Housecoat Project was an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

punk rock band started in 1984 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California, by Meri St. Mary, Eric Rad Yuncker, Michel Schorro and Erol Cengiz. The band opened for many punk bands of the time and was a headline act at many clubs. Housecoat Project was part of the

New Music Seminar The New Music Seminar (NMS) is a Music Conference and Festival held annually each June in New York City. The New Music Seminar originally ran from 1980 to 1995 and was relaunched in 2009. NMS features over 150 CEOs and other executives, presiden ...

in New York City, and then toured nationally sponsored in part by

Jägermeister Music Tour The Jägermeister Music Tour is a hard rock, hardcore punk, and heavy metal music tour that has been held twice a year in the United States since 2002. It is owned by the American importer of Jägermeister, Sidney Frank Importing. History First ...

. The death of Yuncker on stage at

Mabuhay Gardens The Mabuhay Gardens, also known as The Fab Mab or The Mab, was a former San Francisco nightclub, located at 443 Broadway Street, in North Beach on the Broadway strip area best known for its striptease clubs. It closed in 1987. History The Mabu ...

led to a hiatus. St. Mary reformed the band with Jay Crawford on guitar to record ''Wide Eye Doo Dat'' in 1988 on

Subterranean Records Subterranean Records is an independent record label based in San Francisco, California. Founded by Steve Tupper and a then partner, Michael Fox in 1979, it focused on that city's underground punk and industrial music scene. Subterranean and fell ...

(SUB 61). Housecoat Project's second release on Subterranean Records, ''Girlfriend'' (SUB 66), was released 23 years after its recording. The records received critical acclaim and the band was well known for its live performances. In 2012, St. Mary reunited the band after 20 years with Jay Crawford, Bob Bartosik, Mike Sims and Whitey Cox. Housecoat Project played at the opening of the Punk Rock Museum in Los Angeles, The Eagle in & out of exile with the

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence (OPI) is a charity, protest, and street performance organization that uses drag and religious imagery to call attention to sexual intolerance and satirizes issue ...

, the Punk Rock Museum in San Francisco and Nevada City. ''Wide Eye Doo Dat'' is out of print and the test pressing for ''Girlfriend'' has limited availability. The band's LPs use local artists for the visuals. The Brotherhood of Light was an early supporter, doing light shows at the Mab. Housecoat Project played at the

Folsom Street Fair Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair, held in September, that caps San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes simply referred to as "Folsom", takes place on Folsom Street bet ...

, the I-Beam nightclub, The Farm, The Kommotion, The Chatterbox, San Francisco Music Works, The Baybrick Inn and The Sound of Music as well as open public performances. The band opened for Flipper,

The Mutants ''The Mutants'' is the fourth serial of the ninth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 8 April to 13 May 1972. The serial is set on and high above the ...

Frightwig Frightwig is an all-female punk rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1982 by Deanna Ashley and Mia Levin. After many line-up changes, Frightwig retired in 1994. Frightwig reformed in 2012 with Rebecca Sevrin and Rachel Thoele. Fr ...

Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television and T ...

, The Skanking Babylonians,

The Beatnigs The Beatnigs were an American, San Francisco-based band, which combined hardcore punk, industrial and hip hop influences, described as "a kind of avant-garde industrial jazz poets collective". The band was the initial collaboration of Michael Fr ...

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

, Ugly Stick and other bands.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

of ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' gave them a "B". The band is planning more shows in the near future.

References

Punk rock groups from California Musical groups from San Francisco {{US-punk-band-stub