Jay's Longhorn Bar, most frequently referred to by patrons as The Longhorn has arguably been considered what constituted the nexus of the punk music scene in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was located at 14 S. 5th Street in the downtown district of the city. Originally owned by Jay Berine with help from general manager/artist director/musician Al Wodtke (Badfinger, KYX,Crow,Apostles). The Longhorn became a legendary punk rock/hardcore punk venue. Bands that have played there include, but are not limited to: The Flamin' Oh's, Blondie, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, The Suburbs, the Suicide Commandos, the Hypstrz, Naked Raygun, The Effigies, The Ramones, Pere Ubu, Lily Tomlin, The Plasmatics, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Curtiss A, The Nerves, The Stranglers, The Police (on their first US tour) and many more. Before it was an established punk rock venue, the Longhorn hosted a thriving jazz scene. It was homebase for the progressive jazz group Natural Life and brought with it many national and international jazz acts.
Chris Osgood, singer/guitarist of the Suicide Commandos, said about the Longhorn in the July/August 2005 issue of Magnet magazine: "The Longhorn was like CBGB in that it was a long bar with a low ceiling and the band was up on a riser at one end of the room. It had been a Nino's Steakhouse before it turned into a bar, so it was not a dump, it didn't smell like piss and vomit like CBGB."
Nostalgia for the heyday of the venue was the focus of Minnesota musician Dylan Hicks' song 'The Longhorn Days' from his 1998 album 'Poughkeepsie'.
Famous quotes containing the words jay and/or bar:
“Ask every person if he’s heard the story,
And tell it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot ...
Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)
“Even the most incompetent English actor, coming on the stage briefly to announce the presence below of Lord and Lady Ditherege, gives forth a sound so soft and dulcet as almost to be a bar of music. But sometimes that is all there is. The words are lost in the graceful sweep of the notes.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)