Top Picks of 2008, plus Last DJ, New Starship in Town, Stalking the Wild DJ & the return of a ‘70s counterculture hero

Contents:

1 – Best Of San Diego 2008: 50 Mini-Reviews

2 – Star Trek: The Continuing Mission – interview with Patrick McCray

3 - Jim McInnes: The Last DJ

4 - The OB Ranger Rides Again: Return Of a ‘70s Radio Cult Hero

BEST BAND REHEARSAL ROOM RENTALS

Superior Sound

440 Vernon Way, El Cajon (619) 447-4977

When band practice ends with the neighbors threatening arson and you need a nice safe place for your growing equipment inventory, it’s time to cough up some cash and rent a spot to jam. Since every group, from beginners through pros, sometimes needs a mike, guitar cables, power strips, a drum head, a PA or some other such thing, the ideal rehearsal spot not only offers a room and a plug but also some basic equipment rentals. Superior Sound in El Cajon has a virtual smorgasbord of additional goodies. Soundproofed room rentals start at around $125.00 a week or about $400.00 monthly. A full line of rental equipment is available, plus there are snack and soda machines as well as a dining room with a fridge and microwave. In addition, they also offer a fully equipped recording studio with 24 track analog and 24 track ADAT tape machines. Bands who’ve found a home at Superior include One Sick Puppy, Kill Me Kate, Pure Milk and Nu Image, among many others.

BEST PLACE TO CUT YOUR OWN CD

Studio West

11021 Via Frontera (858) 592-9497 www.studiowest.com http://www.myspace.com/studiowest

Founded nearly thirty years ago, this state of the art studio boasts clients such as blink-182 and The Brian Setzer Orchestra. The 6,000 square foot facility has room for a full orchestra in Studio A, which comes with two large iso-booths and a Midi-Forte equipped Yamaha C-7 Grand piano. Studio B is mainly for vocal dubs though it’s suitable for small bands to record or to do instrumental overdubs and ADR/Looping. Any source can be copied to CD and Studio West can create a dupe master which has everything a manufacturer will need to reproduce your music to disc. The gourmet coffee in the musician’s lounge is free.

BEST ARIAL TOURS (& best chance to join the mile high club!)

Golden State Flying Club

Gillespie Field 1640 N. Johnson El Cajon (619) 449-0611 or (619) 286-7434

Housed at tiny Gillespie Field just outside Santee, Golden State offers single-engine plane excursions which buzz San Diego’s scenic deserts, mountains and coastline, sometimes skimming within 500 feet of the beachfront. Up to three passengers at a time can fly and whoever’s in the co-pilot seat gets to steer and dip the plane. The pilot supervises, of course, and all are certified flight instructors as that’s one of the other things Golden State does. And, I can personally attest that if you and a significant other want to join the “mile high club” in the back of the plane, at least two instructors will gladly keep their eyes facing front, in return for a nominal tip (though be warned that your headset intercoms will still transmit whatever you say – or moan - to the pilot, as well as, quite possibly, to ground control….) $165.00 for the full one-hour tour.

BEST CLUELESS KARAOKE

U.S./Mexico Border, Tijuana Footbridge

Pedestrians taking the Tijuana footbridge just across the border must walk a gauntlet of pushy entrepreneurs who hope to get that first or last tourist dollar out of your wallet. On weekend nights on the south side of the footbridge, wanna-be singers croak through concert size speakers in the outdoor plaza Karaoke stage. Drunken sailors, under-21 partyers and curious passerby’s take turns grabbing the mike and singing along to lyrics which scroll jumpily on a low-tech video screen. A half dozen thick books list available songs, categorized alphabetically by performer or title or by the song’s style such as “Current Love,” “Lost Love,” “Heavy Metal” and “Rap And Hip-Hop.” Nearby sidewalk cantinas have dollar drinks and by midnight the crowd is thinned down to diehard drunks doing the two songs that DJs say are most requested - The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

BEST GAY BAR FOR HETEROSEXUALS

The Alibi

1403 University Ave. Hillcrest (619) 295-0881

“If this wasn’t Hillcrest, you’d never think this is a gay bar,” says one bartender (name withheld by request) at The Alibi. “A lot of business people who work nearby come here for lunch or when they get off because it’s the one place in the neighborhood where they can drink and not be automatically pegged for their sexual preference.” The casual lounge decor is classic naugahyde and wormwood and on weekends the crowd is evenly mixed between men and women with a few “either/or” wild cards thrown into the mix. “We have every kind of customer. Just because a guy comes in with a sleeveless shirt [and] a muscular build, he might really be a straight construction worker and not gay. Nobody is hitting on each other so nobody really knows. That’s why it’s the Alibi. It might be true, it might not be, or it may be just an excuse to peek out of the closet and see how the other half lives.” Best of all, for serious alcoholics, the Alibi usually opens by 8 a.m.!!!

BEST PLACE TO SCORE PRIMO SHEET

Music Central

5604 Balboa Ave. 858-279-6152

8190 Mira Mesa Blvd. 858-578-2411

After 30 years in business, Music Central boasts one of the largest selections of sheet music ever seen in San Diego. Most is written for piano, vocal and guitar and they carry a wide range of classical transcription, though this is mostly just for piano. Anything in print can be ordered, using often-updated catalogs with selections listed by book title, artist, song title, arrangement or even, with classical music, by arranger. Specialty stock is categorized by genre such as children’s songbooks, Christmas, Scottish and Irish and other specialty interests. Heavily stocked publishers include Hal Leonard (single sheets, tablature), Warner Bros. (mixed folios, personalities), Alfred (classical piano) and Bastien (teaching aids). Discounts are available for school music directors and teachers. The shop also sells and rents instruments and staff teachers hold classes for children and adults.

BEST STAGE PRESENCE

Collage Menage

http://www.collagemenage.com

Nobody’s going to accuse them of being musically adventurous like Pink Floyd or relevant like Springsteen. But this all-original group with a nearly 15 year local history, fronted by identical twins Fritz and Hans Jensen, does have a different hat they wear for each song. They go through a colorful costume collection as they play, most handmade by the bandmembers and themed to match their songs, as well as offering a “sound-and-video syched hi-tech multimedia presentation” (homemade videos shown on a TV which the singer controls with a remote).

BEST CAMPY CAMPGROUND

Campland On The Bay

2211 Pacific Beach Drive PB (858) 581-4200

Nearly hidden off a road behind Mission Bay High School, Campland is best known for its annual Live On The Bay concerts. The two day hippie/Deadhead festival increased local awareness of the campground and many attendees also discovered its marina landing, accessible to non-campers any time. Rental water toys include paddle boats and aquacycles ($15.00 per hour), motored fishing boats ($25.00 hourly) and Waverunners ($80.00 hourly). Camping spaces with full RV hookups run $33.00 to $46.25 Labor Day to Memorial day and from $45.00 to $66.00 during Summer (be warned that rates increase if occupancy is near full).

BEST FREE SKYLINE VIEW

Balboa Park, behind the Fleet Space Theater

Good views aren’t cheap. Whether you want to soak in the San Diego skyline over dinner, a nightcap, a makeout session or from your hotel room, you have to grease a few palms before anyone will let you enjoy the view. Balboa Park is home to low key stretch of grass and trees perched right on the edge of the city, affording a panoramic view of the skyline from the Coronado Bridge practically to Old Town. Located directly behind the Fleet Space Center, it’s highly recommended for daytime picnics but to be seriously avoided after dark.

