Men of Clay: Artifacts
Courtesy of Clay himself, here’s a set of artwork that evokes his work as editor of Bamboohead and eponymous frontman for Men of Clay.
As these flyers demonstrate, MoC performed frequently in San Diego at the turn of the ’80s and was featured in 1983’s “Our Blow Out” compilation. So far, however, we’ve only discussed the band in passing. Please chime in with your memories of Men of Clay!
Tags: Army of Love, Bamboohead, Clayton Colgin, Dogs with Masks, Men of Clay, Our Blow Out, Sacred Lies, San Diego music, San Diego punk, Sound Ghetto, the Defectors, the Zebra Club, Uncle Sam's Barbeque
December 27th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
so where did the name bamboohead come from? and wasn’t army of love a christian band? good to see your still doing music clay…heff
December 28th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Had some tacos with Bob “The Frontman for Men of Clay” Common on Xmas eve. We discussed MOC at Montgomery High School auditorium some time around 1981 or 1982.
A really fun show. I got a concussion from going over Bret Webb’s back onto the basketball court directly on my head.
MOC always brought the goods.
January 1st, 2010 at 8:46 pm
I had the pleasure of being in the opening acts (Answers, Manual Scan) for the Men of Clay Aug 20 (1981) at the Zebra (1st flyer in the lower 4 set).
MOC had tremendous energy that night, wish I had brought 2 reels of tape with me (ran out after the 1st 2 sets)…hope there’s some gig recordings of the band from that period, they were an awesome live act.
Clay’s talent for text and composition really shines in these flyers…great sense of inventive urgency in delivering the message.
Dig the subtle secret ‘Crawl Away Machine’ meme in the dogfight one, like the letters are already taking off into the sky.
July 19th, 2010 at 5:52 am
Back in 79′ when I would sit around the IB pier smokin weed I met some locals who turned me on to the Sex Pistol’s music. Not your common punks by today’s standards we were all long-haired surfers. But these guys were real anarchists; anti-government gun collectors who sold weed for rent and beer money. I’d take pictures of them surfing in exchange for dope. We went out to Jullian to this art-punk commune once. Good times. It was similar to the type of art commune going on at the Dial House. Spent a good bit of time at the Clay house in IB back in 81-82. My friend from high school was living in his garage. Dropped a lot of acid, smoked weed, but Meth came and fucked the whole thing up. I took a drawing class at SW college with the MoC bass player, but his name has slipped my mind. Does anyone remember a younger kid from the neighborhood named Curtis Hutchinson? I’ve been trying to get a hold of him for years. I haven’t seen him since he stole the mirrors of my next door neighbors VW van. haha
July 20th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Heff: I remember Army of Love as a U2-inspired Christian band. I met their manager once at a Sports Arena concert (not by U2, though).