Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
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Here’s another video sequence from the Morlocks’ 1986 performance at the Stone in San Francisco that included the version of “My Friend the Bird” previously aired on Che Underground: The Blog.
“I’m not sure who wrote it,” says drummer Mark Mullen. “All I remember is that it was written for Brother Ed from The Brotherhood of Light. He did our liquid light show, and his biker pals did security.
“‘Two Wheels Go’ was for the bikers, Hells Angels I believe.”
(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles contributes a selection of flyers from his capacious archives.)
1. One of my infamous paste-&-cut flyers, this one for Julie at 2581, when I helped promote a batch of shows in 1983 1988 — you can probably tell the numbers are from an old calendar.
I collected photos, and friends gave me old magazines to cannibalize into quick flyers, though this one is from my collection of vintage TV-show stills. That’s a pretty diverse calendar, from the Event to Claude Coma, with stops at the Nephews; Outriders (with Rick Wilkins); and Berkeley combo the Birminghams; as well as lots of others.
Multimedia goodness is beginning to trickle into the Che Underground YouTube channel from the Che Games for May, an event at San Diego’s Casbah that brought together musicians from the early-’80s “Che Underground” era in fantastic new forms.
Here’s the first edited video of Noise 292’s quarter-century reunion: a hypnotic version of “Stupid Future” by the electrifying Kristin Martin. I’m proud to say that the Casbah performance reunited the entire Noise 292 lineup as a sextet; percussionist Hobie Hodge and his successor, Wendell Kling, shared the stage for the first time ever during this set.
(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes checks in on our playlists and makes a couple of suggestions of his own.)
Back in April 2008, Toby Gibson asked the question, “What are we listening to now?” It’s time for an update.
I’ve got a couple of recommendations for your exploration. The first is a group whose name I’d heard lauded for years by the cognoscenti, but didn’t get around to listening to until a couple of years ago. Dr. Feelgood formed in the early ’70s in Canvey Island, Essex, and played a blistering, break-neck paced rhythm and blues that recalled the early Rolling Stones and jump-started the English proto-punk movement called “pub rock.”
The main attractions were Wilko Johnson, the manic guitarist whose quirky, pickless style often left his hands raw and bloody, and Lee Brilleaux, the filthy lead singer and harp player. Though some form of the band is still playing (Brilleaux died several years ago), stick to the first three albums, which were recorded with Wilko Johnson: “Down by the Jetty,” “Malpractice,” and “Stupidity.” I recently acquired a DVD of a film called “Goin’ Back Home,” which rivals any live concert performances I’ve ever seen on film, including the scenes of the Clash in “Rude Boy,” and even the Who at the Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus.
The recent spate of celebrity deaths and some spirited discussions on the blog about guilty pleasures and musical mystification suggests an interesting topic: As music fans, how much do we care about the musical preferences, personal philosophies or other opinions of popular artists whose work we admire?
A frequent right-wing put-down of (generally liberal) celebrities is, “Shut up and sing.” Is there a grain of truth in that slogan? Or is it the responsibility of popular figures to use their celebrity to champion what they think is right?
While we await the arrival of new video from Che Games for May 2009, here’s some more vintage footage of the Hair Theatre lineup that reunited for that show.
Like “What Should I Say,” this sizzling performance of “Final Steps” dates from 1984 and features Sergio (vocals); Sergio Castillo (bass); Cesar Castillo (guitar); Paul Allen (guitar); and Steve Broach (drums).
Check out more Hair Theatre and other Che Underground video morsels on the Che Underground YouTube channel!
(Wallflower David Rinck introduces a new project by old friends.)
Here’s our new record. As far as we know, this is the latest project by musicians associated with the Che Underground.
We wrote the music over the Internet, since we now live in various far-flung corners of the globe (Africa in my case). One of us would write a riff and a few lines of lyrics and then send it on. Pretty soon it added up to a song, and then the eight on the record (actually more, but we could only record eight ’cause of time limitations).
But we all used to be in bands in San Diego and play shows together, so we were used to working together, and the distances were easily overcome.
Melancholy echoes of previous threads …
According to Austin360.com: “Sky Saxon, founder of the brilliant ’60s garage band the Seeds, died Thursday morning at St. David’s Hospital.
“The newly minted Austinite, born Richard Marsh, was hospitalized Monday with what doctors suspected was an infection of the internal organs, but cause of death has not yet been released.
“Saxon fell ill last Thursday, but performed at Saturday at Antone’s with recent Austin collaborators Shapes Have Fangs. Sky’s wife Sabrina Saxon posted news of his passing on Facebook this morning: ‘Sky has passed over and YaHoWha is waiting for him at the gate. He will soon be home with his Father. I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep him here with us. More later. I’m sorry.’ ”
Besides her manifest talents as the author and photographer of the blog’s popular “Then and now” series, Kristen Tobiason has long enriched the Che Underground with her illustration and graphic-design skills.
Exclusive to Che Underground: The Blog is this stunning poster for Che Games for May, now available as a high-resolution, downloadable PDF file. This handsome keepsake is ready to print at 11 by 17 inches.
Thanks to Kristen for her tireless support of the site … This show would not have been the same without her!
Che Underground archivists are frankly embarrassed by the riches rendered from the Che Games for May festival May 29-30 at San Diego’s Casbah. Twenty-five years or more later, the shows offered a great opportunity to showcase beloved material — and capture it with 21st-century technology.
While few early-’80s performances have survived, this event was immortalized from every angle with digital audio, video and photography; our biggest challenge now is to collate and edit this wealth of material.
In other words: I hardly know where to start!
I’m proud to get the photographic ball rolling with the camera work of Unknowns bassist/ photographic powerhouse Dave Doyle, who took some beautiful shots of the Mirrors, the original San Diego Wallflowers, Noise 292 and Hair Theatre on the second evening of the show. (Stay tuned for a gallery of Friday night’s superstars: Everybody Violet, Manual Scan, the Gay Dennys and the Answers!)
