TALL TALES

The Mechanics. Hard-rocking, Iggy-esque 70s godfathers to the whole Fullerton punk scene. They inspired the wee lads who became Social D and Agent Orange, and introduced the harmonized octave guitar sound that the Adolescents emulated on their blue album.

Mike Boehm/L.A. Times

I got a handful of emails last year from people who wondered if I saw OC Weekly's "Top 129 Orange County Bands of All Time" and noticed not only our omission, but that the band that may have lifted the most from us were listed at number one. Of course I saw it, and I thought it was a fun read. I basically wrote it off as the writers being too young to know who we were. Then I remembered that I'm a cranky 46 year old man, and there's gonna be hell to pay. Here's a professional, unbiased item by item comparison that will prove the staff of the OC Weekly are glue heads and have sex with puppies. Here goes!

Singer:

Scott Hoogland: Scott was the most engaging front man ever to come out of Orange County. He had major stage presence, looks, and probably nailed at least ten of the girls you've dated in your lifetime.

Tony Montana: Don't know how he fared with the ladies, but it probably didn't help that their audience were all fifteen year old boys. Nightmare!

Lead Guitar:

Dennis Catron:

To toot my own horn, I've held my own on bills with George Lynch, and cleaned up on the likes of Carlos Cavazo. I can play Schenker, Gibbons and Montrose riffs with my feet, and can still do the 'Boner Silhouette' pose better than anybody.

Frank Agnew:

Frank can take solace in the fact that he's Iggy Pop sized with Jeff Stryker proportions.

Rhythm Guitar:

Tim Racca:

Legend for his metronome-like playing, innovative use of octaves, and his song-writing wizardry. Find me an article where Mike Ness doesn't bring him up and I'll buy you a Fosters.

Rikk Agnew:

Talented dude. Great writer, guitarist and drummer. Nothing snarky to say, sorry! :-)

Bass:

Brett Alexander/Tim Maag/Michael Dane/Eric Overman:

Pick one, all were great in their own short-lived ways.

Steve Soto:

Got us here. I think Steve Soto is the most underrated musician in Orange County. Good writer, great voice, and his bass playing is rock solid. Light years more gifted than more known OC guys (Looking at you, Offspring.)

Drums:

Sandy Hancock:

Sandy is either the number one or two drummer to come out of Orange County depending on your view of the late Randy Carr. Randy had him on technique, but Sandy's feel and fill choices make him the Alpha.

Casey Royer:

Rikk Agnew is a better drummer than Casey, and he was their guitar player (Rick had hyper fast hands ala Rat Scabies, and is actually an excellent drummer!)

Songs:

The Mechanics:

Octaves and power-out endings.

The Adolescents:

Octaves and power-out endings (like the one they forgot to credit Tim and 'borrowed' for their Balboa Fun Zone CD :-)

To summarize, unless you're Level 42, you can't claim to have a better band because your bass player's awesome. The Mechanics in a mudslide.*

*Don't send me nasty emails. I'm kidding. Rikk plays Mechanics covers with Scott in Poop, Sandy played 2 years with the Adolescent's and in 22 Jacks and Joyride with Steve, Tim Maag formed DI with Casey... It's all a festival of love (unless you bring up that goddamned article again...

The Dennis Catron Top 10 Orange County Bands of All Time List

1. Honk
2. Eulogy
3. Pontiac Brothers (Kurt Baumann, please forgive us for being dumb asses :-)
4. Agent Orange
5. Social Distortion
6. The Mechanics
7. The Strand
8. Berlin (Ty Cobb version, not the godawful other one)
9. Calico Jack
10. Naughty Women

Honorable Mention: Pee Wee, The Omlits, The Detours, Head Cheese, La Machine, Bad Moon, Valhalla, Hard As Nails, Cheap As Dirt, No Doubt, Little Johnny Monologue and the Albino Family Dance Band

The Greatest Solos In History »