| MOTEL SEX |
Donovan Brown-vocals
Keith Calmes-guitar
Steve Daniels-drums
Keith Calmes-guitar
Steve Daniels-drums
I had forgotten about this band but, Shipe refreshed my memory. One Haloween in the mid-80's he worked at a
haunted house with Donovan and he remembers going to see them practice in a garage. I also remember seeing
the MOTEL SEX logo on a gig flyer, a promo flyer and in Laughing Messiah zine. Yet another band that Steve
Daniels played in! I'll bet there's more bands that Daniels played in I don't know about.
An interesting point is the lead singer, Donovan Brown is the son of 60's psychedelic rock singer Lee Michaels.
haunted house with Donovan and he remembers going to see them practice in a garage. I also remember seeing
the MOTEL SEX logo on a gig flyer, a promo flyer and in Laughing Messiah zine. Yet another band that Steve
Daniels played in! I'll bet there's more bands that Daniels played in I don't know about.
An interesting point is the lead singer, Donovan Brown is the son of 60's psychedelic rock singer Lee Michaels.
I recently heard from Donovan Brown and he had this to say about the short-lived project known as Motel Sex:
Motel Sex… yup I was part of that, what there was of it anyway. We may have played once or twice, I seem to
remember playing at the warehouse, but it all seems fuzzy looking back at it. If I recall correctly Steve couldn’t
have been playing drums too long by then, Steve and I were pretty close back then, hanging out in his bedroom
at his mom's place, being the little punk rock kids that we were. No drums in that apartment as I recall, just a
bunch of MRR tapes, zines and tattered clothes marked up with sharpies. Keith was the only one who knew
anything about operating an instrument. It seemed more of a lark than a real band, just some kids fucking around
and making some noise. I do remember a few songs, “Dirty Book Store”, ”America’s Bulldogs” But beyond that
it’s just fuzzy memories of days gone by.
Motel Sex… yup I was part of that, what there was of it anyway. We may have played once or twice, I seem to
remember playing at the warehouse, but it all seems fuzzy looking back at it. If I recall correctly Steve couldn’t
have been playing drums too long by then, Steve and I were pretty close back then, hanging out in his bedroom
at his mom's place, being the little punk rock kids that we were. No drums in that apartment as I recall, just a
bunch of MRR tapes, zines and tattered clothes marked up with sharpies. Keith was the only one who knew
anything about operating an instrument. It seemed more of a lark than a real band, just some kids fucking around
and making some noise. I do remember a few songs, “Dirty Book Store”, ”America’s Bulldogs” But beyond that
it’s just fuzzy memories of days gone by.
He also had this to say about his introduction to punk rock:
I don't think I realized just how early I started going to "punk" shows and stuff. I checked into it and found I
went to a Clash show in Monterey in 1979... I was barley 15 years old and had been digging on punk for more that
a year before. I remember a Flipper show up in The City as well. Was I really a 13 year old punk stuck alone in the
middle of Gallo vineyards?... it appears so, and all because I so hated rock and roll, and rock stars so much it hurt.
No wonder the schools reacted so strongly and with such confusion, they had zero point of reference. In the
end I found my place with you lot, and life was easier, a bit easier anyway... it was still Fresno where you could
get a beat down just for looking like "some kind of faggot".
My biggest regret is that I avoided cameras with a vengeance, and now in my dotage I find I have not a single
picture of those days, not a one. This is par for the course, I find that indeed I have no pictures on any kind
from any period in my life, in retrospect maybe I should not have avoided every camera every time, I must have
had some sort of "poser" hate or something back then. I can’t even seem to spot myself in a crowd photo or
video of gigs I know I was at, and from what I combed through It seems I was at most of them through around 84
or so. So sad… Whatever. Even to this day I still hate rock stars so much I see them in the "Punk Stars" of the
past, headliner punk bands partying backstage and acting every bit the rock star, giving the "history" of punk
interviews to gullible reporters, contributing to books that pretend to define a movement that belonged to the
garage not the dressing room.
punksnax at haught mael daught cohm
I don't think I realized just how early I started going to "punk" shows and stuff. I checked into it and found I
went to a Clash show in Monterey in 1979... I was barley 15 years old and had been digging on punk for more that
a year before. I remember a Flipper show up in The City as well. Was I really a 13 year old punk stuck alone in the
middle of Gallo vineyards?... it appears so, and all because I so hated rock and roll, and rock stars so much it hurt.
No wonder the schools reacted so strongly and with such confusion, they had zero point of reference. In the
end I found my place with you lot, and life was easier, a bit easier anyway... it was still Fresno where you could
get a beat down just for looking like "some kind of faggot".
My biggest regret is that I avoided cameras with a vengeance, and now in my dotage I find I have not a single
picture of those days, not a one. This is par for the course, I find that indeed I have no pictures on any kind
from any period in my life, in retrospect maybe I should not have avoided every camera every time, I must have
had some sort of "poser" hate or something back then. I can’t even seem to spot myself in a crowd photo or
video of gigs I know I was at, and from what I combed through It seems I was at most of them through around 84
or so. So sad… Whatever. Even to this day I still hate rock stars so much I see them in the "Punk Stars" of the
past, headliner punk bands partying backstage and acting every bit the rock star, giving the "history" of punk
interviews to gullible reporters, contributing to books that pretend to define a movement that belonged to the
garage not the dressing room.
punksnax at haught mael daught cohm