Links

Photos on this page courtesy of photographer Ron Lutz II unless otherwise noted.  Check out his link and more photos below.
Half Life at the Electric Banana, 1986.


My goal in creating this site was to put together something that was safe for browsing at work or in the presence of children or clergy.  However, just in case there might be a couple folks out there who might be unaware of this, here’s a bulletin:  Punk rock has been known to sometimes deal in profanity or violence.  I can’t vouch for the content in any web sites but my own.  Click on any of these links and you’re on your own. 

While the focus of this site is, of course, remembering the good times we had at the Electric Banana, I've also come to recognize that there's a staggering amount of "younger" talent in Pittsburgh presently.  We don't have the room or inclination to put all of their links here but I've included just a few young folks' sites that I think you'll like.


Agnostic Front
https://www.reverbnation.com/agnosticfront

Alberta's Pizza
Pittsburgh-area food truck and caterer whose menu includes - get this - the Electric Banana pizza.
https://www.albertaspizzapgh.com/

Brittany Anjou
Jazz pianist recorded and performed with the newly constituted Stick Against Stone.

Arabesque

A.T.S.
https://atspgh.bandcamp.com/ 

The Axis Y

The Baffler
"America’s leading voice of interesting and unexpected left-wing political criticism, cultural analysis, short stories, poems and art" and "the journal that blunts the cutting edge."
https://thebaffler.com/

Barbed Wire Dolls
https://www.facebook.com/barbedwiredollspgh/

Barefoot Serpents
https://barefootserpents.bandcamp.com/

The Bats
http://bats-pgh.bandcamp.com/

The Battle for Net Neutrality
Do you like your internet slow?  Wanna pay extra to make it faster?  Want your ISP to decide what web sites you can access?  Me neither.
https://www.battleforthenet.com/

The Beat
Also known as The Reggae Beat or The Reggae and African Beat at various times, like Trouser Press this was essential reading back in the 1980s but is now defunct.  They still update their blog once in a while.
http://byebyebeat.blogspot.com/

David Bellard
Artist and Pittsburgh native who was a regular at the Electric Banana in 1985-86.
http://www.davidbellard.com/

Joe Bendik, formerly of the Windows, Gag, the Zippatones, Nominal Bond, and Savage Amused, now plying his trade in New York as part of the Anti-Folk scene.
https://joebendik.bandcamp.com/
.
Big Stir Records
California label sports a roster of musicians that includes the Armoires, Dolph Chaney, Corner Laughers, the Cyrkle, the Flashcubes, the Forty Nineteens, the Jack Rubies, Graham Parker, Popular Creeps, Sorrows, and Tony Valentino.

Black Flag


Bogus Records
"If it's not Bogus, it's not real!"
http://www.bogusrecords.com/ 
 
Bomp! Records
Who didn't love getting that catalog in the mail and sending away for those punk and power pop 45s?
https://www.bompstore.com/
 
Break My Face
"An Archive of Underachieving and Underrated Punk Rock Pioneers."  Includes articles on the Fingers, who were the first Pittsburgh punk band to make a record, and Black Flag.
http://www.breakmyface.com/ 
 
The Breakup Society
Ed Masley's Arizona band.

Brutally Honest Rock Album Reviews 
"Where the truth is unvarnished, no one gets an unearned review, and sacred cow is always on the menu." The author doesn't review any punk or new wave - at least as far as we can tell - but there's much interesting reading here.

buRgandy juRk
 

Cardboards - Geniuses ahead of their time.
 
Carl's Guitar Corner
The former owner of Pittsburgh Guitars supplied many of the bands listed on these pages.  If not for him, we may have spent our nights at the Electric Banana listening to guys bang on logs.
http://www.carlsguitarcorner.com/

Carol Blaze
A.T. Vish has kept busy since the days when he was Thickhead Grin's drummer.
http://www.carolblaze.com/

Carsickness
https://www.facebook.com/carsickness

Cash Registers
One-time Savaged Amused guitarist/drummer John Bendik's New York punk band.
https://cashregistersnyc.bandcamp.com/

Castle Blood
https://www.reverbnation.com/castleblood 

CBGB & OMFUG
If you need this one explained, you're on the wrong web site.

