Cinnamon Cinder (Permanently Closed)
In the mid-1960s, the earliest version of the Roosters served as house band for the La Mesa branch of a teen nightclub chain called the Cinnamon Cinder, located in a former bowling alley near SDSU on El Cajon Boulevard. The no-liquor all-ages venue was in a building that previously hosted the Comanche Bowl, at the corner of Comanche Drive and El Cajon Blvd in La Mesa. The locale would eventually also host the Straitahead Sound nightclub and recording studio. That initial Cinder band was fronted by Richard Brubaker, aka "Dick" Purchase and included guitarists Joe Gonzalez and Bobby Hijer, as well as drummer Sid Smith. Aside from playing top 40 covers, the Roosters sometimes backed up touring acts like the Shirelles, the Drifters, and the Coasters, as well as opening for headliners like Ike and Tina Turner when they appeared at the Cinnamon Cinder.
(Photo courtesy Jan Tonnesen of The Contrasts)