Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Low-budget Beatles tribute keeps it real

Baja Bugs got together in '89 for a friend's wedding

Dude, is that Ringo? (no) But that's Hector Penalosa (left).
Dude, is that Ringo? (no) But that's Hector Penalosa (left).

For the 40th anniversary of the pioneering San Diego punk band the Zeros, cofounder Hector Penalosa has planned...not much.

Past Event

Baja Bugs

“There doesn’t seem to be a big brouhaha about it,” the singer/bassist says. “No one is thinking about it.”

Furthermore, he says glorifying punk rock like it was classic rock seems wrong.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Punk rock has become part of pop culture...which was not supposed to happen.” It was the Hitmakers, the Zeros, and the Dils that launched San Diego’s punk big bang in ’76–’77.

“No one would touch the Zeros with a ten-foot pole because we were freaks. We couldn’t get a gig to save our lives. The whole reason that movement started was to protest the corporate-music moguls who created Barry Manilow and Fleetwood Mac. It’s interesting that what punk rock set out to destruct has become part of the business.”

Video:

Baja Bugs, "Ticket to Ride"

Penalosa seems to have more allegiance to his one-shot Beatles salute.

The Baja Bugs was never supposed to survive. We got together for a [1989] wedding for a friend who couldn’t afford an actual Beatles tribute band.”

He says there are two reasons the Baja Bugs keep crawling after 28 years: affordability and credibility.

“A lot of people don’t have a lot of money for a Beatles tribute band,” says Penalosa. Top-level Beatles tribute acts like the Fab Four get five figures per gig.

He says the Baja Bugs care more about making their live show sound like original Beatles recordings than putting on a play.

“We don’t wear wigs. We don’t call each other Ringo or use fake Scouse [Liverpudlian] accents, saying, ‘Hey John, what’s gonna be our next song?’ We’re not actors. We’re just musicians who care about the original songs.”

Yet he admits he’s in fanatic land. “Beatle fans are an interesting breed. They are very devoted, very obsessed with the Beatles. For that very reason we want to play as close to what they are accustomed to hearing in recordings.”

Penalosa won’t mention any names, but, “There are some [wannabe Ringos] who sing ‘Act Naturally’ and sound more like Buck Owens, and they can’t get Ringo’s drum patterns right.... The guitar riff in ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ is really hard and I’ve seen some bands massacre it.”

Penalosa says there are “11 or 12,” ex–Baja Bugs. “Our original drummer died two years ago.” He says one ex-Bug succumed to the bottle. “He would lean against the wall and piss himself while playing.”

The Baja Bugs appear Sunday at the grand opening of Thorn Brewing Co. in Barrio Logan.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Dude, is that Ringo? (no) But that's Hector Penalosa (left).
Dude, is that Ringo? (no) But that's Hector Penalosa (left).

For the 40th anniversary of the pioneering San Diego punk band the Zeros, cofounder Hector Penalosa has planned...not much.

Past Event

Baja Bugs

“There doesn’t seem to be a big brouhaha about it,” the singer/bassist says. “No one is thinking about it.”

Furthermore, he says glorifying punk rock like it was classic rock seems wrong.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Punk rock has become part of pop culture...which was not supposed to happen.” It was the Hitmakers, the Zeros, and the Dils that launched San Diego’s punk big bang in ’76–’77.

“No one would touch the Zeros with a ten-foot pole because we were freaks. We couldn’t get a gig to save our lives. The whole reason that movement started was to protest the corporate-music moguls who created Barry Manilow and Fleetwood Mac. It’s interesting that what punk rock set out to destruct has become part of the business.”

Video:

Baja Bugs, "Ticket to Ride"

Penalosa seems to have more allegiance to his one-shot Beatles salute.

The Baja Bugs was never supposed to survive. We got together for a [1989] wedding for a friend who couldn’t afford an actual Beatles tribute band.”

He says there are two reasons the Baja Bugs keep crawling after 28 years: affordability and credibility.

“A lot of people don’t have a lot of money for a Beatles tribute band,” says Penalosa. Top-level Beatles tribute acts like the Fab Four get five figures per gig.

He says the Baja Bugs care more about making their live show sound like original Beatles recordings than putting on a play.

“We don’t wear wigs. We don’t call each other Ringo or use fake Scouse [Liverpudlian] accents, saying, ‘Hey John, what’s gonna be our next song?’ We’re not actors. We’re just musicians who care about the original songs.”

Yet he admits he’s in fanatic land. “Beatle fans are an interesting breed. They are very devoted, very obsessed with the Beatles. For that very reason we want to play as close to what they are accustomed to hearing in recordings.”

Penalosa won’t mention any names, but, “There are some [wannabe Ringos] who sing ‘Act Naturally’ and sound more like Buck Owens, and they can’t get Ringo’s drum patterns right.... The guitar riff in ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ is really hard and I’ve seen some bands massacre it.”

Penalosa says there are “11 or 12,” ex–Baja Bugs. “Our original drummer died two years ago.” He says one ex-Bug succumed to the bottle. “He would lean against the wall and piss himself while playing.”

The Baja Bugs appear Sunday at the grand opening of Thorn Brewing Co. in Barrio Logan.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

Best Kratom Capsules: Top Brands, Benefits & Where To Buy

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.