Che Underground | The Che Underground

You Never Give Me Your Money: IOUs and the Ché Underground

March 27, 2019April 30, 2009 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes takes up a karmic collection with 25 years’ interest.)

In the cafés of Madrid, in the outdoor flea markets of Barcelona, and along the beaches of the southern coast of Spain, everyone is talking about “La Crisis.” The Spanish economy is now faltering badly, on the edge of a recession brought on by the collapse of a building boom; an average household debt 120 percent above the gross domestic product; and an unemployment rate of over 10 percent, the highest in Europe.

One company, however, which employs a curious and uniquely Spanish trade, has seen its business surge in this environment of unpaid bills. El Cobrador del Frac, the “debt collector in top hat and tails,” exists to humiliate debtors, playing on their sense of public shame. For a percentage of the collection, you can have your debtor’s footsteps dogged by a man conspicuously dressed like Fred Astaire and carrying a briefcase emblazoned with his trade. It is a shrewd and imaginative premise: that people are quick to repay the money they owe when their indebtedness is paraded in public.

Che Games for May: Take your best shot!

December 11, 2017April 24, 2009 by admin

Attention all shutterbugs: The Che Underground’s quarter-century reunion weekend is on track for May 29-30 (advance tickets at the Casbah Web site). Besides the fun of getting the bands back together (not to mention our oldest, dearest friends), some of us are excited about do-overs for the historical record.

Between the primitive technologies of the early ’80s and a youthful lack of focus, many great performances went unrecorded. We’re hoping to capture some high points in May, and we’ve got videography and audio pretty much nailed for the events.

But we’re still hoping skilled photographers will volunteer for the Che Army.

“Why are the $^%%$&# comments switched off??”

January 1, 2011March 19, 2009 by admin

Urgent Che Underground alert: It’s just come to my attention that sometime last night, commenting was disabled on every one of the hundreds of posts on Che Underground: The Blog.

That means that nobody has been able to add new comments to any posts. It also means that some poor soul(s) with administrative privileges will have to open each post and click the little “Allow Comments” box. With more than a year’s worth of history now, that’s an ugly task. … And this is (I believe) the fourth time that gremlins have inflicted this glitch.

For now, I’ve reactivated commenting on the most recent posts, so you-all can start chatting again. And once I stop crying, I’ll gather a posse and go fix all of them.

Apologies! We’ve got a creaky old version of WordPress, a lot of content and limited technical resources.

While I’m at it (and with comments enabled on this post!) do you have any other questions about or issues with the technical side of the Che Underground online empire?

Question line: Che Games for May

December 11, 2017March 17, 2009 by admin

The Che Underground’s quarter-century reunion weekend is taking off like a rock-‘n’-roll Hindenburg! Here are some updates and an opportunity to ask additional questions about the greatest May 29-30 event since Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848.

First, a couple of hot topics that have already arisen:

Impresario Tim Mays informs us that tickets for Che Games for May will go on sale March 21 27 via the Casbah Web site. Tickets are $10 in advance for a single night, $16 for a two-day pass. Buy early and often!
Some out-of-town visitors have inquired about sharing hotel accommodations the weekend of the show. If you’re anxious for someone to sleep with, cheap, I’ll be happy to make qualified introductions offline. (If you’re bashful, e-mail the Che Underground address privately.

Other burning issues to raise — logistical, rhetorical or existential? Float ’em here!

A decade of Hair Theatre from the Allen Collection

January 1, 2011March 7, 2009 by admin

Of all the bands launched by the Che Underground diaspora, Hair Theatre was easily the most consistently active, gigging on the West Coast well into the 1990s.

This set of flyers from the collection of Hair Theatre lead guitarist Paul Allen spans a full decade, from 1984 to 1994. In the intervening years, the band underwent some personnel changes — most notably in the lead-guitar position — but they never stopped working.

Warning: Flyer #4 below is most likely Not Safe for Work (unless you work in a specialty bookstore or urologist’s office).

Sympathy for the forum

December 18, 2017March 3, 2009 by admin

In recognition of all the new participants tangenting tirelessly on Che Underground: The Blog, it’s probably time to remind everyone about its anemic younger sibling, Che Underground: The Forum.

One of the bedrock rules of natural Web selection is that if people want to visit somewhere (like this blog!) there’s no holding them back — and if people don’t want to visit somewhere (like the forum, at least lately) there’s no forcing the issue.

However, I thought I’d mention some cons and pros of this sere and lonely message board in case our members would like to irrigate it with their wisdom …

Noise 292: “Never Come Near”

January 1, 2011February 27, 2009 by admin

(Dave Fleminger recalls this performance from Noise 292’s April 25, 1984, appearance at UCSD’s Center for Music Experiment.)

I strongly remember this show, and especially this song. It was one of the last shows I saw before I left San Diego. Noise 292’s set was solid and focused, and unrelenting. This song, the last one in the set, struck me especially in its cold and alienating embrace.

The vocals and the high melody lock together into a single statement that shatters by the end into a mass of confusion and disjointed thought. Like so many great songs, it was easy to relate to it as a manifestation of my own mixed feelings — in this case about leaving home, my friends, this amazing music scene, everything familiar.

Read moreNoise 292: “Never Come Near”

Happy birthday, Che Underground!

January 1, 2011February 15, 2009 by admin

Exactly one year ago Monday, I posted the first awkward entry to Che Underground: The Blog. This tiny corner of cyberspace was originally intended as a little online gathering point for a few old friends who’d been chatting on e-mail to swap MP3s and photos and maybe tell each other stories about our salad days. My statistics software shows me we had a total of 28 people look at the blog in February 2008.

Fast-forward precisely one revolution around the sun: Our audience grew to more than 8,500 people in January ’09 — but a much, much more important statistic is the sheer wattage of joy and love generated by being all together, All Grown Up. (A little jolt of pain here and there, perhaps … But that’s just part of the refining process, right?)

Here’s a space for Che birthday wishes and reflection: What have you given and received here this past year?

A message from the Wallflowers

January 1, 2011February 2, 2009 by admin

As the Titans of the Che Underground suit up for their 25-year reunion at Che Games for May (May 29-31, 2009, in San Diego), vocalist Dave Rinck and bassist Paul Howland of San Diego’s original Wallflowers took time out to videotape their personal invitations to the event.

Be sure to catch the Wallflowers along with the Answers; the Gay Dennys (featuring members of the Tell-Tale Hearts and the Crawdaddys); Hair Theatre; Manual Scan; and Noise 292 at the Casbah May 30, 2009!

Got Che? Check out David Rinck, Dave Fleminger and Paul Kaufman’s musical promo!

Creative outlets

December 18, 2017January 31, 2009 by admin

“It’s interesting that most everyone seems to be as creative (and in most cases, maybe even more creative) than in our formative years,” Toby Gibson observed in a recent thread.

“Definitely we need a topic on how everyone is venting their creative bent these days. I’ll leave it at that and save the long-winded rant for the actual thread.”

Abridging my own long-winded rant, Toby nails another great topic. Nostalgia is a rich vein indeed, but this group is more than the sum of its memories. From Toby’s own writing to Patrick Works’ and Dave Doyle’s photography to Todd Lahman’s tonsorial stylings to the welter of punk-rock chefs in the house — to the folks who are still making music, of course — there’s a lot of creativity here (both money-making and otherwise).