Sacramento Music Scene History: 1980s - Sacramento Press (2024)

The Features lead singer John Pride narrates a new mini-documentary video produced by SacTV.com called "The Features Return to Sacramento." He talks about hisconnection with R.E.M., who the Features opened for back in the 1980s. He also talks about his view of the local music scene when he came totown. Although the scene was not swamped with new wave acts, he found a way to make punk and new wave work in Sacramento,which was known more for blues and cover bands. The Features regularly packed local clubs such as Galactica 2000, Rock Factoryand Lord Beaverbrooks. The video shows the band’s July 30, 2011 performance at Harlows, which was a flashback festival thatincluded Numonix, Tattooed Love Dogs and Deborah Iyall, who had hits in the 1980s with Romeo Void.

The Sacramento music scene in the 1980s was vibrant and had a promising feel. There were many more places to play and more people and places willing to pay for entertainment than what we see in 2012. The 1980s opened with local rock artists finding their way onto the national scene. Timothy B Schmit started having solo hits after joining The Eagles. Mickey Thomas wound up singing for legendary San Francisco band Starship. Steel Breeze made it onto the charts with their single "You Don’t Want Me Anymore" in 1982. Shortly afterward, Night Ranger started having big hits. They were from San Francisco but guitarist Jeff Watson came from Sacramento, so that somehow became one of the success stories Sacramentans began to claim.

Club Nouveau was actually the first artist from Sacramento to have a number one hit on the Billboard charts. They did it with the 1986 single "Lean On Me," which was a cover of a previous number one hit by Bill Withers. Producer Jay King then moved to Los Angeles to produce other artists. Bourgeois Tagg then had a few national hits including "I Don’t Mind at All" in 1987. But it was clearly Tesla who put Sacramento on the music industry’s radar, as they were signed to Geffen and went on to sell over 15 million albums. What made Tesla so special that caused them to stand out from all the other bands who played at Oasis Ballroom and Shire Road Pub? They understood the power of cover songs (especially Beatles covers) as well as mixing up the sound with original ballads and rockers.

The 1980s was clearly a different world than subsequent decades. The decade kicked off with a local hit by Crayon called "Carry Me Back," which got airplay on top 40 station KXOA AM. The record featured singer Caron Vikre and was produced by David Houston, who went on to be involved with Club Nouveau and carved out a career as a local acoustic artist. There was a sense in the 1980s that having a career in a local band was possible, although making it further seemed impossible until the success of Club Nouveau and ultimately, Tesla. And so most local bands didn’t bother to record their music in the 1980s, although there are plenty of buried gems waiting to be rediscovered. The Features actually did record an album that became a big seller at Tower stores in the mid eighties. This was still at a time when making local records seemed to make no sense, due to the high cost.

Although the Features did not get airplay on the new wave station KPOP in 1983, the station supported the band’s live efforts. Singer John Pride turned down a chance to be on KZAP’s Hometown Album as a statement that the band did not conform to corporate rock. KZAP had become the top rock station in town, but was criticized by rock purists for focusing mainly on arena bands. Pride eventually moved on to another project called Pride In Peril and moved to Georgia to teach. When The Features did their reunion show last sumnmer after twenty-five years, it was clear the band still had energy and ability to generate a party atmosphere with non-stop dancing.

Part of why The Features stood out then was there just weren’t that many alternative bands in Sacramento at that time. Pride points out in the mini-documentary that Rebel Truth was a punk band who played house parties at that time, but most of the local scene had a predictable, traditional flavor. The Davis scene gave us Thin White Rope, who ended up making more waves in Europe than here at home. So, to recreate the 80s, we have to either talk about the hundreds of bar bands who blended in or the few alternative acts that stood out. Harrison Price is another artist who stood out doing creative electronic music that went against the grain, as heard in his late 80s club hit "Spiritual Zoo." Price enjoyed incorporating fun wacky spontaneity into his shows with Numomix and Gotham Chorus. He also produced a song I wrote that became a hit single on KWOD in 1989 called "Waves On The West Coast."

It’s important for the local scene to keep track of its history, or lack of history. What Sacramento music scene history tells us in 2012 is that the region still has room to grow to fill the valley with original sounds that stand out while still embracing familiar roots. It’s clear that there really isn’t much to grasp onto as far as local history except a handful of records, photos and memories. SacTV.com is exploring local music history to fill in some of the gaps about the city’s past and to build a story for the future, that local music does in fact matter and that the history becomes more meaningful as more unique artists make an impact.