BEST DUCK FEEDING

Lake Murray

I-8, Lake Murray Blvd./70th Street exit

Though wild, the multitude of ducks at this lake just east of Quaalcom Stadium are well cared for. One fellow comes every day with a duffel bag of chicken feed and he can tell you most of the ducks’ individual names, including several one-time pets dropped off by owners who’d become horrified when their cuddly baby peeper turned into a hungry, crap-squirting quacker. The turkey-looking Muscovey ducks, with swollen red growths on their face resembling Alien’s facehuggers, are bold and friendly and will eat cracked corn out of your hand. Never feed bread to ducks, as this swells in their stomachs and can kill them.

BEST STREET PERFORMANCES

Balboa Park, downtown, Central concourse walkway

Big Brother Is Everywhere and so of course even street performers have to be licensed by the city. On any summer day, along the walkways of Balboa Park, throngs of diverse show-biz startups compete every few yards for your attention and your tips, every one of them carrying signed permission to do so from the city. This makes for a nearly professional caliber of jugglers, palm readers, body artists, magicians and troubadors who’ve worked out their own social hierarchy and staked their respective turfs on what sometimes seems to be every single available patch of park visible to the public.

BEST VINTAGE LOCAL RADIO SHOWS ON CASSETTE

California Aircheck

P.O. Box 4408, San Diego, CA 92164 http://www.californiaaircheck.com

Phone 619-460-6104, Fax 619-460-5685

Since 1980, Lemon Grove-based California Aircheck has offered 60 – 90 minute audio tapes (average $11.00 apiece) featuring vintage local radio broadcasts (Djs only, no music) that may be purchased individually or by yearly subscription. New tapes are produced monthly and many selections are now available on compact disc. Tapes include sixties “Boss Jock” Steve Jay spinning platters on the long-gone KGB-AM’s “Boss 30” program, 1969 selections featuring Happy Hare on local KCBQ-AM (KGB’s chief rival in the late sixties) as well as segments spotlighting classic rock DJs like Les Turpin and Bill Wade. "We have hundreds and hundreds of hours of current and classic radio segments" in the vault, says owner George Junak, who counts among his former employers local “modern rock” station 91-X.

SEXIEST SINGER (FEMALE)

Rachael Gordon

“I don’t really play,” says San Diego native Rachael Gordon. “I sing, and I’ve always wanted to do that but only started doing shows about seven years ago with the Sleazybeats.” Regarding her slinky onstage wardrobe and sex symbol image, she says “I'm flattered, as long as people recognize that I have talent as well. Image is really important to me, and a sexy look just attracts attention to the music. As long as it's understood that ‘image’ is not where it all ends.” The downside of being a woman rocker? “It wasn't great being called a Nancy Sinatra wannabe in a San Diego Union review but I think the worst was when I was forced to sing the Mary Tyler Moore show theme at a coffeehouse.”

BEST WEDDING BAND

The Fabulous Pelicans

Booking information: 760-729-1546 email: [email protected]

The Fabulous Pelicans' playlist includes hundreds of songs, encompassing emotions from “Bad Case Of Loving You” (Robert Palmer) to “What’s Love Got To Do With It” (Tina Turner), as well as requisite wedding staples like “Beer Barrel Polka” (Frankie Yankovich), “Wonderful Tonight” (Eric Clapton) and “Unchained Melody” (Righteous Brothers). Vocalist Caroline Martin has sung on the soundtracks movies like “Steven King's Sleepwalkers.” Guitarist Greg Douglass played with the Steve Miller Band, co-writing the hit single “Jungle Love.” Drummer Paul Wheatbread toured for five years with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap while second guitarist Bob Garrett writes jingles for Ford and Toyota. Keyboardist Ethan Brown has performed with Chuck Berry and bassist Joe Hastings recorded with Hank Williams Jr. and Ricky Skaggs.

BEST EASTERN INDIAN BUFFET

Ashoka The Great

9474 Black Mountain Rd. Miramar (858) 695-9749

Don’t assume that all Indian food is heartburn-heavy with scary spices! The buffet selection at this Miramar restaurant is different each day, but there’s always a range of selections from those mildly spiced (curry potatoes with cauliflower) to sulphuric (spicy lentils). The samosas are soft and full of distinct flavors, like the always fresh peas and ginger-soaked potato pieces. Cost is $6.95 but their buffet is only offered for lunches, until around 3pm. An Indian grocery store next door offers carry-out selections of dishes which may or may not be on the buffet table next door.

BEST FREE MEATLESS MEAL

Hare Krishna Temple

1030 Grand Avenue Pacific Beach (619) 483-2252

Make no mistake - Hare Krishnas throw these free party-like vegetarian feasts at their PB temple because they want you on their home turf. Guys in bare feet and sarongs with knotted ponytails on their otherwise bald skulls don’t look nearly so avoidable when they’re all around you, giving you free sh-t. And it really is a breathtaking temple, with handpainted and sculpted walls and pillars and some of the most inspired religious paintings ever created hanging on its walls. The biggest ten-plus course feast and best dinner theater (chanting, singing) happens each Sunday at 7:30 pm. You don’t have to chant - or join - to eat the excellent chow.

BEST PET SHOP TO GIVE SOMEONE THE BIRD

Feathered Friends

4420 Rainier Ave. (619) 280-5134

Birds are delicate creatures, often temperature sensitive and requiring more care and attention than other pets. So it follows that, if a bird is to be bred and sold as a retail commodity, the retailer must be attentive and caring and not just throw some popular birds in a corner cage next to the rabbits and salamanders. The staff at Feathered Friends are highly informed about all aspects of birdkeeping such as food, health upkeep, training, breeding and even which paints are too toxic to use on bird cages, insuring that the shop fully lives up to the implication of its name.

BEST MEN-IN-BLACK-FISHNETS

Lips

2770 5th Ave. Hillcrest (619) 295-7900

The Dreamgirls Review, headquartered at The Brass Rail for years, used to be queens of the fishnet-and-stubble circuit. Today’s reigning stars are the humorous boy/girls of Lips. Thursdays feature celebrity impersonators mimicking the likes of Cher, Liza, Sade, Michael Jackson and Axl Rose (!?). For what are probably sociological reasons too strange to dwell on, most are performed as jaded parodies, unlike Dreamgirls’ sleek tributes of yore. A $15.00 minimum and $3.00 cover is applicable to dinner and drinks.

BEST HIPPIE THROWBACK BAND

Rockola

These longtime locals have a groovy song list which must be more comprehensive than a complete collection of Nuggets Lps. As dependable as an infinitely stocked jukebox, they can be counted on to back up visiting 60’s icons like Badfinger’s Joey Molland as well as headlining with their own set list of eclectic and sometime excruciating radio staples like “Seasons In The Sun,” “The Night Chicago Died” and Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow.”

BEST BAIL BONDSMAN

El Cajon Bail Bonds

118 Rea Ave. El Cajon (619) 442-9998

When you’re anxious to get a loved one out of the slammer, don’t just dial the first bail bondsman you see advertised on a bus stop bench near the jail. Crime happens at all hours so you need a 24 hour service. Several on-call bondsmen insure that someone can get to the right jail with the correct reams of paperwork in the shortest time. El Cajon Bail Bonds does it all including state and federal bonds and they accept credit cards. Rates for misdemeanors start as low as 8% of the set bail amount (compared to 10% elsewhere).

