Bibliography

Shambles Bibliography

The Shambles and side projects have turned up in print many times. Here we chronicle print and press appearances, starting with Bart’s eighties fanzine, and moving on to appearances in book and press split between magazines and newspapers. This is a work in progress and is very incomplete.

I Sound Affects

II Books

III Press

IV Comic Books

I - Sound Affects

This was a Xeroxed fanzine by Bart for Secret Society S.C., begun in 1984 with help over the years from Kevin Donaker Ring, John Ryan, John Hanrattie, Matt Fidelibus, Dennis Borlek, Go Go Gail, Dimitri Callian, Mick London, Nathan Halverson, Ed Moore, Vince Mross, Paul Bevoir, Bill Luther, Ray Brandes, Ken Fugate, Lisa Conway, (especially!) Ann Wood etc. Band Articles are all interviews.

#1 (self published fanzine) 1984

#2 24 pages - Tell Tale Hearts, Manual Scan, Scene Reports SF/NJ/NY, Calender of upcoming events Jan-Mar 1985, Blues Corner, A Scooter from the past, more

#5 24 pages Jetset, Makin Time, Jaywalkers, Chesterfield Kings, Claim, Secret Affair, Tracers, Sharp, Merton Parkas/Mood Six, Pop Art, more

#6 28 pages - New Sounds Program, Big Express, Bim Skala Bim, SD Discography Pt 3, Crockodile Shop, Nephews, Times (Ed Ball), Record Reviews, Pop Art , Comics In 2-D, Scene Reports

#7 The Blue Up, Kaliedescope, The Question, Squeeze, The Godfathers, The Others, The Romantics, The Event, The Tell Tale Hearts, Scene report/Catalunya by Ringo, Fuzztones, SD Discography , etc, Ads: Hippy Hippy Shake, Funseekers, Susstones. Came with Sound Affects Tape (see the Blindspot page for more info http://www.theshambles.net/tv&radio/blindspotrecords.htm )

#8 48 pages - Funseekers, Jokers, Buzzcocks, Tell Tale Hearts, Manual Scan, Idea, Birdy Num Nums, New Sounds 1989, San Diego Discography, more. Initial copies came with Sound Affects II Tape, VIP’S pin and two different “New Sounds” buttons + stickers (see the Blindspot page for more info http://www.theshambles.net/tv&radio/blindspotrecords.htm )

#9 78 pages! - History of Sixties scene in San Diego- Carl Rusk, Ron Silva, Ray Brandes, Bart Mendoza, Tell Tale Hearts II with Bill Calhoun & Mike Stax, Pop Art - a look at San Diego's vintage flyers, Cavedogs, New Sounds, Overcoat,27 Various, E Types, Jigsaw Seen, Hoods, Odd Numbers, Shoes, aMiniature, Life in 2-D, Scene Discography more

II -Books

Here we include any book that features a band member. Most of it is fairly minor, but also listed are a few odds and ends that Bart has penned, as they all relate to music even if indirectly.

1) 198? – Pop Power – By Emmett McAuliffe – discography with Manual Scan entry.

2) 198? – The Jetset Story (? - UK) – Privately published, details band history, with San Diego adventures with Manual Scan included.

3) 11/91- Echoes in Time – By Timothy Gassen (Borderline Productions) encyclopedia includes entries on Shambles, Manual Scan, Mystery Machine and Crawdaddys.

4) 1995 – Knights of Fuzz – By Timothy Gassen (Borderline Productions) massively updated version of Echoes In Time.

5) 1997 Guia Essencial Del Punk y la Nueva Ola (Rock Indiana) Spain. Mini music encyclopedia covering vintage groups and including Manual Scan

6) 1997 - Dangerous Drawings (Juno Editions)– Page 101 has “Nature Boy” by Dan Clowes which some say looks suspiciously like Bart : -) Dan also did the artwork for a New Sounds show flyer, the disc art for the Manual Scan CD and a cartoon in Sound Affects.

7) 1998 -The Album Cover Art of Punk (Editions Olm AG) Switzerland. Includes Manual Scan’s “Plan of Action” amongst top pop art designs

8) 1998 -The Album Cover Art of Punk (Ginko Press) U.S. & Canada –same as above.

