King Tut’s City Gardens Memories
Just Blocks from the Old Korvette’s Plaza …
Memories of King Tut’s City Gardens and Randy Now
I recently came across a movie trailer about my all time favorite club, King Tut’s City Gardens in Trenton. They started having shows just about the time I turned 18 (the drinking age in NJ back then). It was the late 70′s and I moved just outside of Trenton, NJ. The locals started to tell me about the local college radio stations WTSR and WPRB. At the time many of the DJ’s were playing things like Genesis songs that were too long for the radio but some DJ’s, like Randy Now, started playing all kinds of stuff. Randy started calling his show “Punk, Funk, and Other Junk.” He had an eclectic show with interviews with people like Lee Parris, the DJ and promoter who killed himself and left a message on his answering machine: “you can leave a message but i won’t get because I am dead …”
Pre-City Gardens
I was never in the music industry (unless you count being sued by Alanis Morisette over a domain name and was quoted in a national publication saying I liked Fiona Apple much better). It was interesting to see the movie trailer to see how important City Gardens was to people in the music industry. My parents both danced on American Bandstand before Dick Clark hosted it and they bought me my first record, “Meet the Beatles.” As a kid I had stacks of 45′s I played on a fold-out record player. I moved to suburban NJ and the favorded radio stations were WMMR/WYSP and I lost count of how many times I saw the Led Zeppelin movie. My first concert was 1977 Aerosmith at the Spectrum. After a few songs someone threw a firecracker that injured Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and I was close enough to be hit by some debris. The next time they came back Steve Perry got hit in the head with a bottle and the show stopped (The announcer said “Philly, you have real problem”). Another Spectrum show I went to was Rush and Blondie. Blondie was accused of being “punk” and mayhem ensued. An account of the show:
“It was at the spectrum in Philly on a cold jan. night. i was sitting on the first level with the stage to my right. There was a dance floor (standing room only on the floor ) and it was packed. Blondie came on and the Rush fans started booing . They played a song or two and then the trash started flying onto the stage. I remember one of the Blondie band members giving the finger and then the drummer kicked his drum set over and started to walk off stage, followed by the rest of the band.”
What’s a City Gardens? Where are the Flowers?
I used to go into a record store in Trenton called the Record Collector that was a big hangout (especially on the day the imports were delivered). In 1979 a hot new artist from England was scheduled to play place called “City Gardens” in Trenton. I asked what was “City Gardens” and he told me it was blues club in town. The band was Adam and the Ants who was supposed to come to NY/NJ after a UK club tour. I remember asking about getting a fake ID because I wasn’t 18 for a few weeks (there was no such thing as “all ages” shows back then). The tour was canceled and the Ants broke off from Adam a few weeks later.
My first show was Bow Wow Wow on the See Jungle … Tour and I remember the talk on the radio was whether Anabella was allowed in City Gardens because she was 16 at the time. I didn’t know what to expect, I had heard of Madison Square Garden and Boston Gardens. All I know is that I expected a lot of flowers. people were warning me not to go there, fights all the time and the parking lot was full of glass.
I can still remember the tag line of the original promos that said “King Tut’s City Gardens … Central New Jersey’s ONLY New Wave Club … Just blocks from the Old Korvette’s Plaza.” Korvette’s was sort of the Target in the 1960 and they often sold hit records cheaply to bring people into the store so it was well known the local music fans so I guess they used that as a landmark. Click here to hear one of thr original promos mentioning Korvettes.
Just like everyone else I got lost the first time. I ended up calling from a closed down Korvette’s and I didn’t see any flowers anywhere. I remember parking close to the phone booth and being ready to jump into my car and take off if I saw any movement coming towards me. When I found the placed I walked in … and there was Annabelle sitting at the bar with the band.
This was back in the pre “I Want Candy” era before Annabelle had the Mohawk. She was way ahead of her time putting out “c-30, c-60, c-90 go!,” a song that promoted recording songs off the radio instead of buying the record. It was put out on cassette and the b-side was blank for taping. EMI wouldn’t promote it and then dropped them shortly afterward. I got right up front and I was a few feet away from Annabelle for the entire show. I could not believe how good this was. I was hooked for life going to these shows and I knew I had to be close to the stage to enjoy the shows.
The Ambiance
I can remember it was so obvious which cars were going to City Gardens. When you got gas at the stations near the club there was a steady steam of people asking directions. The station attendants started telling people they never heard of the place because they were getting annoyed at all the punks bothering them and not buying gas. I always heard City gardens was an old airplane hanger. That never made sense to me because why would there be airplaces on Calhoun St? Recent items I read say it was an old bible warehouse and auto dealer.
I was no hardcore punker or skinhead but I never got into any trouble going to City Gardens. If you keep to yourself there were enough people there to cause trouble that you would never be noticed. I never knew the intricacies of the different types of skin heads but I remember one incident of a young wanna-be skinhead who wore real Nazi stuff. He kept going up to people dressed in punk (sort of skin head) fashion. They all shunned the guy and he eventually left all frustrated before the show even started.
