The Che Underground flyer collection is overdue in giving credit to Bobby Lane, one of the greats of San Diego rock-‘n’-roll graphics. While I hope we can open a complete (and pristine) Bobby Lane Wing in our online gallery, I like the personal history behind these two well-loved examples, courtesy of Kristen Tobiasen.
“What flyer gallery would be complete without the art of Bobby Lane?” Kristen writes. “Probably the most ‘iconic’ of San Diego punk flyer artists, definitely the most prolific. Years before I ever met him, I remember seeing his flyers posted around.
“I found these stuck inside an old Maximum Rocknroll mag — sorry they are thrashed and ‘colored’ on,” Kristen concludes.
I prefer “cherished and personalized”! Let’s discuss the Bobby Lane oeuvre; the more examples, the merrier.
Hey Bobby Lane
Boy do I remember that Minor Threat show at Kings RD. I have a ton of flyers from that era but not sure if I have that one.
Bobby and I grew up in the same area and those flyers and shows shaped my 13-16 year old brain into the Morlock I became.
At some point, I’d like someone more deeply wired into the origins of the SD scene to connect all the graphic dots — starting with Marc Rude, who Bobby cites as a mentor.
PS: I dig that this was Post #666 on the blog! 🙂
I might be able to help fill in the blanks at one point.
Maybe when I get up to NJ some day.
I have 100’s of artifacts from that era, all of which I was into before it got insane and I found my outlet further down the road on the Che highway.
AWWWWW…you guys are too kind, and right on time I might add.
Right now I am just trying to stick out the last hour and a half at my shop, wishing I had more people to tattoo (there’s a lot of us in this game) and trying not to think too much about too much. It makes me crazy sometimes.
You know I have almost every one of these things in original form, but I need to photograph them, as they are all on 11X17 bristol board, most of them anyway. I got a couple I didnt have off of Jason Seibert’s myspace, he has a lot of other fliers there too, you should check it out.
Sometime in 81 I went to a show at fairmount hall and Rude was emcee as he usually was in those days,gallon jug of white wine hanging off of one thumb while he pressed the mic into one side of his face and growled into it…that man had style for days, I’m tellin ya’. Anyway’s he was basically proselytizing about how each one of us had a duty to contribute to this scene (it being a DIY scene like all good scenes) and he was very adamant that we all had to have something to contribute in order to be a member of this sub-society,be it starting our own band,doing our own zine or making fliers for shows and parties(this was where I came in).
He even made a point that we should not buy Band T-shirts in stores (there was no hot topic for the poseur kiddies back then mind you), but should rather make our own. He had on an old white sleeveless shirt with “you’ve lost that loving feeling” scrawled in magic marker. That was the best homemade t-shirt I ever seen, no amount of cleverness or craftsmanship could top that one, for me.
Obviously,I took his words to heart, and I began to make fliers. i made practice ones first which nobody but maybe Murphy saw, or maybe Eric Rife, who drove us to almost all of those early shows.
Then I made a couple for a circle jerks show and approached big Mickey from the Boy’s Club who was one of the Dead or Alive promoters along with Tim Mays and Marc. He used my flier and a little while later I met Marc at the Boy’s Club at a party and he schooled me on proper art supplies for illustrating and of course I bit his style in a way,although I did it my own way too. I really admired that guy,not just because of his art skills, but because he just had a whole lot of heart and soul and was a very generous person. I was just a kid,and he basically went out of his way to make time for me,and I wasnt the only one he did this for either.
So making these things became the thing that I did, and I got myself and many of my friends into the shows this way. To this day,if I really need to get into a Casbah gig, I can use that card and I basically did the last time I went which was last years telltale hearts reunion. I met Sean McMullen under the I-5 bridge walking down Laurel street hill. He was walking and playing harp. Shades of Pat Works and Chris Mathis. That’s the way to get to get to a hearts gig.
Anyway, I digress. All of that has carried me well into the present and shall continue to inform my future aesthete. I prefer the hand made genuine article, not manufactured but made with loving toil, hard work, blood sweat and tears. It’s the way.
I just looked at your myspace Bobby, you know Rhythm and The Method too! Small world. I wound up sanding a concrete floor by hand with her a few years back … don’t ask. Plus I knew her before that from the open mic, I used to help out run the sound board.
I have seen them a couple of times, but, never little red book. She’s a good kid. I love how the whole family is in the band. I don’t go to bars very often. Her dad rules.
Yeah,I dont go to bars very much either.Last time I saw them was at Claire de Lune’s at 1 o’clock on a saturday,which was great because I was able to go with my son,who really loves them,especially Rhythm.Way more fun and satisfying than any bar.
Bobby, do you still have a copy of that Morlocks flier you did with the woman and the serpent for a Che Cafe gig? One of my all-time favorite fliers. I may be biased, tho’.
I liked that one too.Yep,I still got it,the original that is.