Punker than you

When is an 88-year-old Chinese-American great-grandmother punk? When she is — was — Madame Wong. The proprietress of two seminal punk venues — Madame Wong's in Chinatown and Madame Wong's West across town — Esther Wong was possibly America's unlikeliest punk booker. She just decided one day that loud music might be good for business. Everybody played Madame Wong's: X, the Ramones, the GoGos, the Police, the Plimsouls, even a budding Guns-n-Roses. The Chinatown venue closed in 1985, the westside version in 1991, and Esther Wong herself left the stage at her home on Sunday. We caught a few shows there, but barely remember Madame Wong's. Do you?