Here’s a picture Harold Gee took of Wendell and me at Presidio Park. According to some notes I posted to my personal blog, Harold took this while Sergio and I were serenading a group of skinheads. (I remember the kid in the picture telling me how much his mom liked Donovan.)
This was the summer of ’84, when we spent almost every night at Balboa or Presidio Park. What are your fondest memories of our evenings al fresco?
(BTW, I’d like to get in touch with Mr. Gee ASAP to find out if he’s got more photos of our crowd. Is anyone in contact with him? Lovely guy.)
As far as hanging out in parks go, Sergio’s 18th birthday party in that pit near the fountain was a lot of fun.
I think this happened that night, but it may have been another night at the same spot…at one point I was sitting on a bench down there talking to some girls and saw something moving in the bushes…it was a guy in full camoflauge including face paint crawling through them…he was right at our feet. We all jumped up and one of the girls screamed. The guy explained that he was in the Navy and that they actually practiced their manuvers crawling through bushes in Balboa Park at night.
Laura Swap took a bunch of photos that night…she showed them to me several years later. If someone wants to track her down, she might be able to contribute. I’m sure she took lots of pics of Hair Theatre.
I don’t remember Laura Swap! How were the pictures?
So far, I know of three professional photographers who might have pictures of us: Harold Gee, Margarat Nee and Patrick Works. Might anybody else have been taking photos?
You don’t remember Sergio’s girlfriend? She was a few years younger…about 15, I think…long wavy hair, kinda petite. Her sister Stacy is Sam’s wife.
Oh! LAURA! Of course I remember Laura … I probably drove her and Sergio 500 miles total that summer. And he probably ran up 500 hours in phone time with her! (I actually remember when the phone bill came in for all the calls between Carlsbad and SD — not good.)
I remember many, many nights at Presidio Park. It was the default spot when nothing else was on, but you usually went there after hearing the word flashed through the telephone grapevine. That way you knew there’d be some scenesters there. Sometimes the scooter people would be there, while music people were elsewhere; sometimes Everybody would be there, and the night would be epic, with people creating all kinds of fun and hi-jinks and spectacle out of thin air.
Does anyone have any kind of recon on Lou Damien? He was a kick! I remember him starring in some fabulous nighttime scenes at Presidio and Balboa parks … I know he ran into some legal difficulties, but I hope he’s found his way into productive adulthood.
Garris! King of the punks! where is he?
I spent many a summer night in 83-84 hanging out at Presidio. I met Sherry Graham and we started the Wickershams w/ Tom and Ron silva soon after. This place was a magnet for violence later on, with Skinheads from OB sneaking up on folks like John Murphy and Bert huerta and doing dental recontructive surgery with their boots.
I drive by presidio quite often. The parking lot is off limits after 7pm.
No fun my friend, no fun.
Hey Ray, and not only that little amphitheater, but also the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park got some play. One memorable night saw someone we know throwing light bulbs down from the top of the bandshell roof. That was a bit much for me, but there was no stopping it at that point. I remember a small girl with the most piercings I’d ever seen being around at the time, and particularly that night--maybe on the back of someone’s scooter, and maybe she was friendly with Jerry? Funny how one man’s distinct memory can be another’s fragmentary one. Someone probably recalls this night better than I do. I’d say, however, that Presidio got two to three nights as the spot to each one of Balboa Park. Possibly this was because Balboa Park was a little more patrolled at the time, although that may not have been until late night. It was surprising to what degree we were largely left alone, except for the times we weren’t. One last thing, it’s good to hear these names mentioned--Darren, et al--a lot of them have slipped away through lack of use, context, and so on. Give me another minute and I’ll remember what the ear-piercings girl’s name was; I think it started with the letter “i”.
Now you’re really jogging my memory. The girl in question, I believe was India, and she was the girlfriend of one of the Mission Bay or Mira Mesa guys for a while. Really beautiful as I recall, and not very heavily pierced by today’s standards. One nose, I believe.
I had my ’65 bug stolen from the park one late night there when I was hanging out with Jerry and Pat, I believe. I remember the cop who took the call referred to us on the radio as “a bunch of fags.”
Here’s another picture of Wendell, who I tried and faild to get ahold of a yer or so back. A larger one can be found in the punk pics at my Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobygibson/2355988652/in/set-72157604057430957/
Wow! That’s an awesome shot of Wendell … He’s splashing around here on Che Underground with the rest of us flounder — I’ll send you his e-mail, Toby.
Thanks, Tony and Ray. It was bugging me that I couldn’t remember the “I” name. Just one of those little things; there’s the stuff you know, the stuff you never knew, and the things you know you once knew but now can’t recall for love nor money. But I’ve never been too good with names. At least I had a good clue to offer this time out.
