Distillery East | The Che Underground

Tell-Tale Hearts from the David J. Watkins Archives

October 12, 2020October 11, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

Che Underground: The Blog has been graced over the years by the generosity of contributors who documented our scene back in the analog days, before a sea of smartphones captured every event.

From the late Cyndie Jaynes to Harold Gee to Jason Seibert to Juni Bravo to Margarat Nee and on and on — including a number of key contributors who’ve requested anonymity — this archive is built on the photos, video, audio, flyers and other artifacts of an incredibly creative community.

Add to the ranks David J. Watkins, whose recent house move unearthed a treasure trove of photographs we look forward to sharing in coming months.

Turning points

January 1, 2011April 2, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Miss Kristi Maddocks goes from crayons to perfume.)

It is not quite as dramatic as turning from the living to the undead, but each of us hipsters had a point in our youth where we were bitten by the bug of the underground.

This photo is a time capsule. It was taken early in the summer of 1980 and captures me on the verge of change. By this time I was attending shows at thr Del Mar Fairgrounds and the Distillery East. I obviously still had long hair, which was deemed very uncool by the punk girls, who used to try to cut it when I was at the big shows.

Read moreTurning points

The Tell-Tale Hearts (and more) in flyers

January 1, 2011October 14, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

The latest showpieces from the Tom Goddard Collection of classic San Diego flyers.

Today’s batch includes additional Tell-Tale Hearts ephemera (Exhibit A, from a July 27, 1984, show at Studio 517, bears autographs dedicated to Tom’s sister Suzie); a very early appearance (probably August 18, 1984) by “the Morlochs” (sic) with the Hearts at the same venue; a Nashville Ramblers gig; Tell-Tale Hearts and Chesterfield Kings at SDSU’s Backdoor; and a Distillery East show with Manual Scan, the Untouchables and UXB, a band I’m afraid I’d forgotten completely before taking delivery of this cache.