Che Underground: The Blog

The kid stays in the picture

January 1, 2011November 6, 2008 by admin

(Hair Theatre guitarist Paul Allen describes one photograph’s journey.)

This is one of 4 photos, as I recall, that [Hair Theatre vocalist] Sergio had given me before I moved to San Francisco in February 1989. I think Laura Swapp took them. I couldn’t tell you where we were playing. Like most of the clubs back then, the predominant color is black.

In the spring of 1992 I moved on a whim (the morning after the night I decided to go, after staying up all night) to New Orleans. Having prepared little, I ended up in an apartment with no furniture, stove or fridge. I’d turn on the light at night to find a virtual colony of roaches, beetles and crickets all scurrying for this giant hole in the closet floor. At this point I was so broke I was living on peanut butter & jelly and Thunderbird (a fifth chilled for $2.59!).

I entrusted a friend back in S.F. to sell my amp, stereo, books and records. The deal was he would keep 40 percent and send me 60 percent.

Che Games for May (2009)!

January 1, 2011November 3, 2008 by admin

Believe the hype: May 29-31, 2009, is the time and San Diego is the place for the Che Underground’s 25-year reunion and performance showcase.

A crack team of musical geniuses, party planners and cranky old hipsters is hashing out the details, which will be forthcoming in this space. But go ahead and book your E-tickets now for a long weekend in America’s Finest City!

Among the bands on track for the show, Che Games for May will feature:

The Answers
The Gay Dennys (featuring members of the Tell-Tale Hearts and the Crawdaddys)
Hair Theatre
The Mirrors
Noise 292
The Wallflowers
MC: Jeremiah Cornelius
DJ: Paul Howland

“Merry Tweeksters World Mutation Day”/”Sufi Sales”

June 30, 2009November 2, 2008 by

(Answers/Mirrors vet Dave Fleminger shares a trailblazing collaboration with a pioneer of the cyber-underground.)

R.U. Sirius and the Merry Tweeksters
Somewhat over 20 years ago today … it was twenty years ago to the day … somewhere in the Summer of Luv.

Soon after moving to the Bay area, I remember hearing the Morlocks raving about this amazing scene centering around one R.U. Sirius and his uber-cool magazine, High Frontiers. This being the new far-out future, it appeared that the amazing Negativland “Over The Edge” radio shows we had listened to on cassettes in SD were about to turn 3-D, or perhaps 10-8. … How random is random?

In 1985 R.U. organized a High Frontiers event held at the The Farm called “Celebration, the Neo-Psychedelic Cotillion Ball,” featuring the Morlocks and about 10 other bands, hosted by Woodstock emcee Wavy Gravy.

Rockin’ Halloween 1984

January 1, 2011October 31, 2008 by admin

(Not satisfied to supply the holiday tunes, the Brandes siblings come through with a swingin’ Halloween photo gallery for recovering SD scenesters! Claudia Brandes provides the back story.)

These photos were taken at the Halloween party that Zoe and I threw at her loft downtown in 1984. Zoe and I were great friends at the time, and we talked all year about wanting to have a huge Halloween party. She was the only person I had ever met, besides Kristen Schwartz, who loved Halloween as much as I did.

Kristen, in one image, is a “jigsaw puzzle,” and Zoe is George Washington. It was a great costume, and she was quite convincing! I was Peter Pan, which allowed me to wear my Beatle boots and a short skirt and still look cool. One photo has a very handsome young Peter Miesner dancing with Zoe.

Sounds to Make You Shiver

June 30, 2009October 30, 2008 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes scares up a Halloween soundtrack worthy of the Che Underground. This we dug … Up!)

The Halloween memories of my youth come alive each year as the days begin to shorten and the night air becomes brisk in mid-October, and as I’ve gotten older I have somehow been able to retain a sense of excitement as jack-o’-lanterns appear on doorsteps.

In the days before nervous parents had their children’s candy bags X-rayed at the hospital, when trick-or-treaters were still invited into neighborhood homes for cider and popcorn balls, and when kids wandered the dark streets unaccompanied by their parents and wearing flammable plastic costumes, the soundtrack to many of my Halloween nights was the classic ’70s album, Sounds to Make You Shiver (pictured above). In honor of these classic Halloween sounds, I’ve compiled a short list of lesser-known seasonal records, all recorded in the 1960s, to prevent anyone from having to break out the “Monster Mash” one more time.

This We Dug: The Red Krayola

December 11, 2017October 28, 2008 by Paul Kaufman

Hi everyone! Dave Wallflower here again. Underground culture is a worldwide phenomenon. It is everywhere. It is all around us. It is like the air we breathe, the water we swim in (assuming that we are fish). In this the third edition of This We Dug, you will learn about Red Krayola, a band that helped form the collective Che Underground consciousness. They were like some of the water we fish swam in. This issue of This We Dug was supplied by Che alumni Paul Kaufman and Dave Fleminger, two guys who in turn provided more than a little of the underground air we breathed.

