Kristen Tobiason | The Che Underground

Cecil “P’Nut” Daniels speaks

December 18, 2017October 4, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

One of the most exciting revelations inspired by Che Underground: The Blog was the reintroduction to our circle of original Wallflowers drummer Cecil “P’Nut” Daniels.

His arrival from Texas in the early ’80s (under the name Aaron Daniels) and unlikely alliance with the nascent Wallflowers wrought a profound influence on the band and on other members of our crew, such as Kristen Tobiason and Patrick Works.

“Aaron elevated the proceedings,” writes Wallflowers bassist Paul Howland. “He showed me how to play slap-style bass, (which we called ‘Thumpin’ ’ or ‘Poppin’ ’); played me recordings of some of the best purveyors of that technique; and even showed me how to set up an amp properly to achieve the right sound to enhance the technique.

Read moreCecil “P’Nut” Daniels speaks

Surfacing the Gravedigger V

March 30, 2019September 2, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

A recent comment by Kristen Tobiason has me puzzling over how best to focus conversation on the Gravedigger V, a youthful San Diego band whose brief existence in 1983-1984 has inspired a quarter-century of notoriety.

There are plenty of online references to the band and its album “All Black and Hairy,” but many pieces are of questionable accuracy. What can we do to set the record straight?

Che Games poster from Kristen Tobiason

January 1, 2011June 24, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

Besides her manifest talents as the author and photographer of the blog’s popular “Then and now” series, Kristen Tobiason has long enriched the Che Underground with her illustration and graphic-design skills.

Exclusive to Che Underground: The Blog is this stunning poster for Che Games for May, now available as a high-resolution, downloadable PDF file. This handsome keepsake is ready to print at 11 by 17 inches.

Download the poster now!

Thanks to Kristen for her tireless support of the site … This show would not have been the same without her!

The Wallflowers: “Funland” at the Casbah

January 1, 2011June 8, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

For those who missed Che Games for May in San Diego May 29-30 or just want to relive the magic: Good news! Thanks to modern technology, the event was captured from every angle in photographs, audio and video.

Exhibit A: The original San Diego Wallflowers raise the roof of San Diego’s Casbah with “Funland,” the band’s hypnotic paean to the city’s seamy underbelly, now lost to gentrification. (For memories of the original Funland, check out Kristen Tobiason’s “Then and now” feature.)

The May 30 performance marks the Wallflowers debut of Rockin’ Dog Dave Ellison and features original Wallflowers David Rinck on vocals, Paul Howland on bass and Matt Johnson on drums. (Che Underground jack-of-all-trades Dave Fleminger added keyboard stylings to the set.)

Then and now: Graveyard Park

January 1, 2011January 26, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Roving correspondent Kristen Tobiason revisits the scenes of our past glories. Today, we find out where the bodies are buried — or not.)

“You moved the headstones, but you didn’t move the bodies!” In the Stephen Spielberg film “Poltergeist,” a suburban family is attacked by malevolent spirits provoked by a relocated graveyard.

Calvary Cemetery, a k a “Pioneer Park,” (1501 Washington Place in Mission Hills) shares a similar history (tho’ the only spirits I’ve heard of there are those of the bottled variety). Historically, the area served as a Catholic graveyard “between 1875 and 1919, with burials continuing up until 1960.” In 1970 the cemetery was converted into a public park, and “the grave markers (but not the people) were removed. A group of some of the gravestones were clustered together and a central memorial was placed in the southeast corner of the park. The exact number of people buried there isn’t known, but research alludes to possibly 4,000 burials which have occured there.”

Then and now: New Year’s resolutions

December 14, 2017December 31, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

(Roving correspondent Kristen Tobiason revisits the scenes of our past glories. Today, we take a cup of — non-alcoholic — kindness yet for auld lang syne.)

