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Spotlight on Mark Zadarnowski

January 6, 2011June 1, 2010 by admin

(Bart Mendoza offers an appreciation of this San Diego bass phenom.)

Although I had seen the Crawdaddys numerous times by that point and had probably even been at some of the same parties, I was first introduced to Mark Zadarnowski (a k a Mark Z.) by Carl Rusk. Mark was living behind the Kings Road Café at the time and while I’m sure he was less than thrilled to have his house invaded just prior to a show, it was cool formally to meet a member of one of my favorite bands.

One of the bedrocks of the San Diego music scene, the roll call of bands Mark’s recorded with would rank him as a music legend, even if he had stopped after the first one.

A founding member of the Crawdaddys, he can be heard on the legendary 1979 Crawdaddy Express LP, as well as the 5X4 EP and “There She Goes Again” 45. He’s not on another release for a few years, but when he next pops up, once again, it’s on a winner: the short-lived Mystery Machine’s “She’s Not Mine.” Included on the seminal 1983 compilation, Battle of The Garages Vol. 3, the tune has appeared on several other compilations since.

Forever changes: Che Games for May
and the the perpetual nostalgia machine

January 6, 2011May 29, 2010 by admin

Detail: Dave Fleminger, the Mirrors; May 30, 2009 (photo by Dave Doyle) Ava points out that it was exactly one year ago that Che Underground: The Blog hosted its first-ever reunion gig (a k a “Che Games for May”) at San Diego’s Casbah.

The two-night blowout included eight great San Diego bands (nine, if you count the unannounced, sizzling first-night mini-set by Lemons Are Yellow), most of whom hadn’t played together in a quarter-century. It marked the first time most of us had been together since the mid-’80s — and the opportunity to meet a few new friends who’d met through the site and their shared San Diego musical history.

This anniversary thus represents an interesting object lesson in the recursive nature of memory: This event itself has now passed into its realm and hence deserves its own commemorative post!

3 Guys Called Jesus
at North Park Lions Club, 1986

January 6, 2011May 25, 2010 by admin

Here’s a cut from the only extant video I know of 3 Guys Called Jesus, the band I formed in 1985 with Steve Duke (bass, vocals) and Robert Labbe (drums, vocals) and played in until I left San Diego in February 1987.

This performance of my song “Small Vegetables” dates from May 16, 1986, when 3 Guys opened for Specimen and the Tell-Tale Hearts at the North Park Lions Club. (Ray Brandes and I have swapped anecdotes about Specimen’s antics that night; the conditions were just awful at the time but made for a funny story in retrospect.)

‘They’re playing our song’:
Covers and the Che Underground

January 2, 2018May 19, 2010 by admin

(Ray Brandes looks under the covers of favorite songs by our songwriters.)

For a songwriter, it is both a peculiar and rewarding experience to hear one’s songs interpreted by others. Over the past 30 years I have been writing songs, I have had the honor and privilege of listening to cover versions of my songs on many occasions, and it never fails to leave me gratified. One of the first songs I ever wrote, “Crawling Back to Me” (which is the opening track on the Tell-Tale Hearts’ eponymous debut album), has been covered on record by numerous artists, including Spain’s Agentes Secretos, England’s Diaboliks and Australia’s
Shutdown 66.

Perhaps my favorite cover of a song I wrote is Rachael Gordon’s “I Know You’re In Love Again,” which I contributed to her 2002 album “The Coming of Spring” on Subterrania Records. Rachael, an old friend and San Diego native, released the album to rave reviews, particularly in Europe. Germany’s Rolling Stone had this to say:

‘I’m not ready’

January 6, 2011May 11, 2010 by admin

“I want to write a piece about not being ready to deal with death,” writes our friend Mark Mullen, veteran Morlocks and Wallflowers drummer and all-around good egg. He’s given me generous permission both to quote him and to solicit the support of our age mates, who are learning to face this inevitable with greater frequency every year.

“My grandma died two days ago, and my aunt died a week ago, both to have services Sunday. …. Same day.

“I pretty much shut down and did not deal with it,” Mark writes. “Maybe if I wrote the story and had feedback and other people’s situation to see, maybe I would have dealt with it.

Mods gone wild! Clairemont High ‘riot’ ’82

March 30, 2019May 8, 2010 by admin

(Dave Fleminger provides video evidence and more of Manual Scan’s threat to the social order of 1980s San Diego.)

In my senior year at Clairemont High, I managed to get Manual Scan onto the roster of the talent show, despite me being the only member of the band that attended the school. Also on the bill were the X-Offenders, who were all either currently students or alumni of Clairemont High.

During Manual Scan’s performance a quote-unquote “riot” broke out amid the audience, and the police were called in to restore the peace. … I think calling it a “riot” is more than a bit of an exaggeration, but I don’t want to diminish the fact that some friends of the band did get whaled on a bit by some of CHS’s football team. Or at least I had heard it was the football team that decided they had had enough of these crazy mod kids calling attention to themselves by dancing it up at the far edge of the aisle near the side exit — a smart spot for quick getaway.

Where on the Web … ?

December 11, 2017May 5, 2010 by admin

When we started Che Underground: the Blog early in 2008, it addressed a void in our shared history: Searching online produced very little evidence of the bands and friends who tugged at the fringes of late-’70s and early-’80s San Diego. (We started with a circle of bands who played the Che Cafe and other venues together in ’83 and ’84, then expanded out.)

The ground has shifted since then. This site itself is bringing in more than 10,000 visitors a month, including all sorts of new arrivals from the old days — but even more interesting to me, a slew of new online efforts are taking off, powered by Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and more. (I’ve recently been enjoying the Injections’ new Facebook page and Ray Brandes’ YouTube channel, to name just two vectors for San Diego underground history.)

Glory reunited!

December 11, 2017April 30, 2010 by admin

Readers of Che Underground: The Blog who thrilled to Ray Brandes’ history of Glory will have an extraordinary chance to see the legendary San Diego band in action.

Glory (which dissolved in 1978 after a storied 11-year run) will reunite on May 26 to raise funds for the California Music Project and raise funds for music education in public schools. The event will feature Glory alumni Jerry Raney, Jack Butler and Jack Pinney as well as their current musical projects: the Farmers, Private Domain and Modern Rhythm, respectively.

Club Zu Boat Cruise IV

January 6, 2011April 25, 2010 by admin

Ahoy! Club Zu founder Kelsey Farris re-christens a seminal San Diego soirée.

OK GURL! I know you’re coming to my party, and if you wanted to invite friends, it’s great.

Here is a little background: Long-ass story, but when I was 17, I owned a club in San Diego called Club Zu for a few years and chartered these private parties on the San Diego Harbor.

Read Kelsey’s history of Club Zu!

Facebook has reconnected me with so many people who went to Club Zu in the early ‘80s and attended one if not all three of our Club Zu boat parties. Their requests to throw another started me asking around, and this event came together.

The insane invitations are photographs of friends from the era, and the incredible graphics are courtesy of Rodney Rodney in Los Angeles.

Bamboohead’s back!

January 6, 2011April 23, 2010 by admin

We’ve cited Clayton Colgin’s Bamboohead among the influential ‘zines that helped shape the underground aesthetic of San Diego at the turn of the ’80s. In honor of the new millennium and the net, Clay has reimagined his brainchild as Bamboohead 3000, available now on a MySpace page near you!

First up: an interview with Sasha Pfau of the Hot Moon, “a young band in San Diego that I first saw about six months ago … who just continue to energize my sense of what a young modern young band can be about today in the 21st century.