K.O. JAMS rock club 1981 - 1982

K.O. Jams is the stuff of legends. The short lived rock club which was owned by Bruce Fitzpatrick and Richard Sadler in Murfreesboro, Tennessee was located at 1511 East Main Street which was just a few minutes walk from any Middle Tennessee State University dorm room. The club opened in October of 1981 and closed for good after an April 1, 1982 show. A March 1993 article in the M.T.S.U. student paper Sidelines titled "The day the music died" mentioned that "K.O. Jams was notorious for not only providing an outlet for local acts but also for booking major artists before they got big; R.E.M. for example, Violent Femmes, B-52's and Circle Jerks had all played K.O. Jams at some point." Then the article says "it got run out of town due in large part to the town's distaste of thrash and punk shows." Well! Well, well, well. It is true that R.E.M. did play K.O. Jams and lots of local bands played there too. Some of them might have been considered punk, but I don't know if thrash was part of anyone's musical vernacular in 1981/82. I was too young to see any of the shows here, but I had a friend who managed to get in to see the New Years Eve show on December 31, 1981 and his mind was blown by the high energy of Jason and the Nashville Scorchers. The Scorchers played K.O. Jams multiple times in its short history as did many great local and regional bands. But before we dive into the subject at hand let's look at a short little history. 

1511 East Main Street opened in 1959 as Aubrey Parker's Cleaning in College Heights Shopping Center. The storefront would remain a cleaner going through several different owners and names over the next decade and a half. Chanelo's Pizza opened there in 1976. 

K.O. Jams (I assume the K.O. was referencing the MC5 tune "Kick Out The Jams") would open in October of 1981, but even something that concrete has some mystery around it as October 28, 1981 was not a Thursday, but was a Wednesday instead. I suspect the ad writer just goofed on the date. If you wanted to be part of "The Modern Mode" you could go on opening night and see The Times and The Resistors perform.  Per a newly acquired flyer The Times and The Resistors played on Thursday and Friday so I've updated the list at the bottom. The Times would later become Radio One and The Resistors became the Dayts. Local Nashville band the DRMLS would play on Halloween. Lucky for us there is some DRMLS content on YouTube. I love how they were said to show up to play and then would leave immediately so there was a mystique about them. 

Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost

The Times - Jet Set

The Times - I Didn't Know

The story of the DRMLS

The DRMLS - Tell Me

U.S.R., which stood for United States Rapture, had a tune on the Praxis Records release Never In Nashville. Treva Spontaine and the Graphics were a North Carolina band who would  put out the Don Dixon produced album The Graphic - People In Glass in 1984. 

USR - We The People 1981

The Graphic - I Dream Alone 1984

November 10, 1981 a one man band Jim Blain would appear. The Airsharks and Next Exit rounded out the week. Lots of ads in the M.T.S.U. student paper Sidelines for these upcoming shows. The Airsharks were Recording Industry Management students who seem to have played around Murfreesboro in the fall of 1981 and spring 1982. Next Exit was a Murfreesboro cover band.

Tuesday November 17, 1981 would see Tomboy play K.O. Jams and they must have been a favorite as they play the club often. The only thing I could find on them was that they were fronted by singer Pam Batson. The Lost Pigeons (later Pidgen), originally called the Daters, was a Nashville/Madison band featuring Dale Brann on guitar/vox/songwriter  and Scott Gilbert on drums. They had done a live broadcast on Vandy's 91 Rock from Cantrell's in Nashville back in September. I also couldn't turn up much on the Crowd. So many bands gave themselves generic sorts of names which make it difficult to research.

Canyon was most likely a Southern rock style local band. They would also play K.O. Jams several times.

The Times are back on Monday, November 23, 1981. 

The Tennessean began listing the K.O. Jams schedule toward the end of November 1981, but the ads in Sidelines were still the best resource to find out who played the club back then.

The Richie Owens led Resistors come back to K.O. Jams on November 24, 1981 with Bite opening. The Mercenaries was a Nashville power pop trio who put out at least one single with Oh, Sally! on the A side. The Jap Sneakers were also a Nashville band, but I can't find out anything about them other than they opened for bands like Cloverbottom and No Art so it's safe to say they were probably punkish New Wave music. X-O-4 or is it X-0-4 is a Nashville band that hasn't left a trace for me to find other than a few listings for gigs in The Tennessean and Sidelines. 

The Mercenaries - Oh, Sally!

