The Bay Area has always been a creative vortex, I swear there is something in the air up there. People are drawn to the city for different reasons; my reasons were music and my sexual orientation. Yet another Okie that had made their way to California, I had lived in San Francisco for 8 years by the time 4 Non Blondes got together in the fall of 1989. Our gay community had been through a lot in the previous decade: the murder of Harvey Milk, the White Night Riots, the AIDS epidemic and 9 years of a republican white house. I quickly realized that strong communities form under the weight of oppression, and marginalization can spark tremendous creativity.
For me, being gay meant from an early age that the rules didn’t apply; I was different. I would have to find my own way in the world. Being singled out as a rebellious sort leaves a lot of doors wide open and I took full advantage of the freedoms offered. I never really considered the possibility of being on MTV or being accepted by the straight music world. I lived in what was arguably the most gay friendly city in the U.S. and was a member of the strong artist community that flourished there. When I peeked outside the borders of my little utopia I didn’t see a place for myself in what appeared to be a very straight world.
Baybrick Inn September 1984
From 1983 until it’s demise in 1985 I was a regular performer at The Baybrick Inn, a small haven for (mostly women) musicians located in the South of Market district. The club showcased solo performers and bands in a cabaret setting, and featured players like Bonnie Hayes (who eventually wrote the hit song Love Letter for Bonnie Raitt), Vickie Randle (a regular player in the Tonight Show with Jay Leno band), Lady Bianca, Linda Tillery, Debbie Saunders and many others. It is also the club where comedians Marga Gomez and Jane Dornaker performed. That’s where I met Shaunna Hall in the summer of 1984.
Oklahoma City 1980 (l-r) Christa Hillhouse, Elyse Angelo, Tuffy Eldridge
I played there often with acoustic singer/songwriter Tuffy Eldridge, a friend of mine from back home. We met in Oklahoma City around 1978, introduced officially by my very first girlfriend, although Tuffy used to come into the headshop where I worked and buy rolling papers. I played with Tuffy in my first “real” band, along with Elyse Angelo on drums. A year or so after I moved to San Francisco I offered Tuffy a place to stay and she has been in the Bay Area ever since.
from left: Pat Wilder, Ginger Doss, Christa Hillhouse
photo by Robert Altman 1994
Soon I was jamming around town and meeting other local musicians. In 1983 I formed a band with guitarist Pat Wilder and keyboardist Ginger Doss. They both sang and wrote solid songs with a rhythmic funk edge that challenged my evolving bass style and funk technique. We called our band The System.
I met iconic photographer Robert Altman completely by chance; I had hopped in a cab he was driving for some extra money. We started talking and I arranged to have him shoot my band. There was so much talent in the city, you just never knew who you might randomly meet. My friend Elyse Angelo had also moved out from Oklahoma and she joined us on drums.
Ginger Doss, Pat Wilder and Christa Hillhouse on the main stage at The Baybrick Inn 1984
In early 1985 Ginger, myself, and our respective girlfriends were hit by a drunk driver and my life fell into chaos. There were major injuries, frivolous lawsuits created by opportunistic lawyers, and plenty of emotional pain to go around. It’s the first time in my life I remember realizing that shit can change in an instant whether you are ready or not. The band split up and within a year Ginger had moved back to her hometown of Austin, Texas. I was devastated by loss of the music and friendship, and I wondered if I would ever find that musical camaraderie again.
I can blame being a fixture at the Baybrick Inn for the opportunities that quickly presented themselves. During the mid-80’s I played in numerous funk and R&B bands in the bay area, including a few bands featuring writer/pianist Tammy Hall, and the alternative rock band 17 Reasons led by guitarist Jim Campilongo (Norah Jones).
It was around that time that Shaunna Hall and I became friends. We had met casually a few years before but this time we became thick as thieves. We rented a large house and transformed the garage into a rehearsal studio. Shaunna wrote catchy pop rock tunes, and we jammed along to her drum machine in the absence of a drummer. Those were some great times, although we were broke. We used to shop at a place called the canned food warehouse and buy cases of corndogs to eat. We pooled our toy collections (Shaunna’s was bigger) and our music collections. I used to drive her to work on the back of my motorcycle in the morning and we went out clubbing every night.
I learned her material and we did some recording at Hyde Street Studios, usually in the middle of the night, and probably at the invitation of our friend and engineer Gary Creiman. We made a demo tape and got a few gigs at the Nightbreak, a club we frequented in the upper Haight. In the early days the Nightbreak had a little record store inside of it occupying an adjoining room. Most of our friends hung out there, and sushi sundays were always packed. Bunch of punk rockers hanging around listening to rock music and eating nigiri rolls. The record store eventually folded and was replaced by a hang out room with video games and bean bags chairs. And drugs. Lots of drugs.
We named our duo “Cool and Unusual Punishment”. It was during that time we started playing a song Shaunna wrote entitled “Morphine & Chocolate”, a powerful anthem about choosing art over addiction. The tune would eventually find it’s way into 4 Non Blondes’ repertoire and become an audience favorite. Shaunna ran her drum machine live at our shows – old school. We only played a few gigs, but it was the beginning of what would become 4 Non Blondes. We needed a drummer, and pretty soon an inspiring one fell into our laps.
LSC flyer from 1989
In the summer of 1989, Shaunna came home and told me that she had started playing in a band with a woman named Jai Jai Noire, a politically inspired lesbian performer who played thrash punk ska ala the Clash type of stuff. Shaunna told me about a drummer that Jai Jai had found from southern California named Wanda Day. Shaunna went on and on about her and so I really wanted to hear this chick play. I (literally) crashed their next rehearsal and quickly was asked to join Jai Jai’s band. I recall being impressed with the fact that she named her band “Lesbian Snake Charmers” which I interpreted as a giant fuck you to the mainstream music business. It was still the homophobic 80’s.
Wanda was the hardest hitting drummer I had ever heard, a small, wirey explosion of a woman sporting a bright red mowhawk and a fiery confidence. That particular band didn’t last long, the music didn’t click for me and the band’s hierarchy was stifling for the three of us. It wasn’t long before Wanda, Shaunna, and I quit the band to start our own project.
Wanda had some friends in a band called The Gargoyles who were looking to share a studio space. We moved in to our first studio and began jamming. I coined the name “The Non Blondes” while we were eating pizza in Washington Square Park one day, later on at the bar Shaunna added the “4”, and we began looking for a singer.
