Here's a little story for your site....

In January, 2006 I was lying in bed one night and couldn't sleep.  At about
3:00 AM I put on earphones and listened to the radio, switching stations -
KVMR, KPFA, George Noory Coast to Coast and KDVS, to try and sleep.  On KDVS
there was something familiar and with enormous shock I realized that it was
Suspects playing the Velvet Underground's  "All Tomorrow's Parties", with
Kendra singing in German.  The only time we did that tune at a gig was at the
reunion show in May, 1981 at the UC Davis Coffee House.  Sound quality was good
- from the board, I would guess, and I didn't even know a tape of the show
existed.  The performance was better than I remembered it, but it could've been
improved - not enough practice, and it was not bad.  We had asked for the stage
to be in complete darkness, and as we started, the fingerboard of my bass was
not visible due to lack of stage lighting - I panicked as I was playing
fretless bass at the time and my intonation was somewhat lugubrious due to the
lack of illumination.

Listening to that recording brought a flood of memories - about the band, band
mates, gigs, the scene, where I was living and who I was dating in 1981, etc. 
Kendra, Steve, Russ and Gavin were interesting, charming, magnetic and had
talent - there was curiosity, swagger, youthful energy, silliness and sense of
beginning a journey.  All this was brought back in a bittersweet rush from a
chance radio encounter. 

Another memory....Suspects had a fan who was a "security consultant" - his name
was John, I believe.  John was in his early 30s, stocky but muscular, had short
hair, wore stubble on his face, admitted to being ex-military, and came to our
gigs wearing a trenchcoat.  He usually carried a couple of pistols, knives,
billy club, and saps, and wore lead weighted sap gloves.  His job was to advise
folks as to their security needs and he was a bodyguard.  He was nice to me and
reserved.  

Suspects was playing the Mabuhay Gardens in SF one night, and we were being
mightily harassed by audience members, who were throwing things at us, making
fun of us, demanding heavier and punkier music and that we quit the stage.  To
me it was no big deal, wasn't threatening, and this stuff happened at the Fab
Mab.  There were two especially obnoxious guys, who were dancing around in
front of the stage and began flinging food, popcorn, ice and beer at Kendra and
Steve.  I looked up and saw John in the crowd in front of the stage suddenly
appear next to one of our tormenters, and, next thing, this guy vanished - he
fell down and stayed down on the floor.  John then stood next to harasser
number two, and the same thing happened - the guy's knees buckled and he went
down hard.  After the show I asked John what had happened, and whether he was 
involved.  He said - quietly, eyes slyly downcast and with a slight grin - that
those guys were bugging us - and him - so he "just sapped them a little". 

TWR formation.

Starting at the beginning…  
1977: Scott Miller, Scott Gallawa and I formed Alternate Learning in Sacramento while we were in high school. At the time, a school mate, Thad Selmants suggested the name "Thin White Rope," which was ignored. (He was also to suggest "Death Cab for Cutie," which we also nixed.) 
1978: Scott Miller moved to Davis and we found a bass player, Carolyn O'Rourke and Keyboardist Lynn Ross and began rehearsals. (Scott Miller really wanted my sister, Nan, in the band as a keyboardist, but I rejected the idea as being in bands was something I wanted to do and I didn't want my family interfering with it. This did cause some tension between us.) We played a number of gigs and we tried to raise ourselves to the same level as The Suspects, The Mumbles, The Twinkeys and other local alternative bands.  
1980: Personalities within the band conflicted and Scott Gallawa and I left. We put up ads in the Davis area and Guy Kyser answered. He had auditioned to be in Alternate Learning and for whatever reason didn't go with them. Guy brought with him bass player Mark Higura who was Guy's roommate.  
We began rehearsing under the name the Les Z Boys, doing covers of New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders, Sex Pistols, Roxy Music as well as a few originals written by Scott Gallawa and Guy. Moonhead, Munich Eunich, Macy's Window and Down in the Desert were from this period. We also played a number of gigs and recorded a few demos down in KDVS studios. 
There were a number of personnel changes: Mark Higera left and was replaced by Ken Lacewell who left to join True West.  
1981-2. Guy and I were getting kind of bored with what the Les Z Boys were doing - or actually NOT doing - so he and I split off and put an ad over at Skip's Music seeking a bass Player and another guitarist. I think it was Roger Kunkel who answered the ad and knew of a bass player, Kevin Staydohar. It was at this time that once again, my friend Thad suggested the name Thin White Rope which the four of us agreed upon. TWR rehearsed some of the same covers as the Les Z Boys, but introduced Guy songs as well.  
Two different sets of demos were recorded at this time: One with Scott Miller producing, the other produced by Russ Tolman. I have copies of these sessions many of which appeared "Exploring the Axis" and "Moonhead." In April of 1983, Kevin Staydohar and I were drafted into True West which was getting a lot of college airplay. I recorded some extra tracks to add to the True West EP to create the "Hollywood Holiday" album (most of the record had been recorded with Frank French on drums and Mike palmer on bass.). I played drums on two U.S. tours and recorded three songs with Tom Verlaine producing at Bearsville that were not released until years later.  
1983: I was fired from True West in December because "I just didn't fit in."  
During this time Thin White Rope floundered around a bit, before getting Steve Tesluk on bass and Frank French on drums. After they joined, TWR really started to gel into its own thing. Roger Kunkel's and Guy Kyser's guitar styles, though completely different, complimented each other amazingly well. Steve Tesluk's bass style was totally different from anyone I had heard. Both percussive and melodic, and when that was combined with Frank French's rock-solid drumming, they really didn't sound like anyone else. There was a four-track recording with about 14 songs from this time and line-up that are my favorite TWR recordings. I became really excited about the direction they were going in and started seeing the band at gigs and hanging out with them with the idea that perhaps I could re-join.  
1984: The four-track recording was sent to a number of likely labels: Notably Enigma; based upon Game Theory's new-found success with Enigma, another demo was recorded in December with Scott Miller producing. At this time there was talk of big things, tours, etc, and Frank French, who was a bit older than the rest, wasn't interested in touring - so I was right there to replace him.  
On the Scott Miller-produced recordings, Frank played on all but three songs and I played on those. Those demos went out and Enigma was interested, but so was Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records, who heard of Thin White Rope (through a review from English Mag, "Bucket full of Brains," who loved the 14-song demo).  
Frontier was doing a signing of several bands that included: The Salvation Army (3 O'Clock), The Long Riders and Rain Parade in a joint Island/Frontier Neo-Psychedelic project. I guess it was something along the lines of: Lisa does all the leg work and Island puts out the records. Island got cold feet and decided to sign only The Long Riders and Rain Parade to a straight Island deal. Lisa, who was still fond of TWR, "bought" TWR from Game Theory's manager, Scott Vanderbilt, re-re-recorded Thin White Rope for release as Exploring the Axis. Lisa had also signed The Pontiac Brothers from Orange County and Naked Prey from Tucson, and later that year all three bands went on a U.S. tour backed by Spin Magazine called "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Tour."

