(Roving correspondent/photographer Kristen Tobiason revisits the scenes of our youth. Today, Off the Record’s original location is roadkill.)
It takes my breath away that the candy store of my youth has been diminished to something as unsavory as a used-tire store. Off the Record has had a history, migrating from its origin on 6130 El Cajon Blvd. to the heart of the Hillcrest shopping district, where a much larger store thrived in the ’90s and early 21st century with San Diego’s indie rock scene and the DJ phemenon. The in-store concerts were memorable and yielded huge turnouts for bands such as The Misfits, Husker Du, Mudhoney and Nirvana. (Check out Nirvana at OTR in October 1991.)
After the original owner Phil Galloway sold the store, it downsized its stock considerably and in 2005 moved to a small storefront on University Avenue in North Park. The end of an era: Music stores can’t compete nowadays with the instant accessibility of MP3s and shareware. Record stores are reserved for the discriminating vinyl collectors who will never sell out completely to technology, no matter how clever those gizmos are!
Records will always be cooler.
- Read more about record stores of our youth …
I’ll never forget my first OTR purchases at the College Grove store. Mark from Social Spit behind the counter, I bought two albums: Iggy Pop’s Raw Power and Future by the Seeds.
— Kristen Tobiason
More views of San Diego then and now:
- Then and Now: Rock Palace
- Then and Now: The Ken Cinema
- Then and Now: Adams Avenue Theater
- Then and Now: Topsy’s
- Then and Now: Greenwich Village West
- Then and Now: Funland
- Then and Now: Studio 517
- Then and Now: La Posta
- Then and Now: Presidio Park
- Then and Now: El Cajon Blvd. Denny’s
I heard about Off The Record when I was 15 from a guy at a record store in Escondido. I was looking for The Heartbreakers Live at Max’s Kansas City, and he told me they’d probably have it at Off The Record… so that was the first time I went there and the first record I bought there. Back then, there were two owners who also worked there. One of them told me he’d gone to high school with Joey Ramone.
The guy from social spit was Cliff Cunningham,host to about half of the aftershow afterparties from the early to mid eighties.I saw him and social spit play at the Alibi about 2004 i think.People danced,people fought,they sounded pretty much like they used to,and johnny V,who played guitar after dave and squirrel left is still playing guitar.
First record I bought at OTR was the Great Rock and Roll Swindle,which I didnt get at the time,so I took it back and got “stations of the crass” which I still have.
Larry and Rich,the original owners,used to do a show on local radio called “Decade”,playing all kinds of cool shit,old rock and roll mixed in with what was new at the time.I’m sure some of you heard that show.I still have a functioning cassette recording somewhere.
Phil was actually an employee who became a partner and then bought out the original guys.I think he’s got something going online these days.
Bobby thanks for correcting my mistake: >>The guy from social spit was Cliff Cunningham.
I too bought the Great Rock and Roll Swindle from OTR and then sold it and now have it again. It is sad to think of how many records I’ve sold in a pinch and then spent the money at La Posta!
I love Cliff Cunningham — I thought he was such a cool guy. I don’t know if he remembers me even a little from back in the day, but I got a very nice e-mail response from him and hope he’s scanning this blog occasionally. (I’m also hoping he’ll grace us with a Social Spit bio one of these days.)
Hi, Cliff!! 🙂
I didn’t live near Off the Record, so my memories of this place are less numerous than for my local PB shops, but I do have a few crisp ones. Perhaps the clearest is buying the first Clash album there. This album originally had not been released in the US, and would not be for many years after its release, and only then with an F’ed-up song list and order…sorta like the early Beatles albums being mangled for US release. So, it was 1978, and you had to get it as an import. Licorice Pizza’s import section didn’t always have it, but Off the Record kept a constant supply. It’s still one of my favorite albums, really creating the feel of its specific place, time and mood.
OTR always kept a good stock of all the local artists, and it was the kind of store that carried multiple copies of PIL’s Metal Box in the actual Metal Box. They had a huge set of Crass posters on the wall- my favorite had pictures of the Pope, Jerry Falwell and the Ayatollah Khomeni with the caption “If God’s so great, why does he have these guys as his spokesmen?”
Last time I was in San Diego I drove by the OTR shop for shits and giggles to find the tire store.. Kinda bummed me out.
OTR was a great place for a kid to learn about music, I would thumb threw the records looking for album covers that looked neat, then buy one or two.
I used to go to the OTR in Encinitas to visit my good friend Josh (RIP) who worked there. I found some of my favorite records in there dollar section, records that are worth money now.