No Art were one of the four Nashville bands featured on the Praxis Records "Never In Nashville" release. The Hots were a popular club band, but I don't know much about them other than one of the members of the band ticked off local Nashville writer/critic Keith A. Gordon AKA the Reverend Keith A. Gordon once. I learned that through another indispensable resource: Keith's book The Other Side of Nashville. It's worth buying just for the Chip Chilton section. Since it says heavy metal invasion under Invader, it's safe to say they were a metal band. I'm pretty sure they were local from either Murfreesboro or Nashville.

Flyer provided to me by Dave Willie

No Art - English Boys 1981

Factual was a great Nashville band that I guess would be considered New Wave with a decided British synth bent to their sound. They put out several great records from 1982 - 1984.

Jason and the Nashville Scorchers play for the first time on Ladies Night at K.O. Jams on December 10, 1981. I wonder how they were received? I imagine they went over well with their powder keg of punk crossed with country. They were set to make a meteoric rise to the top of the Nashville music scene and they played K.O. Jams often during the club's short life. There's an excellent series of interviews with Warner Hodges, Jeff Johnson, and Jason Ringenberg conducted by the fine folks of the Rock Block. Please go check them out when you've got a free hour or two. The interviews are full of fantastic stories. 

Factual - Wound In Time

Factual - Think To The Beat

Factual - Your Way

Jason and the Nashville Scorchers - I'd Rather Die Young / Candy Kisses from 1982

Jason and the Nashville Scorchers 1982

Jason and the Nashville Scorchers - I Can't Help Myself 1983

Jason and the Scorchers - Absolutely Sweet Marie from 1984\

the best rock video ever made

Jason and the Scorchers - White Lies from 1985

The last week of M.T.S.U.'s semester sees Bite playing on Monday December 14 and Tuesday December 15. There was an electro synth song "John Wayne" by a band named The Bite which came out on a compilation in 1981, but that's not the Bite which played K.O.'s. The local version of the Bite was a nascent version of Walk The West. Will Golemon told me they were originally called the Rebel Bite.  Tomboy and the Resistors play K.O. Jams again this week. The most interesting to me is the great Louisville group Babylon Dance Band  which morphed into Antietam by 1984. 

Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost

Babylon Dance Band - The Remains of The Beat 1981

There are no shows listed after the December 18, 1981 Babylon Dance Band appearance at K.O. Jams until January 7, 1982 No Art gig. The reason for this is since the Middle Tennessee State University fall semester was over most of K.O. Jams's clientele was gone. Once more we have to dive into the netherworld of memory and proclaim from the past that there had to be a New Year's Eve show even though it wasn't promoted because it is the Jason and the Nashville Scorchers New Year's Eve show at K.O. Jams which is remembered fondly by way too many people for it to have never happened. Right?

School was back session by January 7, 1982 and No Art are back to rock Murfreesboro. The 8th and 9th see Slayer at K.O. Jams. There were multiple hard rock / metal style bands named Slayer in the early 80's. I even created my own fictional Slayer band when I was a sophomore in high school. I wrote terrible song lyrics and drew pictures of the band onstage while creating an elaborately detailed history and discography. There was a Slayer out of Arizona. There was the band that would become famous as Slayer who hailed from Huntington Park, California. There was a San Antonio metal band named Slayer who later changed theirs to S.A. Slayer. There's a chance that the Slayer that played those shows in Murfreesboro was the Texas band, but it's probably more likely to have been some locals named Slayer. 

The Scorchers come back to K.O. Jams on January 12, 1982 and they get a nice write up on them in M.T.S.U.'s Sidelines thanks to Aurora Daniels. 

January 13, 1982 The Times are on the bill again and The Bunnies appear for not only their first time at K.O. Jams, it was also the very first Bunnies show. The Bunnies were led by the super cool Donna Frost. You can consult Rev. Keith A. Gordon's The Other Side of Nashville book for much more detail on Donna and The Bunnies. Here's a few quotes from Donna on the K.O.Jams scene from Facebook and from a message she sent me, "The Bunnies loved playing at K.O. Jams. And the nights we were not playing we were there to support our friends who were playing. One of the best clubs around. R.E.M. played there when they were just starting out too! I treasure those memories at K.O.'s." The videos below are from a show at Spanky's in 1982. "Louie Louie" is a cover of the Pretenders tune. Rocking great stuff and of course "You're Too Possessive" is a Joan Jett cover. The Bunnies had great taste.

The year should been 1982. Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost. 

