New Sounds Festivals 1985-1991

(Bart Mendoza describes the arc of an important San Diego music festival he co-founded.)

Helmed by myself and, at first, Ron Friedman, and later Matt Fidelibus (with huge help from Secret Society Scooter Club, Dimitri Callian and many others), there were seven New Sounds Festivals in all, always one big blowout event surrounded by a week of gigs by the touring acts.

I had been bringing groups to town for awhile anyway, so the idea of focusing efforts appealed; the chance to do these events as a benefit for SDSU’s student-run radio station, KCR, was even better. The motive for the New Sounds Festivals was simply to promote and showcase music influenced by Mod / ’60s/ Garage, in particular local groups like the Tell-Tale Hearts, the Nashville Ramblers, Donkey Show, the Trebels and the Event. With short sets and a backline, it was like a really, really cool jukebox.

We were also lucky to have major support from the San Diego Union-Tribune and 91X-FM. Perhaps over-ambitious at times, these shows were a labor of love, a lot of work, a lot of headaches but mostly a lot of fun.

Read Bart’s “New Sounds and Out of Towners”!

By 1991, the scene had changed, and amidst serious day-of-show turmoil, I decided the time had come to end the series. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, caught by Mike Moon’s camera — you see me walk over to Mark Zadarnowski and change the set list. My mid-song, stage left, greeting to someone off screen, is to SOMA owner (and Kinks fan) Len Paul. I continued to bring groups to town after the show and promoted one more New Sounds Fest in 1998, though with a wider pop range in booking and more of an international flavor.

The Shambles / New Sounds Farewell, 1991:

New Sounds Info:
04/06/85 Club Zu
11/23/85 JP’s
07/12/86 New Generation
11/14/87 Palisades Skating Ring (This event stopped in progress by SDPD)
08/27/88 SDSU Montezuma Hall (1 stage + DJ Lounge)
09/16/89 SDSU Montezuma Hall (1 stage + DJ Lounge)
08/24/91 SOMA (2 stages)

With a final, seven-day event:
08/23/98-08/29/98 Java Joe’s

The Trebels perform Larry Williams “Sweet Little Baby” at New Sounds, 1986:

The Nashville Ramblers perform “Look Over Yonders Wall” at New Sounds, 1986:

More details, stories and videos:

• Secret Society S.C. always sponsored and led the scooter rallies and pitched in with everything from moving gear to security to Steve Griggs’ MC spot in 1991. Without their help and support, it would have been impossible to have these events.
• In 1986, a Beatles cover band, The Quarrymen, showed up uninvited and asked to play. Of course the bill was full, but they waited around, just in case. It paid off — two of the bands were late showing up, so the Quarrymen ended up getting to play a well-received set.
• 1989 was the peak, with Johnny Marr of the Smiths backstage and various Bangles and future members of Jellyfish et al. in attendance. However, it’s neat to think that No Doubt was on the bill in 1987 and that within a year of the 1998 shows Little Italy resident Incredible Moses Leroy (Ron Fountainberry) hit with “Fuzzy,” ultimately used in a Vespa Ad.

Incredible Moses Leroy: “Fuzzy”

Vespa ad featuring “Fuzzy”:

• Capitol Records sponsored the music giveaways from 1986 to 1989, notably promoting the “Absolute Beginners” soundtrack with free LPs, 12” singles and posters. The album had a much different cover in the U.K.; Capitol in the U.S. had no illusions who might be listening to this disc …
• There were T-shirts made for 1986. In 1989, there were T-shirts and buttons and someone made scooter patches in 1991. Ron Friedman has a photo of Johnny Marr wearing a New Sounds T-shirt.
• We made flyers / posters for all shows, but many bands and clubs also made their own. Also some early designs included bands who ultimately were not included in the final lineup. Two notable acts who we hoped to include were The Moment (UK) and Buster’s All Stars (ex-Bad Manners). Those two didn’t happen in the end, but the speed of things meant that their names were on early versions of the flyers, though removed/reprinted before circulation.
• In the 1980s 91X-FM devoted its three-hour Sunday night program “Listen to This” to New Sounds the week before each show. The San Diego Reader, San Diego Union-Tribune and Los Angeles Times all gave the event major coverage, with fanzines like England’s In the Crowd providing later coverage.
• The Casbah and 2581 were the primary venues for “side shows”; New Generation and J.P.’s also hosted events.
• Personal high point for me was the Boys About Town set in 1985 at JP’s, which included myself alongside British Mod legends Ed Ball (Times / Television Personalities); Paul Bevoir (The Jetset / Small Town Parade); and Simon Smith (Merton Parkas / Mood Six), with Kevin Donaker-Ring sitting in for the last two songs and Anthony Meynell (Squire / Sugarplum) stageside cheering us on. Right behind that is Jeff Conolly of DMZ / Lyres sitting in with Manual Scan in 1989 and joining Bart Davenport of the Loved Ones and legendary Minneapolis trio The 27 Various for a Small Faces tune in 1991, but there were many …
• Apart from those mentioned other artists taking part included the Funseekers (Minneapolis); the Leopards (Kansas); Anthony Meynell/Squire (England); the Odd Numbers (San Jose); the Jetset (England); the Risk (Channel Islands); Corporate Humor (St. Louis); the Key (Los Angeles); the Marshmallow Overcoat (Arizona); the Mummies (San Francisco); Mod Fun (New Jersey); and many more.
• 1998 included six nights, with the Pyramidiacs (Australia); Stagefright (Australia); Pineforest Crunch (Sweden); Protones (Spain); Helium Angel (San Francisco); The Grip Weeds (New Jersey); Lollipop Factory (Florida); Ross (Spain); Jupiter Effect (Los Angeles); The Decibels (Sacramento); and many others.

— Bart Mendoza

More from Bart Mendoza:

• The British Invasion hits San Diego
• Kevin Donaker-Ring, center stage
• Flyers from the Mendoza Collection
• Bandmates/other friends 1982-1990 (+1)
• ‘I was a Shambles drummer’
• From Scan to the Shambles