I miss that place, dollar records but most of all Josh.
The original OTR was located in the small building next to the building in the picture you have of the tire store. After a few years they expanded and separated the new records (in the original building) from the used records (the larger and of course more interesting store.) When I think of OTR I will always think of Dennis and Patty Cates, who worked in the old store, Shari Graham, and of course Curtis Strange, who coincidentally was in the unheated Volksagen Bug which traveled from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Springfield, Missouri to see the Tell-Tale Hearts play. Dear Steve Foth (RIP) used to manage the North County store, and so it was always a pleasure to make the long drive.
To me, the store lost all of its character when it moved to Hillcrest. Yeah, I know there were some cool shows there, but I could never really get past some of the smarmy, know-it-all employees (I’m NOT talking about you, Bart.) That’s perhaps a subject for another day--record and video store clerks who think they are rock and movie stars!
Ray: Here’s the Google Maps virtual tour … Was the original location just northeast of the tire store?
View Larger Map
Ray: Thats right both Josh and Steve passed. Steve was a very nice guy.
Wow Ray, that’s a heartbreak to hear. We weren’t that bad, were we?
I started working at the Hillcrest store when it opened, and stayed there until I moved up to Seattle 10 years ago. It was a great place to work, especially after having spent some time in the mid-80’s at the Sports Arena Tower Records. It was refreshing to work for guys who loved music as much as we did. Man, what a great job, just talking to people about music all day.
Ray: >>record and video store clerks who think they are rock and movie stars!
And Gelato Vero Cafe employees too. 🙂
snarf.
OF COURSE not you either, Julie! I actually liked several people who worked there. (And technically speaking, you actually were a rock star, so you don’t count!) This was certainly not a phenomenon limited to a single store, but I think something that started in the nineties. It’s a real Tower Records Sunset Strip trip. I’m sure you’re familiar with the type: a customer asks a question and it’s met with a condescending reply--your purchase will be judged by a comment when you bring it to the counter, etc.
Matt-
Yeah, it’s that blue and white building just next door.
Steve also worked at the original location, on the used side, before moving up to the Encinitas store. He later moved to San Francisco, and opened his own record store. Dennis had the ability to clear out the entire store, by letting loose one of his Guinness fueled “emanations”, then Patty would use the giant can of air freshener, which had been relabeled with Dennis’ name. I agree with Ray, the Hillcrest location never had the soul of the original location. I couldn’t even begin to list the huge number of memorable records I purchased there over the years.
I think half the vinyl I own I bought at OTR. I used to save up all my pennies and dimes and go up and buy a disc there after school. It was a long walk from my parents’ house in Del Cerro, but worth it. I can’t even come close to remembering which was the first album I bought there (maybe Iggy’s “Metalic K.O.” album or the Misfits first EP?), but I do remember thinking that those dammed imports were so expensive! I remember buying the first U.K. Subs album there, and it was like twince the price of an American album!
Once Paul Howland and I made up some Wallflowers bumperstickers and sold them at OTR. Only we made those stickers so poorly (with a Xerox machine) that the image washed off the first time they got wet and people ended up with this blank white strip on their bumpers. I know Eric Camillo bought one. Man, I’m sorry guys…
I remember the endless afterparties at Cliff’s when he lived out in North Park. That was so fun. Has anyone invited Cliff to get in here? I’d love to say hi to him in person. He’s a great guy.
Dave Rinck: Cliff’s registered on the site … We got him on here at least the one time!
Dave R… Sam or Cole must have been involved with those bumper stickers too, because there were also Rockin’ Dogs ones, made on the same cheap Xerox machine. I think you and Cole were on a promotion kick for awhile… when you guys were making up interviews with our bands to send to fanzines.
So the original building is still there… It’s now the “Pink Poodle”. I think when I first started going to Off The Record, the building that became the used records section (replaced by the tire store building) was a sleazy massage parlor.
My wife was at that Nirvana in-store show in Hillcrest. We tried to find her in the youtube video, but couldn’t.
I remember the original store had a spot on the wall just past the front counter where they put new releases, or newly acquired records. That’s usually where I looked first. Then I would look at the new and local band 45s opposite the counter. Import singles were about $3 each then. How I wish now that I had bought more than I did, but $3 for a 45 seemed like a lot at the time. Because I never had much money I often skipped new imports and filled my arms with $2.99 used records. But I remember some imports I bought in 1980, like Mods Mayday, The Jam’s first, Damned Damned Damned, and Secret Affair’s first. They were around $12 a pop.
