Artifacts | The Che Underground

Memories of the Injections

January 1, 2011February 21, 2009 by admin

(Joey Miller, a k a P Gargoyle, f k a Joanne Norris, drummer extraordinaire for the Injections as well as Noise 292 and Everybody Violet, shares scans and recollections of the legendary punk band, which also featured Lou Skum on vocals, Bruce Perreault on guitar and Lisa Acid on bass and helped propel the San Diego scene at the turn of the ’80s.)

Like fine wine, we have all aged, and here we are almost 30 years later on Che Underground: The Blog. I had some old flyers and other things left over, and the ones that I did not discard I scanned. (I never thought they would get their just due, but I was wrong.)

Some of the things I had were easier to scan than others. Some of them I have seen in other places on the Web, like Lou’s Facebook page, but I haven’t seen them all together. Not yet.

Photo paydirt from the garage

January 1, 2011February 7, 2009 by admin

“Hi Matthew,” writes Greg S. “Maybe you remember me. … Toby Thunderbird/ Lifehater/ Gibson told me about your site.

“I’m visiting the US and thought I’d dig up some old photos to contribute, which have been sitting in a box in my mom’s garage. … Wasn’t sure how/where to post them, so here they are.”

Dream Sequence: The history of the Unknowns

December 11, 2017January 18, 2009 by admin

(Excerpts from Ray Brandes’ epic account of San Diego’s first major-label band since Iron Butterfly. Read the full version in Che Underground’s Related Bands section.)

Anyone who had the opportunity to see the Unknowns play had an unforgettable experience. Crisp, staccato drumming and the dripping-wet reverberation of Mosrite guitars through Fender amplifiers was punctuated by the yips and howls of the legendary melodramatic lead singer, Bruce Joyner, who sang from a chair or aided by a cane, looking every bit like a down-home Barnabas Collins in search of fresh blood.

Their tight and powerful act upstaged every band with whom they played, including the Go-Gos, Madness, the Blasters, the Plimsouls, Wall Of Voodoo, the Romantics, Joe King Carrasco, Romeo Void, the Textones, the Suburban Lawns, Missing Persons and scores of others.

At times the band members themselves have lamented that their place amongst their peers seems to have been forgotten over the years, yet they were the first San Diego band signed to a major label since the Iron Butterfly in 1967. They were named one of the top four bands in California by the Los Angeles Times in the early ‘80s. They were the first band from the San Diego scene to perform live on a major syndicated television show, Peter Ivers’ “New Wave Theater,” which was picked up by Armed Forces Television and the USA Network’s “Night Flight.” And their Sire album “Dream Sequence” has sold nearly 100,000 copies to date.

Tracing Structural Fracture

January 1, 2011January 13, 2009 by admin

(Co-founder Stefan Helmreich discusses Structural Fracture’s San Diego roots and national branches.)

Structural Fracture was a psychedelically minded garage-punk trio from San Diego’s North County, active from 1984 to 1986. Stefan Helmreich, Chris Henry and David Derrick played house parties in Encinitas (once with Noise 292) and often offered themselves as guinea pigs to budding recording engineers at Mira Costa College in Oceanside.

In 1985, Structural Fracture won San Dieguito High School’s Battle of the Bands in a performance many remember for the band’s bent rendition of “Puff the Magic Dragon” and for the moment when Stefan used a blender to mangle a microphone.

“Delirium” was recorded in June 1985 at Mira Costa and features Stefan Helmreich on bass and vocals, Chris Henry on guitar and David Derrick on drums. Simon Cheffins, of future Crash Worship fame, engineered the recording.

Punk flyer blow out from the Seibert Collection

January 1, 2011January 4, 2009 by admin

You asked for it, we’ve got it: The recent success of the PDF set of mod-themed flyers from the Ken Fugate Collection prompts a 31-page volume of punk classics from early ’80s San Diego, courtesy of our beloved Jason Seibert.

The Seibert flyers reference a variety of venues, including Fairmount Hall, North Park Lions Club and the Adams Avenue Theater (many of them organized by Marc Rude’s Dead or Alive). San Diego acts include Personal Conflict, Men of Clay, No Age Limit, the Skullbusters, Social Spit, Manifest Destiny, Catch-22, Moral Majority, V-5, 5051, the Nutrons, the Middle Class, Battalion of Saints, District Tradition, the Front, Sacred Lies, the Injections and Black Tango.

