Page 30 - the NOISE August 2015

THe Monroes: PArT one
one day it was there, the next it wasn’t.
I wandered into the record store at the mall. It was summer 1982 and I was about to start my freshman year of high school. I held the 45 and read the label: The Monroes,
“what Do All the People Know,” Alfa Records. I made a mental note to come back and buy the single as soon as I had scraped $1.99 plus tax together. I placed it back in the rack next to two identical copies and left. I never saw it again.
It was one of those songs that made you crank the volume knob when it came on the radio. every time I heard it I got a strange chill. Better get that record soon. It’s going to disappear. when I returned to the store a few days later with cash, I went straight for the file. There was nothing in it. I asked the guy at the counter if he had any more.
“nope. All gone.”
“Are you reordering them?”
“no, I mean they’re gone gone. The record company went
out of business.”
“you sure there’s no extras in the back?”
“I wish. you’re about the tenth person I’ve had to turn down.
Their eP sold out, too.”
Once again, I left empty handed. I hit up other record stores
in the area to no avail. The song faded from the airwaves. I was bummed. How could such a great tune just ... die? something was wrong here.
As the years went by, I kept my eyes open for more Monroes records, but I never saw any. Almost a decade later, I found a near-mint pressing of their five song eP for 99c. I still own it, but I have yet to see another copy of the single. Over thirty years have passed and the eP has never been reissued, never appearedonCD. One12”andone7”containingsixsongstotal is The Monroes’ entire catalog.
“what Do All The People Know,” is classic power pop, perhaps a little dated by the synths, but incandescent still. It straddles genres effortlessly. west Coast slick, but not cocaine-jaded. A bit new wavey, but leaning more towards Cheap Trick’s tuneful hard rock. not too wimpy for guys and not too macho for girls. It certainly blew away everything on the radio that summer. The song deserved to be a huge hit, yet it didn’t even crack the top 40.
what the hell happened to The Monroes?
Jesus Anthony Ortiz was born in 1956 in Oceanside, California, and grew up in nearby escondido. During his grade school years, he sang in his church choir. when puberty hit, his range deepened to a rich baritone. He learned about breath control and pitch from his music teachers, who marveled at the maturity of the young man’s voice.
One time, some friends took Jesus to his first high school
house party. Girls were there, but Jesus was too shy to talk to them. He wandered into a back bedroom where a small group of teens were smoking reefer and listening to the new Doors LP, The Soft Parade. Jesus took a few tokes and closed his eyes. He grooved on the music and began singing along with Jim Morrison, not loud enough to drown out the record but loud enough for the girls in the room to hear.
when the song ended, Jesus opened his eyes and saw two older boys watching him from the doorway. He grew embarrassed and defensive. He never sang like that in front of his vatos. He was afraid they would laugh and call him mariçon, a queer. He flexed his fists in preparation for a fight.
The two boys complimented Jesus on his singing. He mumbled a thank you. They introduced themselves and said they were in a blues band that was looking for a vocalist. They played at church dances and youth clubs almost every weekend and got paid pretty well. would Jesus like to jam with them? He agreed, and ended up joining their group. And so Jesus Ortiz began his career as a professional musician at the age of 13.
eric Denton was born in 1958 in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Ventura and san Diego. He took piano lessons and was playing keyboards in bands by his early teens. eric was fascinated with the business end of the music industry. In high school, he owned a lighting rig and P.A. which he would rent to local groups. He became an amateur promoter. Between this and doing gigs, eric Denton made quite a lot of money for a teenager.
After graduation, eric joined a glam outfit called Peter Rabbitt and went on tour. He didn’t care much for wearing makeup, but did it for the sake of showbiz. After a man tried to pick him up in new Jersey, eric decided he wasn’t cut out to be Johnny Thunders and quit. He returned to san Diego to ponder his next move.
He observed the local scene. He noticed that all the cover bands had the best equipment because they were the only ones who could afford it. If you wanted to make money playing music in late ‘70s san Diego, you learned covers. simple as that. The few groups on the circuit who performed originals were barely getting by with beaten-up instruments and lousy booking. The only way out of the club scene was to make a demo and get signed, but studio time was expensive and only the cover bands had the cash. All they needed demos for was to troll for more bar gigs, which further shut out the smaller groups. More importantly, san Diego had no record labels or entertainment industry. All that was two hours up the coast in Los Angeles, home to thousands of local
30 • august 2015 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us