1983 photos from the infamous OAF House

Former Daily Texan lensman finds negatives from an Images photo essay 40 years ago

David Sprague moved to Austin from San Angelo in 1980 to study photography at UT. He worked part-time for the Daily Texan, and in his senior year he got an assignment to shoot photos at the OAF (One-Armed Farmers) House for an Images cover story by Brent Grulke. “It was a good place to be a photographer,” says Sprague, captivated by the scene he captured.

Here’s a copy of the Images cover photo by David Sprague

For years I've carried around a raggedy clipping of the OAF House story, and since I have a chapter on the West Campus party houses in my upcoming book, I tracked down Sprague, who moved to L.A. in ‘89 for a staff job at the L.A. Daily News and has worked freelance there the past 15 years. (You can see some of his work here.) David initially had little hope in finding the negatives from 40 years ago, but after an intensive search he found them! I’m saving a few photos for Austin Music Is a Scene Not a Sound, but here are the best of the rest:

READ: Great Party! Who Lives Here?

The band was called Musick. Lee Shupp on vocals, Haji on guitar and the Stephenson brothers on bass and drums. The kid in the white sleeveless watching intently is Felix Griffin, who would be the drummer for D.R.I. two years later.

David Yow of Scratch Acid.

Anybody know her?