(Hair Theatre guitarist Paul Allen describes one photograph’s journey.)
This is one of 4 photos, as I recall, that [Hair Theatre vocalist] Sergio had given me before I moved to San Francisco in February 1989. I think Laura Swapp took them. I couldn’t tell you where we were playing. Like most of the clubs back then, the predominant color is black.
In the spring of 1992 I moved on a whim (the morning after the night I decided to go, after staying up all night) to New Orleans. Having prepared little, I ended up in an apartment with no furniture, stove or fridge. I’d turn on the light at night to find a virtual colony of roaches, beetles and crickets all scurrying for this giant hole in the closet floor. At this point I was so broke I was living on peanut butter & jelly and Thunderbird (a fifth chilled for $2.59!).
I entrusted a friend back in S.F. to sell my amp, stereo, books and records. The deal was he would keep 40 percent and send me 60 percent.
I was a little naive then about drugs and their effects on people’s personalities then. My friend was a heroin junkie at this point in time. He kept all the money.
I had asked him to keep just two of the books in my collection. One was a book of two-word-per-line poetry that I had contributed to in the first grade. My poem was called “Cloudy Day.” It went something like this: Cloudy Day, I Walk, To school, Grey Clouds. I felt a sort of sublime melancholy a lot back then.
The other book was a yearbook from the 8th grade. I went to Roosevelt Jr. High along with Kristin Martin and Pat Works. I had tucked the photos into the yearbook. My friend got rid of those as well.
I only lasted a month and a half in New Orleans.
On my return to S.F. I went to a mutual friend’s house and found this photo stuck on the wall. My friend had stopped by with the pictures, and they had put this one up. The others were gone. This one remains. I resized it to make it Web-friendly.
— Paul Allen
Hair Theatre MP3s:
Paul Allen is God.
Funny what a big deal Paul’s hair was back in those days — like Patrick notes, it seemed very significant in ’84.
Amid all our preening and verbal jousting, Paul was a center of quiet calm and nonetheless talented as hell … A very welcome corrective, always.
Reading this account, I wanted to (a) give Paul a hug and (b) find him a copy of his 8th-grade yearbook! Any Roosevelt Junior High grads wanna make a photocopy for our friend?
About Roosevelt: Never went there, but I can remember that the bus tour around the zoo would sometimes stop at a place overlooking the school’s exercise yard. The guide would make witty remarks about natural habitats, juvenile social behavior, and so on. There was also a big sign on the zoo side of the fence that said, “Primate Training Facility…”
>>There was also a big sign on the zoo side of the fence that said, “Primate Training Facility…”
The only middle school in San Diego where “fecal javelin” was a PE elective!
I went to SCPA when we shared campus at Roosevelt Junior High. It was part of San Diego’s effort to force friendship and integrate people of different backgrounds with similar interests, called the “Magnet” program. Students at Roosevelt were not thrilled with our presence. They called us “Maggots”.
What I like about this picture? Look how happy Paul is.
I too went to SCPA and remember the smell of zoo poop like it was yesterday. In fact, the whole of Balboa Park was full of smells that that can transport me to my childhood in a flash. Kristen: do you remeber the smell of Casa del Prado and all the flies? I was bussed over there for tap class with Mr. Kittelson and theater with Miss O’Malley. I can still feel the chill of that building as I sit here thirty years later.
My sister Susan Tobiason used to bus over with you for tap or ballet with Miss Quiet. I’ll ask her if she remembers the flies. I went to Junior Theater at the Casa Del Prado. I don’t remember flies but do remember reading scripts for The Children’s Hour while standing on a huge air vent that blew my hair straight up, with a boy named “Frosty”. We must have been at SCPA at the same time. Did you move over to the O’Farrell campus in 1982?
I remember Susan! wild. I did JT too. I was at SPCA for 4/5/6 grade and then left before the O’Farrell move. I remember the roosevelt campus and the teachers and my little 5th grade anecdotes so clearly--like DD Boyd coming to beat me up and then being saved Mrs. Cunningham, double dutching, crushing on Ronnie Vodika, etc.
Any other Milwaukee Children’s Theater Company alumni here? We rocked “Free to Be, You and Me.”
Megan: I was friends with Ronnie’s older sister, Marie. Funny story about me and Ronnie. There was this funky, hippie English teacher at SCPA named Donna Tusch (she was tormented endless for that name, poor lady) who had a creative, outside-the-box approach to teaching, as you could at that time. One afternoon she brought in a psychic who could see “auras”. She went around the room and told us what color predominated our energy field. Me and Ronnie were the only ones in the school with “crystal auras”. Hahahahahaha! You gotta love the late 70’s/early 80’s new age, sit around and “rap” quality. I miss it. With the “no kid left behind act”, creativity vanished from the classroom. 🙁
Matthew: love Marlo Thomas’ Free to Be…still have the record, as well as The Big Blue Marble. Today, blogging is my way of having penpals around the world.
