Flyers from the Mendoza Collection

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles contributes a selection of flyers from his capacious archives.)

1. One of my infamous paste-&-cut flyers, this one for Julie at 2581, when I helped promote a batch of shows in 1983 1988 — you can probably tell the numbers are from an old calendar.

I collected photos, and friends gave me old magazines to cannibalize into quick flyers, though this one is from my collection of vintage TV-show stills. That’s a pretty diverse calendar, from the Event to Claude Coma, with stops at the Nephews; Outriders (with Rick Wilkins); and Berkeley combo the Birminghams; as well as lots of others.

Kevin Donaker-Ring’s version of “Fearless,” a hidden track on the Manual Scan album Plan of Action, was recorded at 2581. The band also recorded a 10-track demo in the club, mostly originals like “Of Heart & Soul” and “For Jamie,” but also, for some reason lost to the mists of time, a version of the Smithereens’ “Blood and Roses.”

2. Croce’s once hosted a few shows in the downstairs area – that part of the building eventually became a used-clothing shop; not sure what it is today. (Croce’s itself is going gangbusters.) A pretty solid bill from about 1986 or 1987 with The Trebles and Manual Scan joining The Berrypickers, included John Vetter, later with the Town Criers. It’s also notable that AJ Croce was the promoter on this one.

3. A classic 1985 flyer for JP’s (previously the Syndicate) with Everybody Violet. The club didn’t last long, but there was no shortage of great shows there — Jimmy was always pretty happy to let you put a bill together!

The Fan Club was led by Roddy Bogawa, previously with the Odds. The Nephews, featuring Tim Ellison, are impossibly underrated. I mean, he even had one of his songs covered by Rocket From The Crypt! I believe his most recent gig was something I put together at Lestat’s with Dave Humphries, and if so, I can vouch he’s still an amazing performer. As with the Answers, I would love to see a box set of The Nephews work. (Fully annotated, of course.)

4. A fun 1991 flyer for New Sounds with artwork by Justin Turley, who did much tremendous art for The Shambles. I’ve been amazed at how many flyers there are for some of these shows, as different bands, friends and scooter clubs all made their own. This was an early one as the line up soon shifted.

5. The Plimsouls at the Spirit (now Brick X Brick) with The Paladins opening, 1982. A Tim Maze and KCR promotion. The Plimsouls were always phenomenal, playing larger rooms like Montezuma Hall, but these smaller club dates were amazing. Peter Case’s solo acoustic is well worth checking out – the man has a way with a story and a song.

6. Another of my paste-&-cut jobs, the black-and-white motif being down to using an old New Sounds flyer for content. The 1989 gig itself was pretty great, featuring Happy Losers from Spain, whom we’d met on tour in Europe. They stayed in town long enough to record a session at Earthling Studios in El Cajon. Frank Barajas is a great songwriter who by coincidence ended up in Spain at the same time as we did and became part of the Shambles entourage for a few weeks of fun and mayhem.

Vertibird was a superb power-pop band (one album) that featured Jack Reynolds and Charlie McCree, current mainstays of the San Diego music scene with a zillion bands to their credit.

7. “Taste the Fury (Babyface)!” This Wallflowers party flyer dates from 1985.

I’m not sure who did the artwork, but it appears to be inspired by legendary underground cartoonist Basil Wolverton?

8. Poptopia 2000 — while the tag line boasted “first annual,” this would be the only Poptopia ever held in San Diego. (I was part of the organizing team.)

A pretty amazing bill: Jason Falkner is a legend (Three O’Clock, Jellyfish, The Grays); Sugarplastic still rates as one of my all-time favorite groups; meanwhile, Beachwood Sparks were arguably at their peak, and Elgin Park played most of their incredible, self-titled debut. I forget who was with Rachael Gordon’s All Stars, but I’m pretty sure Peter Miesner and Ron Silva were involved.

— Bart Mendoza

More from the Mendoza Collection:

• Bandmates/other friends 1982-1990 (+1)
• ‘I was a Shambles drummer’
• From Scan to the Shambles