Essential ingredients in our recipe for adolescent hijinx were the houses, apartments, nooks and crannies where we gathered to play and hang around and talk and commit a variety of small indiscretions at odd hours. We’ve talked about Patrick Works’ house, about Gay Denny’s and its ilk, about Presidio Park and Balboa Park … What were some other notable hangouts?
- The Morlocks’ basement in Golden Hill;
- The Hair Theatre shack in Carlsbad;
- Greenwich Village West.
That’s three to start, but there were many more. Where else did we hang our hats?
I want to know more about Greenwich Village West…especially what it was like to live there. I was asking Todd Lahman about when we met up. He said the lobby had been a bar, and was the longest bar in San Diego. The hotel itself must have been a flophouse from the time it was built (Im pretty sure the year is on the front of the building, as was common for buildings back then…I think it was the early 1900s) because the rooms were so small.
That photo is just how I remember most of the rooms on weekend nights…8 or 10 people cramming into a room to hang out.
There were a few of people I knew who lived at Greenwich Village West…at least three from Poway alone: Todd Lahman, John Marshall (a guitar player I had played with in high school) and Doug Rudolph (who messed around on guitar a little).
John was at that time a diver in the Navy and Doug was also employed. In spite of that fact, every time I was there neither of them seemed to have anything to eat or cash to buy it with. Luckily, they both had girlfriends who would do things like bring them chicken soup in a thermos to keep them from starving. I once spent the weekend there, hanging out with Doug. I remember there was a show going on in the basement. Meanwhile, Doug had an old SG, but no amp…so we took it down to Freedom guitar and traded it for some 60s Japanese guitar (a Tiesco, I think) and a small Fender amp.
The Rockin’ Dogs played in the basement once, and a few times I jammed with people down there, watched other bands perform or just hung out. The roof was also a good place to hang out in warm weather. One time the Street Scene was going on a few blocks away and I was hanging out with Doug and John on the roof listening to X and the Blasters play.
I dont remember there being phones in any of the rooms, only a payphone in the lobby. And there was one or two bathrooms per floor (I think).
I’m curious about who named Greenwich Village West … It seems suspiciously bohemian for mid-’80s San Diego. Who owned the place back then? Do any former residents remember who was running the place? I can find practically nothing in the Web record.
Here’s another Harold Gee photo of a typical GVW room.
Harold also has a claustrophobic shot of his $75 room at 517 4th Ave.
The full name was “Greenwich Village West, a Community of Artists.” I thought it was a little corny, myself…but they really were trying to make it a hip place. Other similar places downtown were filled with junkies and losers of all sorts…and it looked like they made a pretty good effort to keep that element out of Greenwich Village West. They had a pretty strict policy where you couldnt go up if you didnt live there or were with someone who lived there… so if you were outside, you had no way to see if someone was home. Todd said he remembered the rooms being about $260.
The main thing I remember about Aetna’s italian restaurant was the fact that “spaghetti” was spelled wrong on their sign. Very authentic…haha.
Tony, I was thinking about that coffee house at 9th and G…but I couldnt remember the name of it either. That was a great place to hang out. You could almost always go in there and run into people you knew. Once everyone I knew turned 21, people hung out at bars…but I think all the coffee in the early days provided more energy for our thriving music scene.
Not really the same scene as Greenwich Village West and those other aforementioned hangouts, but Terry Marine’s house was always a central hub where you could pop in and find out what’s going on (though a lot of the time either Terry or Chrissie didn’t want people hanging around, but it was rare that they both felt that way at the same moment, which always kept things interesting.) Cliff Cunningham’s house was also the same kind of central hub for punk rock goings on, as was Arturo’s house around that time. The fruit loop (did the loop actually have a name?) in Balboa Park was always a good fall back if there wasn’t an after-party, and you could usually find at the very least a handful of people there hanging around and drinking beer.
Then there was the short lived mecca of chaos and urban terrorism, the Briton Street House in O.B. That was a little bit psychotic but you never knew who you’d find there.
Marl Mcracken and Lisa Love (from Men of Clay) had a house in I.B. over by that huge antenna thing North of Town that was usually a good bet for a party. We played there at least once.
Up North in Encinitas there was the red house (which was vacated right before I got there), Ragpile, and the Alligator pit to name a few.
Alligator pit newspaper article here, though that’s the biggest I could find it:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3254/2385762253_ff3fcff8f7_o.jpg
Also the (Danforth?) Building had apartments above Lous Records and the laundromat, Beach and Town Liquor and the Daley Double- and at one time Stella Donnely (and Jennifer Clark?) had a place up there, as well as a couple other units occupied by a number of punks I didn’t know.
The Alligator pit was all time, however. Lotta crazy good times there.
That was a really cool time around 81-82 when we’d see a punk walking down the street and pull over and talk with them, half the time finding out where parties or shows were or taking them along with us.
Danny Dean lived in the Alligator Pit, right?
I was bummed that Quelle Fromage in Hillcrest is no more, although I was still able to get kasha varnishkas with Wendell at City Deli when I stopped through a few months ago … Who had an apartment just across the street from that corner — Lou Damien crashed on the roof one summer.