9) 07/99 Rock ‘n’ Roll A Cartoon History Vol. 1 – The Sixties (Re-Visionary Press) Artwork collage version. This Graphic novel includes two re-printed stories by Bart on the Zombies and the Move.

10) 07/99 Rock ‘n’ Roll A Cartoon History Vol. 1 – The Sixties (Re-Visionary Press) Alternate cover of the above featuring Dave Gilmour.

11) 2001 Self Promotion for the Creative Person (Three Rivers Press) U.S. Bart is interviewed about being an indie musician on pages 104-141

12) 1999 A Complete Lowlife (Topshelf) This cool graphic novel includes the infamous issue of Lowlife with a brief cameo from Bart. This genius book is from the pen of Ed Brubaker who also did the band’s ‘sitting at a café’ t-shirt / cassette cover. Ed went on to write Batman comics– how cool is that?

13) 200? The Album Cover Art of Punk (Trafalgar Press) -Third printing. With a new plain stark yellow and black print cover.

14) 2001 A Complete Lowlife (Topshelf) A second printing.

15) 2004 This is a Modern Life (Helter Skelter Press) England. Overview of British Mod scene of the eighties and nineties, with a bit on the U.S. and Manual Scan

16) 2005 Time Out: California (Time Out) Bart wrote the entry on San Diego in this 400 plus page guide. Of course there is ton’s of coverage on local music venues etc., as well as all the other city info usually included.

III Comic Books

1) 199? Lowlife #1 (Caliber Press)– contains Bart cameo over two pages and running Manual Scan sight gag.

2) 199? Eightball #8 (Fantagraphics) the story "Nature Boy" on pg 24-26 features that weird Bart lookalike: -)

3) 199? Paul McCartney Comic Tour Edition?? (Revolutionary Press) contained an insert on McCartney written by Bart

4) 199? Rock ‘n’Roll Comics #23: Living Color – Manual Scan’s name turns up on a marquee on a pretty unlikely bill: - ).

5) 199? Rock ‘n’ roll Comics – Best of the British Invasion #1(Revolutionary Press) Bart’s article on the Zombies is included.

6) 199? Rock ‘n’ roll Comics – Best of the British Invasion #2(Revolutionary Press) Bart’s article on the Move is included.

7) 199? Hard Rock Comics ?? – (Revolutionary Press) Includes photos of Shambles, Mojo Nixon etc at Comic Con appearance for imprint.

8) 200? Blue Monday (Oni Press) this cool graphic novel features a “scene” that includes a Shambles flyer on a bedroom wall.

9) 2004 Vampyrates #1 (Blindstorm Press) It’s no accident that the protagonist of this pirates and vampires swashbuckling epic is named Kevin Ring: -)

IV - Press

Here we’ll keep track of appearances in the press from the band. This is extremely incomplete.

80’s Magazines

1) 1985 In the Crowd - #18 – Manual Scan feature and two tracks included on cover mounted flexi disc from this UK magazine. Cool pictures from the Dave and Ron days.

2) 1986 In the Crowd #20 – two page feature including live review and more cool pics.

3) 1986 Whaaam Magazine #6- Manual Scan has a split cover with the Uptones on this San Francisco Magazine. Pretty funny feature story with writer in our tour van :- )

4) 09/88 Details Magazine – Big feature on West Coast Mod scene with Bart interview and picture

90’s Magazines

1) 199? Billboard Magazine – Shambles show up in a Billboard cover story on Powerpop

2) 199? SLAAM #53 – has a small feature on the Shambles

3) 199? Magnet #40 – reviews All Night Stand “Living in a universe parallel to this one and oblivious to every musical virus spreading through the country (Michael Jackson, Men At Work, Boy George), a neo-mod culture grew like bread mold during the 1980's. They had missed the maiden voyage of tailored threads and motor scooters by a couple of decades, so these kids reinvented the era of the Small Faces and the Creation. And they nurtured their own regional musical heroes, mainly as a scene jukebox. The music, typified here by San Diego's Manual Scan, was clean, fast and melodic. Bart Mendoza and Kevin Donaker-Ring, principal players in Manual Scan, have since formed the Shambles, but there's still something inexplicably appealing about these dog-eared baby pictures.”