BEST CORNBALL COSTUME SALES

Fun ‘N Folly

13223-1 Black Mountain Rd. PMB201

(858) 780-0302 www.funfolly.com

For over thirty years, Fun ‘N Folly has sold not just Santa Claus and cowboy costumes but also wigs and beards, makeup kits, hats, mascot suits, props (stethoscopes, swords, guns, angel wings), fake fangs, dismembered body parts and of course the ever popular Groucho nose-and-glasses. They’re presently searching for a new local storefront but meanwhile their selection can be browsed by visiting their website or by calling their order line for information. All their wares are new and unused and unavailable for rentals

BEST MURDER AND A MEAL

The Mystery Café, Imperial House Restaurant

505 Kalmia St. San Diego (619) 544-1600

Since 1990, comic murder mysteries and delicious four course meals have been served up every weekend by the suspects themselves at this popular restaurant. More interactive than anything one can do alone at a computer terminal, patrons get to participate in the dastardly doings and ask questions as the evening progresses before being invited to guess whodunit. Held every Friday and Saturday night, about fifty dollars will cover dinner and the show but tips and drinks are extra. Vegetarian and special diets are happily accommodated.

BEST BOY-AND-GIRL WATCHING

Guava Beach Bar and Grill

3714 Mission Blvd. Mission Beach (858) 488-6688

This Mission Beach meat market is as cozy as an Aspen ski lodge with a roaring fireplace on winter nights and a munchie menu of left coast specialties like jalapeno nachos, seafood dishes and a mouthwatering artichoke dip. Beautiful and buff beach types provide a fairly evenly matched female-to-male ratio to insure that lots of scoring goes on each weekend, and not just among those playing with the box of games kept near the tables at the back of the club or staring into the psychedelic fishtanks.

BEST VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT

Jyoti Bihanga

3351 Adams Ave. Normal Heights (619) 282-4116

The eastern Indian influence is low key in this plainly decorated Normal Heights eatery where meat is murder and tofu is the ingredient of choice in many dinners and entrees. Photos hang on the wall showing a spiritual swami who demonstrates the power of his will by lifting a trailer load of weights. A different curried dish is offered every couple of days along with Mexican-inspired garden burritos, a rotating soup selection and a Saturday all-you-can-eat brunch. Entree and dinner prices range from $5.00 to $12.00.

BEST DINER TO KISS MAH GRITS

Rudford’s

2900 El Cajon Blvd. (619) 282-8423

It was a sad day for greasy spoon lovers when Topsy’s diner near Hillcrest closed in 2002 and its campy 60’s Vegas-style marquee fell to the wrecking ball. Luckily, just up the street, Rudford’s remains open 24 hours a day with its own retro chrome and vinyl decor and testy truckstop waitresses. The all American menu of artery-clogging and fat filled diner food includes grilled tuna and cheese ($4.45), specialty burgers (from $4.95), chicken fried steaks with country gravy ($6.25 lunch/$7.25 dinner) and assorted pies, pudding and ice cream.

BEST GLASS BLOWING

Garry Cohen

20307 Beech Lane Escondido (760) 745-7020

Watching an artist like Garry Cohen create intricate vases and bottles can be awe inspiring. First, he places his steel blowpipe into an open furnace and gathers a glob of molten glass onto its tip before pulling it out to blow air into the glass while it cools. Shaping is achieved with gravity, pressing on a steel warver table and with a variety of tweezers and lip sheers. No two pieces are exactly the same and Cohen also does special orders and commissions.

BEST PLACE TO POP OFF A FEW CAPS

American Marksmen (formerly Magnolia Indoor Range)

8516-201 Magnolia Ave. Santee (619) 596-4099

The facade of this state of the art shooting range looks like a typical strip mall storefront. Once inside however, after showing ID, a BFSC certificate and signing their term agreement, shooters can rent space in a computerized target gallery with individual stations for $10.00 per hour. The facility also has a full line of firearm supplies and on-site training in gun handling and safety as well as renting everything from eye protection and headphones to human shaped target sheets and heavy duty weaponry.

BEST DEAD COW CLOTHES

San Diego Leather Jacket Factory

Corner of 4th Avenue and National City Boulevard (800) 232-6626

Ladies leather chaps ($145.00), goatskin bomber jackets ($99.95), black cowhide pants ($125.00) and toddlers’ motorcycle jackets ($49.95) are just some of the clothes made from former cow parts found in this huge discount warehouse. They offer a solid ten year guarantee for stitching and zippers on American-made jackets but imported cowskin only carries a 90 day warranty against defects. Quality is top drawer and prices are near wholesale, even on smaller items like fanny packs, purses, belts and vests.

BEST COUNTERCULTURE SHOP

High Road Psychedelic Shop

1465 Garnet Ave. PB (858) 273-7501

Many seventies survivors find it strangely comforting that High Times magazine, Zig-Zag rolling papers and all manner of bongs and glass pipes are still openly available at “head shops,” while the activities often associated with these things are more illegal than ever. The High Road, with a second location on El Cajon Boulevard, now caters to an almost mainstreamed clientele of nostalgic heads, nouveau young hippies and party animals. Even the drug-free and psychedelically impaired can find decent, reasonably priced jewelry, incense, T-shirts, books and of course back issues of Relix Magazine and Grateful Dead Comix.

BEST DEADHEAD DIVE

Winstons

1921 Bacon St. Ocean Beach (619) 222-6822

Possibly hoping to be perceived as more upscale than just another OB dive full of hemp loving sandal-wearers, Winstons abandoned its weekly Grateful Dead nights and instead tried booking reggae, funk and even hardcore acts. Now realizing that the Deadicated Disciples of Jerry are a more dependable and thirsty crowd than rastafarians and rappers, they’ve allowed Mondays to slide back into the hands of tie-dye circuit jam groups.

BEST SIDEWALK BREAKFAST

Por Favor Restaurant

8302 La Mesa Blvd. (619) 698-5950

Not many local restaurants possess a twenty-five year pedigree like this rustic Mexican eatery in downtown La Mesa. Breakfast ($4.00-$10.00) begins at 9am on weekends and can be enjoyed outdoors on a patio facing La Mesa Blvd. and corralled by wrought iron fences to keep the sidewalk strollers far from hijacking your heuvos. Green table parasols keep the morning sun at bay and the red metal chairs are comfortable enough and placed with lots of room to stretch out, read the paper and let the day have its first whack at you.

BEST PET CEMETERY

San Diego Pet Memorial Park

8995 Crestmar Point (858) 271-4242 sandiegopetmemorial.com

Not just a pet cemetery but also a wildlife sanctuary where critters indigenous to San Diego run around the kitty crypts and doggie tombs. A one-time maintenance fee gets you a basic burial plot and you can decide later whether to add a headstone. Services are performed with admirably straight faces and customers who opt for cremation can have the remains placed in an urn and delivered to wherever people deliver powdered pets. Their online FAQ contains this caveat: “Caskets are not used for horses because it is neither possible nor efficient.”

BEST ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY TAXI SERVICE

The Original Bike Cab Company

Environmentally aware tourists and locals can now catch a cab without being responsible for one bit of air pollution, unless your driver happens to eat a bean burrito for lunch. The Original Bike Cab Company has around thirty pedal powered rides moving up to several hundred people an hour, from the marina to the Embarcadero and all over downtown and the Gaslamp. One way rates start at $10.00 per person, $15.00 round-trip and they also rent bikes and offer bicycle and bikecab tours of the city.