I never cared for the store as much after Rich and Larry left. I heard Larry or Rich moved to San Francisco and opened a store. Perhaps that’s the one Steve Foth ran, or a different one. Regretfully, I never made it out to the store when Steve ran it.
One particularly influential (to me) import LP I remember buying at Off The Record (and playing the hell out of) was Chocolate Soup For Diabetics. I think that was the LP that introduced my ears to Freakbeat (though the term wasn’t in circulation at the time) and British psychedelic. The Misunderstood’s “Children of the Sun”, The Fire’s “Father’s Name is Dad”, and The Voice’s “Train to Disaster” are epic tunes on that one.
What was the name of that place down the street from OTR, past College, heading west, on the opposite side of the street? They had all this used stereo equipment, t-shirts, albums and 45s. I heard about some people who used to go in there and one would distract the clerk (only one at any time) while the other would load up on 45s he had pre-selected. Shameful!
Another, unrelated crew would go into stores like Tower or The Wherehouse with big bags of chips (Doritos) which they would fill with cassettes while munching away. This, of course, was before sensors.
Matt, was it Record Exchange? I remember that place but can’t recall the name for sure. Exchange, indeed!
Dean: Rich or Larry owned Mobster Records in Cole Valley, right above the Haight, near were you catch the muni N Juda train.
Amoeba moving to the haight put Mobster out of business
Steve had a store in the outer Sunset. I am pretty sure it was called Red Rocket Records or Rocket Records, it was near Le Video. Amoeba offered all of Steve’s people jobs when he passed away.
I wanna add one thing, Steve always had a big smile whenever I saw him in OTR.
He really loved the people he worked with, you could just tell. Some of these people moved to San Francisco and worked at his store.
Did not know him well but he seemed real nice.
Dylan: Steve Foth’s place was Rocket Records. He wasn’t someone I knew really well, but someone I always enjoyed seeing.
I was going to play my usual librarian role and add a link to the SF Chronicle article about his untimely passing, but re-reading the account … I just don’t wanna.
Matthew: I agree with you on not putting up that link, it’s very sad and I think that people should remember Steve for who he really was.
Tom --
Not only did I work with Matt, we dated for about a year (and remained good friends for a while after that). I’d love to hear what he’s been up to, or -- better yet -- get in touch with him. Matthew R has my email, feel free to contact me directly or pass it on to Matt D.
jd
>>Not only did I work with Matt, we dated for about a year
Julie: You gave me a start! For a moment, I thought you were talking about me. (I got a bit fuzzy toward the end of my tenure in SD, but that memory lapse would have been a little much.)
Tom, I’ll pass you Ms. D’s e-mail for the other Matt. 🙂
Hey Julie D.! good to see your name on here.We worked togather at sports arena Tower Records,along with Matt Dundon,Gary Shuffler,pretty fun time.I remember being robbed at gun point one night,At least they had some furniture on top of the buliding so you you could go up and smoke pot if you wanted,half price food and drink from Foggey’s notion.Best OTR find, The Heinz ,British inport some time in the mid 80’s.
Paul Newman! Okay Matthew, now you have to hook Paul and I up via email as well. 🙂
Paul, I was just telling someone the other day about our rooftop breaks at Tower. I remember you, me, Matt and someone else holding all our “plays” until after dinner break, so after we’d gotten high up on the roof we could come back to work and hear nothing but the music the 4 of us picked for the rest of the night. Man, Foggy’s Notion, forgot all about that place.
Hey Paul, Julie--not only Heinz Burt, formerly bass player of the Tornados if memory serves, but I recall a zany discovery of Dundon’s days at Sports Aroma Tower being the one and only Heino--mostly if not entirely on cassette, if I recall. Is this the tip of the iceberg of the strange postwar affinity to be found, here and there, between San Diego--SoCal in general, perhaps--and Deutschland? I don’t just mean Anaheim and the Surfer’s Cross and Hoehn Motors and my older brother’s 1970s involvement in German folk dancing. But I digress. Here’s Heino on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLQk3YrJ5e8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9rgbyMlwKM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM-v5ShRyUo&feature=related
And in the studio in 1967:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5kYK6VUck0
“World music,” nicht wahr? But enough of this tangent. Yet I still recall Matt (Dundon) showing me the Heino cassettes at Tower while you guys worked there. Julie, I must have met you when you were dating Matt, but then again, even though he and I were childhood friends, we lived miles apart, had only begun wrestling with vintage automobiles that were usually in need of repair, and I was busy playing in a series of bands. I didn’t see enough of Matt back then, and it certainly is inconvenient that he’s been living in Poland since 1992. Crossroads that it is, however, I have seen him (with wife and child--and now there are two children) in New York a couple of times--but for less than 24 hours each time.