In the interest of fleshing out the story of the Davis 80s music scene, I think there should be a MySpace page for the seminal Davis alternative band, The Suspects - I've sent the idea to the available band members for input. Still haven't got a picture of that band live - feels like a big hole in the picture
Re friends requests, maybe I'm taking it too seriously, but I check each requestor to make sure they have at least a minimal connection to the Davis music scene, a mention of a Davis band as a favorite or influence, or a connection to KDVS, for instance.
Got some very cool fliers and posters from Olive Pit/Aggie Hotel and Thin White Rope, which go - as soon as possible, up on www.davis80smusic.com. If you've sent something and it's not up yet, give it a bit of time (I still have to figure out the whole MP3 editing and uploading bizness); I intend to put up nearly everything I get. It's more about collection and chronology than analysis.
I've gotten positive comments about the site, it's bringing up good memories for lots of people, and that feels really good.

Received The One That Got Away - Thin White Rope's live CD - and skipped right to Disney Girl for my first listen in ~20 years (in 84 I told Guy that was my favorite; he seemed bemused that people were particularly fond of DG) – anyway - wow, great sounding live recording! Love the comfortingly steady bassline disappearing and reappearing from beneath the howling feedback! - I think I'm gonna enjoy this a lot!
 Saw True West at the Fillmore (opening for the Violent Femmes/sold out show). Chatted with Sean O'Brien (Meantime/True West) for the first time since 1981. Bumped into Jonathon Segel (CVB) on his way to join the VFs for a song or two). True West played and sounded great, and the vibe on stage was groovy and professional. Afterwards, I sent a note on a napkin backstage to Gavin saying "Photo Robert' wanted to say 'Hi'; he graciously stepped out to the dark, noisy bar and we exchanged mostly wordless greetings for the first time in 25 years. (Also bumped into Boy's Life guitarist/sax player Tony G – very cool! He says he's got photos and such from the scene I can use on the site, and encouraged me to cover Vox Human's contribution).
  During the VF set, hung with a group that included Russ Tolman, who was kind enough to answer a few pressing davis80smusic-related questions. He and lovely wife, Kim, were great company.
 Saturday night, went to see The Loud Family (Scott Miller's post-Alternate Learning/Game Theory band) in Berkeley, but I felt pretty gloomy, and I wound up heading home. Neither Joe (Becker) nor Scott (Miller) had heard about davis80smusic, but both lit up as I mentioned the names of KDVS and band folks who'd contacted me. Joe said that TWR was around as early as 1981 and the Lazy Boys were somehow involved – I hope to nail all that down, and also gain access to his trove of photos, etc – he drummed for Alternate Learning, True West and TWR, so his archives could fill some big gaps! Fingers crossed.
 So, it's been like that: Diving into great musical memories, and occasionally getting bit in the ass. I've also received emails from strangers, saying the site was shining light onto memories they didn't know they'd lost, so - yeah - it's worth doing.
 Now – send me your photos and posters, goddamit!  

This myspace site was going to be *the* davis 80s music site, but it needs more space/control, etc  - so now it is a sister site and gateway to www.davis80smusic.com, which has more photos/links/flyers/info, etc; current focus is late 70's-early 80's - I'm not a writer or rock critic, but hope that by organizating artifacts and information, a clear picture will emerge, if there *is* a clear picture - it seems to have revolved around KDVS and the inspiration of some amazing UC Davis Coffee House shows (Iggy, Talking Heads, Devo) - maybe it's rural setting, which meant plenty of time on people's hands, and the proximity to Sacramento and San Francisco, which meant big dreams... I dunno - I loved a lot of the music, and still do, and it's just a kick revisiting it - so, I'm gonna enjoy myself while building this and I figure it'll turn out alright - like, tonight I heard the Twinkeys' Aliens In Our Midst for the first time in 10 years! Ahhhhh! - It was great!!