San Diego music | The Che Underground

Nashville Ramblers release party

July 3, 2011December 27, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(Ray Brandes alerts us to the long-overdue release of “The Trains,” with attendant parties in San Diego and LA.)

It is true that good things come to those who wait. The Nashville Ramblers’ song “The Trains,” which Steven Van Zandt once called “one of the most unspeakably gorgeous instances of romantic yearning disguised as a pop song,” will finally, after 25 years, get its own release.

Mike Stax’s Ugly Things Records will release “The Trains” at a special record release party on Friday, Jan. 21, at the Til-Two Club at 4746 El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego.

Eris Sisters: “Blue Orange Candy”

July 3, 2011December 16, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Here’s a striking new collaboration with deep roots in San Diego: Eris Sisters, an electronica duo featuring Kristi Maddocks (Everybody Violet) and Clay Colgin (Men of Clay), a k a MCC.

They recently released their debut record “DownHEAR” on True Node Records.

It’s 1985: Do you know
where your bell-bottoms are?

December 17, 2017December 8, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(Ray Brandes reopens the case of People vs. the Che Underground.)

Thursday morning, during the last week of August, 1985, I arrived at work at 4:00 a.m. to begin my shift collecting and baling the cardboard boxes left scattered on the floor of the Food Basket on Washington Street. As I donned my apron, the hoots and catcalls began. “Hey, Hollywood!” shouted one of the night-crew guys as he leaned back in the seat of the forklift, a smug look on his face. In one hand he held a can of New Coke; in the other was the latest copy of People, emblazoned with the headline, “Madonna Weds Sean.”

A few weeks earlier, my bandmates and I had made the trek to Los Angeles and endured a several hours-long photo shoot at the Cavern, music maven and cult impresario Greg Shaw’s modest live-music club located in an alley off Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. The article, we had been told, would put Bomp! Records on the map and catapult the Tell-Tale Hearts to stardom. This would be my ticket to fame and fortune, I believed. I would quit my job bagging groceries and baling cardboard, take a few semesters off from college, and enjoy the good life.

Finds and resurrections

July 3, 2011November 12, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Going on three years since the launch of this blog, we’ve come a long way: We’ve posted all kinds of wonderful treasures from our musical youth, reunited with hundreds of old friends, started new collaborations — and in October alone, drew more than 15,000 visitors here.

That means we’re in a great position to locate just about any surviving sounds, images and accounts from our past … or to re-create anything we want to revisit.

So where do you want to dig next? What recordings, flyers, photos, bands, events and people have you missed all these years? Working together, there’s a great chance we can find them.

Urgent call for Che Cafe photos

July 3, 2011October 27, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

This is a public-service announcement, with guitars:

“I’m currently working with the Alumni Association at UCSD to acquire photographs of the history of various aspects of campus to include in a 50^th Anniversary book of photography,” writes Stephanie Usry. “Since the Che has been a continually important part of the campus and one that is held in high esteem by many students, we are planning to include historical pictures and we would also like to add some more recent photographs of the venue.

“Do you have any photographs that we may include that you feel represent the identity of the Che (recent shows or events, gatherings there) that we may be able to include in this publication?

San Diego’s next big thing?

December 11, 2017October 26, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

I had a great conversation Sunday with Sergio from Hair Theatre. We talked about how early parenthood complicates musical forays (both playing out and keeping up). Add to my predicament 24 years’ and 3,000 miles’ separation from San Diego, and I confess complete ignorance of what’s hot in my hometown beyond recent projects by friends from my youth.

This seems a disgraceful lapse if I’m curating a blog ostensibly about music and San Diego! I don’t expect to become an instant expert, but I would enjoy a decent 360-degree view of what people of every age are creating and listening to … After all, many of the people who contribute here remain vital, active participants in various segments of the SD music scene, and they’re the people who can help me connect the dots from San Diego then to the town of now.

Hair Theatre: “In Obscurity”

December 11, 2017October 23, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Our Che Games for May 2009 show at San Diego’s Casbah regrouped nine legendary bands and ignited countless personal reunions. The crescendo of the two-night event was the triumphant return of the incredible Hair Theatre, seen here performing “In Obscurity” for the madding throng.

Seeing Hair Theatre perform together again was a personal highlight. This band amazed and delighted me from the first time I saw them play a party in Leucadia in 1983, and the reunion of members scattered along the West Coast was more than I could have hoped for when we first conceived this event.

Read moreHair Theatre: “In Obscurity”

Happy birthday, Ray Brandes!

July 3, 2011October 19, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the Che Underground blogging adventure has been the opportunity not only to revive longstanding friendships but to revisit old acquaintances and find new kinship there.

Case in point: Ray Brandes, the vastly talented veteran of the Hedgehogs, the Mystery Machine, the Tell-Tale Hearts, the Town Criers, the Shambles and a variety of superb solo projects, who celebrates another solar orbit today.

Manual Scan: ‘I Can’t Don’t Want to Faster’

July 3, 2011October 13, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Another artifact from the legendary band’s Jan. 30, 2010, Che Underground showcase at San Diego’s Casbah. This is the second-to-last song in Manual Scan’s 13-song set before being joined by Chris Sullivan and Chris Davies of the Penetrators.

This sequence was culled from Eric Rife’s video and Dave Fleminger’s audio, and features l-r: Dave Fleminger, Kevin Donaker-Ring, Bart Mendoza, Morgan Young and Tim Blankenship.

The long and winding road

December 11, 2017September 29, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Thanks to my day job, I’m currently on a whirlwind tour of bookstores across the country: from New York to points south, through Texas, up California and ending up in Chicago. I’m riding trains, I’m taking planes, I’m doing interviews and grabbing naps where I can find them. The next week or so should be a blur (and I’m hoping to see many of you along the route)!

But it also reminds me that I never actually had the stress and pleasure of touring with a band (besides a few forays to Los Angeles and of course our recent San Diego reunions). It’s a dynamic that’s always fascinated me: how creative types function move in a group from town to town and get up in front of a new audience each night.