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Glimmers of pop music writing in the early San Diego Reader

Early 70s clubs, roots of violent punk, the Spirit Club, Beat Farmers, Lester Bangs at Rolling Stones concert

Jerry Herrera and Madeline. A former boyfriend of Patrick tried to run her over in the Palace parking lot and Herrera came to her rescue.
Jerry Herrera and Madeline. A former boyfriend of Patrick tried to run her over in the Palace parking lot and Herrera came to her rescue.

1973 San Diego guide to rock music

Ledbetters was a Monday night gas. By 8:30 when the band started, the place was packed and we were loaded. And it didn't let up all night. Ear-splitting rock and roll from Chuck Berry to the Stones kept the dance floor crowded. Most men and women seemed to regard Ledbetters as a place to dance with everyone as friends.

For non-smokers, the haze is a problem. The music is too loud; our ears rang the next day. Others tell us of waiting an hour outside just to get in.

Oct. 4, 1973


The Spirit of Jerry Herrera

Instead of paying bands a set fee out of the bar proceeds — as is common in most local clubs — and charging a slight cover charge, Herrera gives each band a percentage of the door and charges customers more to get in — two to three dollars on weeknights and $3.50 to $4.50 on weekends. “When you hire bands that play only original music, it’s hard to pay them a set amount."

By Thomas K. Arnold, August 20, 1981

"I went off and started a band in 1966 called the Jesters that played a lot of places like the Hi Ho Club out here on Fletcher Parkway. It used to be the Roaring Twenties nightclub; now it’s a bunch of theaters."


Birth of the Beat Farmers

Jerry Raney: “Yeah, I was already 15 or 16 then, and that’s when I started playing guitar. This guy from El Cajon High named Jack Chan — you remember Jack — knew how to play, we’d go out and get the Beatles songbooks and go through ’em and he’d teach me the chords.

By Roger Anderson, March 16, 1989


More fights were going on, and David Crosby was saying, “Let’s try to be brothers and sisters to each other, now, come on!”


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Lester Bangs on Altamont the day the music died

We stopped at a gas station for a map, at a friend’s house to scrounge a joint, and off we went.

Lester had recently begun writing freelance for a fledgling but already influential newsprint rag called Rolling Stone. Right now, he was drunk as a skunk. “Hey, man, this is gonna be fucking great. Know what? Just a couple days ago I sent a review of Let It Bleed to my editor." Contrary to dollar-wise ’70s and ’80s practice, the Stones had released a new album not prior to but in the middle of their tour.

By Roger Anderson, , December 14, 1989

Battalion of Saints, 1985. Guitarist Chris Smith overdosed in a bathtub, Dave Astor committed suicide, another member died of drug-related problems, and a fourth died from AIDS.


Where they came from: Rocket from the Crypt, Stone Temple Pilots, Drive Like Jehu, No Knife, Inch, Three Mile Pilot, Battalion of the Saints. Minor Threat, Pitchfork, Fishwife

As the scene began to change, hardcore was spawned, which was often more violent and aggressive than its predecessor. This harder form of punk has always been big in San Diego, with the local band Battalion of Saints leading the pack in the early 1980s.

By Daniel Ridge, October 17, 2002

Norm Leggio: "So many other bands that were the big thing — like Victim and Bible Black — all those guys have stopped playing."


Meet El Cajon garage band Psychotic Waltz

There are four of them. Four members of the heavy metal band Psychotic Waltz. They are seated around a living room coffee table in the heart of El Cajon. The house is part residence, part delicatessen. The drummer’s parents own the building and run the deli. Leggio’s Market, but now live elsewhere, bestowing the house as a sort of band headquarters.

By Mani Mir, August 3, 1989

Psychotic Waltz re-visited five years later

By Josh Board, May 27, 2004


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Live Five: Nathan Raney, Safety Orange, Lori Bell, Sprung Monkey, Rebecca Jade

Blues rock, urban reggae, soulful jazz, alt-surf, and a Miles Davis Tribute in Little Italy, Ocean Beach, College Area, La Jolla
Jerry Herrera and Madeline. A former boyfriend of Patrick tried to run her over in the Palace parking lot and Herrera came to her rescue.
Jerry Herrera and Madeline. A former boyfriend of Patrick tried to run her over in the Palace parking lot and Herrera came to her rescue.

1973 San Diego guide to rock music

Ledbetters was a Monday night gas. By 8:30 when the band started, the place was packed and we were loaded. And it didn't let up all night. Ear-splitting rock and roll from Chuck Berry to the Stones kept the dance floor crowded. Most men and women seemed to regard Ledbetters as a place to dance with everyone as friends.

For non-smokers, the haze is a problem. The music is too loud; our ears rang the next day. Others tell us of waiting an hour outside just to get in.

Oct. 4, 1973


The Spirit of Jerry Herrera

Instead of paying bands a set fee out of the bar proceeds — as is common in most local clubs — and charging a slight cover charge, Herrera gives each band a percentage of the door and charges customers more to get in — two to three dollars on weeknights and $3.50 to $4.50 on weekends. “When you hire bands that play only original music, it’s hard to pay them a set amount."

By Thomas K. Arnold, August 20, 1981

"I went off and started a band in 1966 called the Jesters that played a lot of places like the Hi Ho Club out here on Fletcher Parkway. It used to be the Roaring Twenties nightclub; now it’s a bunch of theaters."


Birth of the Beat Farmers

Jerry Raney: “Yeah, I was already 15 or 16 then, and that’s when I started playing guitar. This guy from El Cajon High named Jack Chan — you remember Jack — knew how to play, we’d go out and get the Beatles songbooks and go through ’em and he’d teach me the chords.

By Roger Anderson, March 16, 1989


More fights were going on, and David Crosby was saying, “Let’s try to be brothers and sisters to each other, now, come on!”


Sponsored
Sponsored

Lester Bangs on Altamont the day the music died

We stopped at a gas station for a map, at a friend’s house to scrounge a joint, and off we went.

Lester had recently begun writing freelance for a fledgling but already influential newsprint rag called Rolling Stone. Right now, he was drunk as a skunk. “Hey, man, this is gonna be fucking great. Know what? Just a couple days ago I sent a review of Let It Bleed to my editor." Contrary to dollar-wise ’70s and ’80s practice, the Stones had released a new album not prior to but in the middle of their tour.

By Roger Anderson, , December 14, 1989

Battalion of Saints, 1985. Guitarist Chris Smith overdosed in a bathtub, Dave Astor committed suicide, another member died of drug-related problems, and a fourth died from AIDS.


Where they came from: Rocket from the Crypt, Stone Temple Pilots, Drive Like Jehu, No Knife, Inch, Three Mile Pilot, Battalion of the Saints. Minor Threat, Pitchfork, Fishwife

As the scene began to change, hardcore was spawned, which was often more violent and aggressive than its predecessor. This harder form of punk has always been big in San Diego, with the local band Battalion of Saints leading the pack in the early 1980s.

By Daniel Ridge, October 17, 2002

Norm Leggio: "So many other bands that were the big thing — like Victim and Bible Black — all those guys have stopped playing."


Meet El Cajon garage band Psychotic Waltz

There are four of them. Four members of the heavy metal band Psychotic Waltz. They are seated around a living room coffee table in the heart of El Cajon. The house is part residence, part delicatessen. The drummer’s parents own the building and run the deli. Leggio’s Market, but now live elsewhere, bestowing the house as a sort of band headquarters.

By Mani Mir, August 3, 1989

Psychotic Waltz re-visited five years later

By Josh Board, May 27, 2004


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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
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