The Jars and the Saucers

Joey from the Saucers remembers the Berkeley Punk Scene:The mos

t well known group I was ever in was called the Saucers. We're talking '77-'80. We and a group called the Jars were the only Punk -like bands in Berkeley. The Jars were fans of the 13th Floor Elevators and Pere Ubu. The Saucers dug the Clash and Ska . Both groups sported Farfisa organs.The heart of the alternative scene was across the bay in San Francisco at the Mabuhay Gardens on Broadway. The hardcore punks there begrudgingly accepted our presence at first. Berkeley was known mostly for Hippie-style jam bands. The Natives were big. Psychotic Pineapple did neo-60's garage. Blues bands were all over. We had more trouble with the Berkeley music establishment than in S.F. They distrusted the whole punk scene-they saw it as a threat to their existence-and they were right. The wild thing was that the local Bay area college radio stations were all programming punk oriented music. Between KALX in Berkeley, KUSF in S.F., and a few South Bay colleges, the airwaves were brimming with the new sounds. The whole phenom was reminiscent of the mid/ late 60's, when the Brits and hippies replaced Surf & Pop and free-form FM took control of the industry itself. We recorded our biggest hit, "Piggy's Jukebox" on a 4-track in the drummer's living room and two hours later it was getting airplay. Now that was exciting! The stations loved to play new stuff from unknowns. It was exactly the opposite of where radio is at these days, with "Alternative" playlists. These stations had no playlists. The DJ was the person who decided what to play on their own show. Between the bands, the numerous the hole-in-the-wall venues, the fashion of anti-fashion, and the stations, the music couldn't help but push forward. Nationally the same thing was going on, so it was a heady time to be a part of. I played organ for the Saucers and shared vocals with Dave the guitarist. . Craziest gig we ever did? With Flipper. Some crazy person rushing the stage spilled soda all over my keyboards! Another time at Barrington Hall with the Jars, some nutcase naked woman jumped on stage and knocked the keyboards over on a 45 degree angle. I kept playing on one knee until the security guys bundled her off. Barrington Hall-that was Animal House for sure.

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I was drummer for the Jars and I can't remember much was all a haze.
It is true that we helped open up the I cafe and a few other venues to Punk in the late 70's.
Dose were da daze.