The Bunnies - You're Too Possessive 1982

The Bunnies - Louie Louie 1982

Falling Rock would be on the bill January 16, 1982. Mike Poole who became the house sound guy at K.O. Jams said that he didn't recall much about Falling Rock other than they were locals who played blues rock.

The Bunnies are once again opening for The Times on January 20, 1982. 

Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost

Let's fast forward the tape one more day to January 21, 1982 and we get the one and perhaps only appearance at K.O. Jams of another Nashville band I got to see a few years later the Wrong Band. Those guys were lots of fun. Their 1983 single "I Live In My Car" is a New Wave classic. 

The White Animals brought their Sixties meets New Wave / punk and dub sound to K.O. Jams on January 27, 1982. I wouldn't see these guys live until the spring of 1985 when I caught an all-ages show at Cantrell's. They are one of my favorites bands of all time. One of the most popular posts ever at this little blog was about the White Animals. 

White Animals - I Need You So 1981 

White Animals - Don't Care 1982

 

White Animals - Constant Attention 1982

White Animals - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' 1982

The Mercenaries were back during that week in 1982 along with Falling Rock. There's an act billed as "They're hard, they're cruel, they're" Rob'n the Blind. Rob'n the Blind was a mod inspired band led by Rob Hoskins who would later lead the dynamite ska bands Freedom of Expression and A.K.A.: Rudie. Vietnam was a post punk band out of Atlanta. 

Vietnam - Scorchothon

White Animals - Girls 1982

The week of February 2, 1982 sees lots of familiar faces with USR, Tomboy, Jason and the Nashville Scorchers, and Canyon all on the schedule. 

Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost

Joe Loftis and the Pinks make their first and most likely only appearance on February 10, 1982. Ed Fitzgerald and Civic Duty play on the next evening. I enjoyed their Talking Heads/Lou Reed/Cars vibe. Then it's either The Bunnies on Friday night and Slayer on Saturday or maybe both bands played that weekend. 

Joe Loftis and the Pinks

Ed Fitzgerald and Civic Duty - Still Water

Jason and the Nashville Scorchers are back on February 16, 1982. No Art, Factual, USR, and The Pigeons make their return too. A trio of bands that haven't played K.O. Jams come to town: Mary Kay and the Cosmetics and the first Nashville punk band to spring up after the British punk explosion: Cloverbottom.

Cloverbottom's independent 4 song EP/single "Anarchy In Music City" is an ultra rare collectors item nowadays. I wish someone would post all of the tracks from it on YouTube, but mp3's are available at the Cloverbottom website. 

Mary Kay and the Cosmetics were primarily a cover band according to a comment from one of the band members. 

Flyer provided to me by Dave Willie

Go, Jimmy, Bam! would later become Go, Jimmy, Dub! But I was provided a poster by Jayme Brunson with that show billed as Factual and The Most. It's possible all 3 bands played. 

Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost

Cloverbottom - Battery 1981

There's no fancy Sidelines ad for the February 23, 1982 week which is a shame since this is the week that future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members R.E.M. played K.O. Jams. It was Thursday February 25, 1982. Their pals Jason and the Nashville Scorchers had played just the night before. I know my friend Jimmy was at the R.E.M. show. R.E.M. is one of the most beloved bands that helped build and then come out of the college rock club scene. I know my friends and I took great pride that they came from Athens, Georgia just like the B-52's. I couldn't find anything on the band which played Tuesday night called Paradox, but they were most likely a local Nashville group. Setlist.fm shows R.E.M. also playing on March 26, 1981 (date changed from 1982 to 1981 which is strange as hell), but I haven't found anything in any of the local papers to validate it especially since the earliest club date listing for KO Jams was later that year in October as noted before. My friend Ben thinks its the Mandela effect in action, but rest assured dear reader we at Soulfish Stew are trying to get to the bottom of this time hopping deal. It would have been right at the beginning of the Radio Free Europe tour. I will add it to the list at the bottom as it probably did happen.

Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost

R.E.M. - Wolves, Lower 1982

R.E.M. - Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars) 1982

The final month of K.O. Jams begins with the Bite coming back to play. The Logarhythms who would be billed as from Chicago when they played 7 days later rock the house with Modern Emotion on March 3, 1982. No Art returns with the quote (don't be misled, Pablo). If anyone knows just what that means please clue me in. The Need are another band with a generic name so searching for information on them is only produces a few listings for other shows. I would bet they were a local covers band. 

