History The Other Side

There are at least two bands named The Other Side.

1. The Other Side was a 1960s garage band from San Jose, CA., United States, fronted by Alan Graham (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Marty Battey (rhythm guitar, backing vocals). They released just one single (1966), 'Streetcar' b/w 'Walking Down The Road', with 'Streetcar' appearing on the 2007 Rhino compilation 'Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970'. The band name on this compilation is miss-spelled as The Otherside. The correct spelling is The Other Side.

Further biographical information:

Inextricably linked with the Chocolate Watchband -- by virtue of a dizzying personnel swap in November 1965 -- the Otherside are today far less known than their sister group, but were no less talented. the Otherside evolved from the Topsiders, a surf combo formed at Fremont, CA's Washington High School in 1964. The quartet included Jim Sawyers (lead guitar), Ken "Toad" Matthew (drums, vocals), Tom Antone (bass), and David Tolby (born David Phelps; second lead guitar). This lineup's high-water mark was a mid-1965 appearance at a KLIV Battle of the Bands at San Jose's Civic Auditorium. Joined briefly by rhythm guitarist Skip Spence, the Topsiders -- upon Spence's departure -- adopted a new handle. Spence, drafted to drum for the Jefferson Airplane, gave Sawyers and company the alternate moniker that the Airplane had rejected.

Thus was the Otherside born, and the band began a whirlwind series of personnel shifts. Citing personal differences with Tolby, Sawyers -- after a final show at the Oakland Civic Auditorium -- accepted the Vejtables' offer to replace Reese Sheets. Enter Edward Johnston "Ned" Torney III, lead axe of the Chocolate Watchband. Torney, whose keyboard and string-bending skills had been honed through an impressive succession of apprenticeships -- including stints with future Remains member Barry Tashian and East Coast surf instrumentalists the Roadrunners -- had already been asked to join the Otherside at an earlier November gig where both bands had played. Torney decided to jump ship and take Sawyers' place. His defection temporarily slew the Watchband, whose phoenix soon rose again from the ashes with Tolby (now calling himself Sean) in tow. Meanwhile, original Watchbanders Jo Kemling (keyboards) and Danny Phay (vocals) followed Torney and joined the remaining two Othersiders: Matthew and Antone.

The new Otherside, runners-up at a KEWB-sponsored Battle of the Bands at the Oakland Civic Auditorium in late November 1965, gained the endorsement of radio DJ Johnny G, and the band began drawing huge crowds. Stylistically, they emulated the British Invasion groups the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Animals, Yardbirds, and perhaps most notably, the Who. From January to May 1966, however, Torney -- drafted and stationed at Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco -- was merely a weekend participant. To help fill his shoes, Martin Van Slyke Battey (harmonica, guitar, vocals) came aboard. At this juncture, the Otherside shared billing with the pre-Creedence Golliwogs at the Brass Rail. Torney's return in May 1966 made the quintet top-heavy and rendered Kemling superfluous. His departure was soon followed by that of Phay. Guitarist Alan Graham -- pilfered from the Lord Jim Quintet -- was recruited to assist on vocals. It was this lineup of the Otherside that cut the group's sole recording, the single "Walking Down the Road" b/w "Streetcar" (Brent 7061, December 1966). "Road," a turbo-charged remake of an old Kingston Trio tune, features a jangly, dissonant bridge -- conjuring images of a Keystone Kops paddywagon on acid.

2. Dead Man, born into this HELL as R. Trujillo on 5/29/83 in Colorado Springs, Co. At an early age LIFE was hard. Himself, his mom (Y. Lobato), his younger sister (C. Trujillo), & his youngest sister (S. Cobos) were left to live a LIFE anything other than luxurios, due to a fatal car accident which killed his father (R. Trujillo Sr.) R.I.P. \"At that point we moved from house to house till we found our resting place in tha \"K\" which is short fo K-LAND.\" \"My hood on tha SOUTH SIDE of SPRINGS.\" Growing up in the \"K\" brought him to realize the struggle amoungst himself & his peers which in turn tought him \"The Ways Of The Street\" \"That Gangsta Lifestyle\" (STREET KNOWLEDGE). What school could not teach him. Past events forced him to be the man of tha house which lead him to grow up with barely a childhood. \"My mom was a single mother trying to raise me & my sisters with barely nothing. \"I know it was hard fo her given our circumstances, but she brought me up the best she knew how.\" School wasn\'t teaching him the skills he needed to SURVIVE, so he dropped out. Learning the know how from other sources. Around that time his LOVE for MUSIC escalated into a PASSION that would FOREVER become his DESTINY. Starting off by rapping over instrumentals off OLD SCHOOL records his dad left him, to COMPOSING, PRODUCING, MIXING, & MASTERING. Writing lyrics of REAL LIFE events that have happened in his LIFE have brought people to relate to his MUSIC, by understanding the HARDSHIPS that come from a LIFE of POVERTY, & SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES, or also experiencing these anomilies themselves. \"I\'ve been making MUSIC fo 8 years, in my eyes I feel BLESSED & THANK GOD fo given me this TALENT, & to share it with the WORLD.\"

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