Chantillion
New local band with roots in the Electric Banana scene.
https://chantillion.bandcamp.com/

The Cheats
https://www.therealcheats.com/
 
Dennis Childers
The drummer's artistic side.
http://www.dennischilders.com/ 

Chocolate USA at the Electric Banana
https://ranchococoa.blogspot.com/2012/08/tunesday-tuesday-chocolate-usa.html

Citizen Seen's YouTube Page
We wouldn't usually provide a link to anybody's YouTube page, but this one is hard to ignore.  Loads of rare tracks of bands that emerged from the Electric Banana scene, mostly Hector in Paris, also the Windows, Nominal Bond, Monkey on a Stick, and Blond Venus, et. al., and some radio interviews.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfWy2wzf5NAgiOyo0yY0OXQ/videos

Code Orange
Pittsburgh's two-time Grammy Award nominees for Best Metal Performance for their songs "Forever" (2017) and "Underneath" (2020).
http://codeorangetoth.com/

Get Hip recording artist Paul Collins Beat.  The self-proclaimed King of Power Pop, which would sound arrogant if it weren’t so darned true.

Copacetic Comics, the webmaster’s favorite place to shop, a pop culture emporium with comics, CDs, books, DVDs, art, and vinyl by The Five and Reid Paley. Now strictly an online, mail-order store.
Scroll down for a direct link to order The Five.

COVID-19 Projections
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations' projections for the entire United States and each state individually, assuming full social distancing, updated daily.
https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections 

Creature People
https://creaturepeople.org/

Crumbs of Happiness/Chance Wayne
https://chancewayne.bandcamp.com/

Vince Curtis
Half Life, Real Enemy, and White Wreckage.
https://vincecurtis.bandcamp.com/

The Cynics
Nobody played at the Electric Banana more times.

The Dancing Cigarettes, a Bloomington, Indiana band that played at the Electric Banana just once, but that’s all it took to leave their mark on Pittsburgh.
 
Dangerhouse Records
You'd pay a small fortune to get their old 45s and EPs today.  Or you could download them here for relative peanuts.

Debt Begins at 20, a documentary about the early Pittsburgh punk rock scene, with live performances by the Cardboards, the Shakes, and the Dykes as well as a trip to Jim’s Records.
Peggy Ahwesh wrote this excellent essay for Storyboard, the Carnegie Museum of Art blog:
Copacetic Comics physical satellite store.
 
Don Caballero
http://doncaballero.bandcamp.com/

Don't Call Me Crazy On The 4th Of July
Why couldn't Lansberry get his mail?  Check out this documentary.
https://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rp3h/lansberry/film.html
 
Doughnut Economics Action Lab
A new way to think about economics in the 21st Century, one that meets the needs of all people.

Dreamland Music Video
Ever wonder what ever happened to the Imprints?  Sure you have.  Wonder no more.
http://www.dreamlandmusicvideo.com/

Dress Up As Natives
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2012/07/dress-up-as-natives-you-had-to-be-there.html

Duro Sport
"52.25 Years of Innovation!"
 
Pittsburgh Artist Rae K du Ssollae
https://www.raek.com/ 

Eddie and the Otters


Floating Mill Records
Pittsburgh-based label focusing on forgotten postpunk and DIY bands. 
 
FOE, a hardcore fanzine and record label from the Lehigh Valley.  This amazing site has every issue and album available for free download or enjoying on your computer.  There are interviews with Half Life and many other bands who played at the Electric Banana. 