I do remember getting caught up in the Wall of Death a few times. If you were careful you just stayed out of their way they eventually tire out. It was great because it opened up the area in front of the stage and I could get closer. The stage divers were a pain sometimes but a good trick was to take their shoe off and throw it in the crowd. They couldn’t see who took their shoe and it would take them a good 2 or 3 songs to find it. You couldn’t get high tops off so you just had to hold on and I would start to untie the laces. It was interesting to hear the comment from the Bouncing Souls about seeing all the fights and the bald heads going out the door. You could never see who was actually fighting because it was always a group of people all circled around the fight. I would usually take advantage of the confusion to get a spot closer to the stage.
I remember always making sure I was on the mailing list so i would get the punk cards. Back then it was difficult to get concert calendars. In South Jersey you had to go to 7-11 because they carried Aquarian. Plus you could get the punk card punched and get a dollar off admission. I probably went to half the shows for free in the early days. I had WTSR and WPRB on speed dial and they would always give away tickets (I was often the only person trying to win them). I remember the plan to have Bon Jovi play there. I thought it would have ruined the place to have them play!
Gotta Get Close
I had a whole series of tricks to get closer. The “inch ahead” method is where you adjust your weight but you really move up an inch at a time. The “my friend is over there” method where you pretend your friend is off to the side and you are trying to get to them (In reality it is zig-zag path to the stage). The easiest maneuver is to “wait for the drunk” where you wait for drunk to push their way up and you follow behind and act like you are being pushed. They get in all the fights and they usually lave to get a drink anyway then you take their spot. I got a few bloody lips but I never really got hurt.
I do remember the photocopied cockroaches. Someone put them on the ledges in the ceiling and they had fans they turned on when it got crowded and hot. When the fans came on some of these cockroaches would rain down on the crowd, I was always fascinated that someone took the time to make 2-sided copies with the top and bottom of the roaches. It turns out they were left over from the Butthole Surfers’ concert.
The Staff
I went there enough to see a lot of shows but I never really hung out and I never really knew the staff. The owners niece was one of the early bartenders (and girlfriend of Randy Now). She hated being a bartender and they finally put her on soda detail when the all ages shows started. I remember my favorite bartender was Jon Stewart. I remember being surprised that Jon made sure he knew my name the first time I met him and knew what I drank. He was probably the only staff member who knew my name. In his interview with Larry King he mentions an X concert where a cop got hit and he ended with his gun. It was a typical City Gardens sellout with people packed up against the stage and regular mayhem. I remember stopped the show for a few moments and rumors said a cop got beat up but I never really knew what happened. I remember going to a Ntzer Ebb show in ’91 there just after Jon Stewart quit to bartender at a comedy club. The staff and patrons were all discussing how they would miss his jokes.
It was interesting to see the comment in film trailer that City Gardens was an oasis for touring bands. It was my oasis. At the time I was a physics major at Rutgers and those that did listen to music were interested in classical music. I remember several of them getting together to go see Yitzak Pearlman in New York around the same time I going up there to see Nina Hagen on the NunSexMonkRock tour.
New York was a long and expensive proposition and I only went a few times. Most of the bands played at City Gardens at a cheap price. I remember going free to many shows free because I would have WTSR and WPRB on speed dial and they would give away free passes all the time. City Gardens would promote this idea in their early promos (“Sheena doesn’t go to NY anymore to see good music … You don’t have to either” early promo). (Another ’82 promo)
The Shows
I can’t remember all the shows I saw there and I threw away all my ticket stubs and song lists I grabbed off stage. I can remember seeing the new wave bands like Lene Lovich and the Halloween shows with bands like Alien Sex Fiend and The Cramps; the hardcore shows with bands like Flipper. I remember seeing the Plasmatics after Wendy O. Williams got arrested twice the previous week for indecent exposure with a shotgun. I had to fight some of the largest Mohawks and hairdos I ever saw to get up close. She didn’t go that far at City Gardens but it was one of the more interesting shows. I remember trying to catch a half-guitar she just sawed. This short guy dove into the pack just as she threw the guitar and I was sure it hit him in the head. I thought he was dead but when the pile cleared he came out with the half-guitar.
I think I saw the The Fall every time they played there and I ended up seeing them more than 15 times. Mark E. Smith would always leave the stage all pissed off and people would say it had something to do with City Gardens. But it happened every time I saw them until I saw them in London. After I joined the Fall mailing list I realized drinking and travel didn’t mix for the guy and his tours were sometimes scheduled to coincide with court dates from the drunken episodes on the last trip.
The Signs
One day City gardens put up signs saying “No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes.” What???? The discussion at the club was intense with many predicting the downfall of the club. Of course who in their right mind would think that City Gardens would follow directions? Looks like some attorneys got hold of the sign and they came up with their own version. (House of Blues, Atlantic City). It is just not the same seeing these bands in Atlantic City. The Sex Pistols in a room with the chrystal chandelier is just not right. It is interesting to watch the casino staff when mosh pits start to form for bands like NIN and Korn. For about 20 mintues the staff looks at each other now knowing what to do and then they start to threaten ejection.
The End of City Gardens
Over the years the City gardens lineup dwindled. I always heard that Philly clubs told bands that if they played City Gardens then they could not play Philly shows. The early days Philly was 21 and most venues didn’t want punk/new wave. Once City gardens started catching on things slowly changed.
I remember the horror when I found out City gardens closed. I had moved out of the area and I was home on Christmas vacation and i though I would check on good old City Gardens. When I called the number I got a person speaking Spanish.