The recent spate of celebrity deaths and some spirited discussions on the blog about guilty pleasures and musical mystification suggests an interesting topic: As music fans, how much do we care about the musical preferences, personal philosophies or other opinions of popular artists whose work we admire?

A frequent right-wing put-down of (generally liberal) celebrities is, “Shut up and sing.” Is there a grain of truth in that slogan? Or is it the responsibility of popular figures to use their celebrity to champion what they think is right?

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While we await the arrival of new video from Che Games for May 2009, here’s some more vintage footage of the Hair Theatre lineup that reunited for that show.

Like “What Should I Say,” this sizzling performance of “Final Steps” dates from 1984 and features Sergio (vocals); Sergio Castillo (bass); Cesar Castillo (guitar); Paul Allen (guitar); and Steve Broach (drums).

Check out more Hair Theatre and other Che Underground video morsels on the Che Underground YouTube channel!

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(Wallflower Paul “The P Man” Howland polls the collective memory banks.)

A Certain Ratio formed in Manchester, UK, in 1977. They are still together as a recording entity.

Their cover of Banbarra’s tune “Shack Up” was a favorite of mine in the early ’80s. Here’s ACR’s version. And Banbarra’s original (which I became aware of recently by reading about it in the excellent Waxpoetics magazine).

Both versions of this tune are nice stripped-down funk; the Banbarra version is arguably better, but ACR’s is not without its charms.

“To Each …” was my favorite of their albums back in the day. (I may have to get the re-issue from Soul Jazz.)

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(Wallflower David Rinck introduces a new project by old friends.)

Here’s our new record. As far as we know, this is the latest project by musicians associated with the Che Underground.

We wrote the music over the Internet, since we now live in various far-flung corners of the globe (Africa in my case). One of us would write a riff and a few lines of lyrics and then send it on. Pretty soon it added up to a song, and then the eight on the record (actually more, but we could only record eight ’cause of time limitations).

But we all used to be in bands in San Diego and play shows together, so we were used to working together, and the distances were easily overcome.

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Melancholy echoes of previous threads …

According to Austin360.com: “Sky Saxon, founder of the brilliant ’60s garage band the Seeds, died Thursday morning at St. David’s Hospital.

“The newly minted Austinite, born Richard Marsh, was hospitalized Monday with what doctors suspected was an infection of the internal organs, but cause of death has not yet been released.

“Saxon fell ill last Thursday, but performed at Saturday at Antone’s with recent Austin collaborators Shapes Have Fangs. Sky’s wife Sabrina Saxon posted news of his passing on Facebook this morning: ‘Sky has passed over and YaHoWha is waiting for him at the gate. He will soon be home with his Father. I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep him here with us. More later. I’m sorry.’ ”

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Besides her manifest talents as the author and photographer of the blog’s popular “Then and now” series, Kristen Tobiason has long enriched the Che Underground with her illustration and graphic-design skills.

Exclusive to Che Underground: The Blog is this stunning poster for Che Games for May, now available as a high-resolution, downloadable PDF file. This handsome keepsake is ready to print at 11 by 17 inches.

Download the poster now!

Thanks to Kristen for her tireless support of the site … This show would not have been the same without her!

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Che Underground archivists are frankly embarrassed by the riches rendered from the Che Games for May festival May 29-30 at San Diego’s Casbah. Twenty-five years or more later, the shows offered a great opportunity to showcase beloved material — and capture it with 21st-century technology.

While few early-’80s performances have survived, this event was immortalized from every angle with digital audio, video and photography; our biggest challenge now is to collate and edit this wealth of material.

In other words: I hardly know where to start!

I’m proud to get the photographic ball rolling with the camera work of Unknowns bassist/ photographic powerhouse Dave Doyle, who took some beautiful shots of the Mirrors, the original San Diego Wallflowers, Noise 292 and Hair Theatre on the second evening of the show. (Stay tuned for a gallery of Friday night’s superstars: Everybody Violet, Manual Scan, the Gay Dennys and the Answers!)

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(Yet another brain-teaser from Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes: Let’s reassess the decade we were too cool to live through the first time!)

Like many idealistic teenagers who had grown up in the ’70s, I looked forward to the dawn of the 1980s. The music of the new decade would be aggressive and forward-looking but rooted in the coolest sounds of the ’50s and ’60s.

The punk revolution would start to bear fruit; the material excesses of the late ’70s would be a thing of the past, and a new era of social justice would see the eradication of poverty and war. It would be my generation’s chance to distance itself from the Boomers and their self-righteous bombast.

Then, beginning with the inauguration of Ronald Reagan on Jan. 20, 1981, reality began to sink in. The future marched to the beat of evangelicalism, nationalism and elitism. It had an MBA and drove a BMW. It wore a mushroom haircut, mom jeans and shoulder pads. “The Final Countdown” played in the distance.

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(Tell-Tale Heart/Town Crier Ray Brandes turns the guilty-pleasure principle on its head.)

Inspired by Megan’s take on “Guilty Pleasures,” I’ve been considering those musical acts, films and books and pieces of art often hailed by critics as “brilliant,” and “ groundbreaking” but that fail to float my boat in the least.

We’re often told what to like by the “experts.” College professors devote their lives to the Western canon of literature, music and art which has been passed down like a sacred text from the wise ancients. Those most loathsome of creatures — rock-music critics — frequently publish self-congratulatory surveys of most influential rock artists, while film critics gather frequently to laud the greatest cinematic masterpieces of all time.

But let’s face it: While many of us can appreciate a work of art for its technical proficiency or for its influence on other artists, many of us are often left scratching our heads in bemusement. If I fail to be moved by an artist generally recognized as brilliant, does that somehow make me boorish, uncivilized and unsophisticated?

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Now it can be told: When we concocted the idea of the Che Games for May reunion show at San Diego’s Casbah Club, I was very apprehensive about what it would sound like.

After all, we were bringing together bands that for the most part hadn’t played together since the mid-’80s. Plus, we were asking these folks to practice more or less on the fly. The Che Underground diaspora dispersed us geographically for many years; for most of the acts, opportunities for full rehearsals were few and far between.

I was amazed by the results: The bands were so tight, and I daresay many of the musicians are better now than they were in 1984!

It makes me want to learn more about how all our players keep themselves musically active — not just the people who performed at the Casbah, but the rest of the musicians on the blog.

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