The Forty Nineteens
https://www.thefortynineteens.com/ 

Frampton Brothers/Johnny Rhythm and the Dimestore 45s
https://fbmusic.bandcamp.com/

Free Comic Book Day
First Saturday in May, every year.
https://www.freecomicbookday.com/

Frenchy Burrito & the Folk Pistols

Friendship Perk and Brew
We do love our coffee around here.  Here's a nice place in the Friendship/Bloomfield area.
https://perkandbrew.net/
 
 
Fungus Books & Records

The Fuzztones at the Electric Banana

George Gee Swing Orchestra
https://www.georgegee.com/

Get Hip Records
"Get Hip or get lost!"
 
Kim Gordon
Sonic Youth bassist, as if you didn't know.

The Gothees
"Imagine the bubblegum pop tunes of the Monkees and the Archies interpreted by The Velvet Underground with Ian Curtis of Joy Division as lead vocalist," says the web site.  OK, I'm sold.
http://gothees.com

The Gotobeds
A band named for Wire's drummer.  I love it.
https://thegotobeds.bandcamp.com/

The Great Kat
Shred guitar/violin virtuoso.
http://www.greatkat.com/
 
Half Life
"The reasonably official website."
 
Hector in Paris

Richard Hell
"I called him," says [Mike] Watt.  "I said, 'Is this Hell?'  And he said, 'Yeah.'  And I got scared and I hung up.  That, to me, was punk." - from Our Band Could Be Your Life:  Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad
www.richardhell.com

Hepcat Dilemma
https://hepcatdilemma.com/

Hidden Truth
https://www.reverbnation.com/hiddentruth12

The Hipsters
The last remaining active band that was included on Made in Pittsburgh, Vol. 3.
http://www.thehipsters.org/
 
Horror Realm

Hugh's Ominous Valve Works
Art, valves, radio, computers, movies, and pizza.
http://www.ominous-valve.com/ 
 
Hungry Bill

 

Igor Records
Bone of Contention, Love Letters, Harry Von Zells, et. al.

"Bill Imprint" and the Cadillac with the Tiger in it
http://www.thecadillacwiththetigerinit.com/

Inner Groove Record Store
Located in Monaca, they'll stock local bands' music and merch alongside the classic rock.
 
Insect Surfers
 
Fun with the Internet Archive:
The Cynics live at WFMU studios on 7/29/06 and 10/6/07 (unplugged) and 11/26/11.
Liverball live at the Electric Banana in 1997 and the Fallout Shelter on 2/5/11 and on WRCT (date unknown).
Stone at the Electric Banana on 8/28/99---possibly the last show recorded there?
Somewhere in this lengthy Spanish-language program you can hear Zoetrope at the Electric Banana on 6/27/88.
Swans at the Electric Banana on 10/6/83.
Reid Paley live in Cambridge, MA on 11/17/10.
The Love Letters live on WRCT on 2/4/10. This fits nicely on a CD with a download of their double 45.
Eavesdrop on a couple Stick Against Stone practice sessions from 1984.
How about 90 minutes of W.T. Koltek on WYEP on 10/6/85?
These “unofficial” recordings have been on the Internet Archive for quite some time, so we assume they’re there with the consent of the bands.  If we’re wrong about that and you represent these bands, contact us and the links will be removed---although this matter would probably be better taken up with the folks at the Internet Archive.

Internet Radio
A comprehensive directory of internet radio stations that you can listen to without leaving the page, organized by genre, including punk, new wave, reggae, and metal.