Over.
Hey Tom!, Right! Matt and I would put all the Heino LP’s in the front of the cut out bin”where most of those records were found” so it looked like a huge display of Heino,especially the one where he’s pictured with puppies on the cover.
Steve Foth’s Rocket Records was a cool start-up, and I always meant to get over there more often than I did while living in the Bay Area. It was neat to have that continuity with San Diego and the old Off-The-Record. Steve was presiding over the place probably 3/4 of the time I was in. Circa ’93-’94 I was living in the Sunset District and the shop was near-ish. I hadn’t really known Steve in S.D. beyond surfaces, but we knew each other enough to chat about other people we knew in common and he would always ask about my bands. I think I was trying to get him to turn up at gigs, but don’t think he did in that era. At the time, I would have been pushing “Ron Silva & the Monarchs,” a little ’64-style R&B outfit we had going--there’s a track on a compilation put together by the people at our main venue, the Ace Cafe. They had a British motorcycle theme going at the place, the owner was an enthusiast for your Triumph & BSA type motos, and they named the disc “Pushing The Norton.” There was also a 7″ e.p. by the group on GetHip Records--four songs--I’d almost forgotten. Where’s my copy?
Unfortunately I allowed myself to get swept over to the East Bay, and just wasn’t mobile enough to really hang out over at Rocket often--or was it that I drove a hearse, and there was no room to park it? Ah, but there was always BART. But too often there was barely enough money for rent, let alone records! Yet I found a few good things there, made some purchases. I always try to be a financial contributor to shops I love or consider a resource, because I have a sense of how precarious a small business like that is. And even if the financial footing is solid, the best small places depend on their proprietors for the sense of identity, personality, and soul.
Long live small, independent businesses! Record stores especially.
At the moment I particularly like a small shop on E. Fifth St. between 2nd and 1st Ave. in the East Village in NYC. The owner is a young Brazilian guy, and the place is called “Tropicalia In Furs”--so he gets Sixties Brazil and the Velvet Underground in one phrase--kudos to that.
Mike Stobbe! Good to hear your voice. I don’t think I’ve seen you since the early ’90s!! I heard some time ago that you had an appreciation for bicycles. I work on them here in Brooklyn for kicks, was riding one of those 28″-wheeled rod-brake Raleighs earlier today.
Connection to the topic would be I definitely rode my bicycle from Serra Mesa to the College OTR many times, if only because I wasn’t driving my own wheels until 1985.
We got a stand-alone turntable last Christmas because my kids wanted to hear the old records I have hanging around. My oldest particularly loves the Ramones. They asked me how those little grooves made music come out of the needle and I answered the way I do when asked about CDs, the radio, tv and the internet: magic.
the way things are heading tom with your dual love of bicycles and records you are poised to be future leader of the rapidly crumbing usa, you ever see that movie americathon? you know where john ritter is the prsident and everyone lives in their cars?
BOogie: Yeah! “Americathon”! A couple of the guys from Firesign Theater were behind that movie. I’d love to see it again — I wonder if it made the transition to DVD, speaking of technological obsolescence.
Speaking of which, our nearby Morris Museum’s neat collection of mechanical dolls and music boxes features an ancestor of hybrid players — DVD/VCR, cassette/CD and the like. Regina, a leading manufacturer of disc-playing music boxes at the turn of the 20th Century, attempted to counter the rise of the phonograph by introducing a system that let users switch between the old comb-activated discs and the new-fangled, needle-based technology. Here are some notes on Regina from the Dead Media Project (itself defunct — d’oh!!)
I grew-up on 63rd street right around the corner from OTR. I recall they used to rent records for two dollars. I would walk to the store and rent a few albums, take them home and tape them, and then return them the next day. How cool!
Home taping is killing the record industry!
Hmm, two words in the above don’t look right.
Tom thanks man . . . good to be heard .
Barney , what’s up bub .
I hate to hijack this thread , but someone ( bart ) needs to start a Licorice Pizza thread .
