Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
Sweeping onto the scene from northernmost San Diego County in 1983, Hair Theatre made its mark with a brand of American Gothic that was far ahead of its era.
This rare video of “What Should I Say” shows Hair Theatre at the peak of its power and offers a glimpse of the charisma that would make the band a legend among music cognoscenti.
The date was Dec. 28, 1984, and the venue was the Gaslamp Quarter Theater, where Hair Theatre appeared with Penguins Slept and Orange County’s Society.
Here’s another selection from Hair Theatre’s Nov. 17, 1983, performance at the Che Cafe, where the band joined Eleven Sons and Noise 292. For the occasion, Hair Theatre added Answers co-founder Dave Fleminger to the original lineup of Sergio (vocals); Sergio Castillo (bass); Cesar Castillo (rhythm guitar); and Howard Palmer (drums).
Listening to songs like “Place in Space” at 30 years’ remove, I’m more aware than I was then of the contemporary qualities of Hair Theatre’s sound.
Watch Hair Theatre perform “In Obscurity” at Che Games for May, 2009!
More Hair Theatre on YouTube, this time ca. 1984 with Paul Allen on lead guitar.
This video portrays the second major phase of what would prove to be the Che Underground’s longest-running group, enduring into the ’90s. (This is also the lineup that recorded the classic MP3s we’ve shared so far on the blog.)
When I first encountered Hair Theatre in July 1983, it was a four-piece with Howard Palmer on drums. By the end of the year, Howard had ceded the drum stool to Steve Broach, and Paul had added his guitar to Cesar Castillo’s.
Hearing “What Should I Say” after 25 years is another Proustian revelation to me; the tight songwriting and machine-gun delivery cuts through the murk of the video and taps wellsprings of love and admiration for this band.
Can anyone identify the venue? And who’s the young lady with the pink hair gyrating in the front row?
From the same 1983 Lab Studios demo that brought us “Nightfall,” here’s Hair Theatre performing “Rolling Soul,” another signature number and staple of the band’s early-’80s repertoire. This track showcases the clean confidence of Hair Theatre’s early years and highlights the sophistication and charisma that vocalist/ songwriter Sergio demonstrated by age 18.
It also commemorates the collaborative skills of Sergio and Answers co-founder Dave Fleminger (demonstrated elsewhere with a recording of Sergio’s “He’s Calling You Tonight.”) “Sergio and I wrote that song one afternoon at [original Hair Theatre drummer Howard Palmer’s Carlsbad] shack,” Fleminger recalls. “The song was part of the expanded ‘3 Daves’ Answers sets, including our ‘Painted Sun’ gig opening for the Unclaimed at the UCSD Rec Gym” April 14, 1984.