Io

I Side With . . .
Nonpartisan web site that matches your views with those of the possible 2024 Presidential election candidates.  Take the quiz and rank the issues in terms of how important they are to you.  It's thorough but takes just a few minutes.
https://www.isidewith.com/ 
 
Jimmer, formerly of the Rave-Ups.
http://jimmermusic.com/ 

Joy Division
Greater Manchaster band so beloved that a group of Pittsburgh musicians were inspired to form their own version for one night in 1983.
http://joydivisionofficial.com/

Kaibur Coffee
Located in the building which houses Doomed Planet Comics and Pleasant Dreams Records in Polish Hill.
http://kaiburcoffee.com/

Killer of Sheep
https://www.reverbnation.com/KILLEROFSHEEP
https://killerofsheep1.bandcamp.com/

Ki11erpancake Illustration
"Cursed art for the damned and divine."
https://killerpancakeillustration.com/

Evan Knauer Art
The Electric Banana spawned an astounding number of musicians who were also visual artists.
https://www.facebook.com/Evan-Knauer-Art-1026913124053389/

Knauer Brothers
https://www.facebook.com/knauerbros/

DK on Pittsburgh Sports
Dejan Kovacevic used to play guitar at the Electric Banana.  Now he's doing something else and we hear that it's working out OK for him.
http://dkpittsburghsports.com/

Tony Landolina, encaustic artist and 2019 Emerging Artist Scholarship Award winner.

Last Word on Sports
 
Jim Laugelli - Art
Erstwhile sax man for Stick Against Stone and Hector in Paris, now into visual art.

The Leonards, the only band ever to play at the Electric Banana and be stopped by the Pittsburgh Police for being too loud!
http://www.thefortynineteens.com/the-leonards
Check out the Forty Nineteens while you're there.

Leprosy
https://www.reverbnation.com/leprosysplattergoremetal

Life In Balance
https://www.reverbnation.com/lifeinbalance

The Little Wretches
http://www.littlewretches.com/  

Low Doses
Formed in 2014, this New Jersey power pop band came to an abrupt end with their founder's untimely passing. They would have fit right in at the Electric Banana during its pre-hardcore era.
https://lowdoses.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/the-low-doses
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Low_Doses/

Ron Lutz II ~ Photographer
It's rare that a professional photographer would give a generous supply of photos to a site like this one, but that's what Ron did.  We hope you'll keep that in mind and patronize him if you're looking for a photographer in Wisconsin and you're a former or current punker, a transplanted Pittsburgher, or even just a regular person.
http://www.ronlutzii-photographer.com/

Mark's Record Reviews
This guy is one serious music lover.  Thousands of record reviews and over 100 in-depth interviews.  Many of the subjects graced the stage at the Electric Banana.  The site was "retired" in 2011, but no matter; there's enough interesting reading there to keep you busy for years.
http://www.markprindle.com  

Meat Puppets
http://themeatpuppets.com/ 

Lisa Miles Violin, formerly of the Feral Family and Black Light Discipline.  Her resume puts James Brown, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, to shame.
http://www.lisamilesviolin.com

Mind Cure Records
 
Misfit Toys
DC-area band that played at the Electric Banana twice.
http://www.themisfit-toys.com/
 
Mission of Burma
 
Karl Mullen
Singer/guitarist of Carsickness and Ploughman's Lunch, now half of Long Journey (see above) and a practitioner of visual art.  

Bill Munz, erstwhile guitarist for Scapegrace, now with a couple new projects.
https://www.reverbnation.com/musician/billmunz4

Bill Munz & Various Lubricants
https://www.reverbnation.com/billmunzvariouslubricants

Brendan Munz/The Toxic S'Mores Project
Metal/alternative guitarist has joined his dad Bill (see above) in Munzi and Modern Fossils.
https://www.reverbnation.com/brendan6

Murder for Girls

The Neats
Boston band with Pittsburgh roots that played at the Banana.
 
 
The Needmores
Need we say more? Probably, but this is all you're getting.
https://www.facebook.com/theneedmores 

The Nib
If you like indie nonfiction comics with a healthy dose of political satire, these folks got 'em.  If you don't, they got 'em anyway.
https://thenib.com/

99 Cents

Non-Punk Pittsburgh
Curated by Dennis Childers and Larry Rippel.
https://www.facebook.com/NonPunkPittsburgh/?ref=page_internal
The exhibit has concluded but we'll keep the link here for as long as the page is up because of all the cool photos and videos there.

