ABOUT AGE OF CONSENT

Before Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message,” there was Age of Consent’s “Fight Back”

Music brought Age of Consent co-founders John Callahan and David Hughes together in Los Angeles in early 1981. They met one night at a presentation given by Hughes regarding contemporary music. Callahan, recently arrived from the East Coast—a disco and rap devotee—took issue with Hughes’s dismissive criticism of disco. Callahan stuck around after the talk to exchange ideas about the music scene and to learn more about Hughes’s gay punk and performance perspective. A friendship developed. Later that spring, when Hughes was producing an experimental “Sound and Vision” series at a downtown gallery, Callahan suggested a rap—a political gay rap. At the time, rap music was new enough to be considered experimental and so the two wrote “Fight Back,” an anti-gay-bashing rap, which was the show-stopper at one of the series’ performances.

The reaction at “Sound and Vision” inspired the duo to perform—for the first time under the moniker of Age of Consent—that summer at L.A.’s first open-mike “rap night” at the ON Klub in Silver Lake. As a Los Angeles Times reviewer put it, most of the raps “seemed motivated more by a desire to dabble in what is hip than by a deep commitment to the genre. That definitely wasn’t true of Age of Consent, a gay duo which opened the live segment with a beautifully executed blend of self-deprecatory humor, gay pride and militancy that fully displayed rapping’s potential.”

Another of Hughes’s collaborators, Andrea Carney, brought a feminist perspective to the group, which was evident in “Missionary Position” and a cover version of Bob Dylan’s “Too Much of Nothing.” Carney later left Age of Consent, at which point Thea Other, who was intrigued by the group’s combination of performance art and rap music, joined in late 1981. Thus began the band’s most prolific and productive period, performing throughout the Los Angeles area at UCLA, the Sunset Junction Street Fair, on KPFK-FM, and opening for the English Beat at the Palace, as well as performing at numerous clubs and political benefits.

Not content to be confined by prerecorded backing tracks, Age of Consent recruited a live band, which included established musicians Paul Eckman and Derrick Roberts (of the Relievers), Kyle C. Kyle (of Venus and the Razorblades, the Skulls, the Motels), Craig Fisher (who did session work with Janet Jackson), and Blackbird McKnight (of Parliament/Funkadelic, the Headhunters). The group performed with the band at Club Lingerie, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the Christopher Street West gay pride festival, and opened for Nona Hendryx, again at the Palace.

Although the trio disbanded in 1983, Callahan, with fellow activist Josy Catoggio, continued performing as Age of Consent at political benefits through 1985.

In a feature story in the Sunday Los Angeles Times, the reporter summed it up like this: “Although the group may confuse [record] labels, Age of Consent is one strong hope for the growth of the rap style in Los Angeles. Significantly, they do not simply parrot East Coast acts. In the world of rap, Age of Consent is fairly unique. Besides being white and dealing with gay topics, the group fuses aspects of theatre, performance art and cabaret in its show.”

GIG LIST

The following is a work-in-progress based on leaflets and our best recollection. Please let us know if you have additions or corrections.

1981

17 May – John and David perform “Fight Back” (then titled “Rupture” as an answer to Blondie’s mindless “Rapture”) and Andrea performs “Dancing Ban in China,” at Traction Gallery’s Sound and Vision performance series
06 August – ON Klub – First performance as Age of Consent; read the review
17 August – C.A.S.H.
24 September – ON Klub
01 October – C.A.S.H.
16 October – ON Klub guest spot, with The Untouchables and The Skanksters
14 November – ON Klub
30 November – C.A.S.H.

1982

06 March – C.A.S.H. – First performance with Thea Other
25 March – Cathay De Grande
05 April – Pilot Theatre, “Poetry Etc., Chapter 3” presented by Bill Bored (aka David Behrens)
17 April – C.A.S.H.
30 April – Gay & Lesbian Awareness Week at UCLA
02 June – “Two Days in June” at El Camino College – anti-nuclear entertainment/educational event
19 June – Bombs Away Benefit for Target L.A., an anti-nuclear artists collective – Metropolis
20 June – KPFK-FM – Fifth Annual Lesbian/Gay Day live concert
30 June – KPFK-FM – “Up From the Ashgrove” program
25 July – Theoretical at the One Way
08 August – Target L.A., Age of Consent performs, in the parking structure at 3rd & Alameda
- 07 & 08 August – Ground Zero Club at Target L.A., members of Age of Consent perform in an “avant-variety show and multi-media extravaganza”
- 09 August – Ground Zero Club at Pilot II Theater, as above
20 August – Anti-Club at Helen’s Place
21/22 August – 2nd Annual Sunset Junction Street Festival
26 September – Gents, in Pomona
18 November – Anti-Club at Helen’s Place – First performance with live band
20 November – Benefit for December art program at Metropolis
03 December – ON Klub
08 December – Music Machine
18 December – Club Lingerie, with the Fibonaccis and Esmerelda
19 December – Theoretical at the One Way
27 December – Club Lingerie, with V-Band
December – Surprise guest stars in Paul Vanase’s A Not-So-Silent Night, Odyssey III Theater

1983

29 January – KPFK-FM– “Land of 1000 Dances” program
29 January – After Everything Else at The Zoo
02 February – Fallout Fashion Show at the Improv
05 February – Benefit for Para Los Niños, a skid row youth center – The Zoo
04 March – Cathay De Grande – John and David DJ at Wayzata’s Funk/Rap Night, first appearance by Red Hot Chili Peppers under that name (thanks to Hamish for reminding us)
05/12/20 March – Church in Ocean Park, following performance by Cheri Gaulke
08 March – Beat the Bomb Benefit for Alliance for Survival at the Palace opening for The English Beat
13 March – Pizazz
17 March – Anti-Club at Helen’s Place
26 March – KPFK-FM– “Roots Radicals Rock & Reggae” program – AOC spin their favorite raps
08 April – 321, in Santa Monica
10 April – A Different Light – John and David read only
12 April – UCLA Ackerman Union, sponsored by UCLA Gay and Lesbian Association
13 April – ON Klub
15 May – Theoretical Birthday Party for Jim Van Tyne, in a warehouse at 5th & Seaton
21 May – Cathay De Grande
03 June – Benefit for Jesse Jackson Presidential Campaign at the ON Klub
18 June – KPFK-FM – “Roots Radicals Rockers and Reggae” program
19 June – KPFK-FM – Sixth Annual Lesbian/Gay Marathon live concert
24 June – Phenomenon at Fiesta House
26 June – Christopher Street West gay pride festival
21 July – Music Machine (tentative)
05 August – The Palace opening for Nona Hendryx
28 August – Age of Consent Divorce/(W)rap Party at ON Klub

LATER

09 December 1984 – John and David reunite to perform at the 25th Anniversary KPFK Winterfaire, Santa Monica Auditorium
1984–1985 – John and Josy Catoggio perform under the Age of Consent moniker

ODDS & ENDS

Date Unknown – Award ceremony for GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation)

Header photo: Violet Hamilton