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Starting From Scratch
By Ruben Blue
This poem continues from my previous thrills
Hollywood Nights (in those Hollywood Hills)
featuring the start of the L.A. scene
When Hollywood parties were happening
I got laid off from my daytime gig
So I dyed my hair dark blue
which then became my moniker
and it got attention too
Now I was free from my 9-5 job
I could hobnob with the party mob
So I ventured to start a magazine
for the new Hollywood scene
SCRATCH Magazine became the 'zine
that rocked the local nightclub scene
in the year of 1983
by Iris, Violet, Germaine, and me
A Hollywood "yearbook" was the aim
where everyone got 5 minutes of fame
Bands, fans, boys, and girls
They were "scenesters" by name
SCRATCH was the first social media
before the internet or multi-media
A lot of hard work was all it took
to make SCRATCH the first Facebook
Printed weekly and distributed by hand
to all the clubs in Hollywood Land
Everyone was just dying to see
who was in SCRATCH on page three
Eventually, the 'zine was me alone
Working my fingers to the bone
to keep the Hollywood dream alive
and build a historic rock archive
SCRATCH grew stronger every week
The magazine had a winning streak
Blood, sweat, and tears was all it took
to shake up Hollywood, and it shook
On Violet and Germaine’s kitchen table
with my camera, we started this fable
We laid it out in our rock-and-roll scrubs
and delivered to Melrose and all the clubs
Music was exploding, that is true
New clubs, new bands, and new kids too
The party scene hit second gear
with 25 issues of SCRATCH that year
The Rhythm Lounge played rap, brand new
Ice T, George Clinton, Electric Avenue
The Radio was the first rap club
with break dancers and the dub
SCRATCH then started the CoCo Club
Downtown L.A., J.C. at the hub
While Kenny and Stuart in Canyon Hills
Had the best BBQs for Sunday frills
Punk was the shit, New Wave not so much
Alternative was cool, and Blues were such
The downtown art scene was already there
and rockabilly was bopping everywhere
After-hours clubs were the new big thing
At the Zero One, John Pochna was king
Where local celebrities were always seen
David Lee Roth, Top Jimmy, and Exene
Cathay De Grande and Club Lingerie
were clubs the bands wanted to play
Music Machine, Al’s Bar, and Club 88
were places for kids to take a date
Punks were there on the sidewalk
at Okie Dog just down the block
Punk bands played the clubs downtown
Madam Wongs, Vex, and The Hong Kong
Penelope was shooting the foundation
The Decline of Western Civilization
About the punks in Hollywood’s hood
and Karl Heinz’s movies were more than good
Tupelo Chain Sex was a new band
Janet Cunningham had C.A.S.H on hand
Every punk kid got a movie part
and Va Va Voom broke Be Bop’s heart
Brenden’s Masque was no longer seen
The Fetish Club was the new scene
by Henry and Joseph of Melrose fame
and Anti-Club was Theoretical’s name
The magazine I built whole-hearted
was the rocket engine that started
two decades of pure rock pleasure
The Greatest Music Scene Ever
All of this happened in ’83
Hanging out with Swan and Flea
The nightclub scene had hit 2nd gear
There was no limit and there was no fear
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