Patrick, it is very grounding to reconnect with old friends.
Your story about the buses and the fire alarm takes me back. I remember one time when the buildup of anticipation of a big fight between the white kids and the chicano kids was so great, when the last bell of the day rang, kids RAN to the buses, and the fight didn’t happen.
Another time, I had written “putos” with a little arrow toward one of the graffitied inscriptions of a “mexican” neighborhood in jest to the chicano graffiti. Later on the day, someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around to find everyone in the whole school from that neighborhood, maybe 20 people assembled, wanting to know why I wrote “putos” in reference to their neighborhood. After a little explanation and scratching out the offending word, I managed to escape without violence occurring.
Patrick writes about the class differences at Roosevelt. They were very defined. The 2 groups I hung out with at various times throughout the day were the mostly upper-middle class Mission Hills kids and the mostly working class North Park/South Park/Normal Heights kids, especially the N.P. subgrouping of sci-fi/computer geek/stoner kids.
SCPA had a staggered schedule to the main Roosevelt schedule so never the twain should meet. We would use different buildings. I probably would have gone to class more if I had gone there.
I wouldn’t experience that sort of free-form teaching until I went to John Muir Alternative School the last 2 years of high school. I remember the counselors at Roosevelt, who hated me, warned me about the evils of Muir. “It’s for criminal types,” they said. Best school I ever went to in S.D. (and I went to a lot).
We had a video class where we just took a camera and made our own videos. My group made a Lou Reed cover music video and a surfing video. That was fun. I actually learned something about physics and chemistry in classes with 3 students and teachers who knew what they were talking about. A far cry from Roosevelt.
I remember the air vent by Casa del Prado that blew your hair straight up.
>>After a little explanation and scratching out the offending word, I managed to escape without violence occurring.
Paul: You’re one of the very few souls I know who could get out of a situation like that intact. Something to do with radiating basic decency even when engaged in minor mischief.
Well thanks. Actually I remember a great story along the same lines. Someone’s little brother, Jerry’s I think, (blanking on a name here) was talking about his experiences as almost the only white kid at the mostly black Lincoln High. One day the football team surrounded him and was getting ready to kick his ass. He burst into a song-and-dance rendition of “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang. The jocks all cracked up and left him alone.
Hey, this is awesome! I have a lot of memories of San Diego & San Francisco. My first band ever, I was 14. Me and Rene Vautrin. “Tragic Flaw” is what we called ourselves. “Good Morning Governor” was the 3 chord, superfast, retardo, melodic distortion song we came up with.
I didn’t even know how to tune a guitar back than. I tuned it to an open “G” we recorded the song and 2 others at a studio up on Adam’s Ave.
“Good Morning Governor” was played on 91-X…the song totally sucked in a great punk rock way. Rene started singing in “Tel Aviv” with Jeff Earnst, John Graham and John Dupuy. I got in trouble with the cops and took of to AZ where I played in a band called M.I.T. with Bam-Bam from JFA and 2 other guys for a few months. A year later The Children’s Hour” happened. I played bass, Rene sang, John G. on guitar, Joe Dupuy on drums and the fabulous Dave Koenig on keyboards. We moved to S.F. a few years later. I stayed. I played with “Flesh & Spirit”, “Twist of Fate”, “Cowboys & Angels” and “From the Fields” (an acoustic project) I remember Dave from Tell-Tale-Hearts, Greg & Squirrel from Faces of Drama, Sergio from Hair Theatre. Gay Denny’s, Studio 9, Klub Zu, The Roxy, Adam’s Ave Theatre, Presido Park, Baskin & Robbins parking lot….Wow…brings back a lot of memories. I went on to play as a soloist woith the Minnesota Orchestra and played iat a concert solo at the Mountain View Ampitheatre in N. Cal in front of 20,000 college kids who would have whistled and applauded if I had simply walked on stage and flipped them off. Awesome. If anyone remembers “The Children’s Hour” or has music, flyers, posters or pics (even our 4 music vids we did) please contact me as I am putting together a tribute page and album. Thanks. Jay Red Hawk you can e-mail me jayredhawk@rocketmail.com, look me up on Facebook and check out my current music vids on youtube @ YouTube -- MrJayredhawk’s Channel
Re-reading this account, I’m thinking we should have a thread called, “Stuff Junkies Stole from Us.” If we could do it without naming names, it would be … interesting, and a pretty long and poignant list.
Hey, that photo is Rene Vautrin on the right hand side. He passed away May 21st 2010 from complications of diabetes. Do not malign the dead, he was a good guy in spite of his addiction to heroin which he actually overcame a year before his death. I miss him very much. his mother Susi
Susi: Thank you for providing this update, and my condolences on your loss.
I’m very sorry, Susi. Rene lives on in his friends’ memories.