![]() Ghosts of places and people who once asserted themselves as a potent cultural countercurrent in the grimy streets of old Los Angeles. But besides the gilded, the tall, and the expansive landmarks of Los Angeles-far below street level-there are ghosts haunting small and unassuming buildings, basements, and urban wreckage. ![]() The aging palm trees, Watts Tower, the Hollywood Sign, and the tall buildings of Downtown. For a metropolis of this scale, a person can hardly be faulted for being drawn to the most obvious, attention-getting landmarks when exploring the history of the place. The city and its surrounding metropolitan areas fade seamlessly into the West, East and North-any land not bounded by the Pacific Ocean. Retrieved June 29, 2020.The story of Los Angeles is far too large to ever be fully told. "In and Out of Control with Paul Greenstein". ^ a b Darling, Nikki (April 26, 2012).She was survived by her second husband, Harry Wong, two children, Frank Wong and Melinda Braun, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Įsther Wong died from emphysema and lung cancer on August 14, 2005, in Los Angeles, only a day after her 88th birthday. Acts that year included Devendra Banhart, Vampire Weekend's secret 2009 Halloween show, The Answering Machine, Wavves, Smith Westerns, Jounce, Pearl Harbor and the Explosions, Backbiter, Salvador Santana, The Growlers, Harlem, and others. The original "Madame Wong's" unofficially reopened for a brief period in 2009/2010, when Ben Kramer, Stuart Friedel, and Rob Cudd, who were living in an apartment that now occupies the premises, hosted concerts in their living room, using the name Madame Wong's in homage to the original venue. She opened another venture, "Madame Wong's West" at 2900 Wilshire in Santa Monica, California in 1978 and it had a successful run before it closed in 1991. She closed the original "Madame Wong's" after a fire in 1985. Eventually, this led to her nickname, the "Godmother of Punk." Notable bands that she showcased included Los Lobos, The Knack, The Police, The Motels, The Members, Fishbone, The Go-Go's, X, The Alley Cats, The Bangs, Oingo Boingo, Los Illegals, Candy, Guns N' Roses, Black Flag, Daniel Amos, Fear, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Ramones. With the exit of Greenstein, Madame Wong's morphed into a power-pop palace with bookings more influenced by a now-interested Wong. Initially, under Greenstein, a showcase for unsigned, unbookable punk-bands, Madame Wong's was one of few places such bands could perform. The first show included The Alley Cats and The Zeros. Greenstein's persistence, and the fact that he had already given the nearby "Atomic Cafe" a new lease on life (cross-pollination between owners' children worked the magic), caused her to agree to a trial run in Fall of 1978. Polynesian dance acts weren't attracting customers, yet when Paul Greenstein, a Los Angeles "bum vivant," first approached her husband George about booking bands, she declined. Photographed in 2014.Īfter fierce initial resistance, she became a punk rock and new wave music promoter. ![]() Madame Wong's occupied the upper floor of 949 Sun Mun Way (green-trimmed balcony) in Chinatown Central Plaza, next to the Hop Sing Tong building. ![]()
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