Read morePunk flyer blow out from the Seibert Collection

Mod flyer fun from the Fugate Collection

March 27, 2019December 29, 2008 by admin

Always seeking better ways to digitize your San Diego youth, the Che Underground blog today attempts a new delivery mechanism: a downloadable PDF file encapsulating more than 70 high-resolution pages of mid-’80s, mod-friendly flyers courtesy of Ken Fugate.

Every page of this magnum opus is a Proustian gem featuring performances by the Tell-Tale Hearts, the Morlocks, Manual Scan, the Trebels, the Nephews, the Nashville Ramblers, the Sovereigns, 39 Steps and many more. (I’m especially excited by the flyer hailing the debut of the Town Criers.)

The Ho Hos: “Judas Twist”

March 28, 2012December 28, 2008 by admin

Another Jeff Lucas composition for this mid-’90s San Francisco ensemble of San Diego expats.

Besides prompting me to write many songs I still like a great deal, the Ho Hos offered a great opportunity to sing new originals written by other songwriters. Both Jeff and Steve Lam came through with some amazing material.

I’ve always been crazy about “Judas Twist,” which I believe was recorded live at Hanno’s in the Alley with engineering help from the indefatigable Jason Brownell. It’s got more hooks than a bait shop, and the band blasts through it with trademark panache.

Watch the Ho Hos play “Gina Says/Infinite Prague”!

Matthew Rothenberg (vocals, guitar); Jeff Lucas (bass); Robert Labbe (drums); and Steve Lam (lead guitar).

Listen to it now!

Madison Avenue hipster holiday, December 1985

December 31, 2010December 24, 2008 by admin

(Miss Kristi Maddocks plays the Ghost of Christmas Past with photos and memories.)

Here are some snapshots from my very bo-ho holiday season in 1985.

At the time, I was living with Michelle Krone, Jeff Rierden and Keith Lockhart (RIP) in our tiny one-bedroom in-law apartment in the neighborhood around University and Park Avenues. I think Leighton Koizumi was in town for a visit from San Francisco, where he and the rest of the Morlocks moved six months before.

This arrangement left me sleeping alone on the couch in the living room — where I am captured waking up in a haze on Christmas Day.

One of the most memorable features of the apartment were the full-scale murals of cartoon Go Go Girls that our dear friend Scott Ewalt drew on our walls — they were way ahead of their time and adored by many visitors to out pad. (Needless to say, I never got back my apartment deposit!)

Hair Theatre onstage and backstage

January 17, 2011December 17, 2008 by admin

Hair Theatre documentarian Laura S. joins the list of contributors to the Che Underground photo archive. First up: a set of photos that I would estimate to be from 1986 or 1987, when Rockin’ Dogs guitarist Sam Wilson joined Hair Theatre after the departure of Paul Allen.

Besides Sammy, this set features our clearest views yet of the rest of the band; there’s vocalist Sergio, of course, but also great shots of bassist Sergio Castillo, guitarist Cesar Castillo and drummer Steve Broach.

Manual Scan in autofocus

December 31, 2010December 14, 2008 by admin

Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles comes through with a cache of photos, sounds and a video montage of Scan and its predecessors, the Pedestrians and Starjammer.

First up: a photo of three-quarters of the original Manual Scan lineup from 1981. The band had recently formed when Bart Mendoza and Kevin Ring of the Pedestrians (guitars) joined forces with Dave Fleminger (bass) and Paul Kaufman (drums). Says Bart (on the left), “Here is an early pic for the site, I’d love to hear what Paul remembers of this day. I think it’s a transitional pic, just post-Pedestrians, probably a few weeks after.”

Paul Kaufman responds, “It’s a blast to see this! Yes, I remember when we headed down to Balboa Park, which provided nice backdrops for a photo shoot … But where’s Dave in this photo?… You can tell I wasn’t able to keep up with the Mod attire. I think the jacket might have been a last-minute addition from the Ring wardrobe.”