Next stop for the Che Underground time machine: Nineteen sixty-eight, when the Brain Police was the hottest act in San Diego and opened for bands like the Who, Cream, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. Like Ray Brandes’ recent homage to the Hitmakers, I hope a starter post here will attract some personal reminiscences of what appears to have been a very cool band indeed.
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The Hitmakers’ hit that never was
(Another key San Diego music artifact courtesy of Ray Brandes.)
I recently acquired a copy of the Hitmakers’ “It’s Only Sad” (1978), the A-side of their second record, which followed their 1977 EP “America’s Newest Hitmaker.” That’s Jeff Scott on vocals, Ron Silva and Josef Marc on guitars, Steve Potterf on bass and Joel Kmak on drums. Ron and Steve had left the band to start the Crawdaddys when the single was released, so they are not properly credited in the sleeve notes.
Even Dave Wallflower gets the blues
(Wallflower/Blues Gangster/BeatHog David Rinck waxes indigo and finds the musical treatment for it. What’s your prescription?)
The other day I had the blues
I walked down the street in my old shoes
I know you won’t believe it’s true
But even Dave Wallflower gets the blues …
Yes, even Dave Wallflower gets the blues. Had ’em for a while now. Go’n through some hard times.
But that Sunday morning a few weeks ago in Liberia, brothers and sisters, I was down. I’d just come out on a long flight from Nairobi the night before, and I was tired. I headed out of the hotel and down those beat old streets for my early morning walk.
Anglophilia!
“Do you remember the fifth of November?”
Having exploited Bastille Day 2009 to open a discussion of arcane French rock ‘n’ roll, I thought it only fair that Guy Fawkes Day acknowledge a landmass many of us identify more closely with the genre: the U.K.
From the Beatles to the Pretty Things to Monty Python to the Sex Pistols to the Clash to the Damned to Crass to Siouxie to “Quadrophenia” to everything else that little cluster of islands produced … Our interest in British art and culture seemed especially plangent in contrast with the San Diego landscape in which we grew up.
This We Dug: “Forever Changes”
(“Then and now” powerhouse Kristen Tobiason salutes Arthur Lee and all who sailed with him.)
“And if you think I’m happy. Paint. Me. WHITE.”
Arthur Lee’s lyrics are as punk rock as they come. Bold, sociopolitical, but metaphorical and spiritual as poetry. When I first heard “Forever Changes” in 1983, I had no idea that these compositions would change the way I viewed music from that time on. It added dimension to the roots that dug deep, in blues and jazz, and, as an aspiring writer, spoke a language I could relate to.
Che Underground at the Casbah, Jan. 30!
If you enjoyed (or missed) Che Games for May in 2009, here’s another chance to join us at San Diego’s Casbah for the first official Che Underground event of 2010, featuring the Town Criers, Manual Scan and the Blues Gangsters.
This Saturday night event will feature historic performances by some of San Diego’s finest sons and daughters. Jubilation guaranteed!
Three spirits of Halloween
It’s hard to believe the earth has already circled the Great Pumpkin completely since Ray Brandes reviewed hip-and-spooky Halloween music and his sister Claudia recalled her 1984 Halloween party featuring some of our favorite boys and ghouls.
But indeed, Samhain is here again … and I realize that I experienced the holiday in three distinct modes:
The Calaveras Carnivore
(A culinary blogging adventure from Che Underground veteran Patrick Works.)
While he’s been shooting a lot lately, Patrick’s also been busy writing.
This gets him hungry, so he eats while he writes.
Lately he’s been thinking he should really do some writing about eating. At least that way he’s got a good excuse for all the grease on the keyboard.
Bizarro Che Underground: Boone, N.C.
Maybe you assumed we’re the only ones thinking about the musical community we constructed in our youth. Perhaps you assumed our web of bands and venues and relationships was the only one to inspire a Web anthology and assorted reunions.
Now consider the unlikely musical incubator of Boone, N.C., which has inspired an eerily similar project focused on reassembling underground bands that played Appalachian State University between 1979 and 1990.
Bruce Joyner: Che Underground regards
(Ray Brandes leads a karmic rally on behalf of a local hero.)
Che Underground hero Bruce Joyner, lead singer extraordinaire of the Unknowns, is a classic Southern Gentleman. He has graced us here with his insight and keen wit and has answered our questions with a Southern hospitality as rich and famous as sweet sun tea.
Bruce’s chronic health problems, originating with a string of accidents in his youth, have been well-documented. He has weathered years of painful operations and recurring complications like a Georgia oak: steadfastly, firmly and proudly. Bruce will soon be undergoing a series of surgeries that will keep him from performing until at least early springtime of next year.