BEST CHIMNEY SWEEP

Chimneys-R-Us

4021 Swift Ave. (619) 280-4700

“When we sweep your chimney,” says Michael Mullen, vice president of Chimneys-R-Us, “your white carpet stays white, there’s no mess and we’re not smudged like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.” Workers inspect, clean, rebuild and repair all chimneys, fireplaces and wood burning appliances. “Safety inspections should be done every year, every other year if it’s not used often. Soot is flammable and corrosive and it’s cheap insurance to do preventative maintenance.” Basic service on a two story chimney starts at around $119.00 and $109.00 for a one story chimney. The cleaning takes from a half hour to forty-five minutes. “Some of the guys do dress up and have a top hat in the truck. We usually don’t wear them unless the customer asks and a lot of customers do. But it gets kind of hot when you’re on a roof in Ramona at noon, and the last thing you want to be doing is dancing around with a top hat.”

BEST SAILING LESSONS

San Diego Sailing Academy

1500 Quivira Way Pacific Beach (619) 223-6253

The San Diego Sailing Academy offers professional sailing instruction for boat owners and those interested in running charter operations and in other sailing careers. Graduates receive American Sailing Association certificate necessary to sail professionally. Instructors are all licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard and no more than two students at a time are included in each certification class. Three day excursions start at $1,000.00. A five day combination package, Basic Coastal Cruising/Bareboat Chartering Certification, costs $1,500.00 and includes training in piloting and sailing by using a chart, reading a hand-bearing compass, jibing, steering in waves, anchoring and how to dock using either a motor or under sail power. Seven day excursions can run over $2,000.00 and the company also books corporate sailing regattas for up to twelve participants and post-certification refresher courses.

BEST WHALEWATCHING

Helgren’s Sportfishing Trips

315 Harbor Drive South Oceanside (760) 722-2133

Whale watch cruises run from December through March. Most are 3/4 day runs, 1/2 day runs and twilight trips though Helgren’s also books multi-day custom charters. The boats go five miles out of the harbor, heading south toward the pier, and the whales to watch for are forty foot long, thirty ton Gray Whales who pass near the shore on their annual migration south. “There’s usually at least one spotted,” says a sales clerk, “and sometimes three or four or a mother with her babies.” The captain narrates and each trip lasts about two hours. Cost varies according to season and demand and can run as little as $8.00 per person with groups of 25 or more passengers. Helgren’s also has a fish and tackle store which handles everything from fishing licenses to gear and boat rentals.

MOST APPETIZING LOCAL BAND NAMES

If you have the Price Of Dope, then surely you can achieve Canobliss. Follow up with a nibble of Soulcracker, eaten over The Good China, ‘natch, and if there are any leftovers you can always pack them up in a Sack Lunch for tomorrow. The all time most munchie-inspiring band name would have to be Flavor Snacks, however, since people AND dogs love to eat ‘em up.

BEST NEW AGE MUSIC WHILE YOU GET YOUR HAIR DONE

Indigo

3545 4th Ave. San Diego (619) 294-3055

Getting a haircut can be a traumatic experience, as can having a perm or getting your hair colored. So many horrible things could go wrong, scary accidents that could result in mothers covering their children’s eyes when they pass you on the street. It helps to have some soothing and relaxing music in the background, to take your mind off how disfigured you might be when the scissors stop and the chemicals are washed out. At Indigo in Hillcrest, the calming begins as soon as you walk into its spacious entry room. Marble and classic Greek statuary mingles with pop art and diner decor. Speakers throughout the salon’s rooms play music usually programmed by the employees - Enya, Carlos Nakai, Cowboy Junkies and lots of tunes loaded up on either lilting pan flutes or synthesizers with phasers set on “snooze.” At various times, there are also folks on hand who offer pedicures, manicures and even massage therapy, providing full service pampering at fair prices, from $20.00 for a basic cut, $50.00 for coloring and perms and nails from $10.00 on up.

BEST ‘BERTOS

It all seemed harmless enough in the '70s. KGB was giving out free dinners at Roberto’s, a popular chain of taco stands. Soon, however, dozens of other burrito vendors painted their buildings gaudy colors and took on variations of the bankable ‘Berto’s name. One prolific competitor in the Battle Of The ‘Bertos has been Alberto’s, with locations from Chula Vista to La Mesa, Mira Mesa and Poway. That chain, however, is not connected to National City’s Albertu’s or Albertaco’s at Montezuma and El Cajon Boulevard. Neither should Hamberto’s in La Mesa be confused with Humberto’s on 43rd Street. There are several Hilberto’s, in El Cajon, Santee and southern San Diego. Up and comers Adalberto’s have several shops, but they face an aggressive array of rivals like Filiberto’s on Ulric, Eiberto’s on South Meadowbrook, Ramberto’s and Jilberto’s in Spring Valley, Aiberto’s in Lemon Grove, Aliberto’s on La Mesa Boulevard and Royberto’s on Waring Road.

All the ‘Berto’s have basically the same greasy menu, with burritos running around $1.20 and fancy fish tacos setting you back around two bucks. The very best bean ‘n’ lard heart bombs may well be at Norberto’s in El Cajon, where the salsa is guaranteed to provide hours of bathroom reading time.

BEST ITTY BITTY TEENY WEENY BIKINIS

Pilar's Beach Wear

3745 Mission Boulevard, Mission Beach 858-488-3056

WWW.pilarsbeachwear.com

The bright blue awning in front of Pilar’s looks pale compared to the explosion of color seen inside the shop’s front door. Long lines in front of the dressing rooms are common, as are boyfriends and other spectators who watch the parade of pulchritude trying on the hundreds of styles from makers like Body Glove ($28.00 to $35.00, pieces sold separately) as well as pedigree designer duds by Gideon Oberson and Gottex ($80.00 to $200.00, sold in two-piece sets only). The shop allows customers to mix and match tops and bottoms from different size and style selections, in order to fit every type of body from petite to full figured and everything in between, including bikinis for pregnant women! Also sold are accessories like wraps and cover-ups ($20.00 to $100.00), visors (from $5.00) and beach bags ($18.00 to $60.00). Open Monday through Saturday 10am to 6:30pm and Sundays from 10 to 6.

BEST PHOTO FIXER-UPPERS

Village Studio

8806 La Mesa Boulevard, La Mesa 619-466-6708

Owned by second generation husband and wife team of David and Sherry Gillespie, Village Studio repairs and restores antique photographs. The shop first opened in 1947, and has kept up with technology through the years. Digital retouching of damaged or discolored photos makes it possible to have like-new photographic prints made with all of the original photo's tears, cracks and fading digitally corrected, without wear and tear to the fragile originals. Minor restoration runs $30.00 to $60.00 plus the cost of new prints (the first 8” X 10” print runs $25.00, and $18.00 for each subsequent print). Moderate repairs begin at $125.00 and very heavy restoration can cost from $185.00 to $225.00. "We know how to handle these irreplaceable images. Your treasured old photographs are completely safe because we scan the originals for restoration, returning the originals unharmed. Your cherished photographs never leave our studio." Your images can be scanned onto a CD disc – cost is $35.00 for the first image and $10.00 for each additional image.