OFF!

Bill J. Oliver
Blue Collar, The Trial, and Rip It Up
The opd
https://soundcloud.com/the-opd

Ben Opie, erstwhile saxophonist with, inter alios, Water Shed and Carsickness.
https://benopie.com/
http://benopie.blogspot.com/ 

Page Dairy Mart
Located at East Carson Street and Becks Run Road, the home of the Electric Banana sundae.
https://pagedairymart.net/

Reid Paley, former lead singer of the Five, now with an active, prolific solo career.

Pauline & the Perils
Buffalo band who made frequent appearances at the Electric Banana in 1981-82.
 
Megan Paullet
Former Damaged Pie and alumnus of St. Vincent College.  (Take a wild guess where Joe went to college.)

The New Pitt Stadium
Could it happen in Oakland?
Pleasant Dreams Records
Now in the space once occupied by Mind Cure Records and Cruel Noise Records.
 
Pluto's Archives
The Feral Family, Salt Chunk Mary, and the Shunts.
https://plutosarchives.bandcamp.com/
 
Popular Creeps

Powder Keg
https://powderkeg1.bandcamp.com/

Preserving Underground
Physical media paradise, performance center, hardcore museum in New Kensington
 
Mike Psyche's YouTube Page
Another great video collection that's hard to ignore.
https://www.youtube.com/user/MIKEPSYCHE/videos

Punk Rock and Trailer Parks by Derf
http://www.derfcity.com/comix/prtp/PRTP.html  
This graphic novel is a work of fiction, but you'll swear that you knew Otto.  We'd call it a "good read," except we hate it when verbs are used as nouns.

RaisedByMachines

Rave-Up Records
Italian punk label that's released vinyl albums by Carsickness and the Features.
http://www.raveuprecords.com

The Rea Coffeehouse at Chatham University, the site, however unlikely, of Pittsburgh's first punk rock show.  Read all about it.
http://reacoffeehousearchive-blog.tumblr.com/

Record Store Day.  Really, what could be cooler?
recordstoreday.com/Home 

Recycle This Pittsburgh
Everything you'd ever want to know about recycling in Pittsburgh, and if it's not there, you can ask.
http://recyclethispgh.com/

The Residents
Because . . . just because.

Rickety Records
  
Henry Rollins
http://henryrollins.com/

Royal Honey
Formed in 2018, the band includes former members of the Ultimatics, the Cheats, the Addicts, and Kill Bossa.

Sad Healthy Meals
Three comments from the webmaster: 1.) I hate blogs, for the same reason I hate all social media, because I'm not interested in every minute detail of everybody's boring life.  2.) I don't get the current fad where everybody is taking pictures of their meals and posting them to social media.  3.) This link has nothing to do with anything else on this site.
That said, this is just downright hilarious:
https://sadhealthymeals.wordpress.com/

Save Our Stages
If you're here, you know what this is about already.

Scapegrace
"Scapegrace is an up and coming band born at the Banana.  Keep an eye on them." - Johnny Banana, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/28/94.
http://www.reverbnation.com/scapegrace
 
Steve Sciulli
Veteran multi-instrumentalist with Carsickness, Life In Balance, Monkey On A Stick, Ploughman's Lunch, Raised By Machines, Standing Wave, Steve and The Millers - did we miss any? Probably.
Steve Sciulli: The Singing Life of Plants
 
Screaming Crow Records
 
Screaming Mailboxes of Destiny
 
Frank Secich
The Infidels, Deadbeat Poets, Blue Ash, Club Wow, Stiv Bators

Steve Seel
Local musician with A.T.S., inter alios.

Shanley on Music
Mike Shanley of Bone of Contention, the Love Letters, and Harry Von Zells.

The S/CKS
http://thesicks.bandcamp.com/

Side Eye
https://pghsideeye.bandcamp.com/

Silver Eye Photography
Successor organization for Blatent Image Gallery.

