Che Underground: The Blog has written before about the legendary Skeleton Club, the backbone of San Diego punk that Laura Fraser and Tim Mays ran for a scant two weeks at 921 4th Ave. before reopening (always a half-step ahead of SD authorities) at 202 Market St.
Now Mikel Toombs enriches our store of Skeleton Club lore with a wealth of flyers, including announcements that accompanied the original venue’s opening and closing.
“The one about the Skeleton Club closing was handed out at the final show at the original Skeleton Club,” Mikel writes. “I don’t have any recollection of the other one.”
Here’s a chronological lineup of Skeleton Club flyers from December 1979 through April 1980:
“Mikel adds, “L. Shadgett [who co-signed the Skeleton Club farewell note with Laura] is Larry Shadgett. And I found this ’79 Billboard article fascinating.”
It describes the way co-owners Shadgett and Scott Harrington planned to take on then-burgeoning Tower Records with their independent-focused Babylon Records, the establishment formerly known as Monty Rockers. Anybody know how this experiment fared?
I don’t see Lydia Lunch mentioned
Wow…I remember all those shows…a lot of flyers missing I think.
And, of course, we all got our first taste of Bonzo Dog Band and Stranglers courtesy of Monty Rockers, right??
I’m not seeing the chronological listing or any links to images other than the two imbedded in the article proper.
I’m with Joe — can’t see anything either. And Lou, I’m also surprised I don’t have the Lydia Lunch/8-Eyed Spy flyer, since I enthusiastically went to that show.
>>I’m not seeing the chronological listing or any links to images other than the two imbedded in the article proper.
Joe/Mikel: ARRRRGGGH! No sooner do we get Heff back after his problems logging on than two of our MVPs report they can’t see the content. Sorry, guys!
I’ve looked at this in Firefox on Windows XP and Firefox and Safari on Mac OS X. All the flyers (a total of 18) display for me.
What OS and browser are you fellas using?
Anyone else having trouble seeing the pitchers, please pop me a note at cheunderground@gmail.com and specify your OS/browser; I will troubleshoot.
Only went here once. Must have been on Market St. Saw the Stingers. Snuck out of the house with neighborhood friends, Dave Skinner and Dave Swift. It was my eye-opener to punk rock. I’ve never been the same since.
All the flyers display okay here -- nice! Didn’t Country Dick Montana run Monty Rockers?? I only vaguely recall Babylon, and mainly only because they had a Ticketron outlet.
That be a great Che site feature, on long gone local record stores, like Arcade run by Dave Hakola (downtown and OB), Record Heaven run by Jeff something-or-other (SDSU area next to San Diego’s first Subway, Sports Arena drive where a multiplex theater and later Soma ended up, and they even had an L.A. Sunset Strip shop for awhile), Musicade (originally a mail order outfit that had a retail locale off Midway), Smoky Barger’s in El Cajon, whatever that place was downtown in the basement of the St. James Hotel, etc etc —
Update on the troubles some people are having viewing the thumbnails of the flyers: It’s apparently a compatibility problem with Internet Explorer 8. Firefox should work for you short term — and longer term, we’re looking for a fix that will let IE8 display ’em.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Anyword when they will be viewable with IE8?
>>Anyword when they will be viewable with IE8?
Carl: Let’s try this, dagnab it!
For me, going to the Skeleton Club was a big deal, it felt really special being there. This was a chance to see and hear something totally new and orginal! And because at that time the general public didn’t like punk rock and that the show was going to probably end with the cops coming to shut it down early -- it also felt dangerous! How cool is that for a 16 year old?! lol To make it a perfect event was to be able to get an issue of Substitute fanzine to bring home with you. Reading it over and over again at home and at school waiting for the next show.
IE8 sucks. You should be able to see the images in the comment above, however. 😛
Cool -- thanks for posting them in the comments
The Skeleton Club flyers were an odd size, I had recently posted some on my Facebook and had to scan them in sections and piece them together. Proving once again how truly diverse the Skeleton Club really was. lol
I never heard of the skeleton club but it sounded like a great club. I really like the b/w flyers. I’m sure the owners will open something new soon
??? all people mentioned above are, basically, dead.
I just LOVE this line though…”I’m sure the owners will open something new soon”.
Uhhhh….from beyond the grave???? From Prison??? 🙂
>>Uhhhh….from beyond the grave???? From Prison??? 🙂
Bruce: I’ve got my eye on this Tim Mays kid. I have a feeling he’s got a good head for business that could serve him well!
Insert long chuckle here…”kid”.
Aww… I only have the pink ones! Thank you so much for sharing these… I was too young to go to The Skeleton Club (and only HEARD about it right as it was being closed down, via angry letters to the editor in local fanzines) but I would pore over the flyers in awe, every Saturday when I rode my bike from Mount Helix to Off The Record to unload my entire allowance!
I used to have a great Skel Club flyer, (Rippers, Child Molesters, Injections?), covered in Terry Marines blood. Carried it around for years….wonder if he remembers this???
Wasn’t the DNA extracted from the flyer blood and used to clone Terry Marine ?
Wow! Seeing this stuff unleashes a torrent of memories. I was at most of the Skeleton Club shows and remember them with shivers. You missed one act: Dicey Stewart, a punk-pop goddess in those days. I recall that her set was short but cool in a wacked-out way. She’s still around, too, touring in a duo called Dicey and Paprika. Here’s a clip I found on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKHE26NkqU0
“Let’s go see the Go Go’s at… a legendary punk club!”
The Skeleton Club was one of the best things that San Diego has ever had… lots of memories.