The History of Asian American Clubs and the Punk Rock Scene

Asian American History 101

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 46! Punk Rock was most popular in the mid- to late-1970s through the middle of the 1980s. Although it hit its peak for only about a decade, it captured the public’s imagination in that time with it’s anti-establishment, in-your-face, DIY style. The bands didn’t achieve success on their own though. Asian American clubs on the West Coast were a huge reason for the growth of the Punk Rock scene.

In this episode, we talk about three of the most influential clubs in California to give punk rock bands a chance: Madame Wong’s and Cathay de Grande in Los Angeles as well as Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco. These clubs and their owners… Esther Wong, Ruby Chou, and Ness Aquino… all transformed their restaurants into clubs that served up culture-rich food and hardcore punk.

We open the episode by talking about the LA Dodgers win and our memories of punk rock music. In our recurring segment we bring back the API Guide to the NHL where we talk about the National Hockey League players of Asian Pacific descent so listeners who to root for.

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Segments

• 00:25 Dodgers Win the World Series and Talking Punk Rock
• 05:51 The History of Asian American Clubs and the Punk Rock and New Wave Scenes
• 25:54 The API Guide to the NHL 24-25 Edition