STAR TREK: The Continuing Mission

“I don't know how long the story will last,” emailed Patrick McCray awhile back, “but the show on which I'm a producer, STAR TREK: THE CONTINUING MISSION, is a top story on the entertainment page of the CNN website!”

Patrick and I worked together on various comic book projects back in the day, including a Gene Roddenberry bio comic that I wrote and he edited, so I’ve long known he was an avid Trekkie (or Trekker, ‘pending the bitchiness of the beholder). So it was with great curiosity that I checked out the web radio audio series which he not only co-produces but also co-stars in, as Lt. Commander Jack McGuire, Chief Engineer of the Starship USS Montana.

Star Trek: The Continuing Mission is a fan-made noncommercial, nonprofit enterprise, not necessarily authorized by Trek owners at Paramount, but not discouraged either. Since the demise of TV’s Star Trek: Enterprise, productions like The Continuing Mission are helping to keep the franchise alive with fresh, new stories.

Created by Andy Tyrer and Sebastian Prooth, Star Trek: TCM features an ensemble cast and crew of radio and stage veterans. The storyline, as excerpted from the TCM website, goes like this:

Star Trek: The Continuing Mission follows the adventures of the Trieste class starship, USS Montana, under the command of Starfleet veteran, Captain Edwards. The pilot episode “Ghost Ship” begins in the 23rd century around the time of the second Star Trek feature film, “The Wrath of Khan” and after the unexpected and rather deadly turn of events the USS Montana and her crew end up in the 24th century, approximately 5 years before the missions of Captain Picard and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Once they arrive in the 24th century, they cannot get back to their own time and the series takes place in the new time period.

The “Ghost Ship” pilot featured a guest actor from Trek’s first TV incarnation: Lawrence Montaigne appeared in the original series as Romulan officer Decius in Balance of Terror, and Spock’s rival Stonn in Amok Time.

Within a couple of weeks of being released on the internet, the episode had already been downloaded over 20,000 times!

Patrick McCray’s background includes working as a design assistant on the pilot for the Babylon 5 TV series, for which he also served as art department buyer for the show's sophomore season.

“B5 was at once grueling and stunningly dull,” he says. “I bought a ton of fake plants for the station. I got material to cushion the two sliding doors to me medlab... a project that took the better part of a week. We got all new wall panels for medlab, all of which lived in the back seat of my car. I got the yellow oxygen tank that went into the Starfury cockpit. I bought paint. I researched how to make a fake tooth filled with blue jelly."

"It impressed me how many mundane things have to happen to make a show get on the air," says Patrick, "and the crazy hours you put in even when the show's not in production. The best thing I DIDN’T have to do was clean out the Zen garden. That was located right across from the medlab and was a big sandbox. Cats had snuck in while everyone was away and did exactly what feral cats would do with a giant sand box. So, whenever you see people waxing philosophically over that Zen sand garden, imagine stray cats evacuating their bowels at their feet a few weeks before."

Patrick also appeared in another fan-made sci-fi opus, the 2005 Lucasfilm Fan Film Contest Audience Choice winner, SITH APPRENTICE, downloadable on Atomfilms.com.

Sith Apprentice is comedy short, featuring (among other chuckle-worthy scenarios) Darth Vader and a chorus line of Imperial stormtroopers, high-stepping an onstage rendition of Riverdance.

Patrick moved from San Diego and is currently a drama coach in Knoxville, Tennessee. He has directed of over thirty plays, has been a professional Shakespearean actor, and his voice work in radio commercials has been heard throughout the Midwest.

“I am saddened to hear that the population[in San Diego] has exploded since I left,” he says. “When I lived there - off-and-on with my dad from 1987-1990, and then "solidly" from 1990-1994 - it was two steps away from THE OMEGA MAN. It was a big city that was a tad more underpopulated than you'd expect. I hear that's changed. That's been the big thing that's kept me from moving back. That and, in Knoxville, I live in an apartment with the sort of neighborhood, fixtures, and architecture that would cost a San Diegan four figures a month. I pay $585. But, oddly enough, the thing I like about my neighborhood is that it really feels like University City.”

Here’s an interview I conducted with Patrick via email, RE the fanmade Trek series:

JAS: Once the first episode of Star Trek: The Continuing Mission was done, how did listening to the end result influence the way the second ep was planned to unfold?

PATRICK: It really made a big impression with us. First, we got a good idea of our strengths... namely the ability to create vibrant, ambient sound atmospheres with Andy Tyrer's genius in the editing bay. We also got a handle on what needed improving. We began to get an idea of what directing approaches elicited even better responses from the cast. We found places where timing could be tightened. We got the idea that it's good to start things out with as much of a bang as possible.

And finally, we began to experiment with my accent. Although the producers were pleased with it, it didn't ring as authentic as we would have liked. McGuire's now morphing into a bit more of a "John Huston" as opposed to the Lucky Charms leprechaun.

The accent comments largely came from people from Ireland. It wasn't a matter of comments by the score or even a dozen. Probably three. But it was enough that I thought, to hell with it. Let's go for something that won't distract any of the audience. I had originally -- pre-recording -- planned on a much thicker brogue. In fact, I was instructed to do one by my producers. No problem. I'm a theatrical dialect coach and this was a no-brainer. The thick brogue was meant to make him stand out from O'Brien on DS9.

PATRICK: Then, all of a sudden, when I sat down to record, my director -- after months of me practicing with my very heavy brogue -- changed his mind and asked me to make it a very light lilt. I try to be a "director's actor," and I did it without complaint. But, overall, it was a little disorienting. It's a lot easier to credibly do a thick accent than a believable light one. So, when I was later told that my accent was "all over the map," I had to agree. Of course, these complaints come from people in the UK, who hear Irish accents all the time. I've now narrowed it down to a few vowel sounds with a deeper growl to the voice.

If I had my druthers, I would have made him a New Englander. My stepfather is from one of those parts of New Orleans where the natives have a light New England accent, and I can do it effortlessly. A New England accent is seafaring, rugged, stoic, and unlike anything we've ever heard on Star Trek. But they asked for Irish and they got Irish.

JAS: What sort of events transpire in the second episode that set up the ongoing premise and characterizations?

PATRICK: I can't give away too many surprises, but we take on the main goal of any Star Trek pilot -- to answer, "What makes these guys unique from the five other crews we've seen?" They're now in a time roughly five years before Picard launches the Enterprise in the Next Generation time period. What is the culture clash? How do they fit in? Are there people from the past who hold grudges? Are there people in the "present" who misinterpret our heroes? The plot revolves around addressing those key issues.

JAS: Does the cast feel constrained or obligated to echo past characters in order to keep things on familiar ground, or do any of the Continuing Mission characters totally break the mold from previous programs?

PATRICK: I think we try to stay as original as we can, but it's hard not to have hundreds of hours of Trek programming not inform some of your decisions. Still, the executive producers want to work towards tooling this as a Star Trek that address the concerns of 2008-2009 the way the previous shows have addressed the issues of their eras.

JAS: With scriptwriting, do you consider the events in Continuing Mission to be canonical, ie adhering strictly to the overall Trek premise as well as the small technical details? Or will the stories mix and match alternate timelines and/or universes, ala several Voyager eps hinting that there is no one linear timeline (anymore)?

PATRICK: We attempt to stay very canonical. I'm sure there are technical details that may escape us now and then, but if that ever happens, we plan on really listening to the fans to help right the ship. But yes, canon is very important. We have talked about several alternate timeline ideas, though.

