See Also: Mark Z
Ron Silva connected with Mark Zadarnowski – who was just learning to play bass guitar – through a mutual friend and fellow Beatles enthusiast named Tim LaMadrid. The first gig by the newly formed band the Crawdaddys was at Abbey Road in September 1978, with Ron's brother Russell Silva – who went by the name "Scuzz" – sitting in on drums. By their third concert at the Lions’ Club in North Park, the line-up was Ron Silva (guitar), Steve Potterf (guitar), Mark Zadarnowski (bass), and Dan McLain (drums); McLain ran a local record store called Monty Rockers.
Remarkably, the Crawdaddys filmed their performance of another Bo Diddley song in 1978, "Cadillac"; this was a full three years before MTV signed on the air. The film was made for a college Communications class that Mark Zadarnowski was attending.
Mike Stax's return to San Diego in May 1982 triggered the exit of the original Crawdaddys bassist Mark Zadarnowski. This time, Stax came to town with an agenda; Stax is quoted by Ray Brandes: "I returned with lots of tapes of obscure ‘60s beat, R&B and garage stuff, and we began to learn a lot of new covers, stuff like 'Chicago' by the Phantom Brothers, 'She Just Satisfies' by Jimmy Page [which I had figured inspired the band's original "I'm Dissatisfied"], the Boots’ version of “Jump Back [Baby]” and the Sorrows’ 'You Got What I Want'. The rest of the band was finally open to doing stuff like this, which I’d been advocating all along, rather than being a purist R&B/blues band who only did songs by the original black artists."
(January 2015/2)
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