Plaza Drugs

The band Plaza Drugs got their name from the famous Atlanta 24 hour pharmacy

March 16, 1982 Ed Fitzgerald and Civic Duty take the stage for the last time at K.O. Jams. I hope they played "Dark Stars" that night. I love that one. The Bunnies play the Shamrock Blast for St. Patrick's Day. I suppose The Most were the special surprise guests. Factual and Tomboy round out the week and perhaps Babylon Dance Band played too.

Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost

The Bunnies playing K.O. Jams "Shamrock Blast"

photo provided by Donna Frost

March 23, 1982 the Daily News Journal noted that Richard Sadler had reported a burglary to K.O. Jams on Monday. I couldn't find any show listings again until Tuesday March 30 when a band named Pan plays. The Times and The Mercenaries come back for one more gig.

Flyer provided by Jayme Brunson via Tony Frost

Flyer provided to me by Dave Willie

I don't know if the burglary was the last straw or what the reason was for the club closing after The Most and Jason and the Nashville Scorchers played on April 1st, but that was it for K.O. Jams. I do know that the last show was a raucous affair which has been conflated with the New Year's Eve Jason and the Scorchers show. The New Year's Eve show has the reputation for furniture being smashed, but my friend Mr. X was at this show and while it was a rocking show that made him a Scorchers fan for life he did not recall chairs being thrown out windows. There are rumors about the demise of the club, but I'll leave those for the gossip columnists out there. 

The most complete list of shows for K.O. Jams I have been able to compile. 

October 28, 1981 - Wednesday: possibly The Times and The Resistors but more likely it was...

October 29, 1981 - Thursday: The Times and The Resistors

October 30, 1981 - Friday: The Times and The Resistors 

October 31, 1981 - Saturday Halloween: The Drmls

November 5, 1981 - Thursday: U.S.R

November 6, 1981 - Friday: Treva Spontaine and The Graphics

November 7, 1981 - Saturday: Treva Spontaine and The Graphics

November 10, 1981 - Tuesday: Jim Blain

November 11, 1981 - Wednesday: The Airsharks

November 12, 1981 - Thursday: The Airsharks

November 13, 1981 - Friday: Next Exit

November 14, 1981 - Saturday: Next Exit

November 17, 1981 - Tuesday: Tomboy

November 18, 1981 - Wednesday: U.S.R. and X-0-4

November 19, 1981 - Thursday: Lost Pigeons

November 20, 1981 - Friday: Canyon

November 21, 1981 - Saturday: The Crowd

November 23, 1981 - Monday: The Times

November 24, 1981 - Tuesday: Bite and The Resistors

November 25, 1981 - Wednesday: The Mercenaries

November 26, 1981 - Thursday Thanksgiving the club is closed

November 27, 1981 - Friday: Jap Sneakers

November 28, 1981 - Saturday: X-0-4

December 1, 1981 - Tuesday: No Art

December 2, 1981 - Wednesday: Tomboy

December 3, 1981 - Thursday: The Hots

December 4, 1981 - Friday: Invader

December 5, 1981 - Saturday: Invader

December 7, 1981 - Monday: The Crowd

December 8, 1981 - Tuesday: Tomboy

December 9, 1981 - Wednesday: Factual

December 10, 1981 - Thursday Ladies Night: Jason and the Nashville Scorchers

December 11, 1981 - Friday: The Times

December 12, 1981 - Saturday: Canyon

December 14, 1981 - Monday: Bite

December 15, 1981 - Tuesday: Bite

December 16, 1981 - Wednesday: Tomboy

December 17, 1981 - Thursday: The Resistors

December 18, 1981 - Friday: Babylon Dance Band

There are no listings found past December 18, 1981 until January 7, 1982. M.T.S.U's semester was over and with all of the college students gone home for Christmas I can't verify if the club was open, BUT there must have been a New Year's Eve show with Jason and the Nashville Scorchers because too many people remember it. 

January 7, 1982 - Thursday: No Art

January 8, 1982 - Friday: Slayer

January 9, 1982 - Saturday: Slayer

January 12, 1982 - Tuesday: Jason and the Nashville Scorchers

January 13, 1982 - Wednesday: The Times and The Bunnies

January 14, 1982 - Thursday: The Resistors

January 15, 1982 - Friday: The Mercenaries

January 16, 1982 - Saturday: Falling Rock

January 19, 1982 - Tuesday: Slayer

January 20, 1982 - Wednesday: The Times and The Bunnies

January 21, 1982 - Thursday: The Wrong Band

January 22, 1982 - Friday: Canyon

January 23, 1982 - Saturday: Canyon

January 26, 1982 - Tuesday: The Mercenaries

January 27, 1982 - Wednesday: The White Animals

January 28, 1982 - Thursday: Vietnam

January 29, 1982 - Friday: Rob'n The Blind

January 30, 1982 - Saturday: Falling Rock

February 2, 1982 - Tuesday: U.S.R.