Another hangout: John and Randy’s (?) place in Golden Hill … Then John came up to SF among the early wave of Che Underground expats and ended up sawing the ceiling out to let the little people from Golden Gate Park have a place to breathe.
Also in Golden Hills, Greg Imbecile’s house right around the block from Cliff Cunningham’s place:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/haroldgee/191730311/in/set-72157594202200370/
Yeah- Danny “Danimal” Dean lived at the Alligator pit, along with Vespa Jeff, Dennis Dean, and a variety of circulation characters including Brian (Brymo) Kountz, Kendall Ferris (my ex wife tells me Kelsey used to get so bummed that he’d get bench warrants/tickets/whatever in the mail because Kendall would use his name when he got stopped by the cops drunk.) Scott Tenneson, a few others I don’t remember so clearly.
Danny Dean:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2185/2385761655_11ce413b2f_o.jpg
You’re thinking of Java, Dave. We used to get wired on Stanley’s killer pressed coffee, then slip down to the dirt parking lot between buildings and drink from a community jug of Carlo Rossi -- hence the name “Carlo Rossi-ville”
Sean..hey there! Last time I saw you was at Nunu’s a few years back when we were down in SD for the weekend.
Carlo Rossi-ville? What was that?
Hey Dave! Good to hear from you. Check out the re-post above.
Bobo is a name I haven’t heard in a long time. He ended up with some very unique tattoos, if I remember correctly.
I spoke to Greg S. a year ago. He’s in Whales getting his PHD, and is healthy and happy. I can easily get you in touch with him. Email me.
yeah, i gave him a jacked up happy face needle & india ink poker when i was 16!
Soon I’ll post the flyer for Bobostock that Bruce Haemmerle sent me … This party had already passed into legend when I encountered the Answers, but it was regarded as a bit of a watershed in that band’s performance history.
it … brain cells … was … igbrilliance
Bobo. Haven’t said that to myself in a quarter century. I believe I met Bobo one night at a party on Redwood Street in what they now call “South Park.” (I just can’t get used to the name). I was there with Jerry, Pat Works, Dirk Westerveldt and probably Brendan Berg. Bobo was passed out and someone had written “I wanna be your dog” on his shaved head with a permanent marker.
Good Times! (But then if you know what I have tattooed on my head, you understand just how warped my paradigm is!)
For some reason I’m thinking I might have the wrong Bobo in mind. The Bobo I’m thinking of I met in San diego but really got to hang out with up in Encinitas with Steve Garris (who Bobo ended up not liking even a little, and I think he pounched Steve at one point for being rude to his Girl), and that Bobo woke up after a long night of revelry with “Fuk Shit” tattooed on his bicep.
Wrong guy? He was a peach of a guy, for certain. Anyone who punches Garris is pretty much Okay in my book, unless they’re just being wicked and mean about it. 😉
That’s the guy Toby. I went to Monte Vista with him, John Nowell, Matt Johnson, amongst others. East county was pretty nuts back then. I remember walking to school and getting bottles thrown at us from passing 4X’s. He was mod for a minute, then suddenly showed up to school one day in full punk regalia. Bobo was always a walking spectacle, as I’m sure he still is. After school we used to go to his house on Saddle’ and chain smoke and listen to Joy Division. Inevitably someone would pull into the driveway — say, Joe Hughes — with a 12 pack of Shaeffer, and it was all downhill from there…
SKI BEACH…
Stories?
I always found him larger than life, my favorite trait in a person.
I wish I could have spent more time with him before I made my exit on to greener pastures. I remember him as a pleasant and fun guy to hang out with.
Well… I guess that’s understandable, given that I have LIFEHATER tattooed on one side of my head, and “LOBOTOMY” carved into the other. But it was all in fun. I found him pleasant, held up against the people I’d been hanging with henceforth.
Oddly enough, I have always held people like bobo (and many other people from SD who were way forgiving and about as nuts (if not twice so) as myself) close to my heart (in my very forgiving memory) as somebody who accepted about everyone, as long as the someone wasn’t a total asshole.
Was that an ingenious use of parenthesis or what?!!!!
Toby: It’s like a big ol’ grammatical algebra equation — bravo!
I remember the night I met Bobo. It was a party at Maria Dudley’s and it was getting broken up by the police. I tried to escape throught the back yard, but there was no obvious exit. As I crouched in the tall weeds I heard a voice saying “I don’t care what they do with me, as long as they don’t touch my rum” quite audibly. My wife (Denise Reynolds) and I remained friends and in contact with Bobo or Cricket (as he later called himself) well into the 90’s after he moved to Florida. He’s one of my favorite people and it’s hard to describe (although you did it well Sean) what a complete loveable maniac he is.
Eric: Any chance you can get Bobo/Cricket in here?
Hey Eric! Loveable maniac is spot on. And I’m with Matt: let’s get his maniacal ass on board! Hope you and the family are well.
Love(d) ’em all. Tasha’s brings back a wave of great memories alone -- each visit required at least an hour. They moved from 4th & Broadway to 8th Ave years ago. Last time I checked they were still in business somehow. After reading this, I’m gonna cross my fingers and see if what’sisname (Bill?) is still tooling along. Sadly, around the corner on Broadway, old Aubrey Jones’ Barber Shop is gone… I used to get a shave & haircut for 6 bucks, while listening to Glenn Miller & Freddy Fender on his 8-track… man he was deft with them shears!
