History
The Electric Banana became a punk rock club in early 1980, after stints as both a regular go-go bar and a gay go-go bar. Zarra and wife Judy (a former go-go dancer) took up an offer from local punk and other "unique" bands and artists who needed a venue to play. Within a couple of years, The Banana became the epicenter of Pittsburgh's punk scene. By 1982, most of the "name" bands of the national underground punk scene had played the Banana.
Amongst the local acts, there was the aforementioned Half-Life, Watch for Busses, The Cynics, S.M.D.(Screaming Mailboxes of Destiny), Boystown, The Beating, The Cowboys from Hell, the past three mentioned bands all had members in common which were Phil Crists (drums) Mike Kastelic currently of the Cynics (vocals) Rick Pegg (guitar/vocal) who died in 2008 and Ron Cambest (guitar/vocal). The Beating and the Cowboys from Hell also coined the phrase and developed the genre "CowPunk" by combining Cowboy music and Punk Rock creating a new sound. 99 cents, The Five, The Cardboards, Societys Victim, Savage Amused, Flak, 99 Cents, The Garden, White Wreckage, Moist, Real Enemy, The Feedback, The Throbbing Dogs (1995 House Band), AMS and Carsickness, all of which became regular acts at The Banana, and often "hosted" the national acts coming through.
Read more about this topic: The Electric Banana
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