Darren Grealish | The Che Underground

Get your Mystery Machine EP!

December 11, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

During its short-but-storied run in 1983, The Mystery Machine brought together some of San Diego’s most talented young musicians — but left little audio evidence in its wake. That historical record has just been corrected: A freshly pressed Mystery Machine EP is available now at the Ugly Things webstore!

The limited-edition run comprises 500 copies: three hundred pressed on black vinyl and priced at $10, and 100 each in green and orange, priced at $12 for either color. The EP features a remastered version of “She’s Not Mine,” an original written by singer/guitarist Carl Rusk that was first released in 1984 as part of Bomp Records’ Battle of the Garages Volume 3 and also appeared on 1994 compilation The Roots of Powerpop!

Side Two features two songs recorded in 2012: “Wood and Smoke,” written by vocalist Ray Brandes, and a cover of The Free-For-All’s “Show Me the Way.” The sleeve was designed by fellow San Diego legend Darren Grealish and includes two full-color postcards and liner notes by Mike Stax.

Come get your copy signed by Ray and Carl at A Che Underground Midwinter Masque Feb. 18, when Carl performs with The Nashville Ramblers and Ray teams up with The Secret Squares!

Darren Grealish in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

December 14, 2017February 20, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

(On the heels of Mark Neill’s Grammy win, more news of national recognition for an old friend. Poster artist extraordinaire Darren Grealish describes his inclusion in the forthcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Library and Archives.)

I have been selected to join the permanent display with other rock artists, album artists and rock literature/book authors who made an important impact on rock-‘n’-roll history. I will have my own permanent exhibit that includes tons of my art framed in all its glory, along with a detailed biography, interviews, personal photos, and an in-depth look at my career with influential artists and performers.

Pictures through the past, darkly

December 31, 2010December 6, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

(A plaintive cry for ephemera from Darren Grealish.)

Hey, I don’t have any pictures from my youth at all. A crazy girlfriend I had in the late ’80s threw all my photo albums away, and sadly, all my pics are gone forever.

If you have pictures from the good old days with all of us please post ’em up! Maybe if we get enough of them after time we can get a groovy slide-show movie that people can watch on the site. Maybe we can have Jerry Cornelius be the narrator!

Come on and sock it to me! I would like some visual memories to look back on. As it is now I have only memories and this site!!!!! If you got em’ put em’ up! Let’s see the gold!

— Darren Grealish

[Editor’s note: All vintage Grealish beefcake welcome at Che Underground HQ: cheunderground@gmail.com. We will ensure Darren receives your contributions posthaste.]

This We Dug: K.C. and the Sunshine Band

December 13, 2017November 28, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

(In this installment, Wallflower Dave Rinck revisits the bouncy side of the ’70s.)

We used to have a great Halloween tradition in San Diego, which I am frankly surprised hasn’t been covered here yet. Anyway, I’m sure someone will get around to this one soon enough. Of course I’m talking about the Pink Panther Halloween Ball. Man, that was fun!

The deal is, one year I was attending this event, and I ran into Darren Grealish and Burt Huerta, and these guys had on these leisure suits with lapels out to their shoulders. (I think I was dressed as a gerbil or something equally stupid.) I mean, they looked great, almost as if they had just stepped out of Studio 54 in about 1978. And Darren says to me, “People think I’m dressed up for Halloween, but this is how I like to dress every day!”

And who wouldn’t? I mean, come on get real: Black leather biker jackets and torn jeans every day? How much of that stuff can you really stand before you need to cut your jive talkin’ and lighten up a bit? Yes, if punk rock can be summed up as the Mister Hyde of our angry rebellious youth, then Disco would be the happy Doctor Jekyll.

Read moreThis We Dug: K.C. and the Sunshine Band