New Rock Label by a Lethal Eagle

Todd Jacobson, a full-time lawyer and part-time punk rocker from Fullerton, has started a new label, Lethal Records, that will tap into the fertile grass-roots Orange County alternative-rock scene.

Jacobson, 29, said he started Lethal on a do-it-yourself basis last year, issuing a punk-metal CD compilation called “Orange Crunch” and distributing a self-financed CD by the Huntington Beach band Ragabash. Now he has added a full-time manager and marketer, John Geldbach, who formerly worked as merchandising manager for SST Records.

Jacobson, who has his own legal practice, said he hopes to put out 14 singles and six albums during 1994.

A Ragabash single has just been released, and a single by the Cadillac Tramps/Adolescents spinoff band Rule 62 is due next month.

“So many good bands down here were getting overlooked by the L.A. scene,” Jacobson said. “We do get tapes from (bands from other parts of the country), but we’ll keep a Southern California and Orange County slant, predominantly.”

Also signed to the label is the Orange County band Eighth Cranial Nerve. Local punk group Guttermouth also is close to signing with Lethal, Jacobson said. And he said he has had talks with HR, the former Bad Brains singer, about putting out a single on Lethal--a move that would give the fledgling label some exposure on the national independent scene.

Jacobson does his own rocking in the band Boar’s Head. “Having no musical talent, I’m relegated to singing duties,” he said.

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MAKING UP RULES: Rule 62 is led by Brian Coakley, whose primary gig is playing guitar and writing songs for the Cadillac Tramps. Coakley, who has proven himself a promising lead singer in performances of the Tramps’ ballad “The River,” is the singer and main songwriter in Rule 62.

A gig last Saturday at Club Mesa found Coakley pursuing that vein fruitfully on a couple of soulful slower numbers; harder-edged songs had some of the Yardbirds-go-punk feel that comes out in Cadillac Tramps.

The other members of Rule 62 are: lead guitarist Frank Agnew, an ex-Adolescent; Agnew’s wife, Libby, on bass; and Chris Webb of One Hit Wonder on drums. The other Cadillac Tramps guitarist, Jonny Wickersham, played with the band until recently and appears on the upcoming single.

Frank Agnew explains that the band’s name is taken from the handbook of a 12-step recovery program, in which Rule 62 is “Don’t take yourself too seriously.”

The band’s plans call for a trip to Chicago next month to record at the studio of Steve Albini, the producer best known for his work on Nirvana’s album, “In Utero.”

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ACTIVIDADES EXTRACURRICULARES: Coakley isn’t the only Cadillac Tramp who has been moonlighting with the intention of not taking himself too seriously.

The Tramps’ singer, Mike (Gabby) Gaborno, and bassist Warren Renfrow have been playing gigs in a punk-comedy band called Manic Hispanic that is gathering a strong following in local clubs. Steve Soto of Joyride plays guitar in the all-Latino band.

Joining Gaborno on vocals are Steve Acevedo and Sonny Lujon. Two members of the Grabbers, guitarist Maurice Torres and drummer Ruben Rivera, have also been playing with Manic Hispanic. But Soto said commitments to their main band will keep them from playing on an upcoming five-show tour of western Canada, arranged by a promoter who previously has booked Canadian tours by the Cadillac Tramps and Joyride.

Manic Hispanic’s repertoire consists solely of “punk covers in Spanglish,” according to Soto. For example, the Adolescents’ classic, “Amoeba,” has been reinterpreted as “Amigo.”

“It’s really silly, but it’s fun,” Soto said. “It’s mostly old English punk stuff,” including songs by the Buzzcocks, the Damned, the Clash, Wire and Sham 69, all rendered with manic humor by Gaborno.

The band began last February when Joyride had to cancel a gig at Linda’s Doll Hut in Anaheim after its drummer, Sandy Hanson, became ill.

“We didn’t want to let Linda down, so I said, ‘I’ll put together something so you don’t have an empty spot’ ” on the schedule, Soto recalled. “Gabby and I had been talking about doing it, so we threw it together in a day. We’ve played seven or eight shows, and they just keep getting bigger and bigger,” including a recent sellout at the Electric Circus in Buena Park.

Now Manic Hispanic is talking to Doctor Dream Records about doing an album, Soto said.

“Me and Gabby already have decided we’d kill ourselves if we got big doing this, after all the time we put into our own (primary) bands,” Soto said.

A new recruit for the upcoming tour is Soto’s Joyride band mate, guitarist Greg Antista.

“Greg’s Italian, but he swears he’s got an eighth Mexican in him somewhere,” Soto said. Manic Hispanic plays Jan. 28 at Club Mesa in Costa Mesa.

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KING OF THE . . . VIDEO?: Dick Dale will be shooting live footage for his first-ever video at the Coach House on Saturday, but not during his actual performance at the club that night.

The video’s producer, Terry Power, said the shooting time is noon. Fans are invited to take part and can call Power Films at (213) 653-7665 for information. Without trying to offend surf-rock lovers of a certain age, the producers are letting it be known that they are looking for younger Dick Dale fans for the crowd shots.

Dale, 56, has been trying to break his excellent comeback album, “Tribal Thunder,” in the alternative-rock market, and the video for the punk-influenced song, “Nitro,” is part of that strategy.

“It’s going to be a sort of nonstop, action-packed, on-the-edge type of video, where Dick is playing in a (concert) performance, as well as other locations, possibly in the desert and on a Hollywood street,” said Power, who has produced videos for Hammer, NWA, Blues Traveler and Robin Zander, among others.

“We want to definitely shoot the crowd. We want the young audience there.”

Dale also says that David Haynes, a drummer who lives in Orange, has replaced “Super Dave” Maneely in his backing duo. Bassist Ron Eglit remains at his longtime post.

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MORE MUSICAL CHAIRS: Local blues man James Harman also reports lineup changes: guitarist Ted Morgan and drummer Efrem Cooke, who appeared on Harman’s 1993 album, “Two Sides to Every Story,” have left for Austin, Tex., to start a band of their own.

Harman has recruited two San Diego players to replace them: veteran drummer Michael Cherry, and 18-year-old guitarist Robby (Sugar Boy) Eason. Jeff Turmes remains on bass as the new lineup works on “Cards on the Table,” the next James Harman Band album. They play Jan. 28 at Linda’s Doll Hut in Anaheim and Jan. 29 at Heritage Brewing Co. in Dana Point.