Our family tree, revisited
Thanks to the Cardiac Kidz’s Jim Ryan, Che Underground: The Blog has a fresh supply of artifacts from his band and other early participants in the San Diego punk scene.
Among Jim’s contributions is this chart from early 1980 composed by Dan McLain. It testifies to Dan’s role as underground historian and adds new fuel to the longstanding discussion of our family tree.
Jim writes, “The ‘Family Tree’ by Dan was found in an issue of ‘Kicks’ magazine that I have (can’t remember if it was the issue that the Cardiac Kidz interview was in or one that we put an ad for the EP release in I’ll check for you if it is important to which issue it was … ) which was put out by Tom Arnold. Don’t know if you are familiar with that name He put out a pre- “City Beat” type magazine back in the early ’80s.
“The ‘Family Tree’ was scanned at actual size. It originally was split across two pages (had to ‘photo paste’ them together). … It was used to supplement the main article by Steve Thorn that appeared in Kicks magazine (March 1980). The list of contributors might help in your networking efforts to gather more information on the music scene back then.”
Stay tuned for more contributions from the Ryan Collection! (Oh, and please tell me if this chart is legible on your screen … There’s a lot of info crammed in there.)
Tags: "Kicks" magazine, Cardiac Kidz, Dan McLain, Jim Ryan, Mature Adults, Megadeath, Monotone and the Nucleoids, NON, San Diego punk, the Cockpits, the Crawdaddys, the Dils, the Dinettes, the Hitmakers, the Penetrators, the Roadrunners, the Tokyos, the Unknowns, the Upbeats, the Zeros, Tom Arnold, Xterminators
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Jim: Thanks for doing that. An ad for your EP is indeed in that issue. And Steve Thorn’s five-part history (that issue had the last instalment) of San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll is an invaluable guide to even earlier times….
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
>>And Steve Thorn’s five-part history (that issue had the last instalment) of San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll is an invaluable guide to even earlier times….
Mikel: God, what a great thing to have! Would you be able to share that??
I wish I knew all the last names that went with the names on Dan’s chart! I know all the bands but the Roadrunners — but I didn’t know a lot of these connections.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I’m missing part two, for some reason, but it shouldn’t be any problem to OCR the rest (Kicks used legitimate-size type, unlike our penny-wise zines…).
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I have a later issue of Kicks from 1982, not to be confused with the fanzine outta NY with the same name, that was put out by the folks behind Norton Records. But this is purty interesting. Russ silva, Ron’s younger brother and devout Van Halen discipline played in some versions of the hitmakers/crawdads!
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Russell, affectionately known as “Scuzz,” is Ron’s little brother. He, Ron and Potterf played in a junior high school band called Zinc, and Russell often sat in with Ron’s projects when another drummer was unavailable. He played with the Hedgehogs on at least one occasion I can remember. A real nice guy–he had a huge paper route for years, and then became a mail carrier.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
>>Russell, affectionately known as “Scuzz,” is Ron’s little brother.
When I first started at MacWEEK, I learned that a slightly older colleague (the age difference seemed bigger then!) hailed from San Diego but had left years earlier with nary a backward glance.
I bet him I could find a common connection despite his skepticism — and (since he was a Point Loma HS grad) managed to establish the Silvas as a Rosetta Stone.
He recalled there being many Silvas. Were his eyes crossing?
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Pt Loma is Tuna town, home to many Portuguese descendants. Ron and family all all have that in common. To do this day Pt. Loma still does a Portuguese style Festa. There is even a Portuguese women’s hall near Shelter Island.
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:02 pm
That’s right, I remember hearing that PL had a large Portuguese fishing community, and Mission Hills had an Italian one.
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
>>To do this day Pt. Loma still does a Portuguese style Festa. There is even a Portuguese women’s hall near Shelter Island.
C’mon, c’mon … Restaurant recommendations! Out with it, for god’s sake … As Dave Rinck noted a while back, Portuguese cuisine is outstanding.
Actually, I’ve gotten very intrigued about Point Loma since we started hanging out here … I b’lieve back in the day, I just made a beeline to the Syndicate and nowhere else. Seems like a lot of happening peeps hailed from that ‘hood.
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
ALL the happening people I first met in the SD scene were from Pt. Loma/OB.
Used to eat at Rayads Falafel all the time.
Navy guys used to die out there annually, partying on the cliffs.
Last time I visited SD, mid -90s, I stayed with DT Exterminator at a little house on Pt. Loma.
Providence has a HUGE Portuguese population…often typified by chain-link fences, statues of MARY, and the best seafood and Chourico!!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
>To do this day Pt. Loma still does a Portuguese style Festa.
Oh, wow, by the Portugese Fishing Hall/Parish Hall for St. Agnes. The first wedding reception I went to was there. And most midnight masses. Is Ron related to any of the Silvas in the photos on display there?
November 24th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I completely forgot that Juan from the Nucleoids went on to play with the Exerminators, does anyone else remember them doing shows calling themselves the Nucleoids after I left…I don’t remember that happening. Is DT still around?
January 1st, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Hey Gary,
I spoke to Jerry Flack and formally invited him to this posting. He asked me if I knew where he could get a copy of the song “Vengence” by the Penetrators. Can you let me know which vinyl that was released on and I’ll pass that info on to him. Even better would be a MP3 file sent to me.