4) 199? Under the Volcano #49 – reviews All Night Stand: “At the risk of sounding too fucking patronizing, ah fuck it... whenever I see retrospectives of bands that I've never heard of I try to grab 'em, especially if they peak my interest. Manual Scan not only got my attention with their Ampheta-Mod pop rockers, but also for their taste in cover songs--I can hear them a zillion times, yet I will never get tired of hearing Them's I Can Only Give You Everything; and Max Frost And The Troopers Shape Of Things; (actually, the studio band's name was The 13th Power and being an aspiring cantankerous old fart, I'd probably be thrown into one of those LSD concentration camps featured in Wild In The Streets--then again, that may not be such a bad thing, heh heh heh) so long as they're done well, and Manual Scan more than provides the savage kick necessary to pull it off. Definitely a welcome addition to any classic/neo-Mod collection.”

5) Noise from the Garage – reviews “All Night Stand” “Despite aligning myself with modernism, I've yet been able to endure much of the retro-inspired mod rock, all the less bands that have ties to the late 70's mod revival. With that bias stated, I don't see much of the point of getting this disc if you have the chance to pick up records by the Small Faces or Otis Redding. But bias aside, there are some good power pop moments here. Give it a listen. These guys loved what they did, and they did it well.”

6) 1999 Desdemona (Germany) – Shambles feature

00’s Magazines

1) 2000 - SLAMM #163 – feature on Manual Scan reunion

2) 12/00 – Ruta 66 #167 (Spain)– review of What You’re Missing

3) Spring 2002 – Talent In Motion Vol. IV #1 – full page Shambles article

4) 04/2005 Anisa de Color – Spanish Magazine with two page feature on the Shambles and a two page feature on the Riot Act, plus other mentions and lots of pictures

5) 07/05 Music Matters – The Shambles “All Sorts” shows up amongst Anya Marina’s Recommended 94.9 FM listings.

00’s Newspapers

05/21/04 La Prensa – Article on Dylan and Bart with the Rarities (with Shambles and Rookie Card mentions of course:- )

07/03/04 San Diego Reader – Article on the Roots Rock Raza series at Voz Alta includes info on Bart and his solo set there July 6 2002

01/30/05 San Diego Union Tribune – Bart interviewed about Shambles sponsored Sounds Like San Diego Benefit

05/05/05 San Diego Reader – Story in Blurt Section on Vinyl revival with Bart Interview on Manual Scan’s Plan of Action re-issue.

05/19/05 San Diego Reader – Shambles featured in “Lists” full page promoting a Lestat’s show w/ picture

06/??/05 Metro Pulse – Knoxville, Tennesee – The Shambles are name checked by Don Coffey of Superdrag!

07/28/05 San Diego Union Tribune – Bart and the band are name checked in an article on Graham Parker

08/15/05 San Diego reader – Bart in the column “Back When”

Reviews

1) 12/00 – Yeah Yeah Yeah #18 – review of What You’re Missing

2) 12/01 Big Takeover #49 – reviews What You’re Missing as well as the Spellbound comp and Staring at the Sun Vol. IV

