Performance History | The Che Underground

Another side of Dave Klowden

March 27, 2019May 9, 2008 by admin

To celebrate the diversity of the early-’80s San Diego underground (and shamelessly solicit contributions to Che Underground’s Related Bands page), here’s a double-decker salute to David “GI” Klowden, nimble navigator of the San Diego scene and keystone of 5051, the Mystery Machine and the Tell-Tale Hearts.

Side One: “El Salvador” from 5051’s 1981 seven-inch. David Klowden (vocals); Sam Topper (guitar); Squirrel Oberg (guitar); Scott Harber (bass); Joel Roop (drums)

Side Two: “She’s Not Mine,” recorded in 1983 by the Mystery Machine. Ray Brandes (vocals, tambourine); Carl Rusk (six-string Guild Starfire, 12-string Rickenbacker 370-12, vocals); Mark Zadarnowski (bass); Bill Calhoun (Vox Jaguar); David Klowden (blue Japanese Majestic drumset).

What a difference two years make!

Under the ‘hood

January 1, 2011May 2, 2008 by admin

Let’s talk about how geography shaped the San Diego underground. Rockin’ Dog Dave Ellison cogently observed that San Diego “was big enough that you had enough like-minded, creative kids from different parts of the city coming together to start bands and play shows together … but small enough for musicians and bands to have a sense of community.” Our gatherings brought together eclectic pockets of North County, downtown and inland musicianship; every exit on the freeway seemed to point to a different little scene.

From my perch in Encinitas, Hair Theatre represented the underground’s Carlsbad-Oceanside bloc; the Rockin’ Dogs proved Poway was cooler than I knew; and each high school downtown seemed to have allotted a special smoking wall to a smart, edgy, aesthetically acute fringe element.

How do you map San Diego music ca. 1980-85? Where were the epicenters, and where were you?

The Answers: “Lucifer Sam”

January 21, 2018May 1, 2008 by admin

The Answers’ sizzling cover of the mini-masterpiece “Lucifer Sam” by Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd was a catalyst for myriad musical adventures.

Tell-Tale Heart Eric Bacher recently recounted how bandmate Dave Klowden’s urging to come watch the Answers play “Lucifer Sam” changed his musical life; it’s a tale eerily similar to my own memory of Noise 292’s David Rives insisting I run to watch a San Diego band that was actually covering Barrett! (I’ve long regretted that the Answers’ absence from the UCSD gig with the Three O’Clock prevented us from instigating a mass “Lucifer Sam-off.”) Gravedigger V and Nashville Ramblers vet Tom Ward also vividly recalls the Answers’ “Lucifer Sam” a quarter-century after the fact. It’s astounding the effects two-and-a-half minutes of music can wreak!

This viral gem was recorded in February 1983 and features Dave Fleminger (guitar, vocals); Jeff Lowe (bass); and Dave Anderson (drums). It’s spiky and wonderful, and it still holds the creative fizz of that moment of musical discovery.

Listen to it now!

Noise 292: “Talking in Circles”

January 1, 2011April 29, 2008 by admin

Here’s “Talking in Circles,” the first of three compositions in the Che Underground archives by Noise 292 guitarist extraordinaire David Rives.

Dave and I played our first gigs together (Hair Theatre vocalist Sergio actually recalls watching us playing the Oak Crest Junior High School talent show in 1977), and he was my original guitar hero. This piece — which I believe was recorded in summer ’83 at the Che Cafe itself — showcases his formidable skills as a writer and performer.

Of all the rekindled connections on Che Underground, this one runs deepest for me.

Listen to it now!

San Francisco exodus

January 1, 2011April 24, 2008 by admin

Here’s a conversation-starter, or -killer: Most music historians would agree that the Che Underground era came to an end when a substantial percentage of its key participants decamped to San Francisco. Beginning in 1985 with the departures of Jerry Cornelius, Dave Fleminger and the Morlocks, a steady stream of San Diego expats made its way up to the Bay area through the 1990s.

