Wallflowers | The Che Underground

Shaken, not stirred: The Goldfingers at A Che Underground Midwinter Masque

December 15, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

David Rinck shares a recent interview about the etymology of his band The Goldfingers. Featuring Eric Bacher (guitar), Kinch Degrate (keyboards), Dave Doyle (bass) and Matt Johnson (drums), The Goldfingers will rip it up at Casbah San Diego Feb. 19 for A Che Underground Midwinter Masque.

AMR Reporter Doug Faride caught up with Goldfingers rhythm guitarist and vocalist Dave Goldfinger in his native San Diego. What he learned about the origins of the band and their plans for the future are revealed here in this exclusive interview. These guys are definitely shaken, but not stirred in the least!

AMR: So, when I mention the Goldfingers, a lot of people say, “Yeah, I’m not that familiar with their music, but I do know the name.” Why do you think that is?

DG: Well, it’s the name of a James Bond movie.

AMR: Really? Is that true?

DG: Yeah, it’s like the third Bond film, with Sean Connery.

AMR: Oh wow, okay. So why did you pick that one?

DG: Well, a lot of the other the films wouldn’t make good band names. Like, if we called ourselves “The Spies Who Loved Me” or “The Men with the Golden Gun,” that would be lame.

Mark your calendars for ‘A Che Underground Midwinter Masque’!

February 15, 2022November 12, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

Mark ye well: A neat two years since “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase,” the tribes will gather again in February 2022 for an effervescent weekend of mirth and music.

“A Che Underground Midwinter Masque,” Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 at The Casbah San Diego, will feature legends of the San Diego scene and beyond.

Fancy dress is highly encouraged but not required. (Stay tuned for costume contest details.)

And check out this boffo lineup (with more names to come)!

Jerry Cornelius & The Cooler Heads: ‘Electric Flowers’

February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

When do you celebrate the first anniversary of an event that happened on a Feb. 29? Che Underground: The Blog is jumping the gun with its birthday salute to “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase,” which transpired Feb. 29, 2020, and featured performances by The Wrecktangle; Jerry Cornelius & The Cooler Heads; and P-Touch All Stars.

On offer today: JC & TCHs’ cover of The Answers classic “Electric Flowers,” along with some liner notes by Mr. Cornelius himself!

“Memories, they have no place/They take up precious time and space.”

When I first saw David Fleminger and The Answers in their form with Tony Suarez and Dave Anderson at the Adams Avenue Theater, I was struck by the force and musicality of what they were playing.

Over the 37 years since then, several of these songs — especially “Color Notes” and “Electric Flowers” — have never been far from my mind.

P-Touch All Stars: ‘Cry Baby Cry’

October 9, 2020October 4, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have spawned a thousand new flowers of socially distanced creativity — and the artists of the Che Underground are tending their mind gardens for your delectation.

Case in point: This latest effort from P-Touch All Stars, which gives an old favorite a new cinematic treatment (with a little help from the Library of Congress’ film archives).

Plugger: ‘WASAAS’

October 3, 2020October 3, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

Plugger/Bums from Deep Space present their first joint under the Che Underground label. What happens after the fairy tale ends?

It’s been a long time, you know? I mean, a long time. Since she rode off with that guy while they stood waving their caps until she disappeared over the horizon line, a lot has happened (or should have happened?) — but nothing has really changed.

How long was she with them, anyway? (Outside of her crystal casket, I mean.) A week? It’s crazy how much difference that little bit of time made. But in the mines, time doesn’t move the same way. There aren’t the same visual cues. And the time you’re on the surface is that much clearer, but it’s brief, you know? Little pinholes in a black box.

Jerry Cornelius’ Cooler Heads: ‘Shot by Both Sides’

September 24, 2020September 23, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

Scholars of San Diego music agree: The Che Underground might have happened without Jerry Cornelius, but it wouldn’t have been happening.

Jerry was a catalyst, MC, artist and style guru associated with The Answers, The Wallflowers, The Morlocks, and related acts. On Feb. 29, he returned to a San Diego stage for the first time in 35 years. The event was “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase,” and he deftly led San Diego supergroup The Cooler Heads.

This video presents the Heads’ slinky and sizzling version of Magazine’s “Shot by Both Sides.”

P-Touch All Stars: ‘Remake Remodel’

October 4, 2020September 21, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

Remember the pre-pandemic days when a few hundred close friends could pack together into a crowded club and make music?

Che Underground remembers: Viz. the collective manifestation of musical solidarity that transpired on Feb. 29 at La Mesa’s the Riviera Supper Club & Turquoise Lounge under the name “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase.”

The gig featured a trio of Che Underground supergroups that brought special guests back onto a San Diego stage for the first time in more than 30 years.

Ready for ‘A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase’?

February 13, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

Most rock-‘n’-roll historians know San Diego’s Che Underground scene as a mad scientist’s lab for musical experiments at the top of the ’80s.

Named for notable shows they staged at UC San Diego’s Che Café — but active across the region — the bands of the Che Underground brought together artists steeped in punk, psychedelia, garage and more. Throwing their influences into a high-speed blender, bands like The Answers, Hair Theatre, Noise 292, The Rockin’ Dogs, The Tell-Tale Hearts and the original SD Wallflowers provided a soundtrack for Southern California youth culture.

Four decades later, those musicians and artists continue to kick out the collective jams — and on Feb. 29, some of the best minds of that generation will stage a family reunion at the Riviera Supper Club & Turquoise Lounge for “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase.” The night’s lineup of Che Underground supergroups will feature two stars of the scene who haven’t performed in San Diego for more than three decades: Jeremiah Cornelius and Tom Clarke.

The original SD Wallflowers: ‘Funland’

February 19, 2020February 3, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

By popular demand, another Wallflowers classic from the recent Canadian airlift joins the Che Underground play list. Wallflowers lead singer Dave Rinck has famously referred to “Funland” as the “anthem” of the first Wallflowers lineup, and bassist Paul Howland writes of “Funland”: “That one is probably my single favorite Wallflowers tune. That one and ‘Rubber Room’ kind of cover the whole Wallflowers sound for me.”

“Pinball was quite important to the original Wallflowers,” Rinck writes. “We hung out in arcades a lot (especially Funland downtown, which inspired a song of the same name), and at one point I even acquired a pinball machine, which we played for 24-hour marathons.”

Listen to it now!

Mark your calendars: Jerry Cornelius returns!

September 15, 2020January 22, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

As we prepare our Che Underground family reunion for Leap Night 2020, a highlight of this magnificent evening is a musical set fronted by by none other than Jeremiah Cornelius — back on a San Diego stage for the first time in decades.

Jerry Cornelius was a legendary presence on the scene: writing, illustrating, managing, MCing and otherwise setting the tone of the entire Che Underground. His taste was impeccable, and his influence extended across the bands of the era.

Check out the details of ‘A Che Undeground Leap Night Showcase’!