Peg Simone
Pleasure Head's Debra Catanzaro left Pittsburgh for New York and adopted a pseudonym but she can't elude our mighty search engine skills.
http://www.pegsimone.com/ (Same domain, different site.)
 
Sir Dave
Bassist provides a generous supply of mp-3's of Stick Against Stone and his other projects.
http://sirdave.com/SirDave.html 

Sonic Youth
http://www.sonicyouth.com/ 

Sour Wine Cult
http://sourwinecult.com/ 

The Spectres
Greenfield garage band.
https://thespectres.bandcamp.com/

Spuds
www.spuds.com 

SST Records
This label really needs no introduction here.  Many of their bands played at the Electric Banana.
https://www.sstsuperstore.com/

Standing Wave, a project of Carsickness and Ploughman's Lunch founding members Stephen Sciulli and Dennis Childers.  "Country music from an imaginary country" and "trance dance music."
https://www.facebook.com/pghstandingwave
 
Steve and The Millers

Stick Against Stone 
 
Thirty Years Lit
"The works of the late John H. Creighton Jr. - musician, singer, poet, activist, humanist."
https://medium.com/thirty-years-lit
 
Through Our Eyes
"Short stories by the people who helped build the Pittsburgh hardcore scene."
https://www.instagram.com/through_our_eyes_book/
 
Through the Fence Baseball
Trouser Press
This was the Bible of the New Wave back in its hey-day.  Maybe we shouldn't say "was."  The magazine may be no more but their web site is loaded with great info.  New and improved - if you haven't checked it out in a while, take a look.
 
Trundle Manor
 
Truth and Deliberation
Amy knows of what she writes.
 
Pittsburgh artist John V. Uddstrom
https://bjuddstrom.wixsite.com/johnvuddstrom.com/

U.K. Subs
 

Untamed
http://www.reverbnation.com/untamed2k

The Urinals
Seminal minimalist Los Angeles punk band, big influence on the Minutemen.
http://www.theurinals.com/


Bill von Hagen, the late computer expert and former drummer of the Puke, Cardboards, 24 Minutes, and the Cynics.

The Waitresses
They played two memorable shows at the Electric Banana.  Their guitarist/songwriter Chris Butler produced an unreleased EP for Carsickness.
http://www.hardcafe.co.uk/waitresses/index.htm 

The Andy Warhol Museum
http://www.warhol.org/ 

Mike Watt’s Hoot Page

Jah Wobble

WRCT
Its reach is farther than in the old days, thanks to a stronger over-the-air signal and, of course, the internet.
http://www.wrct.org/

The Wurms
https://www.facebook.com/thewurms/
http://www.reverbnation.com/thewurms

WXXP
Pittsburgh's alternative radio station is back as an internet-only station.
http://www.wxxp.com/

X-ray Spex
The apparent favorite band of the early Pittsburgh punkers, as evidenced by their underlying presence on Debt Begins at 20, where they appear on T-shirts and turntables and Poly Styrene is given a shout-out.  "ART-I-FICIAL!"
http://www.x-rayspex.com/
 
Nick Z's Boss Super Summer
Nick Zeigler of Mary's Danish, the Leonards, and the Forty Nineteens, with a little help from his friends.
https://nickzsbosssupersummer.bandcamp.com/ 
 
Zarra’s Restaurant
http://www.zarraspgh.com/
 
List last updated 10/2/24
Links last checked 10/12/24


Outside the Electric Banana, 1986
Punk rock was alive and well in Pittsburgh, and that ain't just blowing smoke!

Deformed.

Not related to the Electric Banana but interesting Pittsburgh connections nonetheless

Dave Wakeling, center, brought his new edition of the English Beat to Station Square on 7/11/13.  It was a homecoming of sorts for toaster Antonee First Class, second from left in the red shirt, who once owned a record store in Wilkinsburg.  Photo by Dom.