Man, I have fond memories of Persidio Park. Scary ones as well but for the most part an amazing time. I remember acoustic guitars and singing Beatles and Zombies songs. Harmonizing with Ray Brandes and Dave Klowden. We’d sing and drink Shaefer beers all night long. Remember RIck Wilson? WOW! Eric Bacher, Ray Brandes, Pat Werks, Jerry Cornilious, Denise Reynolds, Mike Stax, Bill Calhoun, Burt Huerta, Mike Murphy, Jody, Chris Negro, Mark Mullen, John Knoll, Paul Hokeness and the list goes on. Ray always had a smile for me and was always down for singing Beatles songs. Burt said I ruined the Beatles for him! Hahahahahaha! All we did was sing the Beatles and scam on birds! I remember Paul Hokeness jumping from the wall at Persidio by the big cross and trying to cling to a tall Palm tree. He clung and then tried to slide down it like a fire pole. He destroyed the skin on his arms from the surface of the palm tree. It was like a cheese grater. I remember Erik and Elker, Steve Medico….You can add on so many cats. The days of my life. No regrets.
Hey Darren! Good to see you. My liver and I recall those days fondly. That palm tree, however, was at Balboa Park, and the wall was the one next to the Natural History Museum. I know because I followed Paul’s lead and scraped all of the skin off my forearms, too. Of course I was wearing a short sleeved shirt.
Does anyone remember those clean cut young stealth preachers who would show up at the park sometimes, and talk to us about satanic messages hidden in rock lyrics? Rick would ALWAYS engage them in conversation. It was quite a sight, because he was usually completely drunk or high, with a beer in one hand, while debating the interpretation of a particular Bible verse. Gotta love him!
Wow Darren! I have some pics of us going up to one of the rallies in LA and some day photos of a ride to Presido. Where is Burt, Dave Akipura(spelling?), and Rich Walker and others from Mira Mesa. The nights at Presidio were surreal, with the Mission and Cross lit up at night. When the police drove up the hill the sound of bottles and cans crashing through the trees below.
Yeah, has anyone heard from Burt Huerta, Richard Walker, or Dave Acampura? I think Richard joined the Air Force (strange also that the guitarist from the Front went on to join the military as a pilot). I’d love to hear from John Murphy again. He used to come over and work on this beat up old Datsun of mine for a twelve pack. I remember when some skins jumped him and his jaw was wired shut for two months . . .
Not to leave the rails completely, but I never really thought too much about punks and the military. Of course economics have a lot to do with everything, but Joel- our guitarist in Personal Conflict- joined the Army Airborne (Jumping out of a plane must be somewhat similar to a stage dive off the speakers at Adams Avenue). Not too long ago it was mentioned to me that one of the early Encinitas punks now kills for a living. That made me stop and ask questions. They said he was in, “Seal Team One”.
For some reason, WordPress just gobbled up a comment of Dave Klowden’s he’d tried to post here:
“When I was teaching writing at Mesa College about three years ago I ran into Lou Damien, who was taking a painting class. He seemed really happy and I think he has a couple kids now. We’d first met in high school English class in ’83 and together admired a cute girl who sat in front of us named Brooke Mainers, who always wore Dolphin shorts and had shiny skin.”
This makes me very happy! Can we get Lou in here??
It struck me recently that Lou Damien had features a bit like the famous Ondine of [Warhol] Factory fame--though he may just be morphing in my memory. Anyway, I hope he turns up. Hello, Lou--for when you get here.
Thanks guys, I had completely forgotten about Dolphin shorts! I could have gone another twenty years without thinking about them and been quite happy. Although I can also imagine this Brooke as a worthwhile spectacle. There are any number of sights that looked like signs of devolution to me at the time that I could get a kick out of seeing again now. That’s how far removed we are from any number of things at this point!
To bring that around to this Presidio Park thread, I realize now I am going to have to make a pilgrimage there sooner or later. I’m having a strong memory of that two-lane road that swings around the bottom of the park and then heads back uphill in a long-ish straight stretch, with grassy spots on either side. In my mind it’s warm, sunny, and daylight--although most of what we’re talking about with regard to the park was nighttime….
Darren, thanks for finding me on myspace. I took a look at your page and it was great to see your poster work. Kudos on the creativity. I’ll send you a note on there later….
Lot’s and lot’s of fun at the Presidio. I can’t even recall how many nights spent hangin’ out there…especially up on the pentagram.
But I do have one special memory of that park that was so not typical. On a couple of warm summer nights a bunch of us got these big blocks of ice and slid down the hills like we were on sleds in the snow. Drunk, of course…and having a blast.
awww the presidio, does anyone know what ever happend to aaron and roger bristol, i know roger shot himself but i would love to find aaron my fellow presidio buddy
The skinhead in this picture is Todd Perkis, I love the mean face, Todd might be the least scary guy I ever met in my life…anyway some people might know him from the band the Shitgivits, he was there drummer, I believe he was also in several other pretty good san diego bands, I’m not sure the names of them. Anyway Todd Perkis is your mystery skinhead.
>>The skinhead in this picture is Todd Perkis …
Kevin: THANK YOU! I am so stoked every time somebody fills in a missing piece in my long-term memory. (In this case, I don’t think we were ever introduced by name.)
Todd, you out there?? That was a fun night.
i vaguely remember hearing these guys play some violent femme covers and drinking shaefer. i played *guitar for D.Y.P back then and later for the shitgiveits. those were good times man. wish i could remember more…
>>i vaguely remember hearing these guys play some violent femme covers and drinking shaefer.
Todd: Welcome! It was a fun night … And it’s a GREAT photo! 🙂