Strait Jackets
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The Strait Jackets were an American rock band often regarded as the first original punk rock group to emerge out of Tampa, Florida in the 1970's.
The Strait Jackets initially consisted of three members: Robert "Bobby" Woodrich on vocals and bass guitar, Lester Esser on guitar and vocals, and Allen Esser on drums. The band later added a second guitarist, Darren Rademaker. Playing places like the Buffalo Roadhouse, Ms. Lucky's, a biker club called My Back Yard, the historic Tampa Theatre and other venues, the Strait Jackets were most likely the first punk band in the Tampa area to perform original material. Zenith Nadir, an early punk cover band, were a certain inspiration to the burgeoning punk scene in Tampa, but more importantly they became the inspiration for Bobby and Lester to form a band that wrote their own songs and in 1978 this became the Strait Jackets. The band also appeared on occasion on the Pam Wiener and John Dubrule punk radio show on WMNF. The band lasted three years, breaking up in the middle of the recording of their first album in 1980. Each band member went their own way in this post-punk era forming new groups, but nothing that ever seemed to match the raw, magical energy of the Strait Jackets.
