Legendary LA Punk Brendan Mullen, Founder of the Masque, Dies
We've just received the sad news that that legendary Los Angeles punk rocker Brendan Mullen, whose Hollywood club The Masque was the center of the first-wave LA punk scene, has suffered a stroke and, according to MediaBistro's Pandora Young, "is not expected to survive." [UPDATED BELOW] Mullen, who was a longtime LA Weekly writer, opened the Masque in the summer of 1977 and provided early bookings for X, the Germs, the Weirdos and countless others.
Brendan Mullen
Writes Falling James of Mullen in his introduction to LA Weekly's 2007 cover story on the Masque:
Brendan Mullen was a self-described "dirty, hapless schmuck from Scotland" looking for a place to live and bang on his drums when he "tumbled into the basement of the Hollywood Center Building." As he recounts in the massive new photo book Live at the Masque: Nightmare in Punk Alley (Gingko Press/R77 Publishing), which he compiled with Roger Gastman, he ended up managing the 10,000-square-foot space and hosted his first parties with the Skulls and the Controllers in August 1977. Despite ongoing hassles with the L.A. police, fire and building & safety departments and eventual relocations to other sites, Mullen was able to keep the Masque operating until December 1979, booking most of the major early L.A. punk legends (the Weirdos, Screamers, the Alley Cats, Germs, X, the Go-Go's, the Dickies, U.X.A., Black Randy & the Metro Squad), simpatico San Franciscan visitors (the Avengers, Dead Kennedys) and the first wave of the burgeoning suburban pop-punk and hardcore invasion (the Crowd, Suburban Lawns, Flyboys, Middle Class, the Last, Black Flag).
We'll have more information as it comes in.
UPDATE 2:57 PM: We've just received confirmation that Brendan Mullen has died. Our thoughts are with the innumerable friends and family who were impacted by his amazing life.
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