the Ramones | The Che Underground

Skeleton Club vs. SDPD: The trial of Laura Fraser

July 24, 2021July 24, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

A fabulous gift arrived just arrived for Che Underground: The Blog, and ultimately the San Diego Punk Archive!

Skeleton Club founder Laura Devlin (née Fraser) sent along a trove of photos, flyers, ‘zines and other ephemera of the San Diego punk scene in the late ’70s.

“I painted that sign myself, with some leftover house paint.” (Photo D. Reutter)

Her contribution comprises many posts’ worth of seminal rock-‘n’-roll history. Today, we’ll start with Laura’s own account of the rise and fall of the Skeleton Club (which operated from 1978 to 1980 at 202 Market St., then 921 Fourth Ave.). Her tale illustrates the resistance, corruption and downright brutality San Diego music pioneers faced from the authorities at the turn of the ’80s.

Were you there for the Skeleton Club’s last night — or at the subsequent trial? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Laura Devlin writes: A little bit of my personal history: In 1977, I was a nursing student at San Diego State, living with my boyfriend Greg Willis, bass player for the beloved Glory band. Greg was a wonderful man and helped me with the Skeleton Club, along with many other people.

The Cardiac Kidz, then and now

January 6, 2011July 1, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

The wave of reunion gigs continues as San Diego music vets the Cardiac Kidz announce their “Last Chance Tour,” featuring an appearance in Ramona, Calif., July 10.

The band’s triumphant return, supported by Doggy Daddy and the Fry Catz as well as French Vampires, runs 7:30-11pm at Ramona Mainstage (626 Main St., Ramona, Calif. 92065).

To warm up for the show, here are a couple of covers by the Kidz, separated by more than 30 years.

Even Dave Wallflower gets the blues

December 31, 2010November 7, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Wallflower/Blues Gangster/BeatHog David Rinck waxes indigo and finds the musical treatment for it. What’s your prescription?)

The other day I had the blues
I walked down the street in my old shoes
I know you won’t believe it’s true
But even Dave Wallflower gets the blues …

Yes, even Dave Wallflower gets the blues. Had ’em for a while now. Go’n through some hard times.

But that Sunday morning a few weeks ago in Liberia, brothers and sisters, I was down. I’d just come out on a long flight from Nairobi the night before, and I was tired. I headed out of the hotel and down those beat old streets for my early morning walk.

Lemons Are Yellow: “Jewish Like KISS”

January 1, 2011July 30, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

(Manual Scan/Lemons Are Yellow vet Paul Kaufman hails rock-‘n’-roll Yiddishkeit.)
David Klowden already perfectly summarized some pastrami- and tongue-in-cheek ethnic pride in a recent post: “I am putting together a seminar & book tour for my method: ‘Dave The Jew Shows You how to Make Beautiful Women Think You’re Cooler Than You Are in Ten Easy Lessons’ ™.”

In the spirit of David’s post (and our earlier “Hyphenates” thread), here’s “Jewish like KISS,” a musical number based on the irony of having one foot in the Ché Underground and the other in a cultural Old World. (Both had a healthy reverence for the historical.)

I thought it would be fun to have our own sort of self-referential “We’re an American Band”-type number, with all the required fake bravado. I threw in shout-outs to some of my favorite Jewish rockers, Joey Ramone (born Jeffry Ross Hyman) and KISS members Gene Simmons (Chaim Witz) and Paul Stanley (Stanley Eisen).