Girl George
"Queen of the Underground"
by Zarf Lazlo

One would not right off think of the Berk. Irish Pub, STARRY PLOUGH, as a vestige of PUNK. But think about it, what is punk ,if not the ultimate musical form of free expression and freedom of speech.  With revolution in the air again, you wonder why you didn't notice it before.  Look up there, on the walls, next to the ceiling, there's posters of every revolution that's come down the pike since before you were born.  yes LOOK around, some of the posters may be down for a while (their remodeling) for their big 35 anniversary, celebration in Sept. of 2007. Lots of BIG PUNK BANDS have played here, but that's not the point, Go to the STARRY PLOUGH any Tue night and you'll find the most amazing thing your eyes will ever behold. To cut to the chase, in one word (or is that two) GIRL GEORGE, a veteran of the San Francisco premiere PUNK CLUB "THE FAB MAB" in the 70's then onto the legendary L.A.PUNKDOMS AL'S BAR "NO TALENT NIGHT" SHE WAS THE QUEEN OF THE UNDERGROUND. (check the videos of al's bar 1990 on her web site www.myspace.com/thegirlgeorge.html) THERE'S NO ONE LIKE GIRL GEORGE. She also played the ANTI CLUB, THE CENTRAL JAM, and ran the open mic at the CATHAY DE GRAND.  Boy talk about someone that's been around. She played the fillmore NEW YEARS EVE '69 going into '70..if you watch the HISTORY Ch. on TV you'll see her in "HISTORY OF THE HELLS ANGELS" Yeah that's her, the blond sitting at the table with Sonny, on the Bass lake run (the one Hunter S. Thompson wrote about) and that's not the only time her path crossed with GONZO, in Nashville in the '70's she gave him a lift to the SMOKEY MOUNTAINS, for a story he had to do. NO GIRL GEORGE was not at WOODSTOCK, she was at ALTAMONT right up in front of the stage (how punk is that?) She went to Nashville in '71 with her act "GEORGE AND THE ARIZONA STAR" flew there on a bum check, crashed the GRAMMIES and the COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS. Played the Tenn. State Men's Penitentiary, with outlaws DAVID ALLEN COE, AND FARON YOUNG....

 KRISTOFFERSON would bring JOAN BAEZ and JERRY JEFF WALKER to the RED DOG SALOON to see them play, When they needed money, they made up tickets for a play called "THE LOBOTOMY", sold tickets by the hundreds, then finally got around to writing the dam thing with ZILCH FLETCHER a wk. before they put it on at the RED DOG SALOON (or was the place called "UP YOURS" by that time) they Did the play a second time when they needed money again, (and by popular demand)...This time it was video taped and shown at a later date at the "EXIT IN" as "THE LOBOTOMY THE MOVIE".. All this is captured in a documentary movie made about them in 2004.You can find this too on one of GIRL GEORGE'S 3 WEB SITES, they're all linked together (follow the yellow brick road) "GEORGE & THE ARIZONA STAR TOURED WITH DR.HOOK, CHUCK BERRY ,STEVIE WONDER IN THE 1970,Came back to SF in 1975,ran the COFFEE GALLERY OPEN MIC for a year.  Went to London hung out with CHRISSIE HYNDE, crashed at her pad for a while.  Came back to SF wearing the first PUNK outfit anyone was to wear at gigs in SF (that's how she met Chrissie, bought the outfit from her when she worked at "LET IT ROCK" punk dress shop) Once back in SF girl started producing and starring in her own TV show (which ran weekly for 5 year) "GEORGE and the SUPERSTARS of the FUTURE" EVERYONE that came through SF at that time,if they were good, they were on that show "PEARL HARBOR AND THE EXPLOSIONS" "ROY LONEY" EVEN DIRK DIRKSEN & LYLE TUTTLE, AND THE ONE AND ONLY "BLUE CHEER" (some say they were the first punk band.) BACK TO THE FUTURE...GIRL GEORGE is 62 now and still RUNNING AROUND, SCREAMING ON STAGE LIKE AN OVER CAFFEINED TEENAGER, STILL LIVING IN THE ETERNAL NOW, STILL RELEVANT, SINGING SONGS SHE WROTE "LIVING IN THE WAR ZONE" "YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A WHORE" and "EVERYBODY'S CRAZY BUT ME".....JOAN PEZ & GIRL GEORGE HAVE BEEN HOSTING ONE HELL OF A OPEN MIC AT THE STARRY PLOUGH GOING ON 7 YEARS NOW,.....NO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE PUNK, AND THEY DON'T THROW CUPS AT YOU IF YOU SUCK, like at ALS BAR, "NO TALENT NIGHT"...IN FACT THEY GIVE YOU A FREE BEER FOR A CORRECT OR FUNNY TRIVIA ANSWER. JOAN PEZ IS VERY SUPPORTIVE OF ALL THE ACTS, GOOD OR BAD, PUNK OR LOVE SONG.  JOAN PEZ has built her own recording studio to help new acts get a fair deal on that all important CD............JOAN PEZ AND GIRL GEORGE ARE LIKE A PUNK VERSION OF DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS, JOAN PEZ ever the cool one, GIRL GEORGE the loose cannon, They bounce off each other like old pro's, and that they are.  Sign up is at 7;30 every TUE. at the STARRY PLOUGH OPEN MIC, if you'd like to try your hand at the mic. Or just go there to watch for sure you'll never forget it.