From Spain, with love

(From across the Atlantic, here’s a graphical gift to celebrate the 30-year San Diego reunions of the Unknowns and the Crawdaddys. Ray Brandes sets the scene.)

This beautiful poster is a gift from artist Marc Argenter to the Che Underground. Marc, who lives in Barcelona, Spain, is also an accomplished musician and has played guitar and recorded with bands such as the Flashback Five and Els Trons for more than 20 years.

Marc jumped at the chance to design a poster for a show featuring the Crawdaddys, whom he first heard at the tender age of 16. He is well known in Spain as a graphic designer, and has an impressive portfolio of work, some of which can be seen here: http://argenter.blogspot.com/

The 11″X17″ posters, which are suitable for framing, will be available for purchase at the shows. See you there!

The Crawdaddys and Unknowns will appear at the Casbah, September 2-3, supported by an all-star cast of veteran San Diego talent. Tickets are available now from the Casbah site!

— Ray Brandes

Music history from Ray Brandes:

• The Crawdaddys and Unknowns mutual admiration society
• The return of the Unknowns
• The Tell-Tale Hearts: From the vaults
• It’s 1985: Do you know
  where your bell-bottoms are?
• ‘Sweet Kisses from Mommy’: An introduction to an old friend
• The Mystery Machine in motion!
• ‘You’re way on top now’: Gary Heffern meets Iggy Pop
• Tell-Tale Hearts take on New Colony Six!
• The train keeps a-rollin’: The story of the Nashville Ramblers
• Hallelujah! The story of Glory
• The Tokyos over San Diego
• The Hitmakers’ hit that never was
• Sensational: The All Bitchin’ All Stud All Stars and the roots of Country Dick Montana
• The Penetrators: Walking the Beat
• Dream Sequence: The history of the Unknowns
• Let the Good Times Roll: The untold history of the Crawdaddys
• The Zeros: I Don’t Wanna Be a Hero, I Just Wanna Be a Zero
• Lend Me Your Comb: A short history of the Hedgehogs

Music and culture by Ray Brandes:

• Remember Walking in the Sand? Sunscreen, lemonade and summer radio
• No Particular Place to Go: Four-wheeled memories
• Everybody Is a Star: The ideal supergroup
• Radio days
• “Puberty Principle”: First sonic crushes
• Helter Skelter: Tate-LaBianca at 40
• Guess who’s coming to dinner?
• My favorite things: What are you listening to?
• Footloose: Rockin’ the ’80s
• “I don’t get it”
• Me and my monkey: Guilty pleasures
• Man-eaters and mad crushes
• Our Lady of Chula Vista
• You Never Give Me Your Money: IOUs and the Che Underground