Bandmates/other friends 1982-1990 (+1)

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles — San Diego music historian extraordinaire — shares some highlights from his stacks.)

Detail: Dean Curtis at Club Zu (collection Bart Mendoza)Some call it being a pack rat; I prefer the tag “archivist”! The dream is to put together a DVD/book with the rooms full of stuff I’ve accumulated in 30 years of collecting San Diego music memorabilia.

But in the meantime, in honor of the recent Che Underground reunion shows, here are 20 relevant vintage photos from my archive. For this fifth picture post, I’ve included a little bit of everything: random photos from 1982-1990 (+1), including bandmates and other friends.

1) Dean Curtis at Club Zu. You know it’s a good show if Dean is in attendance.

Detail: Dimitri Callian at New Sounds 1989 (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Patrick Works and Peter Miesner at Club Zu (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: The Roosters at New Sounds 1985 / JP’s (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Mick (London) Hale at Club Zu (collection Bart Mendoza)

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‘I was a Shambles drummer’

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles counts off drummers he’s worked with.)

“I was a Shambles drummer” pin (collection Bart Mendoza)No doubt about it: Kevin Donaker-Ring and I have worked with a lot of drummers over the decades, keeping in mind that we first began our team-up in 1976.

Here are a few of the incredible musicians who have spent time behind a drum kit with Manual Scan or the Shambles over the past 30-plus years. Not pictured: Paul Brewin, Morgan Young, Terry Moore, Rob Wilson, Trace Smith, Brad Kiser. … There’s a future post there.

1) “I was a Shambles drummer” pin. People have sat in with the band for one song to obtain one of these.

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From Scan to the Shambles

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles talks about how he got from there to here.)

Detail: The Shambles’ first lineup (collection Bart Mendoza)Of course the various members of the Shambles knew each other for years before the band’s formation, but I can put down the beginnings of the band to two events.

In the late ’80s, Kevin Donaker-Ring co-produced Manual Scan’s “Days & Maybes” EP with Ray Brandes (side note: humorous liners by Mike Stax), and we were all part of a group of musicians that frequented Megalopolis on Fairmount Ave., often playing round-robin style — David Moye and Jon Kanis amongst the round-robiners who didn’t end up in the band (though we did back up Kanis on a compilation-album track).

Detail: Shambles at the Casbah (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Manual Scan, Adams Ave. Theater (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Manual Scan, Tower Bridge (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Mark Zadarnowski / The Shambles (collection Bart Mendoza)

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The Che Underground