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28 VOL. 5 ISSUE 10
BY BART MENDOZA © MUSICSCENESD // MUSICSCENESD.COM
OCTOBER 2020
k o o L ! t u O New Compilation Showcases San Diego’s Music Scene 1958-1973
San Diego has had a long history of great bands making great records, but until now, the earliest days of our rock n roll community haven’t been documented. That has all changed with the release of Look Out! The San Diego Scene 19581973, a new CD collection, compiled by Andy Rasmussen. Perhaps best known as a musician with a string of notable bands that has included The Bomboras, The Loons, The Sleepwalkers and his own Action Andy & the Hi-Tones, Rasmussen’s first foray into a historical musical release has resulted in what is an essential listening experience for fans of San Diego artists or rock ‘n’ roll in general. Lookout features 33 tracks, including a handful of radio station promos, with liner notes from Mike Stax and songs from some of the popular local bands of the era, including The Cascades, Sandi & The Accents, The Brain Police and Glory. “Inspiration naturally came from the music itself, Rassmussen says of the project. “Aside from being a musician, I have been hunting and gathering records since I was a teen in the 80’s. After hearing a 45 of The Lyrics “So What!” I was hooked & proud of the fact they were from Oceanside, locals! I soon picked up an album by another local 60’s group called the Hard Times. It was called “Blew Mind” and well, yes, my teen-age mind was blown,” he recalled. “I’ve always been into 60’s music, and if it came from San Diego, all the better. So basically it’s been years of
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collecting and gathering bits of information on the 60’s music scene here.”
fun time capsule.” Despite the years of hard work in putting Look Out together, Rasmussen, is happy with the end result. “It was important to not only get this amazing music out to the public, but to tell the tale of all the hard working bands and musicians who helped jumpstart the fertile scene we have today. In my opinion, San Diego was never in the shadows of L.A. or San Francisco, San Diego was truly doing it’s own thing.”
Rasmussen considers sequencing an important part of this release. “It was important to make this a CD that had a chronological order for people to follow,” he said. “In listening, you’ll hear how it goes from that early 50’s Rockabilly sound, then to gritty R&B, Instrumentals, Garage Rock, and tinge
of Psychedelia, and so forth. It’s like listening in on a really
He notes the hardest part of putting this album together was licensing all the music. “As I got serious about the comp, I realized this was probably the biggest hurdle. Having a background as a musician, I worked with everyone from an artists point of view. What I think got everyone on board was the fact that this is a non-profit project, and that all proceeds are going to San Diego music programs. One I am currently working
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