The two words are “taping” and “record”--and was it meant to have been “music industry”? I don’t remember. Well, I only wish that “taping” were killing anything, at this point. Refusing to let cassettes go without a fight, I actually bought a brand new cassette player/recorder…in this century. Voting with my money, as it were. TEAC, model R-H300 was my candidate, my nominee. I also have a really smooth toploading Marantz…but it’s playing a little sssllloooowwww, if you know what I mean. Possibly just old lubricant for the capstans, gummed up.
Let’s go rent some records at OTR and tape ’em, right now! It has been revealed to me that that is the best way to “stick it to The Man.” And support the locals! $2/day/unit. Not bad for the OTR bottom line, perhaps.
Now, let me go political now for a moment, despite the digital bandwidth I am using up this moment, and say: downloads are for virtual chumps. How’re you going to win some girl’s heart with a mere playlist? Yeah, that’s right--virtually. A “mix tape” says more. 😉
Somebody mentioned Curtis. Where’s he these days?
Tom:before 91 was “X”,it was Magic91.After that,radio was no longer magic.
>And who was the chick DJ on KGB
Linda McGuinness? She was married to Jim McGuinness and later she came up to the Bay Area and was on KFOG, but I didn’t care much for that station.
I used to listen to KQBQ and KGB on AM as a kid on my transistor. I still have one of those “KQBQ Greatest Hits” LPs, that has all the “boss jocks” on the back (not photos but drawings). I’ll have to scan that sometime.
Hey Dean was that Dusty Rhodes? I remember those Home Grown comps too. OTR was the store where I would walk around with a stack of records only to have to do the dreaded process of illimination at the end. ” Okay how much money do I have? Alright I’ll take this one and that one…Oh shit I can’t get this one now!” I got all my Charly and Ace Record comps from OTR. I always managed to stop by there before a show.
>>”before 91 was “X”,it was Magic91.After that,radio was no longer magic.”
I dont remember Magic 91. When I was a kid it was XTRA, an easy listening station. The Spanish language recording of the woman’s voice…”XTRA FM, Baja California, Mexio” is the same one they used in the 70s when it was that format.
I remember a track on one of those homegrown albums by some outfit called the Logan Avenue Blues Band or something close to that and it was pretty solid. I wonder who those guys were? Chicago-style blues cats, not around I don’t think by the time of my blues stint east on Market in ’89 / ’90.
But what was most successful on those comps were the comic-folk tracks.
“A-L-O-N-Z-O-F-H-O-R-T-O-N / Alonzo F. Horton you’re my friend.”
The joke being that it’s “E. Horton”--but part of the E had worn off of the bronze plaque bearing his name on the fountain at Horton Plaza.
That story’s probably on some San Diego history website, but I am keeping my memory pure by avoiding those for now!
Speaking of Dusty Rhodes, I have always wondered if Beau Gentry’s (Waterbed Country) was the same Beau Gentry that had some connection to the Sunset Strip music scene in the Sixties? I forget what. But I would assume this might be Beau Gentry the actor, as well? Could Beau Gentry be an actor who dabbled in music or a music venue, only to open--or lend his name to--a waterbed retailer in San Diego? I admit I haven’t worked to hard to untangle this. It’s just been in the back of my mind for a long while.
Here’s Beau Gentry the actor, and dig the Wolfman while you’re at it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4XtCTGCu_M
I gotta dig out Domenic Priore’s recent Sunset Strip book--it may be there that I saw the Strip-related mention of Beau Gentry. It makes sense--he’s still young in ’73, but I see his acting credits go back to about 1960; they are single-episode appearances in various TV series’s. He’s in the right place in time for the Sunset Strip; maybe it’s the same guy. Now where’s the waterbed info? I feel certain all of us remember the radio jingle.
Mr.Tom Ward, Hello…. I still fancy cassettes myself. A Sony WM-D6C stereo recorder and a TCM-5000ev mono recorder. I have a box of sealed high position tapes that would be saved in the event of a fire. Something about actual recorded sound on actual tape….
