Ray Brandes | The Che Underground

Gifts and barters

December 31, 2010October 22, 2009 by admin

Back in April, Ray Brandes introduced us to a novel Spanish debt-collection practice and intiated a conversation about the spiritual and physical debts we owe each other. (For me, this whole blog has been a way to express gratitude to all of you for shaping me and helping me realize potential I couldn’t have foreseen.)

I’d like to get a little more mundane, perhaps, and think about the actual objects we pooled and traded. Money wasn’t equally distributed among us, we know, but it seems everybody managed to contribute something to the economy: sharing cigarettes, giving cool boots or a coat to a friend, making a cassette that got handed around, maybe going in on ownership of a vehicle or an amp …

Unlike a straight-up purchase, there’s a social connection and a story behind every trade or gift we made. I’d like to hear some more of them!

Penetrators reunion, January 2010!

December 31, 2010October 15, 2009 by admin

Che Underground: The Blog has been immeasurably enriched by our recent interactions with the Penetrators. As Ray Brandes has chronicled here, the Penetrators have been one of the most influential and beloved forces in San Diego’s music underground from the band’s genesis in 1977 until decades after its dissolution in 1984.

Good news for all their fans: Pens frontman Gary Heffern has given us the green light to announce a run of Penetrators-related fun at San Diego’s Casbah from Jan. 27-31, 2010 — including an evening presented by the Che Underground.

‘Two Dollar Tour:
On the road with the Penetrators’

December 12, 2017October 3, 2009 by admin

In the course of researching his his exhaustive biography of the Penetrators, Che Underground historian Ray Brandes referred to a seminal document that helped bring San Diego’s musical underground to a broader audience: San Diego Reader music critic Steve Esmedina’s diary of his six-day California tour with the Penetrators.

“Does anyone have a copy of that ‘Two Dollar Tour’ article from the Reader?” Rockin’ Dog Dave Ellison asks. ” When that was published, I thought it was the most glamorous, exciting thing I’d ever read … I saved it for years, but it’s gone now. I can still remember parts of it … like Dan McLain eating at Taco Bell and claiming that food with too many vitamins made him throw up!”

In honor of the pending 30th anniversary of this Oct. 18, 1979, article, I thought I’d share the copy Ray sent me (courtesy of Penetrators archivist Joe Piper). I’ve formatted it as printable PDF file and posted it for download here.

Local heroes

December 12, 2017September 21, 2009 by admin

Ray Brandes is not only a San Diego musical treasure in his own right; he’s also established himself as a remarkable curator of our musical history.

Ray’s recent biographies of the Penetrators, the Unknowns, the Crawdaddys and the Zeros, among others, are unprecedented for their depth, narrative clarity, and comprehensive work with the original musicians and other key sources.

Other contributors to Che Underground: The Blog have added more pieces to the puzzle, with posts on formative bands such as 5051, Claude Coma and the IVs, and the Injections.

Helter Skelter: Tate-LaBianca at 40

March 30, 2019August 8, 2009 by admin

(Ray Brandes considers the lasting effect of the ’60s’ dark coda.)

Forty years ago this weekend, the series of grisly crimes that ultimately became known as the Tate-LaBianca murders was committed in Los Angeles. The story of the case and its aftermath is well-documented, most notably in three books: District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter, Ed Sanders’ The Family and John Gilmore’s The Garbage People.

In the past four decades, the public has never lost its fascination with Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten and Tex Watson. The recent announcement of the parole of Family member Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme for the 1975 assassination attempt upon President Gerald Ford has righteous citizens nationwide in an uproar.

“Better lock your doors and watch your own kids,” Susan Atkins said upon hearing the verdict.

The Town Criers: Unearthed relics!

January 1, 2011August 4, 2009 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes brings new Town Criers artifacts to light.)

The first of these gems is from early 1989, a performance at the wedding of Joe Hughes at Joshua Tree National Park.

The band at the time consisted of Ray Brandes on acoustic guitar and vocals, Peter Miesner on lead guitar, Mark Zadarnowski on electric bass guitar, and Dan Tarte on drums. Among the attendees captured on film at the event are Che Undergrounders Matt Johnson and Sean McMullen.

The toddler at the end of the clip is Sean Zadarnowski, Mark and Lydia’s son, who has graduated from UCSD.

Lend Me Your Comb: A short history of the Hedgehogs

January 1, 2011July 22, 2009 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes applies his narrative skills to documenting an influential early band from his own back pages. Read the full version in Che Underground’s Related Bands section.)

At the beginning of the summer of 1981, the Ideals (comprising 18-year-old Ray Brandes on lead vocals, 17-year-old Tony Paulerio on lead guitar, 20-year-old Maure Silverman on rhythm guitar, 17-year-old Paul Carsola on drums, and led by 14-year-old prodigy Carl Rusk on bass) were gearing up for a summer of Point Loma keg parties at $50 a performance.

The band, whose short career had reached a pinnacle opening for the Penetrators at Mission Bay High School’s prom, played mostly rockabilly and early rock and roll, with Eddie Cochran’s songs making up about 50 percent of our set list!

At the end of May, with Paul away on a summer vacation, Carl called up the Crawdaddys’ Ron Silva to sit in on drums. Ron knew Carl from years of Skeleton Club shows and had recently seen the Ideals play at the Zebra Club, so he was more than happy to oblige. The gig was to be a massive block party in Crown Point, but it never materialized because the set by the opening band, Stonehenge, resulted in several noise complaints.

Let’s talk Zeros!

January 1, 2011July 17, 2009 by admin

Between the band’s San Diego pedigree and Ray Brandes’ definitive biography, punk pioneers the Zeros have a special place on Che Underground: The Blog.

The reunited band’s recent string of West Coast gigs has rallied members of our community. And considering our own recent reunion, I’d like to learn more about how our forebears are faring.

Read about the birth of the Zeros!

Who’s been to the Zeros’ recent shows? How does now stack up to then?

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

December 11, 2017July 15, 2009 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes proposes the ultimate dinner-party guest list.)

A popular parlor game during the Victorian era in Great Britain and the United States was the compilation of a list of guests — both living and dead — one would invite to a dinner party. This ultimate dinner party was often designed to ensure the most lively of discussions, debate and entertainment.

Let’s imagine we’re having a dinner party to which we can invite six guests from any time period in history, living or dead. For the sake of the game, let’s assume all of the guests can speak the same language and will have no difficulties getting to the event. Who would you invite to dinner?

Read moreGuess who’s coming to dinner?

Me and my monkey: Guilty pleasures

January 1, 2011June 10, 2009 by admin

(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes puts out a call for your dirty laundry!)

We call them “guilty pleasures,” those indulgences we secretly enjoy but are embarrassed to admit. Unlike moral guilt, the shame we feel is really just a fear of others discovering our “low-brow” or “uncool” tastes.

I have a friend whose name, for the sake of confidentiality, will remain anonymous. He is a connoisseur of ’60s music, particularly garage punk, and has earned himself quite a reputation as a “cool” guy. He rarely takes off his sunglasses, plays in a ’60s punk band, and for all intents and purposes has committed himself to a total garage-punk lifestyle. Under his bed, however, lies a dark secret which would bring his carefully contrived image tumbling down if discovered by the rest of the world: the “Titanic” original motion-picture soundtrack. He doesn’t want you to know, but “My Heart Will Go On” brings him to tears each time he hears it.