Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
(Ray Brandes provides a brief history of a new band with a long San Diego history.)
The Secret Squares: pleased to make your acquaintance!
The Secret Squares is a musical project that has its origins in Gary’s Kids, a band assembled to back Gary Heffern on a solo performance at the Casbah in January 2019, and The Wrecktangle, which performed once at the Che Underground’s Leap Year show at the Riviera Supper Club, mere days before the world went into quarantine in March 2020.
Most rock-‘n’-roll historians know San Diego’s Che Underground scene as a mad scientist’s lab for musical experiments at the top of the ’80s.
Named for notable shows they staged at UC San Diego’s Che Café — but active across the region — the bands of the Che Underground brought together artists steeped in punk, psychedelia, garage and more. Throwing their influences into a high-speed blender, bands like The Answers, Hair Theatre, Noise 292, The Rockin’ Dogs, The Tell-Tale Hearts and the original SD Wallflowers provided a soundtrack for Southern California youth culture.
Four decades later, those musicians and artists continue to kick out the collective jams — and on Feb. 29, some of the best minds of that generation will stage a family reunion at the Riviera Supper Club & Turquoise Lounge for “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase.” The night’s lineup of Che Underground supergroups will feature two stars of the scene who haven’t performed in San Diego for more than three decades: Jeremiah Cornelius and Tom Clarke.
From Crawdaddy; to Tell-Tale Heart; to publisher of the definitive garage magazine Ugly Things; to author of Swim through the Darkness, the acclaimed 2016 biography of lost Los Angeles musical prodigy Craig Smith … Mike Stax requires no introduction here to establish his bona fides as a pillar of the San Diego music underground.
Nevertheless, I wanted to share the high of “Blue Ether,” the new single from the Loons, Mike’s main band since 1995.
(In the first installment of a series, San Diego musician and impresario Bart Mendoza selects unexpected covers of local bands.)
The ultimate compliment for a band? It has to be having your songs covered – it’s a clear sign you’ve made an impact. It is a rare thing indeed, but percentage-wise, San Diego’s bands circa the late 1970s through the mid 1980s actually have fared quite well, with new generations of musicians taking up inspiration in their songs. Here are 10 examples:
1. Brandywine Road – What Do All The People Know? (originally by the Monroes) This song is well on its way to being a standard, and this is a terrific version.
Two small pieces of paper tell a story: When I noticed Dylan Rogers had posted to Facebook a photo of a Gravedigger Five business card, I asked him if I could share it on Che Underground: The Blog, along with the back story on where he acquired it.
“Ron Rimsite gave the card around 20 years ago while I was living in New York,” Dylan replied. “He knew I was big fan of GDV and they had a big influence on my music, so he gave it and a Tell-Tale Hearts card to me.”
Both cards completed a round trip to San Diego when Dylan returned there, and he’s provided photos of both. Like other ephemera from those days, they each include contact information for members of their respective bands: The Gravediggers card provides phone numbers for rhythm and lead guitarists John Hanrattie and Ted Friedman, and the Tell-Tale Hearts card directs recipients to call bassist Mike Stax and keyboardist Bill Calhoun.
Befitting their short, colorful career from the summers of 1983 to 1984, souvenirs of the Gravedigger V have been in short supply on Che Underground: The Blog. Now, Tell-Tale Hearts guitarist Eric Bacher steps up with two new additions to the set.
“We just did some ‘fall’ cleaning, and I found a few old pictures,” Eric writes. “The one of Leighton and Chris Gast was given to Denise by Leighton some time in the 80’s, I’m not sure of the provenance of the other.”
(Gravedigger Five co-founder John Hanrattie recounts his side of the renowned San Diego garage band’s short but eventful history.)
I was 17 when I first played guitar for an audience. I was working as a roadie for a San Diego band called N/E One. They were a very good cover band that would occasionally write one of their own songs and include it in their set. They built up a loyal following among San Diego teenagers and started playing high-school dances and at a local “under-21″ night club called Headquarters.
They started inviting me on stage to join them in covering the Rolling Stones’ take on Bobby Troup’s “Route “ I was using a six-string Rickenbacker and playing rhythm guitar with Rob Glickman, the lead guitarist. I had been taking classical guitar lessons, but I really wanted to play rock ‘n’ roll. I switched teachers to someone who could teach me Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly licks. It was a long process, and I learned some chords, but my skills were limited.
During my senior year in high school, the ASB started booking bands to play in the quad during Friday lunch. They eventually got around to inviting N/E One to play, and I joined them on stage for their set. Afterward, several people approached me, asking if I wanted to start a band. I was flattered, but I held out, hoping to find people who wanted to play the same kind of music I loved. I refused to have anything to do with playing Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin covers. I wanted to play British Invasion beat and 1960s garage music.
(Ray Brandes shares a long-lost track from his formative San Diego band, created with some production wizardry from Unknowns sonic prodigy Mark Neill.)
Towards the end of 1986, as the Tell-Tale Hearts were heading toward an inevitable break-up, we headed back into Mark Neill’s Swinging Studios in Dulzura, Calif., to cut what would be the band’s final recordings with its first edition. Neill had produced the band’s highly acclaimed six-song EP earlier that year, and we hoped we might be able once again to pick up a little of his studio magic.
The band’s line-up included Mike Stax; Bill Calhoun; David Klowden; Peter Miesner (who had taken over guitar duties from Eric Bacher); and myself. Three songs were recorded: The Scorpions’ “Too Many Lovers”; “Promise” (Brandes); and “Nothing You Can Do” (Brandes). The first two were released as a single on Australia’s Cavern 7 label the following year, but “Nothing You Can Do” stayed in the can. (Bart Mendoza’s Sound Affects magazine included the song on a giveaway cassette with one of its issues.)
I recently discovered a rough mix cassette recording of “Nothing You Can Do” and rescued it with a little help from Audacity. I hadn’ heard the song in more than 20 years. Listening to the recording brought back vivid memories of the sessions, which were held on a rainy Saturday in November, 1986.
We’ve spent the past three years here on Che Underground: The Blog talking about the bands, people, places and shows that made our scene. Now here’s a way to connect them to each other — and to other scenes around the world.
San Diego is my musical home, and our musical history is precious to me … So this is the right place for the first real public launch of Sceneroller, a software platform that lets users connect bands, people, venues and gigs to write a shared history of local music scenes.
(Bart Mendoza invites the gang to watch Reelin’ in the Years’ new documentary and talk to panelists Mike Stax and David Peck.)
On Jan. 22, 2011, at 2 p.m., The Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, Calif., will host a special exclusive advance look at Pretty Things: Midnight To Six 1965-1970, an upcoming film documentary from San Diego’s Reelin’ in the Years Productions, part of its British Invasion series. Admission to the museum includes the screening ($7; $5 for students, seniors and museum members).