Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
What have we got to work with?
The Answers come alive! Here’s a very hot number from the 1982 lineup of this protean band. Dave Fleminger sets the scene for this song, which perfectly captures the SD teen spirit we’re celebrating on Che Underground: The Blog.
“The Answers, opening the day’s festivities at ‘Mod Mania,’ hosted by Lumpy at the Adams Ave. Theater, Sept. 18, 1982. Dave Fleminger (guitar/voice); Tony Suarez (bass/voice); David Anderson (drums).
Ray Brandes hardly needs a where-are-we-now introduction, considering the critical and popular acclaim his music has garnered over the years. But in the spirit of bringing our creative efforts into the 21st century, Ray has generously agreed to let me post a catchy and touching track from 2007’s smashing greatest-hits album, “A Matter of Time.”
“‘Welcome to the World’ was written after the birth of our son, and recorded a year or so later, in 2005,” Ray writes. “I wanted to write a song like “Kooks” from “Hunky Dory” that he could listen to when he got older. I stole some of the lyrics from William Blake’s ‘Auguries of Innocence’ and ‘Infant Sorrow.’ “
The legendary Cyndie Jaynes Collection of historical photos of the San Diego underground doesn’t stop at Camp Pendleton. Here’s a set of performance photos of the Morlocks playing San Francisco’s Swedish American Hall sometime after the band’s move north as well as earlier shots of them playing an undisclosed location in San Diego.
The Morlocks were an incredible live band, and Cyndie’s lens captures them at the acme of their power. San Diego’s loss … San Francisco’s gain!
Here’s a mini-mystery for Che Underground irregulars: Who’s the kid in this picture Cyndie Jaynes shot in Presidio Park? A team of forensics experts has so far been unable to ID him definitively.
Ray Brandes’ best guess, with accompanying documentary evidence: “I’m pretty sure it’s Mike Therieau, who was in the Event–I didn’t think they were around yet, but then I found the attached flyer.”
Young mystery mod, the Che Underground salutes you! Step forward into the warm embrace of your peers.
The Cyndie Jaynes photo collection poses a curatorial challenge: There’s so much marvelous stuff here, it’s hard to decide how to slice and dice it.
Here’s another set of portraits designed to tickle the Proustian memory banks of anyone circulating in this corner of the early-’80s San Diego underground. Plus, they’re lovely photos in their own right. Help fill in the narrative blanks!
While we’re all in a Wallflowers frame of mind, here’s another Phase One Wallflowers gem freshly excavated after a quarter-century beneath the Canadian permafrost. “Rubber Room” is essential Wallflowers material,” writes bassist Paul Howland. “This one and ‘Funland’ (along with any of the many Stooges cover tunes) encapsulate the Wallflowers sound nicely.
Cyndie Jaynes’ amazing gift to Che Underground: The Blog continues giving with this wonderful series of photographs from a late-era Wallflowers concert featuring Todd Lahman on guitar and Matt Johnson on drums. As always, Paul Howland (pictured in these photos) and Dave Rinck loomed large in the lineup.
MC/guest vocalist Jerry Cornelius, Tony Sanchez, Kristi Maddocks, and Audrey Moorehead also make the scene. What was the venue? The little picket fence and trellis evokes a freaky ice-cream parlor vibe. Who can ID this magic moment?
Today marks the 25th anniversary of Noise 292’s first performance: May 26, 1983, at the Che Cafe with the Answers and the Odds. I can think of no better way to celebrate that silver anniversary than with a powerful performance by the brilliant Kristin Martin.
“Stupid Future” showcases everything that was so special about Kristin’s songwriting and performing, even at 19: arresting hooks, great lyrics and fantastic vocals. She’s one of the most innovative creative forces I’ve ever had the privilege of collaborating with.
What can we say about Cyndie Jaynes? Not only is she a published author and successful graduate of the San Diego underground, she’s also a marvelous documentarian with an unrivaled cache of photos and flyers from early-’80s SD.
Here’s a sampling of the great things she’s shared with me … I’m very grateful for the chance to bring these treasures to light. Stay tuned for more!
Personal Conflict bassist Toby Gibson and I have been corresponding about a seminal document in the history of San Diego punk: the “Our Blow Out” cassette. Released in 1983 under the Slow Death label, this compilation featured 34 tracks from 14 bands, including some we’ve discussed before (5051, Personal Conflict, Social Spit, the Injections, Sacred Lies) as well as Battalion of Saints, Manifest Destiny, Moral Majority, the Skullbusters, Men of Clay, Black Tango, the Front, Catch 22 and District Tradition. I remember this tape well as the definitive snapshot of a major slice of SD underground history.
Toby’s a far more acute observer, however. Here’s what he has to say: “I posted this on Dave Klowden’s thread but rethought that, both because ‘Our Blow Out’ will make a decent topic on its own and because I didn’t want to detract from the topic of how great 5051 were. But District Tradition were pretty great in their own right, and I think Tommy Rulon could have taken that thing a lot farther. Musically speaking.