“Cracklamp” Liquor…
BTW, I sent a message to Bobby Lane about C.U. Hopefully he will chime in soon with yet another myriad of bygone lore…
I recall Jimmy Roosters name but can’t put a face to the name.
Who was the tall rockabilly guy who frequented punk shows pretty regularly (adams ave, Kings Road, NPLC, Fairmont hall), looked kind of like John Warnock (if you knew him) only maybe taller?
That was kind of vague, wasn’t it? Sorry- besides the guy being a pretty good guy and drinking a few beers with us now and then, I cant recall much else about him.
Garris certainly has a lot of fans. Anyone remember that bridge over (University and palm, or right around there?) that had “STEVE GARRIS IS DEAD” painted across one side for about a year or so?
do you mean “Rockabilly Joe” ?
You know honestly I don’t remember. I just recall that he was a real cool guy and fun to hang out with, if someone gave him some shit he’d throw it right back in their face, he knew a lot of people from the earlier scenes, and he was about the only rockabilly guy at shows (aside from Gary Vitalis and Terry Marine, who were either a throwbacks or ahead of their time, and traversed just about any genre or label with ease) after like 1982.
I remember we were hanging around in front of Adam’s avenue and some meatheads drove by and yelled some derogatory bullshit, and we chucked beer cans in their general direction causing them to slam on the brakes of their shit-box muscle car and jump out to “beat up the punk fags”. I also remember that particular guy running right out there and facing them and they said some lame tripe and climbed back into their car without ever throwing even one punch.
I think he also had a penchant for cheap alcohol. Does that narrow it down? 😉
Does anyone know or remember Bill Mills? He hung around the punk scene, but was older…probably in his 30s. He owned a house in North Park, and would let kids live there for a nominal amount of rent. Jane, our bass player lived there. We played at a party there once which was broken up by the police when we were only into our second or third song. Someone must have called them as soon as a crowd was gathering there. Everyone called Bill by his first and last name, as though it was one word.
And who was the older woman who also owned a house in North Park where kids would live? She had a small child of her own who she’d drag out to shows with her. I went to a party at her house once…she was friends Steve Garris.
people — help me get joe hughes on board:
http://www.myspace.com/bobboblaw
PINK PANTHER!
Merry Christmas:
Be My Friend #4- Spring 1982
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobygibson/sets/72157604477418029/
Toby, thanks for scanning the Be My Friend! I remember seeing The Hipsters but I can’t remember who was in the band. It’s great seeing pics of The Hedgehogs, 5051, and The Paladins! I remember back then they did almost every song by the Johnny Burnette Trio! Can’t believe they’re still playing and never broke up.
Tony, I was listening to an obscure 60s psychedelic band recently (who’s name escapes me) and I heard a song that was on one of Larry’s tapes. Wow, that took me back! Those tapes really were amazing! He even did groovy psychedelic artwork on them.
I will scan some stuff this weekend and post it on Flickr.
That must have been when he was crowned the “King of the punks.”
I do not have any more Be My Friends, but I’m always on the lookout. That one came from from Bethesda Maryland and cost me $6.50. I may have found a couple likely venues for some others, though- they’re digging through their stashes and getting back to me.
I have the dope on Delia on my website, I believe. I don’t think she’s still with us, but won’t be able to find the story until I can get back on there (the host has something really erratic going on- totally unreliable right now.)
I remember going to a party at the Mods House with Larry and Patti Cates. There was a pile of records on a table, some in sleeves, some not, but I don’t remember much else. I think the cops came so we went upstairs to hide for a while.
The last time I saw Chris was in the mid 80s when I was living with Ed on Chamoune Street in East SD, and he was homeless so we let him crash for while in our garage.
Who-all did Steve Garris claimed to have killed with his mind? Jimi and Janis? But then he tried to kill Chubby Checker, who turned a beam of pure white love energy back on Steve, and then Steve fell and broke his ARM, maaaaaan!
Do I have that right?
What about Studio 517? Was that the name? That huge man “Lerch” ran it. I remember seeing the Gravedigger 5 do I think their first show there. Saw the Tale-Tell Hearts there. I sort of remember if you catch my drift. CRAZY DAYS!!!!
Darren: We’ve already got Don Cheadle lined up to play Chris Negro in the movie!
Hey Darren, I still remember you screaming for The Kinks “Revenge” between every song at Studio 517 (sometimes after we played it already, you silly man). Hey, what ever happened to Paul Hokeness (sp.)? Do you have any idea?
So many memories renewed reading this blog. I think Delia and I drank each others blood . She also had “Danimals” brain or part of it in a jar following a train decapitation somewhere up in Encinitas. If that is the same Delia ? Thanks Sean
Hey Joe! I think one of the last times I saw you I was playing guitar off a generator at your wedding several hundred yards from where Gram Parson’s body was burned in Joshua Tree National Park. Good Times. No one should feel too special about having his blood drunk by Delia. I know of several others, including Mike Stax, who belong to the club. Another story . . .once at Studio 517, Delia and Garris claim to have seen Brian Jones pass through me.
Hah! I wasn’t going to bring that up. But no shame- I’m pretty much an open book.
