In the late summer of 1981, Janelle Brooks started throwing shows in the basement of her parents' house in Potomac, Maryland. Usually these parties would feature five or six bands, who were usually happy to share their gear with each other. Most of their songs were only a minute long, and therefore the sets tended to be really brief. There was a pole in the middle of the carpeted rec-room that everyone danced around, and between bands people hung out all over the house and in the yards.