An online discovery has created a new Che Underground mystery to solve.
I ran across this video of the mighty Hair Theatre playing Iguana’s in Tijuana. Now I want to know how it made its way to YouTube and who-all is on the other half-hour of tape!
Some clues:
- The gig is dated Sept. 28, 1989, and the master VHS is credited to the “Juni Bravo archive.” It was posted to 3.Cameras.and.a.Microphone by someone who writes s/he knows nothing about the band and incorrectly identifies this San Diego North County group as Mexican.)
- Google and Facebook tell me that Juni Bravo was a friend to many of our San Diego circle and had relocated to Austin before she passed away in February 2015.
- At the end of the 11-minute segment, lead singer Sergio announces that “Devo is next.” A Google search reveals that Devo played two nights at Iguana’s: Sept. 28 and 29, 1989.
- Besides Sergio, the lineup onstage includes Cesar Castillo on guitar; Sergio Castillo on bass; Steve Broach on drums;
Sam Wilson (I think?)Simon Holehouse on lead guitar; and John Murray on flute, harmonica and percussion. - After the first 12 minutes, the balance of the 41-minute tape contains scenes from a Revolt in Style fashion show at … The San Diego Sports Arena, perhaps?
Some questions:
- How did a selection from Juni Bravo’s video archive make its way to YouTube, and are there more Che Underground-friendly segments in the vaults?
- What’s the fashion event? Do you recognize yourself in the crowd or on the stage?
- Who the heck is the band opening for the fashion show? The song seems to be “The Girl’s a Hot Potato.” (I’m picturing Mrs. Potato Head in go-go boots.)
Help Che Underground: The Blog fill in the gaps … Maybe there’s more where this came from!
Oh, duh! If you open up the YouTube description, the poster describes how s/he acquired the goods:
“JUNI BRAVO ARCHIVE: I bought a bunch of live VHS tapes of Ebay about 6 months ago. I bought them mainly for a Bad Religion Multicam from 1988 that was uncirculated, but I got a while box of VHS tapes. The tapes were intriguing enough for me to try to find out who Juni is- it turns out that she was a Video archivist from the mid- to late-80s based in San Diego & texas. She followed the Exploited on tour in 1988 and produced the ‘Anarchy in the USA’ VHS tape for them. She passed away a couple of years ago and (unbeknownst to me) some guy was selling her stuff off. I decided to post the stuff that was OK to post publicly to be sure Juni got her due, and to let fans of the band see this stuff- there is some gold in here. I also NEED YOUR HELP with some of this stuff. The tapes were poorly labeled so I don’t know who some of the bands are, and I don’t know most of the venues. Any help identifying stuff is appreciated”