Making a list and checking it twice. … It’s that time again. Time to make the list we never keep — Empty promises to our inner selves: To get on the wagon; quit smoking; lose 10 pounds; leave the ball and chain; or finally quit the job at the factory and become a rock star, for real this time!

Having already quit smoking, I am finding that my resolutions this year are not groundbreaking attempts at reform but just some small quality-life tweakings. It’s pretty tame.

Here’s what my current list looks like:
1. Return to 5x/week yoga.
2. Get the turntable fixed.
3. Write more and maybe even get out the drawing pencils.
4. Remember to send out b’day cards and thank-you notes.
5. Quit freaking out about getting older.
6. Meditate regularly.

I can imagine what my resolutions would have been when I was younger! (Yipes.)
Maybe something like this:

Ask not what Che Underground can do for you …

January 1, 2011October 18, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

If you were there, the Che Underground blog is your story, too. We’d love to hear and see your side of it.

Like PBS, we run on donations from viewers like you. This site is built on flyers, photos, audio and video from collectors including Kristen Tobiason, Toby Gibson, Cyndie Jaynes, Kristi Maddocks, Tom Goddard, Jason Seibert, Bruce Haemmerle, Mike McCarthy, Dean Curtis, Mark Mullen, Jeff Lucas, David Klowden, Cole Smithey, Bart Mendoza and Paul Allen. What rock-‘n’-roll treasures are growing crispy in your attic, your basement or your mom’s house?

If you can scan them or digitize them, great! If you need some help, operators are standing by … We’ll find you someone who can. Either way, raise a virtual hand here or drop a line to cheunderground@gmail.com, and we’ll get you started.

Then and now: the Chicken Pie Shop

January 1, 2011October 15, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

(Sweet bird of youth! Roving correspondent/photographer Kristen Tobiason revisits the scenes of our past glories. Today, the Chicken Pie Shop still serves the salt of the earth.)

The Chicken Pie Shop, known for its geriatric-variety comfort food, large portions and low prices. I recall scraping the bottom of my handbag for a couple of bucks in change and receiving an all-inclusive, starch-based feast: a chicken pie smothered in gravy; whipped potatoes; a “vegetable”; a roll with butter; and then, if you really felt like stuffing yourself, dessert (which was some kind of pie).

The Morlocks in flyers

January 1, 2011September 28, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Tom Goddard’s trove of flyers continues to bear dividends for Che Underground: The Blog. Today’s bequest from the Goddard Collection features show pieces from the Morlocks’ 1984 and 1985 performances in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, created by artists including Jerry Cornelius and Kristen Tobiason.

“For more information, call [Tell-Tale Hearts bassist] Mike [Stax],” reads the Tobiason flyer in the lead spot of this post. “If he ain’t home, call [Morlocks guitarist] Ted [Friedman] … If he ain’t home, call [Morlocks bassist] Jeff [Lucas] … ,” providing phone numbers for each. Now that’s customer service!

Then and now: Off the Record

January 1, 2011September 17, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

(Roving correspondent/photographer Kristen Tobiason revisits the scenes of our youth. Today, Off the Record’s original location is roadkill.)

It takes my breath away that the candy store of my youth has been diminished to something as unsavory as a used-tire store. Off the Record has had a history, migrating from its origin on 6130 El Cajon Blvd. to the heart of the Hillcrest shopping district, where a much larger store thrived in the ’90s and early 21st century with San Diego’s indie rock scene and the DJ phemenon. The in-store concerts were memorable and yielded huge turnouts for bands such as The Misfits, Husker Du, Mudhoney and Nirvana. (Check out Nirvana at OTR in October 1991.)

After the original owner Phil Galloway sold the store, it downsized its stock considerably and in 2005 moved to a small storefront on University Avenue in North Park. The end of an era: Music stores can’t compete nowadays with the instant accessibility of MP3s and shareware. Record stores are reserved for the discriminating vinyl collectors who will never sell out completely to technology, no matter how clever those gizmos are!

Records will always be cooler.