Manual Scan | The Che Underground

A message from the Wallflowers

January 1, 2011February 2, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

As the Titans of the Che Underground suit up for their 25-year reunion at Che Games for May (May 29-31, 2009, in San Diego), vocalist Dave Rinck and bassist Paul Howland of San Diego’s original Wallflowers took time out to videotape their personal invitations to the event.

Be sure to catch the Wallflowers along with the Answers; the Gay Dennys (featuring members of the Tell-Tale Hearts and the Crawdaddys); Hair Theatre; Manual Scan; and Noise 292 at the Casbah May 30, 2009!

Got Che? Check out David Rinck, Dave Fleminger and Paul Kaufman’s musical promo!

Kick out the jams, open your doors

March 29, 2019January 14, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(A quick Che Underground public-service announcement: Manual Scan/Shambles guitarist Kevin Donaker-Ring files an update on a very rewarding career and issues a call to action for a worthy cause.)

What I have been doing, lo, these many years: high school student exchange. In late 1982, I got a job running the copy machine and performing odd jobs at a high school exchange program located in La Jolla, Calif. I devoted almost my entire adult life to that organization, learning most everything there is to know about student exchange at the high-school level. Yet after 21 years, everyone at our head office was suddenly out. The Board of Directors had decided to move operations to one of the satellite offices. In Arkansas.

After a day or so of panic, I realized that I had the opportunity to start my own program and founded AFICE, the Academic Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, in December 2003. We are a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization. (Yes, donations are tax-deductible, so if you’re feeling generous, please think of us.) We operate all across the country, with local representatives from California to Maine, from Washington to Florida, and we even added a rep in Alaska recently.

Right now (and always, it seems), we are in serious need of host families. Our deadline (imposed by the US Department of State) is almost here and two of our families backed out at the last minute. Two kids from Poland, a girl and a boy, are suddenly without a place to stay.

Mod flyer fun from the Fugate Collection

March 27, 2019December 29, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Always seeking better ways to digitize your San Diego youth, the Che Underground blog today attempts a new delivery mechanism: a downloadable PDF file encapsulating more than 70 high-resolution pages of mid-’80s, mod-friendly flyers courtesy of Ken Fugate.

Every page of this magnum opus is a Proustian gem featuring performances by the Tell-Tale Hearts, the Morlocks, Manual Scan, the Trebels, the Nephews, the Nashville Ramblers, the Sovereigns, 39 Steps and many more. (I’m especially excited by the flyer hailing the debut of the Town Criers.)

Manual Scan in autofocus

December 31, 2010December 14, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles comes through with a cache of photos, sounds and a video montage of Scan and its predecessors, the Pedestrians and Starjammer.

First up: a photo of three-quarters of the original Manual Scan lineup from 1981. The band had recently formed when Bart Mendoza and Kevin Ring of the Pedestrians (guitars) joined forces with Dave Fleminger (bass) and Paul Kaufman (drums). Says Bart (on the left), “Here is an early pic for the site, I’d love to hear what Paul remembers of this day. I think it’s a transitional pic, just post-Pedestrians, probably a few weeks after.”

Paul Kaufman responds, “It’s a blast to see this! Yes, I remember when we headed down to Balboa Park, which provided nice backdrops for a photo shoot … But where’s Dave in this photo?… You can tell I wasn’t able to keep up with the Mod attire. I think the jacket might have been a last-minute addition from the Ring wardrobe.”

David Anderson: Drummer at large

April 21, 2012October 24, 2008 by Paul Kaufman

(Manual Scan/Lemons Are Yellow vet Paul Kaufman recognizes a man who set the pulse of the scene.)
Many contributors to Che Underground: The Blog have already mentioned David Anderson, a legendary figure in our musical history. To recap, he made major contributions to The Gravedigger V, The Answers, Manual Scan, The Crawdaddys, The Trebels and I Spy. This vast resumé reflects the fact that Dave was already a formidable drum talent by his early teens. At one point his kick drum read, “Your Band Name Here.”

But Dave was much more than just a guy behind the drum kit. Answers bandmate David Fleminger says, “I first met Dave (I think he was 13) when he was playing with I Spy. He’s an amazingly energetic and innovative talent who can lay down a foundation beat like no one else. A fantastic bandmate with a great sense of humor.”

“David Anderson? A legend!” Manual Scan co-founder Bart Mendoza recalls. “Some of my fondest tour stories involve him. We once snuck all our friends into the General Public shows we were opening in San Francisco and had one of the best parties ever. I remember playing bumper chairs as beer was spilled all over the floor of our dressing room at The Kabuki Theatre and the night getting pretty rowdy. David nearly caused a riot in Las Vegas because he went commando onstage. He played a squeaky-toy solo at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco.

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.

When Garris met Cornelius

March 27, 2019October 1, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

I find the pedigree of this flyer in the Tom Goddard Collection colorful enough to stand on its own: an advertisement for the Tell-Tale Hearts’ April 28, 1984, appearance with Manual Scan and the Trebles at Point Loma’s Syndicate that appears to bear the imprint of two of San Diego’s most intriguing flyer artists and raconteurs.

The side-by-side signatures at the lower right of the flyer indicate the piece was signed by “SFG 84” as well as the protean Jerry Cornelius. While “SFG” and the style of the Edward Gorey/Alice in Wonderland imagery point to Steve “Fuckin’ ” Garris, Tell-Tale Heart Ray Brandes expresses certainty that the band never commissioned San Diego’s self-proclaimed “King of the Punks” to create a flyer on its behalf.

Opening Kings Road Cafe

January 1, 2011August 25, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Jason Seibert’s generous donation of early-’80s San Diego flyers offers a prime opportunity to open discussion of the Kings Road Cafe (née the International Blend), a small venue that played an enormous role in fostering and showcasing an eclectic mix of bands.

The Seibert Collection represents a slice of life at Kings Road in the summer of 1982, starting in June when the club morphed from the I-Blend under the management of Peter “English” Verbrugge. Other artifacts, including a July 1982 calendar (with membership card offer!), highlight the variety of performers that visited 4034 30th St. that summer, both San Diego regulars and up-and-coming out-of-towners.

Hair Theatre/Synesthesia/Decision, Jackie Robinson Y

January 1, 2011July 27, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

A disc I received from Hair Theatre guitarist Paul Allen adds new showpieces to the Che Underground flyer collection. Today, a trio of flyers advertising a single show March 7, 1986, at the Jackie Robinson YMCA, featuring Hair Theatre; Synesthesia (the great band led by Noise 292 co-founder Kristin Martin); and Decision (another terrific band that featured drum god Paul Brewin, who’d most recently played with Manual Scan).

This set demonstrates the tendency of individual shows to generate multiple flyers, often featuring a different “headliner” depending on the band running the photocopier. Exhibit A also showcases the artistry of David Dick, a new addition to our roster of flyer talent.