It was rumored that I was locked in a closet for weeks. I heard that one too. But no- truth is I stayed at Delias for a few days, stuck in San Diego after a show with no ride home. I was staying up in North County at that time, crashing wherever I could find a space on the floor. It was Woods, Wally and I- and possibly a couple other people, I really don’t remember that clearly. And Delia convinced Woods to make me let them extract a hypodermic of blood (I was no stranger to needles at the time, so that part of it wasn’t all that shocking at the time). That is why I have such a vitriolic dislike of Delia (well that and because with Delia it was only downhill from there, at that time.) I also parted ways with Woods and Wally right then. They were bad news, real assholes with no rhyme or reason behind their thuggery. They also turned into more and more heinous pieces of shit as they passed through time.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it seems that one way or another, everybody pays for their sins- maybe it’s a karmic thing, maybe it’s just the way things work- an evolutionary bank account of some sort. I can only imagine what Wally would be like at 40- uneducated, angry, unfortunate- he was a real piece of shit right down the line. I heard Woods went to prison for a while- I’m sure that was a real treat. God knows I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but he certainly pulled enough terroristic bullshit to deserve it. I imaginein his time locked up he got to really understand the meaning of the phrase, “Big fish in a small pond”.
There was also a rumor about me being dead when in fact I was up in San Francisco on the trip I mentioned in the road-trip conversation. I’m sure woods and Wally started the closet rumor, but both of those rumors were probably well fed by Renea Warren from Clairmont, who for some reason (I honestly can’t recall why) used to tell people she was my sister. I’m pretty sure it was Renae I called to come give me a ride when I bailed out of there.
And to get the thread back on track- Delia’s house was decidedly NOT one of the great places to hang out! 🙂
(Would a Beatles quote have been more appropriate? Small Faces?)
i am worried about my public persona ! sean do you remember 123 beach by any chance ?
i walked home, did i have a home? bill o’brian would not pick me up…from 123 BEACH
MODERATION? that had nothing to do with it.
I just saw a ‘One Reel Wonder’ on TCM that had a blackface character named “Topsy,” so I looked it up and found that Topsy was a recurring name given to stereotyped black servant characters in 19th Century literature, including ‘Vanity Fair” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Makes me wonder if the naming of our beloved, now defunct Topsy’s on Washington Street was inspired by a desire to compete with the Sambo’s chain, which was ubiquitous in California back in the 50s-60s (the last remaining Sambo’s is the original in Santa Barbara).
“The Uncle Tom’s Cabin” character Topsy was the origin of the expression “grew like Topsy,” signifying fast, unplanned growth — kind of like San Diego!
Into the 1980s, there was a Sambo’s off of 5 around Del Mar. I looked it up a few months ago when we were all riffing on San Diego coffee chains and learned that it was founded in 1957 by Sam Battistone Sr. and Newell Bohnet … the original “Sam” and “Bo” behind the name. Their decision to adopt Little Black Sambo as their mascot ultimately bit them in the ass!
Okay, I’ll admit, me too. There were a few months around summer, 1984 or 1985 when he was convinced I was gay, and would bring up the subject every time I saw him. It was pretty intimidating. I mean, after all, this was a guy who had killed Jimi Hendrix.
Maria Dudley did live in Kearney Mesa/Clairemont, and the roommate of whom you speak was her sister. She was Ron Silva’s girlfriend for a while, and after she tired of the mod look, she got really into Fun Boy Threel! Oh, and Joe Hughes was sometimes called Rockabilly Joe. One of the coolest guys you could ever hope to be friends with.
The Secret Code is “Gym Locker”. Oh wait- that’s what it was called.
Laughing gas? Truth Serum? Funky Clown cough Suppressant?
I can’t believe that stuff didn’t kill any of us. I recall several suspected urban myths about that stuff.
OK, Matt Johnson, is he the one who later got a PhD in near east studies?
Aetna’s-I never hung out there but I worked there for a few years off and on as a delivery driver. It introduced me to neighborhoods and little streets I hadn’t seen before. They delivered from southeast S.D. to the north side of Mission Valley, east and central S.D.
I liked Maria, I haven’t seen her since just before I left S.D. (the first time) in ’89.
I hung out at Tamara’s place a few times. I saw her in San Francisco a few years ago near City College getting picked up by Jeff Marino. I saw Greg S. many years ago now at the downtown S.D. library. He said Hi, and then he had to look some stuff up. I’m glad to hear he’s doing well.
Whippits.
paul your thinking of the magical mike province, who after many years abroad has once agian graced the shores of slow death to raise his family and teach. antbody know the where abouts of any of the original s. park girls ? tamara brown, jodie davis, ect. what about elain winnard or robin gaines ? i,ve talked to her sis windy pyro but she’s been outa touch with er family for years. chris baily anybody ?
Matt used to hang out with Sean McMullen and was from Casa de Oro, the house of gold. Matt went to Loyola and got involved in a pretty nasty murder case that he was writing a book about.
I also have wondered what happened to Shauna and Jody, Elaine and Robin and Wendy. I though Robin moved to Japan with her parents for a while. Anyone heard from Maggie Peters?
i saw robbin in san diego on one of my yearly trips out, it was 1995 ? and she was doing well. the rest i havent a clue.
