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The Town Criers: Unearthed relics!

January 1, 2011August 4, 2009 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes brings new Town Criers artifacts to light.)

The first of these gems is from early 1989, a performance at the wedding of Joe Hughes at Joshua Tree National Park.

The band at the time consisted of Ray Brandes on acoustic guitar and vocals, Peter Miesner on lead guitar, Mark Zadarnowski on electric bass guitar, and Dan Tarte on drums. Among the attendees captured on film at the event are Che Undergrounders Matt Johnson and Sean McMullen.

The toddler at the end of the clip is Sean Zadarnowski, Mark and Lydia’s son, who has graduated from UCSD.

The Last Tommy

January 1, 2011July 31, 2009 by admin

Another reminder of time’s flight … The last British survivor of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, passed away this week at 111. Henry Allingham, who served in the British Navy and the RAF in WWI, died last week at 113. “The sole British survivor of the war is former seaman Claude Choules, who is aged 108 and lives in Perth, Australia,” the BBC reports.

As of today, there are three verified World War I veterans in the world, including the American doughboy Frank Buckles.

This makes me feel old. When I was little, there were millions of veterans of the Great War, most of them entering the early years of their retirement. (Wikipedia estimates that more than 2 million World War II veterans currently survive in the U.S. alone.) People born in the 19th century were elderly, but not impossibly so.

‘Our Blow Out’: Reloaded

January 1, 2011July 30, 2009 by admin

(Injections, Noise 292 and Everybody Violet drummer Joey Miller makes a public-service announcement — with guitar!)

DISCLAIMER: This is not a project of either Matthew or me, and there will understandably be different perspectives on it. Great. Please feel free to make /post your thoughts here, but KNOW and UNDERSTAND we are only the messengers.

“Our Blow Out” was a compilation that was originally put together and released in 1983 by Cliff from Social Spit. It was an energetic and amazing accomplishment for its time, and (as many of us can attest) it was an amazing compilation.

Read more about “Our Blow Out”!

Curtis, the owner of TAANG Records, has expressed interest in re-releasing this compilation; he would like to make contact with as many band members as possible to set up a meeting. He is extremely interested in seeing this move forward, and it is our hope to put the word out to see how many originals that this information would reach.

The Unknowns’ lost documentary!

July 28, 2009July 28, 2009 by admin

An amazing discovery by Ray Brandes, author of Che Underground’s definitive biography of San Diego’s Unknowns: a 10-minute-long French documentary of the band of which the members themselves were unaware.

“This was a complete blindside to me,” reports Unknowns bassist Dave Doyle. “I had never seen it nor really recalled the circumstances. After speaking with [guitarist] Mark [Neill] just a bit ago, he clarified some things. It was shot in 1981, live at Madame Wong’s East (Chinatown LA) and as far as for whom or what, neither of us know. The song titles are wrong for the most part. It should be: ‘The Streets,’ ‘Common Man,’ ‘Teenage Crush,’ ‘Crime Wave’ and ‘The Bounce.’ “

So how’s your summer?

December 14, 2017July 25, 2009 by admin

Here’s an easy one (at least for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere): What are you up to this summer?

Summertime feels different to me now than it did when I was a kid and had a solid block of vacation to savor … But in some ways, the time I do take is all the more precious.

Right now, I’m sitting at a picnic table at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon, Mich. Pop-up camper to the left of me … Cellular modem to the right … Here I am!

What’s cookin’ with you this summer?

We know what you did last summer!

Oh! And a bonus question: What songs evoke summer for you?

Lend Me Your Comb: A short history of the Hedgehogs

January 1, 2011July 22, 2009 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes applies his narrative skills to documenting an influential early band from his own back pages. Read the full version in Che Underground’s Related Bands section.)

At the beginning of the summer of 1981, the Ideals (comprising 18-year-old Ray Brandes on lead vocals, 17-year-old Tony Paulerio on lead guitar, 20-year-old Maure Silverman on rhythm guitar, 17-year-old Paul Carsola on drums, and led by 14-year-old prodigy Carl Rusk on bass) were gearing up for a summer of Point Loma keg parties at $50 a performance.

The band, whose short career had reached a pinnacle opening for the Penetrators at Mission Bay High School’s prom, played mostly rockabilly and early rock and roll, with Eddie Cochran’s songs making up about 50 percent of our set list!

At the end of May, with Paul away on a summer vacation, Carl called up the Crawdaddys’ Ron Silva to sit in on drums. Ron knew Carl from years of Skeleton Club shows and had recently seen the Ideals play at the Zebra Club, so he was more than happy to oblige. The gig was to be a massive block party in Crown Point, but it never materialized because the set by the opening band, Stonehenge, resulted in several noise complaints.

Flyers: Dawn Hill Waxon Collection

July 20, 2009July 20, 2009 by admin

(San Diego expat Dawn Hill Waxon shares highlights from her flyer archive.)

Like most alternative and underground music fans in San Diego in the early-mid 1980s, I collected hundreds of flyers for shows and clubs from record stores like Chula Vista’s Licorice Pizza where Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan worked, so there were always Man Scan show flyers available.

Many show goers from the day will recall having flyers practically jammed into their hands after hours outside venues like the Adams Avenue Theater, promoting shows by Tim Maze, Luis Guerena, Mad Marc Rude’s Dead or Alive, et al. Some featured simple, primitive sketches or collage work; others showcased the fine artistic talents of Mad Marc Rude and LEE (“Testicle Head”).

Let’s talk Zeros!

January 1, 2011July 17, 2009 by admin

Between the band’s San Diego pedigree and Ray Brandes’ definitive biography, punk pioneers the Zeros have a special place on Che Underground: The Blog.

The reunited band’s recent string of West Coast gigs has rallied members of our community. And considering our own recent reunion, I’d like to learn more about how our forebears are faring.

Read about the birth of the Zeros!

Who’s been to the Zeros’ recent shows? How does now stack up to then?

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

December 11, 2017July 15, 2009 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes proposes the ultimate dinner-party guest list.)

A popular parlor game during the Victorian era in Great Britain and the United States was the compilation of a list of guests — both living and dead — one would invite to a dinner party. This ultimate dinner party was often designed to ensure the most lively of discussions, debate and entertainment.

Let’s imagine we’re having a dinner party to which we can invite six guests from any time period in history, living or dead. For the sake of the game, let’s assume all of the guests can speak the same language and will have no difficulties getting to the event. Who would you invite to dinner?

Read moreGuess who’s coming to dinner?

French rock ‘n’ roll: An oxymoron?

December 14, 2017July 14, 2009 by admin

Especially in honor of Bastille Day, here’s an eternal question inspired by an absolutely charming 1966 performance Dean Curtis surfaced by a French combo dubbed Antoine et les Problèmes. “Les élucubrations” is delivered with élan, esprit and a ton of other wonderful French nouns … However, I still find it extremely difficult to listen to.

(It actually reminds me of a small child Robert Labbe, Paul Kaufman and I watched working cafe tables in Belgium, frantically wheezing into a harmonica until he was paid to leave.)

But — mon Dieu! — Che Underground: The Blog is here to smash stereotypes, not to perpetuate them! An unrepentant francophile myself (with a healthy appreciation for other Gallic art forms), I need guidance: Where are the French rockers?