Personal History | The Che Underground

Birth of the Che Cafe

January 6, 2011February 18, 2010 by admin

I love learning about the origins of our old haunts — those rare places in the San Diego construction boom of the ’70s and ’80s that actually pre-dated us! Case in point: the Che Cafe itself, which is profiled starting on Page 16 of this virtual version of the latest UCSD alumni magazine.

N.b.: While I appreciate the attention, the article gives me disproportionate credit for bringing rock ‘n’ roll to this hippie haven. (Considering I first saw the Answers at the Che and Noise 292 made our debut there as the Answers’ guests, it’s hard to paint me or my band as lone pioneers!) And it doesn’t quote some people I hoped.

That said, I really enjoyed learning about how that rickety old place got its start: “The three wooden structures … that today house the Che Cafe were accumulating grunge long before UCSD was even founded.

Songs that were separated at birth?

December 18, 2017January 20, 2010 by Paul Kaufman

(Paul Kaufman gives new meaning to the phrase “Trivial Pursuit.”)

Here’s another parlor-type game: Describe two songs that seemingly have nothing in common (era, style, etc.) yet have multiple disturbingly similar characteristics once you list them.

Here’s an example: The Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night” by KISS. You’re thinking this is crazy, but hear me out:

Everybody Is a Star: The ideal supergroup

December 11, 2017January 15, 2010 by admin

(Ray Brandes holds auditions beyond this veil of tears.)

In their 1974 comeback hit, the Righteous Brothers speculated on the existence of a rock-‘n’-roll heaven, which of course had a “hell of a band.” The song expressed the sentimental hope that somewhere in the universe Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Bobby Darrin and Jim Morrison were singing together in a celestial choir.

This notion is, of course, patently absurd. One can only imagine the drunken, chaotic jam session which would occur if these egomaniacs found themselves sharing a microphone onstage in a celestial amphitheater. It is fun, however, to speculate on this supergroup idea.

Seen any good shows lately?

December 18, 2017January 9, 2010 by Paul Kaufman

(Distracted dad Paul Kaufman pops in for what is sure to be an infrequent concert review.)
Regular readers of this blog will understand why I’ve been pretty scarce lately: We have a newborn daughter in the house! She’s brought lots of joy, but naturally this means my extracurricular activities are pretty limited, and our baby-centric bedtime rules out most nighttime excursions.

I’ve made one exception since she’s arrived; a few weeks ago, I went to the first concert I’ve been to in quite some time (first since the Ché reunion, actually) to see Sonic Youth play.

People either love or hate this band, and I’m not writing this to promote my own fandom, but the show did make me think of a couple of things of more general interest. First, I couldn’t but help think about the fact that it was over 20 years ago I first saw them. That alone wouldn’t be so remarkable, except this show displayed no hint of nostalgia — they played mostly new material. (Though they never had chart-topping hits in the first place, “Teenage Riot,” their biggest college-radio tune, was not on the set list.)

Radio days

January 6, 2011January 1, 2010 by admin

(In which Ray Brandes channels frequencies of our youth.)

The recent announcement of bankruptcy and sale of San Diego radio station 91X has had many of us here at the Che Underground reminiscing about rock-‘n’-roll radio in San Diego.

The events of my own formative years were accompanied by a soundtrack that emanated from a small transistor radio. Powered by those little rectangular nine-volt batteries that are nowadays are only used to power smoke detectors and guitar tuners, mine had a tiny two-inch speaker and a wrist strap for easy portability. Late at night, under the covers, I listened to pop and soul hits like Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff” and The Three Degrees’ “When Will I See You Again,” interspersed with “oldies” like the Seeds’ “Pushin’ Too Hard” and the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun.”

“Puberty Principle”: First sonic crushes

December 31, 2010December 17, 2009 by admin

(Ray Brandes asks how your first musical love looks in the stark light of adulthood.)

In an essay in Esquire, celebrated rock and roll historian Ben Fong-Torres once formulated “the Puberty Principle,” which holds that the music we listen to in young adolescence is the music that informs our tastes throughout our lifetime. Why not test this idea using ourselves as subjects?

What was the first record (cassette, eight-track tape or CD) you ever purchased? What was the first concert you ever attended? How good of a predictor of your tastes was that “first” experience?

Unknowns interview by Dan McLain

December 16, 2017December 10, 2009 by admin

Courtesy of Mikel Toombs, here’s a joint artifact of two hugely influential forces in San Diego music: an interview of the Unknowns that Dan McLain conducted for Issue III of his Hobogue ‘zine, dated February 1982.

“I interviewed the Unknowns 2 years ago for Snare magazine,” McLain writes. “In retrospect, I found our previous outing so incomplete that I simply had to do it over again.

Jamul meets Little Richard!

February 20, 2018December 8, 2009 by admin

(Courtesy of Mikel Toombs, drummer Ron Armstrong of San Diego’s Misfits and Jamul describes the latter band’s TV appearance supporting a rock-‘n’-roll legend.)

It was 1970 and our band, Jamul, was playing the Whiskey in Hollywood. We were stoked that Little Richard came in to catch our show. We learned he loved our cover of his song, “Long Tall Sally.”

He told our leader/singer/guitarist that he liked our band better than his previous large 16-piece group and wanted us to back him for a Barry Richards TV special in Washington, D.C. We did and also performed a song … explained from a recent Internet link here.

Our family tree, revisited

December 31, 2010November 22, 2009 by admin

Thanks to the Cardiac Kidz’s Jim Ryan, Che Underground: The Blog has a fresh supply of artifacts from his band and other early participants in the San Diego punk scene.

Among Jim’s contributions is this chart from early 1980 composed by Dan McLain. It testifies to Dan’s role as underground historian and adds new fuel to the longstanding discussion of our family tree.

South Bay mods from Mathias Kuo

December 31, 2010November 16, 2009 by admin

“Hi, Matt,” writes Che Underground contributor and veteran San Diego scenester Mathias Kuo to the Che Underground hotline. “Here are some scooter pics from the hallowed halls of SD history — taken from a South Bay perspective.”

“Set #1 — Chula, Bonita and Coronado mods before a rally.”