Eric, it’s great to rap with you directly--I’ve been on a blog binge, so here I am, witnessing your post and raising you one, in the same hour or nearly. Now, cassettes--always convenient in the car, too. Not that I am driving in NYC, but I remember well the popping-in of the old cassette. I had a red ’65 Corvair coupe and didn’t want to lose the original radio, so I bought a “Realistic” cassette (-only) player (no radio receiver) and mounted it under the steering column. Color me madcap but I didn’t want anything too modern too visible! Not that the Radio Shack special there looked particularly modern, except in the sense of modern--like Modern Design. Let’s say there was modern, and there was “modern”--like new and comparatively ugly. Anyway, this utterly cheap but to my eye less ugly device was connected to the stock speaker in the dash. I gave the girls a thrill with all that tinny treble oh yeah. Subwoofer, schmubwoofer. If this Corvair is rocking…please stabilize it immediately. Hey, if I need bass, I bust out a Fender Showman, not some grey carpet-covered enclosure back on the package shelf--ha! Just funning; actually a little more bass in those cars I had might’ve been nice. If I had life to live over again, maybe I’d’ve made that trip to Leo’s Stereo after all. My earlier Corvair (1960) and the ’64 Lincoln never had anything but the stock AM radios. I needed to be able to monitor those old engines by sound, anyway. I remembering hearing some particularly worrisome news about El Salvador on the radio one night while driving one night in the rain in 1985 somewhere near Balboa Park--a tiny moment that stayed with me--there was an all-news AM station as I recall…was it KOGO? I remember fears about getting drafted. There was no “peacetime” draft, but we had to register. Would we be sent to Nicaragua, or the “Russian front”? And isn’t it funny where your mind may wander in the space of one paragraph? Of course I must have burned about thirty-five minutes in this one! Who knows where the time goes, as Sandy Denny might sing--though about a different degree of scale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbpURBJA4uA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2xODjbfYw8&NR=1
Sorry I can’t burn this to cassette an mail it to you instantly. The digits will have to suffice. 😉
Makes a fitting lullaby. Though tomorrow it may be Jesse Belvin.
Has anyone seen the photos of the Beatles toying with their new cassette machines? The things had barely just hit the market, if. I believe it was 1964.
It just struck me that I’m not sure I’ve read the word “Beatles” on the blog before. It’s like they’re so big and obvious, no need to even mention them! But I’ll mention them for the sake of any future antiquarians. A number of Che people were Shea people as well! Not that it wasn’t also fashionable in many circles to disdain them a bit. Some found them overexposed, saw them as being in the way with their world-historicity and all.
Some of us segmented their career so distinctly that we could be into one segment to an ultra level while virtually denying other eras & incarnations. Some people were punk enough they had no need for Beatles; others were so punk they must have Hamburg at all costs; some were so much deeper in the Sixties that the Beatles were no longer visible; others were deeply glad that Harrison had picked up that twelve-string; and so on.
Anyway, I’d been surprised to be informed by that photo that cassettes went as far back as 1964. In 1984 they were still so current that it seemed improbable they could be that old--older than I was!
Mr. Tom Ward,
I still remember having Beatles conversations with with you way back when ,probably 1981 or early ’82, in Sierra Mesa,ahh Serra Mesa, we both had cool road bikes
Paul, that was still childhood for me, I was probably even a bit retarded for my age. Still am developmentally challenged, perhaps. But we had some good skills that are busily being forgotten in the world at large, like being able to shift a ten-speed in the days before “brifters” and “indexing,” and the ability (shared by a bunch of people here) of focusing a manual camera and getting the exposure right sometimes.
In fact, and here’s a brainwave, if Manual Scan would just do an album of Aztec Camera covers (and perform at SDSU), the name for the temporary hybrid would be a cinch! How about it Bart? Manual Camera, live at the Aztec Bowl, perhaps? 😉 Somebody’s got to wear the Confederate kepi, though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3JAC7oeX8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c97kHjuCNc&feature=related
Hmm, I remember a fad for fringed jackets. From the sound alone though, here, I would never think: western jackets, civil war hats, Gretsch guitar. But there you go. Just add water et voila, a faint visual echo of the Buffalo Springfield, the Band and the west coast Charlatans. Same model of guitar played by Eric Bacher--and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, for a little while.
