonderful man that I still respect. I am thankful to him for the many years of fun, love and hard work." |
| Hudley's first Flipside, #16 courtesy of Hudley |
| Hudley Courtesy of Hudley |
| Hudley and friends at the Hong Kong Cafe Courtesy of Hudley |
Hudley Flipside's interview came about completely by chance. My husband happened to notice a message on the Masque MySpace page that seemed to be directed to me. I should clarify that I have nothing to do with the MySpace Masque page. I conduct these interviews with women who were involved in the early LA Punk scene for my own website, but I haven't been in contact with most of the interview subjects in over 25 years and I don't usually try to track people down for interviews. They typically happen by chance, just like this one. Hudley's interview also differs from the norm in that she chose to completely disregard the question and answer format I sent to her. That's great, because I encourage all of my interview subjects to go off topic and write at length, and Hudley took me at my word. Her expressed desire for total freedom is as close to the essence of what punk meant for many of us in the early L.A. scene. |
Hudley's leather jacket. |
| Present day Hudley and her son, Shyane. "Cookies and Motherhood." |
| Hudley and Colin of Charged GBH. |
| Hud, Glen E. Friedman, Shawn Stern, Lee Ving. courtesy of Hudley |
| Hudley in the Whittier Flipside offices. |
| Hudley |