JAS: How far in advance is the storyline currently plotted, ie how many episodes and what span-of-time will take place within the series (five year "mission" in the time period they're thrown into, or ?) ?

PATRICK: We have the first season's stories pretty locked down. The second season is starting to ferment. Each season is about ten episodes, each season taking place roughly over a year of the Montana's life. The end of the entire show, as planned, leads into an event that will be very familiar with Star Trek fans.

JAS: What possible storylines do you envision far down the line, beyond what's already been officially plotted? Any dream scenarios come to mind? Kayless VS Surak? Gorn licks Salt Vampire? Sybok teams up with Spock from the Evil Beard universe? Q VS Trelane, with the loser getting spanked by Apollo? Some green-on-green slavegirl action?

PATRICK: That's more in the hands of the executive producers. A major new villain is coming along. The Cardassian War is heating up. My writing partner, David Raines, and I keep coming up with "A Piece of the Action"-style comedy episodes. But the "big thinking" is largely between Sebastian Prooth and Andy Tyrer, our executive producers. I have written the start of an episode that quickly devolves into Seinfeldian quibbling on the bridge. I'd like to see that happen. Captain Edwards' cilantro allergy would be a key point. I can dream, can't I?

(Sebastian Prooth manning the Bridge)

Star Trek: TCM Co-Creator and Co-Executive Producer Sebastian Prooth is well known in the Star Trek Community for his interviews with Star Trek Production and cast members, poisted on his blog, Seb’s Raw Takes.

The second episode of Star Trek: The Continuing Mission – “Integration” - is due to be released online shortly.

A trailer is downloadable here (click): STAR TREK: The Continuing Mission

(“Star Trek” ® and all related trademarks are property of CBS/Paramount. Above use of anything related to "Star Trek" is not meant to be an infringement on CBS/Paramount's property rights to "Star Trek.”)

3 - JIM McINNES: THE LAST DJ

"There goes the last DJ/who plays what he wants to play/and says what he wants to say/there goes your freedom of choice/there goes the last human voice/there goes the last DJ" -- lyrics from "The Last DJ," by Tom Petty

DJ Jim McInnes spent 28 years in radio before being fired for the first time a few years ago by Clear Channel/101.5 KGB FM. McInnes had spent most of disc jockey career ["And over half my life!"] at KGB.

"He's a local broadcast legend who knows the local music community," says Shambles guitarist Bart Mendoza. "He gave us our very first airplay back in the Manual Scan days [ Mendoza 's original mid-eighties group], kind of giving us the impetus to continue. Someone was listening!"

(Bart Mendoza)

Says Mendoza, "In an age where 'local radio' means the DJ is in Texas and has possibly never seen your town, Jim is a treasure." Mendoza makes note of the fact that McInnes is a musician himself, having played from 1979 through 1981 with the local punk outfit Land Piranhas.

(McInnes on guitar)

McInnes ignored his musical aspiration for nearly two decades, but has recently picked up the guitar again to play with Modern Rhythm, along with Jack Pinney, once the drummer for Iron Butterfly. "I respect that he continues to perform," says Mendoza . "It's an indication of just how much he loves music. He's also one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. He's the voice of San Diego radio!"

Scott Chatfield used to serve as promotions director at KGB and spent many years working alongside McInnes. He tells me "Jim's impressive because he's thoroughly unimpressed with his own celebrity. He's a great friend, personality, humorist, musician and water volleyball player. Before I joined KGB, McInnes' voice and dada-esqe yet conversational attitude were synonymous with the station for me. He and his wife Sandi were among the first to make friends with me when I joined KGB as producer of the Delany & Prescott Show in June '83, and they were kind enough to take me out to dinner the night I was relieved of that job in September '84."

"Jim and his family were our companions on our first European trip in 1988. Jim and I have traveled a lot together since then. When Jim took a two-year break from hosting his legendary local music show, The Homegrown Hour, he chose me to fill in, a task that was pure joy."

The Homegrown Hour featured only San Diego musicians, and there was also a series of Homegrown vinyl records, the first of which was released in 1973 and sported liner notes by a teenage KGB listener named Cameron Crowe (later to author "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and the subject/writer/director of the film "Almost Famous"). "Through Homegrown, I became close with many San Diego musicians, including Mike Keneally, who I now manage and am partners with in our label Exowax Recordings." McInnes and Chatfield co-produced the final album in the series, Homegrown '84.

(Ron Jacobs accepting gold record for KGB Homegrown album in 1973 - photo by Russ Puls)

Mark DeCerbo of Rockola has resurrected Four Eyes, the power pop band he fronted in the late seventies and early eighties. "Jim was always hanging out at shows, checking out local bands. Being in a position as the top DJ at the biggest radio station in town, he was able to put on these shows called 'Homegrown Nights,' at a place called My Rich Uncle's. Local bands would play live for an audience and he'd record them on an eight track recorder and then play it that weekend over the radio, the full show. Whenever there was something happening with local music, he'd not only be there in person but then he'd take it to the airwaves, if not recorded then he'd talk about it."

(Mark DeCerbo)

Says DeCerbo, "Four Eyes had a song called 'Dangerous' on one of the Homegrown albums, and that was the first chance a lot of us had to be recorded and have records in the stores. He also played our songs sometimes during his drive-time slot and on a Sunday night show he had that focused on local music. DJs just don't have that kind of freedom any more and, even if they did, few would be daring enough to put so much into local musicians who don't even have a record deal."

(David Peck with Elvis Costello, courtesy Reelin' In the Years)

David Peck's local Reelin' In The Years Productions maintains an archive of over 10,000 filmed musical performances, as well as representing others with footage to license for broadcast or video releases. Reelin' holds a piece of historical footage featuring McInnes, which it has licensed for use to VH1. "I got ahold of a piece of film that was shot at a backyard party here in San Diego , around 1981," he says. "Weird Al Yankovic was there, before he really broke big, when he was still doing 'Another One Rides the Bus' on [syndicated radio show] Dr. Demento. Jim is playing with him, and he's playing Weird Al's accordion and somebody comes by and spills beer on the thing. Weird Al got really upset with him, because it was a brand new accordion! And Jim is just shrugging his shoulders, like, 'hey, it's just an accordion, not a Les Paul,' but Weird Al wasn't laughing. Shows which one of them actually had the sense of humor, huh?"

McInnes explains in a phone interview "What happened was that my friend tried to pour a beer in my mouth while my hands were occupied trying to play accordion for the first time, and it spilled into the [instrument's] bellows. [Weird] Al was a good sport about it - he'd just had the accordion cleaned!"

(Marc Intravaia)

Guitarist Marc Intravaia used to play with the Monroes, who had a brief taste of national fame with the hit "What Do All The People Know." "Back in the seventies," he says, "I was in a band called Listen, and we were on some of the Homegrown albums. In '75 and '76 or so, we did KGB's musical logos and played music for their commercials, and Jim even helped get us half hour spotlights about our band, like on the Sunday night shows. Back then, Jim was the guy who made KGB a really progressive radio station, and he really gave local bands a boost. I was 18 when we met, and I was in awe of DJs, of meeting the guys behind the voices on the radio."