How ’bout it Bart, these are good songs at bottom--Manual Camera? 🙂
As I mentioned in some other tag, I was the first girl to work at Off The Record. I kept going in there and hassling Rich and Larry that they really needed to get with the times and hire some women. They finally gave in and gave me a job in 1984. They were great, but some of the more metal employees were real creeps. They would try to send me over to the grocery store across the street at night to buy their ciggies and sodas because “it was to dangerous to leave a girl in the store alone.” I guess sending me out in the night on El Cajon Blvd. with the junkies and prostitutes was ok. Ha! I always liked Cliff and Gary. They let us buy records at cost and since I was stocking records I would just make piles for myself as I was putting them in the bins. Sometimes I owed them money on payday! I gave my job to Patti Cates when I went on a trip to Scotland, and thus began the Patti, Dennis, Steve era! I remember that Dennis and Steve got really into Wham! at one point. That whole Choose Life thing. Dennis would get really mad at me and Patti for drinking a glass of wine, saying that we didn’t need alcohol to have fun. So funny! Then they discovered the Pogues and became alcoholics! I loved Dennis and Steve. They DJ’d my wedding!! My husband is a former OTR employee, Rob Glaser. He worked there after I did and was introduced to me by Patti and Dennis. We got married in 1989 at Presidio Park under the Father Serra statue with Bagpipes. Rich, Cliff, Patti, Dennis, Steve and Peter Meisner were there. Robyn Wexler was my maid of honor. Dennis and Steve played some really crazy shit. Very down-home fun in my parents’ backyard. Rich asked Rob if he would become a partner and run the North County store, but he got an engineering job in the Bay area and that’s where we ended up.
Manual Camera at The Aztec Bowl? I love it 🙂 I have a few Aztec Camera anecdotes for another time, but in the meantime I love the record store talk. Licorice Pizza was a great place to work, right up until the moment Sam Goody bought it around 1983 (?). It’s the one job I’ve had where many of the employees still keep in touch with each other, or see each other regularly around town in various bands. I helped open the original Chula Vista location on Broadway and stayed through the move to H and Broadway. It was a cool hangout, and from an employee stand point, very musician friendly. during the early eighties, I lived in a house at 4041 44th Street with fellow Licorice Pizza (asst) managers: Sue Ferguson (The Dinettes, Trowsers) Paul Freedman (Men of Clay) and Peter ZO (ZO Voider). A pretty great time:-) I remember lots of friends stopping in to the store on thier way across the border to hit the bars and things like a Mary Wells instore. Pete Markell hung out there so often, we finally just hired him, he was there anyway:-) Case in point right there of a long term friendship out a retail environment. I have to say I also loved the record company gatherings they arranged for thier employees. Today I drove through PB and saw that the old Licorice Pizza is now a tanning salon. Does anyone remember the Blue Oyster Cult ticket riot in thier parking lot when a DJ decided to throw free tickets in the air rathere than hand them out? I met Phil Collins there and The Hitmakers, Devo and lots more. Being down the block from The Roxy was certainly helpful in that respect. Years later, in the mid-nineties, a bunch of former Licorice Pizza employees, including myself, ended up working for national distributor Diamond Comics. As for OTR, thats my second favorite job ever. It was someplace I always looked forward to going to. I’m not sure if I’ve posted on this before (I lost a post before I could send it), but both Phil and Rich stayed in music -- Rich is the man behind the Morrison Hotel Galleries and Phil is a producer with Grammy nominated music archivists Reelin’ In The Years Productions. OTR’s instore’s were indeed great -- besides the ones mentioned, personal faves would be RFTC, The Wondermints and Blur. I loved the way the store helped nurture the local music scene. My favorite thing however was nights I worked with Eric Rife- we would have the greatest discussions on everything from rare pressings to philosophy. Also I might be wrong, but I think the name of the store “west of” OTR was Records Heaven…
Record Heaven! There you go. Thanks, Bart.
Morrison Hotel galleries--I think that’s the joint here in NYC on Spring St. Sounds like there are perhaps a few of them from the way you word it, Bart. Photos by Henry Diltz, etc. It’s all way out of my budget, and I haven’t made a study of the place, but it’s nice to stop into. There is a $500 book there on California stuff--Laurel Canyon scene might be one way to put it--that I would love to have.
Shari! Thanks for your story of pioneering at OTR.
Gawd. Wham. Did they get to drop the “UK” suffix at some point? I must say, I wasn’t a fan! But I’d be more amused, nowadays, than Not Amused, as I felt back then. Wake me up before you go-go, indeed! Yes, let us be awake for the go-go event! I hate it when I’m drowsy and you’re go-go-ing more or less without me! I’m afraid I missed whatever the Choose Life thing was; gosh I hope I didn’t choose wrong! I think I must have chosen life, even in ignorance. And then there are those Garrett fans, from further back. I think their slogan was “Choose Leif.”
“Some of the more metal…” made me laugh. It suggests that one chose one’s “degree of metal,” which is true, I think. I guess you could be “a little metal.” Someone might want to “test your metal.” Like you might “test positive for metal”! Like: X-number of parts-per-million of metal…. Eine kleine metalmusik. 🙂
am i the last person on earth to know that steve died? good god. how awful. can anyone explain to me how this happened? the last time i saw him was mccarthys wedding in palo alto. i’m having visions of him and of dennis at the old off the record and wishing them both well… next thing i know, when i google his name, i read that he is gone.
