Volume 1
"This is KPRN, radio 99--all Prince, all the time ... We'll be giving away Purple Rain T-shirts ... Purple Rain videos ... a purple Honda 350 motorcycle with a gas tank sculpted into the shape of Prince's head; and copies of the Purple Rain soundtrack complete with indecipherable lyrics printed in purple ... and a full-color poster depicting Prince and the Revolution dressed in silver paisley lounging 'jammies. That's for the 1999th caller ..."
The above ... could have been taken more or less verbatim from a dozen-odd radio stations in the Bay Area sometime during the last six months. During that time you could have concluded that if Prince hadn't bought the universe yet, he at least had it in escrow.
--Richard von Busack, "The Prince and I," March 7, 1985
The Show Must Go On
Mountain View Mayor Maryce Freelen thinks her city is Bill Graham's kind of town. "I think our citizens will be very pleased in a few years' time," she says, referring to plans to construct a 15,000-seat, $15 million amphitheater on city-owned land north of the Bayshore Freeway. ...
"There are very few homes nearby," says Freelen, "and I think that the important and significant concerns voiced thus far will be mitigated by the noise and traffic engineers. ..."
Early plans for the Shoreline Park Amphitheatre drew statements of concern from local agencies and citizens concerned about problems ranging from noise, traffic and air pollution to the safety of nearby nesting areas for indigenous birds.
... In order to quell fears neighbors may harbor about the type of crowds the site will attract, Bill Graham Presents has provided Mountain View with a list of the performers they expect to bring to the venue ... Frank Sinatra, John Denver, Julio Iglesias and the Osmonds ...
--Hal Plotkin, "Waiting for the Show to Begin," April 4, 1985
That list of performers did not include the Grateful Dead, who performed at Shoreline regularly, to the dismay of nearby Santiago Villa Mobile Home Park residents and the Marriott Residence Inn, which filed a complaint with the Mountain View City Council last June about "concert followers, often referred to as Deadheads" who, among other things, were "discovered naked and copulating in our spa early one morning."
Noise complaints from as far away as Menlo Park and Sunnyvale fuel a debate, led by Abate Shoreline Amphitheatre Noise, or ASAN, that continues to rage around the amphitheater. And in its opening year, flaming methane gas spouted from the ground at the venue. Finally, Mountain View City Council members were questioned about their policy of accepting front-and-center tickets from Bill Graham Presents for every Shoreline show (except for benefit concerts) as part of a rental agreement.
Freelen, no longer mayor, is back on the council. Despite some problems, she feels the amphitheater "was well worth it. I'm really proud of it. A lot of people have gone there and enjoyed themselves." When questioned about whether free tickets compromise the current council's objectivity on Shoreline issues, Freelen has no apologies. But she does have vitriol for anyone who asks. "They aren't gifts. It's written in the contract. I've been over this a thousand, billion times and I'm done with it. Goodbye," she says, hanging up.
Shoreline is estimated by Finance Director Robert Locke to bring $1.6 million to Mountain View city coffers annually. Bill Graham Presents' Danny Scher says "that's double the most optimistic projections we ever anticipated. It's been a very good investment for the city of Mountain View."He adds that restaurant business in the city's downtown rises by as much as 20 percent on show nights. The facility has helped raise millions for area charities as well.
Shoreline, Scher also notes, is the nation's top concert facility in terms of attendance, number of shows and gross receipts, and is consistently voted the best concert venue by artists, agents and managers.
Into the Arena
The prospect of a large arena and/or stadium in San Jose has South Bay sports fans licking their chops in anticipation and justifiably so. There's little doubt that a sports venue would help catapult San Jose into the major destinations among American cities. But the proposal by the Santa Clara County Fair Board to build a $42 million, 17,000-seat arena on fairgrounds property holds promise for putting San Jose on the musical map as well. ...
Last December, one rock star referred to San Jose as a "sleepy town." The consensus is that an arena is vital if San Jose is to overcome that image and become a big-league entertainment capital.
--Rob Vardon, "Arena Offers Hope for South Bay Rock Fans," May 2, 1985
In 1988, the San Jose voters took the plunge and approved the construction of a downtown 20,000-seat arena, which opened the doors to its steel and glass exterior in 1993. The "tank," as it is known to hockey fans, cost closer to $147 million, ended up on West Santa Clara Street instead of the fairgrounds, and landed San Jose on the map more with the Sharks' mondo marketing machine than the spate of musical acts which have appeared there. Even with its high ticket prices, $30 million in cost overruns and what some see as a too-sweet deal for the Sharks, most San Joseans consider the arena one of the things during the past decade the city has managed to do right.
Howling Wolves
"We decided we should call it something to do with wolves, because that's our name." (Los Lobos means "the wolves" in Spanish.) "Perez, looking for an article on wolves, found a National Geographic with a story that was called, I think, 'How Will the Wolf Survive,' about how the wolves in America had been driven into this little pocket of northern Minnesota and Canada.
"In the same issue there was this big piece on Arizona about how the western land boom had been driving people out, and how automation was getting their jobs ... the title suggested itself. With the title, the album came together. ..."