Robin Wexler?
Hey Bobo, good to see you on here!
Oh, you were talking about Robin Gaines, not Wexler. No idea where these people are.
We could start a topic called Whatever Happened To…?
What about Missy and Vanessa, Madeliene and her twin sister (I don’t know how to spell her name but it sounded like Buh-Len), and the other twin sisters that Mike Addis and I went out with concurrently (damn, I can’t remember their names at all)?
I still see Audrey Moorehead occasionally in LA and at Cavestomp last year. She hasn’t changed much! I saw James Harrell in SD at the Tell-Tale Hearts reunion last year -- he’s back there now with his family -- and Kristina Harrell is living in Alpine with her family.
o i loved audrey ! damn havent thought of her in a long time. even more i love that you cant remember names of the twins ! that sums up most of my early memories of romance. she had ……. hair ! im almost sure of it ? at least some sort of bangs type thing in the front and realy great go go boots. i loved her. yes, the where are they now list ! we must have someone who survived & has sloothing skills. maybe
Networking is the answer. Farming for lost punks, fishing for locations, mining for any tidbit of information. I’ve found that if I ask everyone I know online or off I usually can come up with some pretty healthy clues.
joe ! damn you your in the local of the last tamara sighting, and you like finding people who hide ! try ? listen to toby, he knows stuff. happy birthday jason ! i love you with all my shriveld blackening hart. i still smoke, like im on fire.
“listen to toby, he knows stuff”
A tenuous claim.
I’m picturing some of these people reading this stuff from their peaceful lives somewhere and thinking, “Please god don’t let them find me!”
they can run but they can’t hide. ring any bells ?
The gyrocopter pilot?
No! It’s ‘my’ snake, I trained it, I’m going to eat it! I got a recipe for snake. Delicious. Fricassee of reptile. You are what you eat.
Hello Joe! I remember your look well, though I haven’t seen you since I don’t know when. I had remembered your face, but forgotten your name. I’m glad to find you here. I don’t think I’ve seen you since I split for New York the first time--at the end of ’87. That’s where I am again--since ’99.
Man, all those names of girls! Some of them were already dropping out by the time I arrived, but the names were around--and sometimes people would resurface at some event or another. Or they’d be gone for a year and you’d suddenly see them again. Some stayed pretty constant.
I just remembered The Tell-Tale Hearts playing upstairs at Zoe’s mom’s place downtown. At least one was a Halloween party. Was there more than one? Zoe’s name was mentioned here before--maybe in this same long thread--and her mom has been mentioned as a champion of some of the old buildings around town. I actually hung out with the Zoe ANd her mom here in New York one night a few years ago. Zoe had moved here from Austin, and her mom was visiting--somehow we ended up in Chinatown at night. Zoe lived in Brooklyn (in Williamsburg) for a few years, and then headed west again. Someone no doubt knows more. But does Zoe’s old car constitute a place? Remember that pink, tailfinned circa ’59 Rambler?
Confirmed Garris sighting: San Diego Comic Con 2007. Clean and sober asking Dark Horse Comics about doing some work for the restarted Creepy Magazine because he can draw again.
PS: I made the Bobo Stock flyer (although Glenn Davey from Gompers drew the swirly picture.)
Andy! Garris’ return to the living makes me very happy. Did he look like the Cryptkeeper?
I didn’t see him. My wife Susie did. She didn’t even recognize him. Steve Garris has a long Comic-Con history that she was part on several occasions (including an infamous 1990’s rant that ended with him giving me a set of hand carved runes that now belong to Kenneth). The point being that she didn’t recognize him as the same man. Until she heard him talking to an editor friend of ours about his brother and then she saw his badge. “He was clean,” shes tells me emphatically as I type this. “No gravelly voice either. He looked great for a man that can kill with his mind. No tweakage.”
Steve Garris is obviously in possession of some amazing genes … Or else he sucked the life essence out of some unsuspecting rock star. (Maybe that guy from Blind Melon.)
Another hangout: Carl Irving’s house.
Hangouts: The KEN Theatre (before it was bought out by the LANDMARK corp.), Off the Record when Mark from Social Spit worked there, Balboa Park fountain, Headquarters, Jerry C., Pat Works and Eric Bachers’ pad on Florida street, Kristi Maddocks’ house on Madison Street where she lived with Keith and Jeff, FUNLAND……ad infinitum…I had dropped out of high school so all I did was hangout. My boyfriend, Tommy from the Wallflowers (later Morlocks) worked during the day, so I usually drove around with Paul Howland, riding on the back of his Trailblazer, visiting people and having adventures. I lament for the arcade in the basement of the Sears department store that was demolished to make way for….condos! I mourn all the lost arcades. At least the Ken is still around.
F**king Steve Garris! I recall many mornings of stepping over his passed out slump on my living room floor. And sometimes Chris N. as well.
cheers
Kristen (I think people called me Kirsten?)