Austin, Texas, made some very high-profile contributions to the psychedelic scene, notably Roky Erikson’s 13th Floor Elevators. But there were other bands in that scene you should check out. The Bubble Puppy album is cool. But my all-time favorite album from this time and place is the second LP by Red Krayola, “God Bless the Red Krayola and all who Sail with It.” This came after their half-song, half-“free form freak-out” debut LP “The Parable of Arable Land,” which provided the immortal “Hurricane Fighter Plane” (notably covered by Boo in the mid-’90s).

Life on Madison Avenue: Part One

June 30, 2009October 26, 2008 by admin

(An introduction to Miss Kristi Maddocks’ Madison Avenue Memoirs.)

Author’s note: No one ever forgets their first apartment. In my case, very few people will ever forget mine.

My first apartment was a little one-bedroom in-law apartment adjacent to a Craftsman-style home at 1427 Madison Ave., San Diego, near Park and University. This place was centrally located to a number of highway inlets, namely the Texas Street intersection to Highway 8.

From here, I could easily reach work at La Jolla Pannikin in 30 minutes or less in my little white Rabbit called Echo (after the Bunnymen, of course). Better yet, the Madison Avenue Apartment was near downtown San Diego and the heart of the psychedelic, post-mod music scene. Many of us who attended punk and mod shows as young teenagers were becoming young adults, exploring our options in life and discovering who we really are. At the Madison Avenue flat I took my first steps into independence and a deep exploration of my burgeoning creativity.

David Anderson: Drummer at large

April 21, 2012October 24, 2008 by Paul Kaufman

(Manual Scan/Lemons Are Yellow vet Paul Kaufman recognizes a man who set the pulse of the scene.)
Many contributors to Che Underground: The Blog have already mentioned David Anderson, a legendary figure in our musical history. To recap, he made major contributions to The Gravedigger V, The Answers, Manual Scan, The Crawdaddys, The Trebels and I Spy. This vast resumé reflects the fact that Dave was already a formidable drum talent by his early teens. At one point his kick drum read, “Your Band Name Here.”

But Dave was much more than just a guy behind the drum kit. Answers bandmate David Fleminger says, “I first met Dave (I think he was 13) when he was playing with I Spy. He’s an amazingly energetic and innovative talent who can lay down a foundation beat like no one else. A fantastic bandmate with a great sense of humor.”

“David Anderson? A legend!” Manual Scan co-founder Bart Mendoza recalls. “Some of my fondest tour stories involve him. We once snuck all our friends into the General Public shows we were opening in San Francisco and had one of the best parties ever. I remember playing bumper chairs as beer was spilled all over the floor of our dressing room at The Kabuki Theatre and the night getting pretty rowdy. David nearly caused a riot in Las Vegas because he went commando onstage. He played a squeaky-toy solo at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco.

Sucking in the ’60s

April 21, 2012October 22, 2008 by Paul Kaufman

(Original recipe/extra crispy Manual Scan rhythm section Paul Kaufman and Dave Fleminger come to honor the decade, not to rile on it.)

Even the most hardcore among us admire some aspect of ’60s music and culture. And for some, this era still remains the zenith of everything that was cool. There were rapid changes in taste and style from one year to the next during that tumultuous time, and by the end of the decade the seeds of excess were already planted. So, we ask the simple question:

When did the ’60s jump the shark?

Some moments worth considering:

The assassination of Martin Luther King.
Death of Brian Epstein.
Death of Brian Jones.
Altamont.
Letting Phil Spector “produce” the Let it Be album.
Magical Mystery Tour.
Sonny Bono says “Music took a left turn.”

Hair Theatre: “Cross It All”

June 30, 2009October 20, 2008 by admin

Another addition to the Che Underground YouTube channel, this video captures Hair Theatre in action at the Spirit Club sometime after Rockin’ Dogs co-founder Sam Wilson joined on lead guitar ca. 1985.

Here’s a recent reminiscence from Jeremiah Cornelius about Hair Theatre at the Spirit: “I can remember one time at The (horrible) Spirit Club. That took a while to warm up — I was running the lights for HT and (I think) The Wallflowers. At the bar, there was some BIG marine, looking at ‘big’ Sergio in ripped jeans and a cocktail gown, with a puzzled look on his face.

“He kept moving closer to the stage, in his ‘muscle’ T and beer in hand. I thought it was going to get ugly. Sergio started up ‘My Creation’ — and started singing straight into this bulldog’s face. He was holding the mike in his crotch singing ‘Suck my Creation!’

Read moreHair Theatre: “Cross It All”