--Richard von Busack, "Los Lobos: An American Band," May 30, 1985
These wolves have done more than survive. A club act at the time von Busack interviewed them for this 1985 cover story, the band went on to bigger venues with the success of their "La Bamba" cover.
Point Blank
On the last evening of Melvin Truss' life, Maria Torres drove through the Olinder Elementary School parking lot with her five-year-old daughter. She saw a white Dodge parked against the fence. In the front passenger seat sat a young black man whom she had never seen before. Looking in her rear view mirror, she saw a large white man step out of the driver's side with a revolver in his hand ... The man stood erect, aimed and fired twice into the car. [Torres would report to a grand jury later that] she had just seen an undercover officer kill a 17-year-old high school student, Melvin Truss. According to police reports, Truss was killed after soliciting undercover officer Paul Ewing for sex and then threatening him with a four-inch steak knife. But if Torres' version is correct, Ewing fired twice into a youth who was out of range of harming the officer with a knife.
[Truss] died on the operating table, the 13th person killed by a San Jose Police officer in the last four years.
Melvin Truss Jr. was known by family and friends as a compulsive giggler, a shy but polite kid who hid his feelings behind a smile and a laugh.
According to Torres, [Deputy District Attorney Clay] Haupert tried to get her to "change her story," that Ewing had fired from outside the car. "I don't know why they didn't believe me. I was there," Torres says.
After eight hours of testimony, 18 grand jurors concluded that Ewing should not be indicted for homicide. Ewing returned to work a week later.
--Stuart Leavenworth, "Case Closed: The Killing of Melvin Truss," July 11, 1985
In our fifth anniversary edition, we reported that Ewing, "in February of [1990] turned himself in on charges that he thrashed an unarmed, unresisting 14-year-old black youth with his nightstick. [On] July 7, his wife, Pamela, was found shot dead with Ewing's .357 Magnum lying at her side. The death was ruled a suicide ... About five months later, Ewing married a woman who, according to reports, moved into his house just weeks after Pamela Ewing's death."
Actually, Ewing did not "turn himself in"; he was reported to superiors by rookie cop Desmond Casey, who was in field training with Ewing when the beating took place.
In the fall of 1989, Ewing was cleared of violating the deceased Melvin Truss' civil rights by a federal jury in a civil trial brought by Truss' mother. Then, in June 1990, Ewing was arrested for battering his new wife, Cynthia Perez, also a San Jose police officer. In August 1990, Ewing was granted a disability release from the San Jose Police Department because of "accumulated psychological stress" from the Truss shooting, his former wife's suicide and civil charges brought against him in the beating of the teenager, Steven Jasper. Finally, in April 1992, Ewing was convicted of misdemeanor for the beating and ordered by Judge Robert Baines to 45 days of electronic monitoring of his movements. Ewing faced up to one year of jail time and a $10,000 fine. During sentencing, Judge Baines stated that Ewing had not yet "come to grips" with his responsibility for the beating.
Mutually Assured Destruction
A fence topped with barbed wire surrounds the station. Signs warn that the area is off-limits to unauthorized personnel. A guard stands watch at the entrance gate.
The Blue Cube is well guarded for prudent reasons. For an America under threat of nuclear attack the station could offer hope for salvation. It could just as easily bring on the total destruction of the Santa Clara Valley. Either way, the site will play a major role during a nuclear confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States.
--Edward Anthony, "Nuclear Target Silicon Valley," Aug. 29, 1985
Instead, the world saw the total destruction of the Soviet Union. Renamed Onizuka after one of the doomed Challenger astronauts, the Blue Cube in Sunnyvale, hub of high-tech sophistication and secrecy that it was, now sits on a base slated for closure as part of the post-Cold War downsizing that is shutting down bases throughout the state and the nation.
New Toy
Computerized bulletin boards are maturing functionally and socially, making them a more viable communications medium. No longer are they run solely by computer hobbyists. The newer bulletin boards are run by system operators who have interests in everything from money, love and sex to law, spirituality and space/time.
--Allan Lundell, "The Free Software Connection," Oct. 24, 1985
Nerd Is the Word
Back in the '70s, the corporate world was one big playground for ... electronic enthusiasts. ... A hero emerged from that heady entrepreneurial climate in Silicon Valley. He was different than traditional media stars ... . Soon his image was appearing everywhere. A 1982 California magazine cover portrayed two gorgeous and scantily clad females fawning over a bewildered nerd clutching his computer. The accompanying article on inventor Steve Wozniak, "Revenge of the Nerds," and a later movie with the same title, helped transform the nerd into a star. ...
Suddenly, almost as quickly as it had soared to stardom, Silicon Valley's technology-driven culture plunged into recession ... Hence the need for a new nerd, a team player who has the savvy of a salesman with strong communication skills. A problem-solver who gets excited about quality production and customer service. ... Caught in Silicon Valley's cultural transition, the stereotypical nerd of the '70s--whose nonconformist and antisocial behavior was once viewed with amusement--is a strong candidate for the ax.