Another great hangout was Graveyard park. Officially it is known as Pioneer Park, and before that Calvary Cemetery, at the time known as the Catholic Cemetery, was created in 1870. 1,650 people were buried there, some as late the 60’s. Most remain. The adobe brick wall that runs along the headstones that were saved was actually built by the city under the W.P.A. in the late 30’s/early 40’s. Behind the wall and Grant Elementary School (which I went to in kindergarten and 1st grade) is an old section of blacktop (a precursor to Washington St.?) which disappeared precipitously above an adobe bluff that descended (when I was a kid) into a fat man’s misery.
A friend, David (last name? Kristin M. knew him), told me when he was a kid, and the city was transforming the cemetery into the park, he saw a coffin they had dug up. In the coffin was a skeleton with the lower part of its legs cut off and placed beside it in order for the body to fit into the coffin. One time I was in the park on a solitary morning and saw a fox. It’s the only time I ever saw a fox in S.D. (or ever).
Once I stopped my car along a ravine to take a leak and discovered that tombstones had fallen down the ravine from a mausoleum at the top. Some of them were at the bottom of the ravine, water from the creek there running over them, slowly wearing away the words etched into them. Later I read in the Reader the stones were from Calvary Cemetery and were being “stored” at Mount Hope Cemetery. Something of a brouhaha developed after this article. I don’t remember the outcome.
I remember a gathering of folks from the scene hanging out there one time when the fun-loving S.D.P.D. showed up. They asked whose beer we were drinking and Mike Stax, who was probably the only one older than 20 in attendance, claimed it. The cops had him pour it out and broke up the party.
I still go to Graveyard park with my kidlet 🙂 There is a poltergeist element about it. Saw a nest of Cooper Hawks there recently.
FUNLAND was on lower Broadway downtown. It’s the arcade that the Wallflowers wrote a song about (check the Wallflowers posts). They had an extensive collection of wooden pinball machines, a couple of air hockey tables, some Atari games. You could also buy drug periphenalia, biker gear and weapons there. One stop shopping.
Another arcade the Wallflowers hung out at was the Aztec Arcade up by College/Montezuma. We would go there on the back of our assortment of bikes -- Dave R. on his Harley (or Indian!), Tommy had a Honda and Paul had a Trailblazer, usually trailing behind. This is before helmet laws. I used to carry Tommy’s guitar on the back of his bike on the frickin freeway!!!
After pinball we’d have coffee and pie at Nappys on El Cajon Blvd. I totally remember putting my cigarette out in my food. gross!
Oh, that’s right. I never went to FUNLAND or the Aztec Arcade. Maybe I’m confusing FUNLAND w/Funland at the Beach, the extinct San Francisco amusement park (’cause it was at the beach?)…the David I mentioned above was Dave Cornett.
I’m really happy my son Lucas will be going to kindergarten at Grant School, next to Pioneer Park, in the fall. His teacher, who by all accounts is a great guy, has started a canyon restoration project in which they are planting trees, etc.
When my family moved to Banker’s Hill in ’76, the house was on the Maple Street Canyon. Later on I lived for a long time in a iltle one room “cabin” (a glorified shed) at the bottome of the canyon on my parents property. There were lots of foxes, skunks, possums, raccoons, even the occasional coyote. The foxes Paul speaks of are the California Grey Fox, which is about the size of a cat, red underneath, and very playful. I see them all the time at Mesa College when I work late.
Sears--that was a great old building. My sister Laura worked there for a while, as did Bill Calhoun, who mixed paint in the paint department. That’s a subject for another post: decidedly un-punk rock jobs we held, like Sting in Quadrophenia. I was bagging groceries, pushing carts and working in the meat department of a grocery store at the time. Hardly a glamorous job like a repo man.
How many sisters do you have, Ray? I only knew Claudia, but every thread seems to reveal a new Brandes sib! 🙂
GREAT idea about the jobs thread. I like that a lot!
I have SIX sisters, no brothers: Elisa, Elena, Laura, Claudia, Marta and Paula.
My nephew and niece go to Grant now. A couple of years ago while I was visiting my sister in San Diego there was a huge windstorm that knocked down some of the eucalyptus trees in Pioneer park. My sister and I picked up her kids at school and walked around looking at the downed trees. I hadn’t been there since some crazy nights long ago! It was very strange revisiting the park in the day!
Banker’s hill. That sounds like the “secret neighborhood” I ran across a couple of times that had only one road in and out of it. The houses were even more grandiose than the nicer houses in Mission Hills etc. There was a one-person wide cable suspension bridge across one of the canyons. I looked up Maple St. and 1st Ave. on Mapquest, and it looks like there are two little neighborhoods that have only road in and out. I believe I came across the eastern one.
Ray, that shack sounds amazing. The fox I saw was red on the bottom, gray on top like you said, but as big as a medium-size dog. I spent many a day hanging out in the canyons of Mission Hills when I was a kid. It was such a privilege to experience a little bit of nature while living in an urban (even though it felt suburban) metropolis. We used to make forts in the bamboo patches, and slide down the steep sides of the canyon on cardboard ending in a rough stop at the bottom.
I like the idea about the un-punk jobs thread as well.
And I’m glad to hear Garris is doing well as well.
What was the pool hall near San Diego State (maybe on University??) Eric Sloan and Mark Urton and I spent a little stretch playing there — until he looked at some guy wrong and ended up dragged out on the pavement and bounced around some … Torn sweater, a couple of minor abrasions, no major damage, but it kind of took the fun out of hanging around there.