I joined the throng in August 1987, met my wife and had two kids there, and stayed almost 14 years in San Francisco. It’s still my favorite American city; I had two great bands there, of which the majority of the members were beloved old friends from Slow Death; and I never once regretted the move.

And yet … the sense of a music scene just never happened for me in SF the way it did in SD.

The Wallflowers: “Paradise on 4th Avenue”

January 1, 2011April 22, 2008 by admin

As if to provide some karmic yin to “Survive the Jungle”‘s yang, Dave Fleminger just scored a pristine white-vinyl copy of the Mystic Super-Seven Sampler #2, a 1984 release featuring “Paradise on 4th Avenue,” the Phase Two Wallflowers’ homage to San Diego’s Studio 517 and its avatar, Steve Epeneter.

This exquisite single has been crisply digitized into easily digestible MP3 format for Che Underground’s delectation — bon apetit!

“I considered ‘Paradise on 4th Ave’ to be the anthem of the second Wallflowers (like ‘Funland’ was to the first line-up),” writes Dave Rinck, the immortal front man for both deathless incarnations.

“This was recorded by James at The Lab in San Diego in 1985 for the Mystic EP. The line-up is: David Rinck (vocals), Paul Howland (bass), Todd Lahman (guitar), Armando (alto sax), Arturo Reyes (drums).”

Listen to it now!

The Wallflowers: “Survive the Jungle”

January 1, 2011April 21, 2008 by admin

“Ridin’ in an airplane … We’re goin’ back to Vietnam!” Airlifted to us after a quarter-century of exile in Canada, this vicious Wallflowers jam shrieks over Che Underground like a flaming F-15. The instrumental interplay among Paul Howland (bass), Tommy Clarke (guitar) and Aaron Daniels (drums) is simultaneously funky and menacing, and Dave Rinck’s vocals are positively shamanic.

The Che Cafe patio meets the Mekong Delta — with wah pedal!

[Editor’s note: After a false, MPEG-4 start, this file is now an MP3 that everyone can enjoy.]

Listen to it now!

The Answers: “Nowhere”

January 1, 2011April 20, 2008 by admin

A shimmering testament to an amazing band at the height of its powers. “Nowhere” always took my breath away when the Answers performed it live — and 25 years down the road, Dave Fleminger’s evocation of “what time erases” gives me chills.

This track also bears witness to the Answers’ genius for making home recordings sound like landscapes you’d want to live in! Here’s Mr. Fleminger on the genesis of this tape: “Written by little ol’ me …. instrumental track recorded in [drummer] Dave Anderson’s bedroom (the usual practice spot) with one mic on one channel of a Tandberg reel to reel, vocals recorded in the downstairs bathroom at Pat’s house in sound-on-sound mode. June 1983. Fleminger, [bassist Jeff] Lowe, Anderson is the lineup.”

Listen to it now!

Weird scenes inside the gold mine

January 1, 2011April 17, 2008 by admin

How many times have you found yourself playing in a very weird venue? From my very first gig at a chili cook-off through an assortment of busking misadventures, I’ve demonstrated a knack for performing in strange places for unwary/unwilling spectators.

Between the scrap metal and the cross-dressing and the affinity for the Velvet Underground’s second album, Noise 292 was nobody’s idea of a crossover band. One of our oddest gigs was a Jesse Jackson presidential benefit at Pea Soup Andersen’s in Carlsbad, Calif., which we were asked to play by a friend of Wendell’s parents.

New flyers! New fun!

January 1, 2011April 13, 2008 by admin

As the Che Underground history tour gains speed, I keep getting the greatest stuff from all you wonderful people! Thank you for every beautiful audiovisual scrap of it — my biggest challenge is finding the time to move it all online and the technique to present it to its best advantage, but it’s all appreciated and will ultimately have a happy home here.

Our flyer gallery is picking up steam, as is our performance history page. (To create a nice frame of historical reference while keeping things manageable, I’m concentrating on the years 1981 through 1985 … But I want to hear about what years and what assets are important to you.) The related bands section is also slowly gaining traction; authors and bands welcome. Please visit — and please help fill in the many gaps that still exist!