Specimen | The Che Underground

3 Guys Called Jesus
at North Park Lions Club, 1986

January 6, 2011May 25, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Here’s a cut from the only extant video I know of 3 Guys Called Jesus, the band I formed in 1985 with Steve Duke (bass, vocals) and Robert Labbe (drums, vocals) and played in until I left San Diego in February 1987.

This performance of my song “Small Vegetables” dates from May 16, 1986, when 3 Guys opened for Specimen and the Tell-Tale Hearts at the North Park Lions Club. (Ray Brandes and I have swapped anecdotes about Specimen’s antics that night; the conditions were just awful at the time but made for a funny story in retrospect.)

Headliners we’ve known

March 27, 2019July 29, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Here’s a potential source of mirth and mayhem: Most of us who played regularly in San Diego had opportunities to open for bigger acts passing through town on tour. David Klowden recounted two chances to open for the Cramps; Ray Brandes and I shared a laugh over the excesses of Specimen when the Tell-Tale Hearts and 3 Guys Called Jesus opened for them at North Park Lions’ Club.

Who were your favorite headliners to open for/hang out with/mock/pilfer from? Who, not so much?

Based on ability; etiquette; prima-donnahood; and general entertainment value (intentional or otherwise), let’s sort out the keepers from the discards! No brown M&Ms!