Ava: Steve Foth’s death was a horrible, stupid, tragic waste. Have you Googled up the details of his murder? I opted not to link it up here — historical completeness be damned — because it’s just too freakin’ sad. 🙁
I can send you a link, though, if you’re not finding it.
i just don’t understand. he was a good guy. wtf?
if you can steer me in the right direction to find out what happened i’d be grateful.
to clarify to tom and others re:Beau Gentry’s Waterbed Country…
to my knowledge, the name of the waterbed chain had nothing to do with the actor or anything else in the music scene. it was, however, a fictional name referring to the english translation “beautiful people” and the sixties/seventies scenes. this company was established by Ross Gibson, my step-father, in the early 70’s.
Michael Maracle, I don’t know how in the world I stumbled across this site but seeing your name and Beau’s definitely caught my attention. And you’re right, Beau Gentry’s Waterbeds had no connection to the music world. If my memory serves me right Ross got that name from Buzzie who had a hair bending shop downtown named Beau Gentry’s.
Your dad was a truly unique individual and another case of someone being taken from us way too soon. Perhaps he had a hand in this unusual crossing of our paths. I hope we can get together and shoot the shit real soon. The last time I remember seein’ you was at the river when you and your sister were just puppies. My love to ‘LG’.
Anybody that sees this that knows Mike Maracle please pass on this e-mail address to him and ask him to contact me. Thanx much….
mikesagar@hotmail.com
Couple of thoughts, I was just down at Jerome’s on Morena and the Salesman, Dallas Lamb, said he played the part of Beau Gentry for Waterbed Country. In the past, he has owned his own furniture store.
Another thing, my ex brother-in-law owned American Dream Music. In his younger years was in bands, Brain Police?, now has a site marketing he and his wife Becky’s musical career. David and Rebecca Randle.
Flipping through used albums checking out the art, way different than now, I have to squint to see through the cd case. My friend has all the old Beatles records (included posters etc. too) that I remember from Matthew R.’s when we were in Junior High. And yeah the whole tactile experience: grooves, spindle hole, dropping the needle, etc…I had a record player that could slow 33’s down to 17: half speed but same key and used to try to copy guitar solos, endlessly picking up and putting down the needle. (Well that is a little easier on Windows Media Player that has that feature too.)
Off the Record?..Man I remember..thats where i got Christian Death “only theater of pain” i remember one of the guitar players for “Prowler ” worked there and for a time..yep..it shared the building with a Massage Parlor..I was really Pissed when it disapeared..we have enough tire shops around SD.
to David Rives: I still have all the old Alice cooper vynal..i dont know if anyone remembers “Billion Dollar Babbies” it was a huge wallet and had pics inside and a huge Billion Dollar Bill with the band on it..”Schools out” is a Desk..pretty cool stuff..Even Bootsy collins gave you a pair of glasses with one of his albums…
Fred Rated Anybody?
Happiness surrounded me by finding this article because it seems to be the only record in the Internet about OTR El Cajon.
Such a great store back to 79/80, when I lived in San Diego. I still keep an album, with 2 LPs and an insert with pictures from The Who, “Quadrophenia” (opera rock from the 70’s) I’d bought there. Also many “Queen” LPs 💖. I used to have some posters too which I regret to have lost.
P.S.: would anyone have a picture of OTR El Cajon?
Daniel,
How I wish I had photos of OTR and Monty Rocker’s. That was a great stretch of El Cajon Blvd. There was a little boutique Science Fiction/Fantasy bookshop about 1 block West of OTR, too.
From OTR, you could look directly out the door across the road at the Campus Drive in.
Who remembers the Blue Meanie off El Cajon Blvd near College in La Mesa
I was a regular at OTR in 1986-87 as I was stationed at NAS Miramar and then discharged and lived off University in North Park. I put on thrashcore shoes at Adams Ave Theatre and Jackie Robinson YMCA. Cliff at Off The Record would allow me to leave stacks of flyers and offered one to each customer to help me promote shows and help build the crossover scene in San Diego. I doubt I would have been able to put the shoes on without Cliff and people like him.He would even allow me to leave advance tix to sell so I could gauge the potential crowd sizes as I was just a fan putting on shoes learning as I went. Thrashfest 86 with DRI, Possessed, Dark Angel, Death Angel.