When I had just graduated from college in upstate New York in May 1983, the first thing I wanted to do was go to the opposite corner of the country. A week later, I’m unemployed, living in the St. James Hotel on about $100 per week, borrowed from my grandmother. In desperate search for amusement, I wind up at a midnite showing of The Road Warrior, where some guy passes me a bottle of whiskey. Popcorn and whiskey is a bad combo, since the alcohol isn’t released for about a half hour. I wind up wandering the streets of SD with this guy and his underage girlfriend, and when I can go no farther I pass out in a pool of vomit on someone’s porch. That was how I met Steve Garris.
I hung out for a couple of weeks with him and the SD punks in Balboa Park, until he hatched a brilliant plan to get free food from some guy who managed a hotel/restaurant, which sounded an awful lot like it required me to turn myself into the manager’s romantic plaything. Being your typical homophobic 22 year old guy, that was just not quite doable for me, so I escaped Garris by hiding out in a supermarket. Never saw him again.
I remember that pool hall , it was a hangout for asian ganbangers back then . it was right next to the old Jack LaLane fitness center on El Cajon blvd about a mile east of College .
>>He’s been living with the same woman (who he stole from a good friend) who is HIS OWN AGE!!!!
In my eyes, SFG is ageless.
Lesha , whats up . . . nice to see you alive and well .
Damn it’s cool to see alot of the old crew!!! Believe that i’m still alive and doin fine! Okay I see most of the names but what about our good friends Dirk Westervelt, Brendan Berg, Marit Berg,Mike Cooper,Theresa Steinwehe, Tabitha Warriner, Mike Gomes,Carla Schultz, Richard Simpao, Paul Hokeness. I saw Tony Suarez recently @ Toronado on 30th and I hear that Dirk is possibly in Prague and the last I heard Leighton was working at Wacko on Melrose,but quietly disappeared,where in the hell is Kristi Maddocks and Michelle Krone by the way?!! Anyway a big shout out to Darrie Greenfish,Alena Tuchscher,Christina and James Harrell,Dean Curtis,Ray Brandes(sorry about the phone call from the pen) ha-ha! ,Gerry Cornileus, Steve Medico, Sean McMullen, Pat Works, Matt Johnson and of course Bobo and anyone else I might of forgot. Big Love to you all and cheers to better times!!!
Hey Paul! Welcome aboard. Good to see you and Alena together after all these years. That’s almost as long as Denise and Eric, or Eric Freedom and Ingrid.
About that phone call . . .don’t worry about it. You were having a much worse day than I was, that’s for sure.
Hey Paul--what ever happened to Tim Ortiz?
Hey Megan! Tim Ortiz…well Tim was doing really good with his Eventvibe.com stuff and he actually became somewhat of a local icon. I don’t know if I’m suppose to say this but he got into a bit of trouble with some very heavy hitters down south style if you know what I mean. He’s kinda layin low at the time but still runs Eventvibe.com.
ah--capice. I remember his trip south of the border!
I’ll check out eventvibe.com I haven’t been in SD for a while (15 yrs!) so I am kind of out of the loop, but I have always wondered about him.
Ray!!! What is up Mr. Brandes? The last time I spoke to you me and Mr. L Koizumi were on some chain gang on the Ca.\Ariz. border and I could ‘nt reach Alena so of course my paranoid mind thought maybe you knew where she was! Crazy and don’t even ask me how I found your number after I slipped away from the chaingang in this little one-horse town named Blythe, damn life sure is great!!! Alena is doing great and we have 2 gorgeous girls together,she’s a better mom than I am a dad but hey I’m not perfect. Congratulations on your son Lucas…how cool is that?!! Good to hear from you and let’s keep in touch.
Megan did you ever date Tim Ortiz,seems like every hot girl did!!!
Nah, I was with Conklin. Ortiz did date some beauties--there was this girl named Susan whose father was president of USD, I think. I remember her as being so beautiful!
Megan, whstever happened to Tim Conklin?
Wait wasnt that Jill Ruzich? Her dad was the dean of USD. I have some pics with Tim and Paul it was a party at Dirks house,the TTH’s and Morlocks played. Was that Halloween?
Hi Paul what are you up to? Hey Ray, Denise and Eric..is Denise’s name Ingrid?
Whoa Paul are we on at the same time?
Dunno what happened to him after he dumped my like a sack of bricks in 1986 😉 I heard that he went to Sacramento ultimately, or something…
ALena: Maybe it was Jill--I mean, how many daughters of deans could he date!
Tony: “Gym locker”!!!!!! Hahahahahaha! I completely remember now! Man, I huffed that stuff back then one time on LSD. I saw stars and stripes and peed myself. It was with that English Oi guy Steve Clover, Chris Negro, Gary Small and I believe Patty Cates. CRAZY days!
The last I saw Tamara was when I worked with her as well as lived with her in Golden Hill. What a trip that was. Super nice and her little kid was tops. I worked with her at General Bead in Downtown. I never heard from her again and that was 1988-89. I talk to Robyn Gaines all the time. She’s a trip still.
I forgot about General Bead. My sister Susan worked there with Darren and Bobby Lane in the late 80’s.
“General Bead” sounds like a band with Skip Spence, Jack Casady and Chris Hillman.
