San Diego music | The Che Underground

When Garris met Cornelius

March 27, 2019October 1, 2008 by admin

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.

Let the Good Times Roll: The untold story of the Crawdaddys

March 27, 2019September 20, 2008 by admin

(Excerpts from Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes’ groundbreaking history of San Diego’s original retro-visionaries. Read the full version in Che Underground’s Related Bands section.)

The Crawdaddys have been called one of the most influential bands ever to come out of San Diego. When one looks at the groups its members have spawned, as well as the recurring popularity of ‘60s-style punk and rhythm and blues over the past 30 years, it’s hard to dispute that assertion. Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of music history, an uncompromising commitment to artistic integrity, and a roster of musicians with unparalleled talents and distinct individual styles, the Crawdaddys single-handedly gave birth to the revival of garage music in the late 1970s in the United States. The reverberations of the first few chords they played are still being felt today.

The Crawdaddys’ story begins and ends with lifelong Beatles fanatic Ron Silva, who grew up on Del Monte Avenue in Point Loma. He and his neighbor Steve Potterf started listening to records together in the ninth grade, and while Silva would barely tolerate Potterf’s love for Kiss, Aerosmith, Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin, he gradually convinced his friend to appreciate his own tastes. “After a while Steve started getting into the music I liked — Beatles, early Stones. I remember sitting in his room playing guitars along to my dad’s Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley 45s,” says Silva.

“I’m with the band.”

April 23, 2012September 12, 2008 by admin

Time for belated public acknowledgment of people who aided and abetted those of us on stage.

I’d suggest that performing with a band required a mix of artistic impulse, personal ambition, exhibitionism, a desire for recognition and a need for affirmation. (Your mileage may vary on which traits were dominant.) Most of us had a major assist from folks who didn’t seem to need the limelight so desperately but were there for us: other kids who were known as roadies; managers; girlfriends (and boyfriends); or never had an “official” label but still exerted tremendous influence.

Who carried your amp and fixed your strings? Who drew your flyers? Who second-guessed the sound man and argued with the promoter? Who stood down front on an empty dance floor when everyone else huddled 40 feet back?

Let’s give credit where credit is overdue!

Noise 292: “Mr. Pumpkin”

January 1, 2011September 11, 2008 by admin

Here’s a late but significant contribution to the Noise 292 set list. “Mr. Pumpkin” by guitarist David Rives appeared on a four-song demo we recorded at Mira Costa College, I believe in April 1984.

The driving metalwork percussion is classic Wendell Kling, and I’m under the distinct impression that the drums on this session were generously contributed by the multitalented Sergio of Hair Theatre. Dave sings lead, and I’m on bass.

Listen to it now!

Then and now: Rock Palace

December 14, 2017September 9, 2008 by admin

(Roving correspondent/photographer Kristen Tobiason surveys the remains of Rock Palace, which enjoyed a brief mid-’80s run of all-ages fun. “The stretch of El Cajon Boulevard sandwiched between I-805 and the I-15 is a desert of boarded-up, abandoned buildings dotted with a few small neighborhood repair shops or used-car lots. The Rock Palace structure has been dead since the ’80s, when completion of I-15 isolated the neighborhood.” Wallflowers frontman Dave Rinck recalls its heyday.)

Someone, somehow, sometime about 1984 or 1985 discovered what must have been an old ballroom above some dingy retail shops on El Cajon Boulevard. [Editor’s note: Contemporary flyers tell us the address was 3465 El Cajon Blvd.] In its day, it must have been a grand olde place, for it had a really high ceiling; wonderful wooden floors; and this really huge, creaky old stage at one end.

Detail: Rock Palace exterior, early ’80s (collection Jeff Benet) And what? Yes, we also noticed that a couple of guys were starting to promote rock-‘n’-roll concerts there in that grand old ballroom. Dubious? Yes, it reeked of money laundering. Manuel Noriega, the Cali Cartel, some Burmese generals, and the Taliban were probably running the place jointly. Of course before you could say “Lose sleep, baby, and stay away from bed,” these dudes had demo tapes of various Che Underground bands in their hot little hands, and the era of the Rock Palace was on!!!

The Answers: “Annual”

January 21, 2018September 2, 2008 by admin

(Answers guitarist/vocalist Dave Fleminger discusses the genesis of another crucial track made more poignant by the years.)

The Answers, “Annual,” recorded at Ewing’s SoundTech studios, one of 13 songs recorded one day in February 1983.

I originally wrote this song in advance of receiving my high-school annual. Even before I got the book I didn’t want to read it … I was already trying to form a picture of how my connections with my friends and classmates would last over time and how I would view that period of my life in retrospect … And now in retrospect, I see this more as a way to disassociate rather than feel and experience the process.

Hair Theatre: “Rolling Soul”

June 30, 2009August 31, 2008 by admin

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.

Read moreHair Theatre: “Rolling Soul”

The Rockin’ Dogs: “Bye Bye Bye”

January 1, 2011August 26, 2008 by admin

“OK, now we’re diggin’ into the archives!” writes Rockin’ Dog Dave Ellison of “Bye Bye Bye,” the latest stellar Dogs single and earliest Dogs recording to join our hit parade.

“This is from the historic Rockin’ Dogs San Marcos Sessions, featuring the earlier lineup of Sam Wilson on guitar/vocals; Dave Ellison on bass/vocals; Jim Meisland on guitar; and Scott Nichols (a k a Scott Slob) on drums.

“In 1982, we had a rented practice room in a metal building in San Marcos, which was owned by Vietnam vet auto mechanics. They used to work on cars in that building all night long. We used to practice until late at night, and they gradually grew tired of our racket and evicted us.

“Tourist, go home!”

January 1, 2011August 20, 2008 by admin

Detail: San Diego population growth chart I heard that a lot when I moved to Leucadia from Milwaukee in 1976 to start seventh grade. (I was born in Manhattan, lived in upstate NY for third and fourth grades, then moved to Wisconsin for fifth and sixth; the license plates on our VW station wagon advertised our status as new arrivals.)

I got a later start in SoCal than many of you, but I know I’m not the only transplant among our ranks. In fact, I believe our social scene was created in large part by the influx of young families that arrived in San Diego County in the ’60s and ’70s, literally reshaping the sprawling landscape and introducing a booster shot of youngsters to the region just as the nation’s post-war baby boom was giving way to Generation X.

Those all-ages clubs opened their doors to us for a reason, and our suburban anomie was prime territory for “Lord of the Flies”-style social experiments.

The Wallflowers: “Walldrugs”

January 1, 2011August 18, 2008 by admin

Yet another Wallflowers signature returns from Canada after a 25-year hiatus.

Like the rest of this cache, “Walldrugs” features the original Wallflowers lineup of Dave Rinck (vocals), Paul Howland (bass), Tommy Clarke (guitar) and Aaron Daniels (drums).

“’Walldrugs’ and [Stooges cover] ‘TV Eye’ were recorded in a ’studio’ at Music Power,” Dave Rinck writes. “‘Raw Power’ [another Stooges cover] was, too, but not until a little later than the other two.

Read moreThe Wallflowers: “Walldrugs”