3) 05/01 – Record Collector (UK) #261 - review of What You’re Missing

4) Spring 2001 Scoot Quarterly – ½ page on What You’re Missing

5) 04/05 – Amplifier #46 – review of West of Eden

Popism (Europe) Reviews

2000 / The Shambles – What You’re Missing

            The addition to the title of this album says “a collection of out of print rarities, hard to find album tracks, outtakes, demos and live recordings” which gives a pretty clear idea that this is a must-have for the fans, but it's also a good introduction of the Shambles' musical profile for the uninformed.
            One of their most obvious characteristics is the combination of the most diverse '60s influences painted with a bit of some modern shades with a special emphasis on minor chords which results in a recognizable sound besides the obvious inspirations.
            David Bash, one of the renowned journalists of the modern pop order, gave a very picturesque comment on the visual effect that the band left on him and it was something like this: “Bart Mendoza (voc./guitar) would be easy to imagine in the Yardbirds' '65 line up, Mark Z. (bass), the embodyment of Paul Kantner's "surrealistic" picture from '67 and Kevin Donaker Ring (solo guitar) as an image of some '69-prog band member who'd just discovered the thrill of recording albums of seven (?!?!)-songs equally disposed over the double vinyl”.
            During his career, Mendoza earned the tag of one of the most important faces in the process of forming the San Diego neo-mod/sixties/power-pop scene, while the Shambles represent some kind of a culmination, gathering the members from a couple of it's most important bands (The Manual Scan, The Tell-Tale Hearts, The Crawdaddys, The Hoods ...) with the ever-changing drum stool men.
            Besides the eight years long career, thanks to their uncompromising attitude and the non-understanding labels, The Shambles' discography is made only of two albums consisting of recordings from various periods (one of them is a Japan-only release!) and countless compilation and tribute-album appearances all over the world.
            This is a collection of those “throw overs” with a couple of covers that perfectly represent the variety of influences like The Birds' version of the mod-classic Leaving Here, the pure pop of The Merseys' Sorrow , the Count Five's garage-punk dynamite Psychotic Reaction, some '70s jewels like the Raspberries' Might As Well, the quadrophenic Is It In My Head, Elton John's Harmony surprise or the post-new wave classics But I'm Different Now by The Jam and It's Going To Happen by the Undertones.
            Of course, the real treasure of the album are Bart's originals, the mod-pop wonders Innocence Becomes You and (She's used to playing with) Fire with a moderate amount of r'n'b ingredients, comparable to the similar Zombie-efforts (I Love You, Indication, Whenever You're Ready...), the funky-charged bullet called Changes, worthy of THE “revolver” and Paul's most inspirative bass parts, The Wonders' inspired A Short Spinal (Will Tell) , Delve Into Everything, intended for the Monkees reanimation and two more great Squire-tributes, Does Stephanie Know and It's Mod Mod world.
            If you think that your time has gone away some 35 years ago, The Shambles are exactly “What You're Missing”!

The Shambles – Chelsea Smiles

            Even though it's a re-release of a six-song E.P. from 1997, this album will surely find it's place on many year lists, because of the whole bunch of bonuses, and even extra bonuses, adding a brand new musical experience.
            Like always, The Shambles keep that fine line between being a sixteez revival band and a regular moderndaze act, and therefore fulfiling the desires of both moptop-heads and contemporary power-pop fans, and still digging that recognisable “Graham gouldmines” of no-chorus pop concept.
            The first half of the audience is treated with the band's exceptional Zombiefied sense of Brit-melodies, combined with the U.S. garage sounds, realised through the tunes like A Short Spiral, recalling the r'n'beat of “some other guys”, The Waiting Game, sounding like a sophisticated take on mid-'60s punk, complete with the genre-defining guitar riff, or the bluesy-pop sound of Child's Play, spiced with some fine bass-rolling by Mark Z. On the other hand, the classic power-pop fans will find themselves moving to the groove of Blurs Somewhere, Fear or Grace Intervenes.
            The covers-section mirrors a real fine record collection. When covering a song like The Turtles' Happy Together, equaling the original is not likely to happen too often, but that's exactly what happens here! Then, there's an almost obvious choice for a band like this, but ........ they're clever enough to chose the Betty Everett original of You're No Good instead of the 'Jeans moody Merseybeat version, making it not so obvious after all.
            I don't know about you, even only 50 seconds of Sonny Curtis' Love Is All Around is more than enough to make my day, and while we're still back in time, there's the fellow San Diegans', The Cascades' Rhythm Of The Rain, here in it's ultimate folky-pop rendition, as well as Mike Nesmith's “revolver” called Daily Nightly.
            Climbing up the time-ladder, you'll also hear generous tributes to the likes of Los Bravos, Interview and even Oasis and The Cardigans. Anyway, there's such a variety of sounds goin' on here, that you just can't miss with this record. It will surely make you smile no matter if you're in Chelsea or wherever in the world!

GORAN OBRADOVIC
/ POPISM