streetdogs

memorial day, 1977

Anisq'Oyo' Park

Isla Vista, California

tape one

side one

Anisq'Oyo' Park is adjacent to the Peace Movement's famed Perfect Park in Isla Vista, California but separated from it's neighbor by a "bomb-proof" Bank of America that rose from it's own ashes after war protesters burned it down in 1970.  Isla Vista was the established permanent home and heart of the west coast hippies and in 1972, the unusually high population density qualified the area to receive an inordinate amount of cash from the feds. The only civilian political authority in Isla Vista was the Isla Vista Parks and Recreation Department, which received the federal funds and employed the hippies to turn all the vacant lots into parks. Anisq'Oyo' Park was the crowning jewel.

Streetdogs began in a garage in 1975 and cut their teeth on original, and cover tunes, performed by the Grateful Dead who pioneered improvisational rock and roll and seemed the obvious template since all we did was jam. Going public the first time was just a matter of opening the garage door one Friday afternoon and in an environment dominated by deadheads a sizable and voracious streetdogs fan base materialized almost instantly. No one had coined the term "Dead Band" yet but the dogs nevertheless struggled with the concept. It is ironic but not surprising that so many rock bands adopted a canine theme in later years.  The moment Justin uttered the word we all knew it was us. Dogs were ubiquitous on the streets and beaches of Isla Vista and leash laws were unheard of. Parallels between the lives led by the dogs of Isla Vista and the lifestyle of a California rock musician were obvious. While there were many deadheads including some of us, we were the only streetdogs.

Little did we know that the deadheads would set upon us with a cannibalistic fury. Within months, we were already veterans. We’d throw the same block party at a different street corner apartment building every other week. It was the familiar college town drill but in a place like Isla Vista, the deadheads would egg us on and the new kids converted to deadheads in waves.  We would start about 8 or 9 and by 10pm hundreds of beer swilling college kids would choked off the intersection and the two streets that formed the corner we were on.

Of course, Jerry Garcia's Grateful Dead were the greatest fucking rock and roll band that ever lived. Falling to the predation of their fans is better than the best sex most people will ever experience. Even though ominous formations already surround our heroes in this first chapter, as the posting of the doghouse archives unfolds, you will see that many surprises are ahead for the dogs, the deadheads, a couple of guys in Columbus Ohio, and bands with names like "the nothing heads" and "strangely enough". For the time being, it turns out to be indescribably convenient that this first post is all covers of a band that encourages cover bands. Nevertheless, there are originals and other items not so easily classified in our future (present and past really) and as soon as the lawyers have finished swarming over the particulars (and believe me they would be if we actually had lawyers) they'll be available right here, or at least close to here.

The military arm of government in Isla Vista was a little Santa Barbara Sheriff’s outpost called the Isla Vista Foot Patrol. They knew where we lived and on Friday and Saturday afternoons, if the garage was empty they would snoop us out early. At nine or 10pm, they would present us with a minor show of force and we’d instantly stop playing. They’d tell us to be sure and cut it off at midnight, we’d say “yes sir” like they were our Dads, and we never made them ask twice. They liked us because by controlling us, they controlled the crowd and when we played, they had all the partiers in one place where they could keep an eye on them. In retrospect, I think that the IVFP had more to do with our success than any other factor. Success being a limited term here since we never exactly got paid for those gigs. It was more like; you buy the kegs, we’ll show up and play – and the only other pay-off was that local celebrity thing which is cool on that level cause walking down the street there’s always people to talk to. However, no one really thinks you’re famous and they know you’re not rich.

When Parks and Recreation completed construction of an outdoor amphitheater in Anisq'Oyo' Park 1976, the dogs immediately marked it as their own. The stage came equipped with a live power outlet and the band was one of the first to harness this new technology. They survived where others had failed and avoided electrocution by lashing their Sears Roebuck amplifiers together with baling wire, which had the added advantage of eliminating the horrendous 60-cycle hum that had perpetually emanated from Sean’s guitar amp.

On Memorial weekend, 1977, a professional sound company shuffled into Isla Vista looking for a band to test out their shiny new gear. The dogs of course jumped at the opportunity and didn't miss the bailing wire one bit. This tape was off the sound board with beginnings and endings and sometimes entire songs strangely truncated, maybe they were trying to save on tape costs but in any event it was an excellent experience for the dogs

In the interest of archival honesty, artistic purity, historic history, and due to a complete lack of anything resembling industrious perseverance or, for that matter, even an attention span in our archivalist, we present the original cassette without omission in mp3-formatted files available for stream or download below.

Streetdogs were not particularly motivated to organize their activities between songs or exercise efficiency as they prepared their minds and collective soul for selection of just the right musical statement for the moment. Moreover, we wvere trying to get laid which is what we all sincerely thought would happen when we formed the band. It is likely that the visiting sound professionals recognized this unfolding artistic process and knew that to attempt a contiguous capture of this piece of history risked depleting the world's magnetic tape supply. However, thanks to their real-time strategic editing decisions, we are now able to experience the bulk of the band's performance from that day. Each contiguous sound bite on the tape is assigned to a single contiguous mp3 file

streetdogs

Justin Hess -  drums

Bob Keislar - guitar

Dedicated to Nearly Normal Norman Malin who put in an A+ performance on Fender Rhodes that day.

Norman, alas chose an early checkout, from hotel earth in the 80's; probably just so he could avoid these embarrassing trips down nostalgia lane.

memorial day, 1977  

Anisq'Oyo' Park

Isla Vista, California

tape one                                                            side one

not fade away

bertha

sunshine daydream

twist of fate

with the exception of "twist of fate" by Bob Dylan all tunes  on this page were  either written by various members of the grateful dead or are traditional pieces that were commonly performed by the dead