Celebrating the Fantastic Filth of San Francisco Punk in the ’70s and ’80s

Picture if you will, an October day in Dolores Park in 1983. It’s mid-afternoon, a Rock Against Reagan event is taking place, and punk legends Dead Kennedys and MDC are both performing alongside … Whoopi Goldberg?

If a flyer from the day hadn’t survived and wound up in the Haight Street Art Center’s archive, it would be hard to imagine a line-up this odd ever happening. That flyer is currently on display as part of a thrilling new exhibit titled We Are the One: San Francisco Punk, 1970s–1980s. At the center of the show is the work of an all-star array of Bay Area punk photographers, curated by former Rolling Stone West Coast music editor Michael Goldberg. With the work of so many talents combined, the show thoroughly captures the international icons, local bands and infamous venues that made San Francisco an early punk hub.

The best known bands of the era are all featured repeatedly, both onstage and off. Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Blondie, Talking Heads, Devo, Iggy Pop and Black Flag are captured at the peak of their powers. (Richard Alden Peterson’s technicolor image of Debbie Harry wearing the highest of heels, perched atop Twin Peaks on a windy day is a particular joy to behold.) All the old San Francisco favorites are here too: Dead Kennedys, Flipper, Crime, The Dils, The Nuns, Frightwig, The Mutants, U.X.A. and Negative Trend.

If there is a truly uniting thread that runs through the entire show, however, it’s Penelope Houston, vocalist of Avengers, painter and former longterm employee of the San Francisco Public Library. Not only was Houston photographed by the majority of artists featured in We Are the One, the resulting images serve to reflect just what a groundbreaking chameleon she was. Peterson captures Houston standing tough as nails in a dark basement. Kamera Zie catches Houston in a glorious moment of eye-rolling intoxication. Bruce Conner, James Stark and Bobby Castro show Houston raw and onstage. Ruby Ray depicts the singer in various states of (nonchalant) undress at home, as well as crawling childlike through a tangle of twigs. Chester Simpson has Houston and her band reveling in a moment of togetherness backstage at the Mabuhay Gardens in 1977.

Several of Houston’s hand-drawn flyers for Avengers shows at Mabuhay Gardens and 330 Grove are also featured. One amusing 1977 design features the words “Never mind the Sex Pistols, here’s the Avengers” — a year before Avengers opened for the U.K. punks, as captured by James Stark. Houston has always contained multitudes and We Are the One does an exceptional job of illustrating that point.

As is often the case with photographic recollections of subcultures, some of the most captivating moments feature not the musicians, but the fans and characters who made the scene what it was. Jeanne Hansen, the photographer behind 2021’s vivid and fascinating Alternative Voices book, is particularly skillful at this. Her picture of four friends casually hanging around the flyer-strewn back door of the Tenderloin’s Sound of Music Club says more than any artist portrait could. Jeff Good’s images of fans and staff at Mabuhay Gardens are another exhibition high point.

Rounding out the show are 70s and 80s flyers on loan from local collectors. (These include some classic Raymond Pettibon pieces for Black Flag’s San Francisco shows.)

In recent years, other exhibition have offered glimpses into San Francisco’s early punk scene, but none have done it quite so well as the Haight Street Art Center’s current offering. We Are the One has the power to stun and inspire in equal measure — much like that 1983 bill featuring Dead Kennedys and Whoopi Goldberg probably did.

‘We Are the One: San Francisco Punk, 1970s–1980s’ is on display at the Haight Street Art Center through Sept. 22, 2024. An opening reception takes place Aug. 2 at 6 p.m.

On Sept. 6, the Haight Street Art Center hosts a punk film night, featuring ‘San Francisco’s First and Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Movie: Crime 1978,’ the documentary ‘In the Red’ and live footage by Target Video. A post-screening panel discussion will include guests Penelope Houston, Michael Goldberg and more.