February 3, 1982 - Wednesday: Tomboy

February 4, 1982 - Thursday: Jason and the Nashville Scorchers

February 5, 1982 - Friday: Canyon

February 6, 1982 - Saturday: Canyon

February 9, 1982 - Tuesday: Falling Rock

February 10, 1982 - Wednesday: Joe Loftis and the Pinks

February 11, 1982 - Thursday: Ed Fitzgerald and Civic Duty

February 12, 1982 - Friday: The Bunnies, but Slayer was also listed as being the band on this date

February 13, 1982 - Saturday: Slayer

February 16, 1982 - Tuesday: Jason and the Nashville Scorchers and No Art

February 17, 1982 - Wednesday: Factual and Go Jimmy Bam! Flyer with Factual and The Most

February 18, 1982 - Thursday: U.S.R. and Mary Kay and the Cosmetics

February 19, 1982 - Friday: The Pigeons 

February 20, 1982 - Saturday: Cloverbottom

February 23, 1982 - Tuesday: Paradox

February 24, 1982 - Wednesday: Jason and the Nashville Scorchers

February 25, 1982 - Thursday: R.E.M.

No listing for February 26 and 27, 1982 which were Friday and Saturday nights. They were labeled TBA.

March 2, 1982 - Tuesday: The Bite

March 3, 1982 - Wednesday: Modern Emotions and The Logarhythms

March 4, 1982 - Thursday: No Art

March 5, 1982 - Friday: The Need

March 6, 1982 - Saturday: The Need

March 8, 1982 - Monday: Starsearch perhaps this was a new talent showcase or contest?

March 9, 1982 - Tuesday: X-0-4

March 10, 1982 - Wednesday: The Logarhythms

March 11, 1982 - Thursday: Atlanta's Plaza Drugs

March 12, 1982 - Friday: Babylon Dance Band

March 16, 1982 - Tuesday: Ed Fitzgerald and Civic Duty

March 17, 1982 - Wednesday: The Bunnies and The Most

March 18, 1982 - Thursday: Factual

March 19, 1982 - Friday: either Tomboy or Babylon Dance Band perhaps both

March 26, 1982 - Friday: per Setlist.fm R.E.M. 

March 30, 1982 - Tuesday: Pan

March 31, 1982 - Wednesday: The Times and The Mercenaries

April1, 1982 - Thursday: The Most and Jason and the Nashville Scorchers

April 2, 1982 and April 3, 1982 were listed as TBA, but I'm pretty sure the Scorchers were the last band to play at K.O. Jams. 

So that's it. All I could find from old newspapers and chatting with Mike Poole (Go, Jimmy, Bam!) and Donna Frost (The Bunnies), consulting Rev. Keith A. Gordon's The Other Side of Nashville, Nashville 80's Rock website, Jayme Brunson, and YouTube. I do have a stash of Nashville Intelligence Reports and Metro's, but I didn't delve into them. I may do so soon and if I find any more information on K.O. Jams or the bands with scant  info here I will be sure to update this post. 1511 East Main Street is still there, but my friend Tim X. says that K.O. Jams was not in that location, but was one door down where B & L Pizza was located. Since that's the case I can say I once played gigs at what used to be K.O. Jams as my band the Dislocated played B & L several times in the late 80's. I also used to go in the 1511 East Main Street building often when it was Collector's World in the late 80's. The business located there is East Main Street Smoke and Brew. I wonder if the staff or customers hear a stray ghost guitar chord from the empty lot next door.

Here's what we learned: R.E.M. definitely played K.O. Jams. The B-52's, Violent Femmes, and the Circle Jerks probably didn't, but as there are plenty of open dates and unaccounted for weeks it wouldn't be entirely impossible. Even if those groups never set foot in K.O. Jams I think the club made its mark in Murfreesboro music history and that is something well worth noting. I just wish I had been old enough to get in. 

Your bonus content today is:

The type of soundboard used at K.O. Jams

Jayme Brunson has decided to create a website to document the Murfreesboro, Tennessee scene focusing mainly on venues rather than specific years, bands, or genres. She welcomes contributions. The site is called Bucket City DIY. Here's the portion specific to KO Jams. I really appreciate the passing on of those flyers that had been provided to her by Tony Frost of The Bunnies.