Wow..really..nobody even mentions Precidio Park!
>>Wow..really..nobody even mentions Precidio Park!
Theresa: Oh, we’ve devoted millions of pixels to Presidio Park!
Theresa!!!!! How are you and how did you find out about this site? I was gonna tell you about it on your facebook but I was kinda worried you might think it was a little strange,poppin up outta nowhere and all. So ya funny story and I might of told you this,but Alena and I were in Vegas and I took a walk out of the M.G.M. through this surreal abandoned looking neighborhood and it was about 110 degrees and I stumbled over a phone book and there you were!!! I could’nt believe it, Richard Simpao told me you moved there and I thought it was funny and a shot in a million.B.T.W. I just spoke with M.Kashani,he sends his best. Anyway lots of love and maybe we’ll see you at the reunion.
Matthew are you talking about Jack Casady who surfed for G&S and also had a brother named Ted,they lived in UC?
Is anybody still posting here…
lots of familiar names places and times mentioned here
hello hello?
Which Mike are you, por favor?
People are posting here.
>>Is anybody still posting here…
Mike: You mean posting to this thread? It’s kind of old, but sure — new arrivals find it and refresh it periodically. 🙂
The blog is cranking away like mad … I can’t even keep up with all the new old-timers arriving every week!
Speaking of which: Which Mike are you? We have almost as many Mikes as Daves or Pauls! 🙂
But only one SFG!
“Hey! Is this Mike on??” Heh, heh.
at the time I lived on 36th and university ave..not too far from Adamas ave
I hung out with the Batallion of Saints.. and Personal Conflict..my sister Shari was the bass player….
my wife “Leigh” would like to find Delia
I’ve read about Delia here and was wondering if anybody can help?
Steve Garris reports that Delia is no longer alive, Mike. Some others may have more details.
your kidding?
oh man that sucks 🙁
I’m suprised Steve is still alive
if anybody sees him ever tell him Johnny Vomit
is still in San Diego..and doing ok ..or so I hear
how about Cliff Cunningham?
can anybody tell me how he is doing?
Cliff seems to be thriving … He’s visited here a few times — and I believe he still appears on occasion with Social Spit.
Thats great to hear
re: Cliff
How might I know you?
You might know me- I don’t remember. I was the Bass player for P.C. that Sherri replaced. After I bowed out of Personal Conflict I didn’t hang out in San Diego much, though. At that time I lived in the camper across the yard from Lloyd’s bus.
Toby..I know of you..but dont know that we ever met.
and news of Shelby?
or Maureen Thomas ?
Uhhhhhhhhhhh … I run the blog? 🙂 And I was in Noise 292 and 3 Guys Called Jesus before heading off to San Francisco loooooooooooong ago.
News of Shelby: I’ll email you what I heard. I don’t want to get the disinformation machine revved up and would never want to start rumors about Shelby- I’ve spread plenty bad information over the years about all kinds of people already. (in my defense- it was just my cloudy memory.)
If anybody has any contact with Shelby, I would love to hear that she’s okay. She was always one of my favorite people and I’d love to hear from her no matter what.
(Mike: If you’re using a generic email you can get my email through Matt here at the site.)
Thanks for the E-mail Toby..
ygm
Matt..what year was it you went to frisco loooooong ago?
I left SD beginning of February 1987 … I was in Germany for a short time, then SF. Married, had kids, then we moved to New Jersey in April 2001.
Our reunion gig in May will be the first time I’ve played in San Diego in 22 years!
wow…22 years?
thats pretty cool…I dont belive I have had the pleasure to see any of your bands though Matt
Hi Toby,
My name is Burgan and I am Shelby’s sister, I came across the blog when you wrote the tribute to Ted O’Shea I called my sister that night and turned her on to the peice you wrote (she is doing very well by the way, married with all the trappings of a 40 somthing life) we were on the phone for hours tears, laugh’s and alot of emotions that surfaced and took us back to that time and place when we felt like such misplaced youth in control of somthing that was so big. Shelby is in SD I am in Phoenix.
Thanks for the note, Burgen. Check your email. I totally remember you. Very great to hear that you and Shelby are alive and well.
I’m glad Shelby is doing well…
thanks for the update Burgan
Please tell her Mike and Leigh say Hello
I’m pretty sure she will know who you are talking about
I remember one night we were at your fathers place at mission beach..
I parked my car in the ally..with Tony Chuko sleeping in the back seat..Shelby and I went into the house..and a few minutes later the cops were by my car writing a ticket and calling a tow truck
there was no F’n way I was going to go talk to the police..so I watched them tow my car away..with Tony in it!!!!
That’s funny Mike, alot of high-jinks happened at the Nantasket house I told Toby I would dig out my old photos, I have some of Ted, Brent, Brymo, Fritz, Missy Markel, Mike Woods
Oh man- I have no photos of those guys from that time. I would be extra forever in your debt.
Leigh wanted to be able to contact you…
in case you wondering
Ha! Too funny! I emailed Bergun and the first thing I did was apologize for misspelling her name for 20+ years.
made a name change..so I’d be easier to recognize..
funny Toby
I spent a lot of time at the library in North Park. Studying history and trying not to repeat it.