(McInnes 1979, courtesy jimmcinnes.com)

"KGB used to put on free concerts at what is now called Starlight Bowl but then it was Balboa Bowl. Listen did a few of those, and Jim used to get up on stage and jam with us sometimes. The first time was '74 or '75, and I wasn't even aware at the time that he was a musician. I'm sure we had a bunch of beer and he said 'by the way, I play guitar,' and we said 'all right'.I think we just played a typical blues thing. As a guitar player, he's, uh, he's a great DJ."

(Gabriel Wisdom with Timothy Leary, 1976)

DJ Gabriel Wisdom has been a fixture on local radio even longer than McInnes, since 1968 when he helped pioneer "free form" FM radio at local station KPRI. Wisdom went to work on-air for KGB in the early seventies. The station was at the time launching a publicity campaign announcing that KGB was being "recycled," referencing the then-current ecology craze but in actuality referring to a programming change that would now be called "instituting a new format." That format was progressive, album oriented rock and roll.

(McInnes with Sam Bass of KYXY)

Wisdom told me about the first time he met McInnes, in the early seventies. "I had just started at KGB. I think I was the first FM disc jockey hired for the 'recycling' of KGB, and he was the second, when they lured him away from KPRI. When I first met him, and they were showing him around the station, I was knocking heads with the program director at the time because I wanted to do everything my way. Well, they fired me and hired Jim, so I was meeting my replacement, even though I didn't know it at the time. They hired me back a week later. So when Jim got fired from KGB recently, he'd never been fired, and I told him 'now you're finally a veteran radio DJ!'"

McInnes elaborates: "There's a saying in broadcasting; 'If you haven't been fired, you haven't worked in radio.' "

According to Wisdom, "Jim was one of the earliest people to use short abbreviated phrases like 'JM in the PM on the FM.' He's quite a wordsmith, and very well educated. He was the first guy that I ever heard use the phrase "cunning linguist" on the air, which you have to pronounce very carefully, or else, you know."

Wisdom reveals the little known fact that McInnes took seven years of Russian and is quite fluent in speaking the difficult dialect. "The irony of that, of course, is him working at a station called KGB! There was one time in the early nineties when Yakov Smirnoff, the Russian comedian, came into the studio when he was in town [performing] at the Comedy Store. Jim starts talking Russian to the guy and they sounded like a couple of KGB mafiosos! He'd told me he spoke Russian, but I'd never seen the proof until then. How do you describe half a dozen jaws dropping?"

"The most memorable part was when Jim said something in Russian, and I have no idea what it was, and Yakov Smirnov replied, in perfect English, 'That's the straw that broke Glen Campbell's back.' To this day, I have no idea what that was in reference to."

(Joey Harris - photo by Ryan Loyko, for the Reader)

Guitarist Joey Harris is a former member of the Beat Farmers (he replaced Buddy Blue after the third Beat Farmers record, "Van Go"), and he fronted Joey Harris and The Speedsters. "Jim used to get me backstage to after-parties," he says in a phone interview. "He'd be emceeing the concert and we'd hang out and we'd go to the hotel afterward to hang out with the band. Like at Cheap Trick. There were a lot of naked girls everywhere, in '83 or '84, back when Cheap Trick still had naked girls hanging around them."

Asked for further details, Harris (now married) laughs and says "I can't remember. I'm not sure that actually happened." McInnes emceed Harris' wedding when he married his wife onstage at Street Scene in 1990, perhaps explaining Harris' reluctance to reminisce.

McInnes today is the evening news anchor for KFMB 760AM and he writes a monthly column for San Diego Troubadour magazine. In January '08, he landed the afternoon drive-time traffic reporter slot at Jack FM. I called him awhile back, in part to give him a chance to hear what others had told me about him for this piece, but also to offer him a chance to add his own commentary or rebuttals, which I’ve inserted throughout this blog essay.

Mainly, tho, I wanted to ask him what it was that he and Yakov Smirnoff were talking about that resulted in Smirnoff commenting "That's the straw that broke Glen Campbell's back."

McInnes laughed and said "I don't remember that [about Glen Campbell's back]! I don't know if that actually happened. But it sounds good and, if Gabriel said it, well, it's at least entertaining. That's what DJs do, you know. We're entertainers."

At least the good ones are.

I'll Sue Ya

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(Weird Al Video "I'll Sue Ya")

4 - THE OB RANGER RIDES AGAIN: RETURN OF A ‘70S COUNTERCULTURE HERO

“We were going after the progressive rock or the album rock crowd,” says radio DJ and programming vet Gary Allyn about his early seventies on-air gig in San Diego. “We wanted an independent attitude of not giving a damn about anything because we could get away with a lot of that in Mexico. So our IDs and buffers had things you couldn’t say on American radio. We did quasi drug references. Like ‘It’s time for the scores’ - and the scores would be ‘four keys, two lids.’ With stuff like the O.B. Ranger routines, there was always that underground go-against-society undercurrent. Of course O.B. was the center of the hippie movement in that period, flower power and the drug culture and all that.”

Already in his thirties at the time, Allyn was an unlikely counter culture spokesman. At Ohio University, he’d majored in Speech, Radio-TV and Drama before earning a certificate in Radio-TV Arts from the Cincinnati College Of Music. He spent two years as a Radio Specialist in the 4th Army Information Section.

(1962: Allyn on Army radio/TV)

Allyn already had fifteen years of radio experience when he hit San Diego, having begun with an on-air gig at WING in Dayton Ohio in 1955. He also held positions as a production director, program director and operations manager at stations in Cincinnati, Miami, Atlanta, San Antonio, Denver, Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Additionally, he deposited the occasional extra check for jokes he’d written for comedians like Lenny Bruce, “Herky” Stiles and Woody Woodbury. “That was in the late fifties but comedy writers didn’t make a lot of money and still don’t make much more now than they did then.”

He first came to San Diego to work for KCBQ in 1965. “I was on the air right when KCBQ was kind of faltering and BOSS Radio had come into being. So KCBQ brought in some new jocks and tried to make a new start. Then I went to San Antonio for a couple of years and came back to KCBQ in ‘68, first as an on-air personality and then as Program Director. This was during the real ratings battle days with KGB. At that time progressive rock was just hitting the radio. Stations like KPRI were just starting to do it, playing longer album cuts.”

Allyn talks about some of the talent he worked with at KCBQ. “I had ‘Magic’ Christian before Buzz Bennett took over the ‘Q. Happy Hare made a late sixties comeback there too. Joe Light is another.”

(1966: KCBQ street booth)

“We had a great news staff with Richard Mock, Jim Buckalew and Joe Demott, plus I hired Jim Hill - yes, L.A.’s CBS2 TV sports guy - after he left The Chargers. That was some radio station.”

“As for KSEA, that was something else. I had a $31,000.00 annual budget including salaries, contests, everything. But I still managed to hire some good guys, including Neil Ross, Lenny Mitchell, Jeff Prescott of KGB and now KOGO morning fame, and Tom Straw. Our ‘Buzzard’ logo eating KCBQ was the first of its kind.”

He and Neil Ross had worked together on projects like the three hour Beatles documentary “The Long And Winding Road,” as well as at various radio stations. “We even roomed together for awhile. I hired [Ross] as a production man because he could do so many voices. Today he’s one of the top voice-over artists in L.A., he does cartoons and narration for A&E now. He’s a natural mimic, and very funny.”

