Madame Wong West in Peace

Esther Wong, the unlikely "godmother of punk," died Aug. 14 at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 88 of natural causes, though she suffered from emphysema. Wong first fell into the genre when she showcased groups like Oingo Boingo at her Madame Wong's clubs in Los Angeles's Chinatown and Santa Monica in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Wong first opened her Madame Wong's restaurant on Sun Mun Way in Chinatown in 1970 with her late first husband, George Wong. The restaurant originally featured only Polynesian bands, but as the appeal for such bands dimmed, she was persuaded to book rock musicians for a month in 1978.

The switch immediately increased the crowds drawn into Wong's restaurant from a few dozen a night to about 350, prompting her to declare the restaurant a stage for rock, punk and new wave bands.

Through Madame Wong's, which closed in 1985, and Madame Wong's West in Santa Monica, which opened in 1978 and closed in 1991, Wong proved to be a staunch supporter of new and local punk acts. She helped jumpstart the careers of groups like the Police, X, the Motels, 20/20, the Knack, the Know, the Textones, the Go-Gos, the Plimsouls, the Nu-Kats, the Bus Boys, Plane English, the Naughty Sweeties and countless others between her two clubs.

As her clubs gained momentum and status in music circles, Wong soon became a no-nonsense proprietor. She once stopped a show until members of the Ramones left the stage to clean up the graffiti they had written on the club's bathroom walls. But to the dismay of many bands, Wong limited the clientele to 21 and older, eliminating the significant younger rock audience. She was also known for patrolling her club during performances to sniff for marijuana smoke, and practically banned female singers, calling them "no good, always trouble."

Establishing a loyal relationship with the bands she hosted was important to Ms. Wong. She would regularly refuse to book or rebook any group that played at her rival Chinatown venue, the Hong Kong Café.

Wong eventually closed both of her clubs as new wave and the other forms of rock she featured began to lose popularity.

The China native first moved to Los Angeles in 1949 to escape the Communist regime and worked as a clerk for a shipping company for two decades before opening her restaurants.

Wong is survived by her second husband, Harry Wong; two children; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.