the Untouchables | The Che Underground

‘I was a Shambles drummer’

January 1, 2011May 22, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles counts off drummers he’s worked with.)

No doubt about it: Kevin Donaker-Ring and I have worked with a lot of drummers over the decades, keeping in mind that we first began our team-up in 1976.

Here are a few of the incredible musicians who have spent time behind a drum kit with Manual Scan or the Shambles over the past 30-plus years. Not pictured: Paul Brewin, Morgan Young, Terry Moore, Rob Wilson, Trace Smith, Brad Kiser. … There’s a future post there.

1) “I was a Shambles drummer” pin. People have sat in with the band for one song to obtain one of these.

Manual Scan in autofocus

December 31, 2010December 14, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles comes through with a cache of photos, sounds and a video montage of Scan and its predecessors, the Pedestrians and Starjammer.

First up: a photo of three-quarters of the original Manual Scan lineup from 1981. The band had recently formed when Bart Mendoza and Kevin Ring of the Pedestrians (guitars) joined forces with Dave Fleminger (bass) and Paul Kaufman (drums). Says Bart (on the left), “Here is an early pic for the site, I’d love to hear what Paul remembers of this day. I think it’s a transitional pic, just post-Pedestrians, probably a few weeks after.”

Paul Kaufman responds, “It’s a blast to see this! Yes, I remember when we headed down to Balboa Park, which provided nice backdrops for a photo shoot … But where’s Dave in this photo?… You can tell I wasn’t able to keep up with the Mod attire. I think the jacket might have been a last-minute addition from the Ring wardrobe.”

The Tell-Tale Hearts (and more) in flyers

January 1, 2011October 14, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

The latest showpieces from the Tom Goddard Collection of classic San Diego flyers.

Today’s batch includes additional Tell-Tale Hearts ephemera (Exhibit A, from a July 27, 1984, show at Studio 517, bears autographs dedicated to Tom’s sister Suzie); a very early appearance (probably August 18, 1984) by “the Morlochs” (sic) with the Hearts at the same venue; a Nashville Ramblers gig; Tell-Tale Hearts and Chesterfield Kings at SDSU’s Backdoor; and a Distillery East show with Manual Scan, the Untouchables and UXB, a band I’m afraid I’d forgotten completely before taking delivery of this cache.