--Melanie Branon, "Evolution of the Nerds," Nov. 7, 1985
A Fine Mess
Meanwhile, everybody involved seems to be mad at everybody else involved. Pick up the paper and read McEnery's blasts that City Manager Gerald Newfarmer has bungled redevelopment, eroded its popularity and perhaps should be fired.
Attend a Redevelopment Agency meeting of the City Council and hear Councilwoman Pat Sausedo lambast the redevelopment staff for botching a memo and keeping materials from her.
Talk to [Xochie] Pina, and other Guadalupe-Auzerais neighborhood resident leaders and hear them rip city leaders for treating them shabbily and ruining everything they touch.
Talk to one private investor who will make a great deal of money from Redevelopment and hear not happiness, but so much anger and hostility at residents, their leaders and the agency that he refuses to be quoted.
Oh, it's a fine mess and one that could have been prevented with some foresight. But the city jumped in, literally, without a plan.
--Craig Carter, "There Goes the Neighborhood," Nov. 21, 1985
In the wake of this badly botched relocation effort, Pina led a courtroom battle which resulted in relocation payments to 112 residents of the Guadalupe-Auzerais neighborhood, totaling $2.6 million. With $23,000 to $94,000 in their pockets, residents were able to move to other areas of San Jose, California's Central Valley and even to buy a four-bedroom home with a swimming pool in Tucson. Pina was later convicted of grand theft, however, for collecting relocation expenses for her brother from El Paso, and was assigned 365 hours serving food to the homeless. ... The public debacle marked the beginning of the end of the Redevelopment Agency's reign over the city's downtown housing effort.
Pina died of cancer in March of last year at the age of 57.
The former Guadalupe-Auzerais neighborhood is now the site of the Children's Discovery Museum, and a giant, grassy open space used for outdoor public events and the Guadalupe River Park. The Tech Museum of Innovation site has been moved to the corner of Park and Market, where it is slated to open in November 1998.
Painting the Town Blue
The Chautauqua circuit that crisscrossed Texas and the Great Plains, and the "fatback" circuit of black clubs and dance halls stretching from New Orleans and Tupelo on up the Mississippi River to St. Louis has produced a constant stream of musical talent since the last century. ... In the San Jose area, the bedrock blues tradition stayed alive, championed by a not-so-old guard of bluesmen like Gary Smith, Charlie Musselwhite, Nick Gravenites, "Gilroy John" Garcia, Mark Naftalin and "Guitar Mac," as well as newer bluesmasters like guitarist Chris Cain and harpist Andy Just. ... Work song, field song, chain-gang song, church song, whorehouse song--the blues is for the masses (even if they are from Cupertino). Just, Cain, Garcia and Smith have had ample opportunity to play at a new blues establishment on Stevens Creek, JJ's Lounge. ... The energy at JJ's reminds me of the early rumblings of SoHo, Old Town Chicago or S.F.'s Fillmore. ... the blues is coming on strong in the South Bay.
--Sammy Cohen, "The Blues: From the Mississippi Delta to Stevens Creek," Nov. 28, 1985
From one tiny club on Stevens Creek Boulevard, the JJ's phenomenon grew. Club owners June and Max Stanley opened a club in Mountain View (which they have since sold), started another in downtown San Jose (which just celebrated its fifth anniversary) and launched an annual festival that has brought numerous blues greats to the city.
The Christmas from Hell
The two impish little men scrambled to their feet and rushed to Bongo, where they scrutinized him closely, their beady black eyes squinting unflinchingly till Bongo blushed in puzzlement.
"Are you good elves or evil elves," Bongo at last queried in a shaky voice.
"We're not elves at all," the two miniature men replied matter-of-factly. "We're just teenage runaways, alone and abandoned in this big, wonderful place where anything can happen."
"Me, too!," Bongo gushed exultantly, "except I'm not a teenager yet!"
"Pleased to meet you," the diminutive men said. "My name is Akbar," one of them asserted, and "My name is Jeff," the other one chimed in.
--Matt Groening, "Bongo's Xmas Wish," Dec. 19, 1985
Matt Groening was a little-known cartoonist when Metro began running his feature. Bongo, Jeff and Akbar still inhabit the Life in Hell cartoon strip--though they're not as culturally entrenched as Groening's dysfunctional family poster children, the Simpsons.
Last Words
"I don't have a lot of fears. I won't say I'm the bravest man in the world, but in some respects, I'm almost foolhardy. I guess the only thing I really fear is that my life will end before I do everything I want to do. That's still a big order--there are still a lot of things I want to do. I'm getting to the age now where it seems like there's not enough time left."
--Don Hoefler, The Metro Interview, Feb. 27, 1986
It turned out to be Hoefler's last interview. He was so happy to be featured on Metro's cover that he stopped by the office to pick up a stack of papers and thank the writer. A few weeks later, he slipped into a coma and died . He left behind a large legacy, though. The crusading and fiercely independent journalist, who published the weekly newsletter Microelectronics News, is credited with coining the name "Silicon Valley."
On to March 1986-February 1987
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March 1985-February 1986
Purple Haze
From the October 5-11, 1995 issue of Metro