Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
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It’s happening again …
For the second time in less than two weeks, we’ve experienced the perennial glitch in which commenting was disabled on every blog post, preventing any of you from adding new comments.
This means I have to open every one of the hundreds of posts and reactivate commenting. I’ve already done so on the most recent posts and will be fixing the rest as quickly as I can (i.e., today).
(Ray Brandes alerts us to the long-overdue release of “The Trains,” with attendant parties in San Diego and LA.)
It is true that good things come to those who wait. The Nashville Ramblers’ song “The Trains,” which Steven Van Zandt once called “one of the most unspeakably gorgeous instances of romantic yearning disguised as a pop song,” will finally, after 25 years, get its own release.
Mike Stax’s Ugly Things Records will release “The Trains” at a special record release party on Friday, Jan. 21, at the Til-Two Club at 4746 El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego.
I’ve opined that the two definitive eras for Christmas music were the Middle Ages and the 1940s. Even my favorite performers from later eras have come up with compositions that underwhelm me. (Exhibits A and B: Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” and the Beach Boys’ “Little Saint Nick,” with both Lennon’s and McCartney’s efforts representing C and D.)
However, there are some holiday songs that do offer new views of the season … Not always jolly, but interesting in one way or another.
(David Rinck recalls the moment that made him a rocker.)
The other day, I picked up the obligatory copy of Keith Richards’ new autobiography “Life.” OK, no surprises — there’s some really interesting stuff in here, but it predictably enough reads sort of like “This I Took.” Maybe he should get a program?
Also, I happened to see the new(ish) Martin Scorsese live film of the Stones. “Shine A Light,” about a month ago, and I really didn’t think it was very good. I mean, come on guys: Christina Aguilera? Really? And poor ol’ Keith looks like he’s just exhausted. Well yeah, when you talk about the Stones nowadays, it’s hard to ignore the fact that these guys are getting a bit torn and frayed. But let’s be fair here …
Here’s a striking new collaboration with deep roots in San Diego: Eris Sisters, an electronica duo featuring Kristi Maddocks (Everybody Violet) and Clay Colgin (Men of Clay), a k a MCC.
They recently released their debut record “DownHEAR” on True Node Records.
(You asked for it, you got it! Che Underground: The Blog is proud to add San Diego female rock pioneers the Dinettes to its lineup. Doriot Negrette provides the narrative, with audio and visual artifacts contributed by Joyce Rooks.)
Disclaimer: Of course you understand that by daring to disturb the XX* Ark of the Covenant, all must pay by listening to the demanding sounds of San Diego’s own Dinettes. No longer satisfied and blissfully ignorant, the history camel has now gone and pushed its nasty nose under the tent and into the den of wild female rhythm. Lo, what a cavalcade of late-’70s sonic value those first recordings were…you’ll see. Left in a state of utter incomprehension and curious disbelief, any listener will be changed, forever.
*That’s chromosome, to you. Nothing more.
(Ray Brandes reopens the case of People vs. the Che Underground.)
Thursday morning, during the last week of August, 1985, I arrived at work at 4:00 a.m. to begin my shift collecting and baling the cardboard boxes left scattered on the floor of the Food Basket on Washington Street. As I donned my apron, the hoots and catcalls began. “Hey, Hollywood!” shouted one of the night-crew guys as he leaned back in the seat of the forklift, a smug look on his face. In one hand he held a can of New Coke; in the other was the latest copy of People, emblazoned with the headline, “Madonna Weds Sean.”
A few weeks earlier, my bandmates and I had made the trek to Los Angeles and endured a several hours-long photo shoot at the Cavern, music maven and cult impresario Greg Shaw’s modest live-music club located in an alley off Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. The article, we had been told, would put Bomp! Records on the map and catapult the Tell-Tale Hearts to stardom. This would be my ticket to fame and fortune, I believed. I would quit my job bagging groceries and baling cardboard, take a few semesters off from college, and enjoy the good life.
Read moreIt’s 1985: Do you know
where your bell-bottoms are?
(Dave Rinck a k a Wallflower keeps us posted on the Kidz’s revival.)
It’s been an honor for me play rhythm guitar for the last few months with this classic punk-rock band. This is a working band, and it has a new lineup, new CDs (I’ve never released two CDs on the same day before!), and new shows! Here’s an update:
THE NEW LINEUP:
Jim Ryan – bass and vocals
Jerry Flack – guitar and vocals
Jimi Flynn – drums
Dave Wallflower – guitar and vocals
More Answers for the 21st century: Videotaped at Bar Pink July 31, 2010, at the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend, “Margaret Flies” and “Creative Art” represent two eras of this incredibly prolific band.
“Margaret Flies” was a highlight of the band I first encountered in spring 1983; Jerry Cornelius’ lyrics, set to music by Jeff Lucas, still take my breath away after all these years. Meanwhile, guitarist/vocalist Dave Fleminger describes the return of “Creative Art” to the Answers set list:
Read moreThe Answers: “Margaret Flies”/
“Creative Art” at Bar Pink
(After a Reagan-era hiatus, the Front will take the stage Jan. 28, 2011, at San Diego’s Casbah. Bassist Kevin Chanel provides the 411 on the forthcoming festivities.)
Morgan Smith (guitar player) talked with Tim Mays dating back to mid-2009. He then called Mark Baez (singer) out of the blue, with nice words about old times.
We put together a practice later that year. One day as a three-piece, next as all four original dudes. (Dan Mehlos is the drummer. He was also in Personal Conflict and Men of Clay.) Sounded pretty good. Most of us had not seen each other in 20+ years.