“Neil and I came into XHIS and XHERS back in ‘71, ‘72. It’s FM90 today. The owner ran these stations in Tijuana and they had this new prototype machine. They were automated or semi-automated cassettes and you could literally put a station in a closet, one rack with ten cassette decks in it. The technicians in Tijuana were running it all and we had to program and lay out everything there for them. We put the music on the tapes first.”

What music was the station playing? “Now it’d be classic rock but in ‘71 there was only a few years of material to draw from. We’d play a dozen hit albums, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Beautiful Day, a lot of underground music. The signal was so strong...people used to pick us up in Vancouver British Columbia, in Idaho, Ontario. We got a lot of calls, from all over the place. It started to spread that we were a pirate station operating off the coast on a boat.”

The duo recorded their material downtown on the wharf in a studio across from the Star Of India. “It was maybe 10’X10’ and we put all the music together and what sound FX we didn’t have we made up ourselves. We did some phony commercials like the Thud School Of Skydiving, spoofs of local late night TV commercials, old time radio style but more hip like what The Firesign Theater was doing. Then we decided, since there weren’t going to be any personalities on the air between songs, we came up with this idea of the O.B. Ranger.”

(to the tune of the William Tell Overture)

“From out of the cave at the foot of Sunset Cliffs, the thundering hoofbeats pound...”

(intro, “O.B. Ranger”)

“We made the Ranger a bumbling Inspector Clouseau type narc who didn’t know any of the hip phrases of the day, and he was always trying to get to his arch enemy Panama Red, which as you may or may not know was a potent type of marijuana. So the Ranger is trying to get in with that crowd but his idea of hip is ‘far out,’ ‘groovy’ and ‘outta sight’ which even in those days was already passe, kind of camp. We made his Tonto a Yale graduate and he was the one who always corrected The Ranger. The Indian was the one who was hip, knowledgeable and with it.”

“The Ranger’s horse was a stud horse named Sylvia and the Indian rode his swift pinto Ford. They were raiding the dwellings of Ocean Beach in search of illegal and nefarious goings on. We wrote the scripts together. I did the voice of the Ranger, Neil did Panama Red, the Ranger Chief, Kilo Kane, practically all of the other voices. We did a takeoff of The Godfather, the Oddfather, and Neil did an outstanding Marlon Brando. You’d swear it was him.”

Also helping out was friend Lee Mirabal and guest characters came with nametags like Emil Nitrate, Miss Melons, Grassie The Dog, Madame Sativa, Count Downer, Chief of the Rangers Gus Stoppo and the mystical Swami Rama Lama Ding Dong.

Allyn and Ross wrote and recorded over ninety episodes of the O.B. Ranger, most of them episodic segments that unfolded in short chapters between music blocks. They didn’t shy away from controversial topics. “There was a marijuana initiative on the ballot one year and we did a couple of episodes around that. Nixon at the time was going through his ping pong diplomacy and we did a takeoff on that. One of the [fake] commercials was for the Johnny Combat Doll which would actually kill and maim just like the real thing.”

I ask if there was ever negative feedback or repercussions from dealing with sensitive or controversial issues. “To the contrary, the more we did it, the more people loved it. The comedy bits were getting to be more requested than the songs!”

Allyn says that the Ranger and his Indian partner were becoming local cult icons. “We used to have people call us from bars and you could hear them in the background, drunk out of their minds, having an O.B. Ranger party. They wanted The Ranger to drop by and have a drink with them!”

“One night, Neil and I got one of those calls from a Mexican place in Coronado. We decided ‘let’s go see what the Hell’s going on.’ We went across the bridge and looked in and these people are so drunk, they’re all toasting each other and yelling ‘far out,’ ‘groovy’ and ‘out of sight.’ We said ‘No, I don’t think we want to go in’ and we turned around and left.”

The station was soon programming full weekend blocks of O.B. Ranger segments. “We decided to put out a best of, a double LP. The radio station paid for it at the time and we had it pressed in LA. We edited the broken up episodes together into longer segments.” Over 3,500 copies of “The Adventures Of The O.B. Ranger Volume 1” albums were sold, especially once east coast radio stations started playing it and distributors were calling and asking for it. “Next thing you know we’ve got a ‘break out’ in Billboard from Buffalo. You have to wonder how O.B. hippie humor goes over in Buffalo.”

In 1972, the Ranger rode off the airwaves. “We had the usual flare-up with the owner of the station. I had the opportunity to go somewhere else and Neil stayed on another month or so. The funny thing was, after we stopped doing them, we started getting calls from parents saying that their little kids were all upset that the O.B. Ranger wasn’t on Saturday mornings any more. We never knew we had kids listening!”

He says he doesn’t think that the drug humor was picked up by his underage listeners. “I’m sure it went over their head. And we never condoned drug use, we just made fun of it. The Ranger was out to nab the bad guy after all.”

Ross and Allyn had copyrighted the material and gotten a release from the radio station to use it, enabling them to market and sell a syndication package of around sixty episodes to several stations. Locally, KPRI re-ran many of episodes in the late seventies. Allyn went on to work in Miami while Ross went to LA but the pair kept in touch and did occasional work together. Allyn bought into a small recording studio, Top Spots, where he wrote and produced hundreds of commercials and voice-over commissions.

In the late eighties, Allyn became involved with a successful line of specialty tapes called Sports Fantasies - five minute audio cassettes where the subject is made the star of a championship game being announced. “I’ve done those for Bill Cosby, he’s ordered a dozen or so. Most of the major league owners, Ted Turner, Mario Cuomo. It started as a little weekend sideline and turned out to practically be a full time career.” He bought out his partner in 1990 and still regularly produces new tapes.

Over the last few years, Allyn said that he was hearing that the O.B. Ranger album was a sought after collector’s item. “It was like the holy grail to people who remembered or heard about the shows. Neil was not that interested in doing any more, he was trying to get his career going in LA and he thought that all these years have gone by, just let it go. But I always thought it still had possibilities. Especially with the seventies retro thing going on. Neil told me to go ahead and do what I wanted with the material and he even offered to co-promote it, but he’s not directly involved. He’s got such a voiceover career going.”

Compiling and remastering all of the master reels he could assemble, Allyn now has several volumes of O.B. Ranger material ready to release. He has already pressed a 19-cut Volume 1 and is marketing it with a partner on the internet. He also places them in shops on consignment and he’s been emailing and sending samples to people like Doctor Demento, who he says is interested in playing it.

“It’s very difficult," he says, "because if it’s considered ‘local,’ or if it’s not currently on the radio, currently being played. It’s not like it was years ago when you had more of a shot…a friend of mine works at KYXY but I don’t think it’s their bag to play it.”

He says it’s also hard because he no longer has the daily broadcast exposure or contacts in the local radio game. “I still do consulting for radio stations out of this market. I’ve been up in Escondido for years and I’m not in touch with people like I was. And what with the ownership changes and the format changes that have happened in radio, it’s just a volatile time. You don’t know who’s in charge and who’s going to own you next week.”

When I spoke with Allyn in March 2008, he mentioned that there are still two volumes of mastered OB Ranger shows ready to release on CD. "The first one sold okay, but not quite well enough to finance the other two."

If you're interested in buying Volume 1 (in turn, helping #2 and #3 to be released), the CD is $12.50 and can be ordered through www.garyallyn.com. You can also send check or M.O. direct: Gary Allyn 4650-92 Dulin Rd. Fallbrook, CA 92028

(photos & art courtesy www.garyallyn.com)