For those of you who have never spent much time in the San Francisco area, you probably know that this is a world-class city with world-class parties, but may not be familiar with some of the more unusual events. There are events such as the Gay Pride parade (do I really have to tell you what that’s all about?) that winds its way through downtown San Francisco each year. This parade involves lots of naked people who are very interested in the plumbing of other people like themselves. Then, a few weeks later, there is the Love Parade. This parade winds its way down the same route, and also involves lots of nude people, but has a subtle difference. The people in the parade are interested in seeing the plumbing of people of the OTHER gender. In each of these parades, nudity is pushed to the limits of what the good and decent, God-fearing people of the Bay Area will allow (pretty much anything short of actual sexual athletics). Are you starting to see a trend, here?
Finally, we come to the Exotic Erotic Ball. And, oh yeah, Charlie Brechtel and his band. First things first, though. The Exotic Erotic Ball is held each year in the Fall, in large auditoriums, away from the innocent eyes of the more decent folks (should we say “tight-assed”) in the Bay Area. This is a party in which pretty much anything you’re willing to do and wear goes. People of both genders show up in all states of dress, from tuxedos and evening dresses to, well, uh, nothing.
The alcohol and the food, the music and the entertainment are all plentiful, while people from all walks of life and all states of age and fitness show off their bodies in the dim lights. Let me tell you, there are people who should think about doing something else, but then again, there are people who should be given a hearty, long, passionate hug, an award, and a kiss from the judges….but I’m wandering here.
Right about now, you’re asking yourself where this article is going. According to the title of this thing, this is supposed to be about Charlie Brechtel, and his band. Why are we talking about all the weirdness in San Francisco? Have they been dipping into the ganja down there at Bikernet? Stick with me. It all comes together neatly.
Charlie Brechtel is a big part of the biker scene, AND the San Francisco scene. I don’t know if he parades through San Francisco in the Love Parade, but he DID perform a gig at the Erotic Exotic Ball. This is where it all comes together. First, a little bit about Charlie and his music.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Charlie Brechtel Band, let it be said that Charlie and his posse are kick-ass biker-music and blues lovers. And they can kick some serious riff booty on the stage. When you listen to his stuff, you hear the music of the muddy Mississippi, the sun-scorched wide-open spaces of Texas, the melodious, almost ballad-like blues music of the southeast, and the roar of the road in your ears. It is good, down-home, hard-driving rock and roll. In these days of synthesizers, sampling, and overdubbing, Charlie’s music is good ol’ kick ass, what-you-hear-is-what-you-get rock-n-roll.
The music was born in the USA, preserved by bands like Charlie’s, and celebrated every time people like Charlie and his crew grab a stage and an audience. There ain’t no surfer music here, and cats like Cat Stevens aren’t even allowed in the building, thank-you-very-much. You want to rock to road music? Go see Charlie. His love for music and the personal mission he has, to preserve and grow the music and the biker culture, is literally what he lives for. He’s ridden bikes since he was 9, and played since he was 15, and the two passions fit together perfectly for him and those who get the treat hear him play. It’s good music that’ll get a good crowd going.
This year’s promoters of the Exotic Erotic Ball heard of Charlie’s reputation and style. They’d heard his music could fire a crowd up, and get them jumpin’. They’d also heard that Charlie’s band included a bevy of fine-looking, leggy girls he calls the “Sturgis Rider Live” girls, who’s dancing repertoire (think strip club) would fit nicely with the who EEB situation. In short, if you ever see Charlie’s band, and the girls, you’ll have a hard time concentrating on the music, and you find yourself reaching for dollar bills.
The promoters told Charlie they wanted, “a good show” and he should pull out all the stops. Charlie, being a biker, said, “Uh. Sure. No problem,” and immediately started hatching a plan.
Now remember, this Exotic Erotic Ball is a wild time, but it’s no biker event. The kinds of shenanigans that are the daily bread to feed the biker spirit weren’t (until this year) expected. Charlie, hearing the words “a good show” on the other hand, figured the promoters wanted some Sturgis-style over the top entertainment, and lined hot elements with their wild mantra in mind. Of course, he brought his kick ass band, and he brought the sweet-assed Sturgis Rider Live Girls, but he also tapped some biker buddies of his, some just hard core bikers, and some Hells Angels to help him put on the show. The idea came into focus, and he executed the plan.
The night of the show, amid flashing lasers, strobes, colored lights, and fog machine mist, Charlie’s band was introduced to a partying crowd. As the first licks of musical heat came off the band’s instruments, the crowd erupted in cheers and shouts. These people may not have all known Charlie, but they knew kick ass music when they heard it. A few bars into the first song, called “Freedom”, the music shifted from an innovative rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, into hard-driving biker rock and roll, and just as that happened Charlie’s biker buddies came roaring into the venue on their bikes, right up onto the stage.
The crowd went absolutely nuts at this spectacle within a spectacle. Can you imagine what this looked like? A hard-rocking biker band, blasting tunes with Harley engines adding a syncopated beat, overlooking a crowd of partying, half-dressed people. Wait….sounds like Sturgis. Okay, okay. You get the notion, anyway. As Charlie and his team charged forward jamming music, the bikes roared and the girls danced. It was something the crowd at the Exotic Erotic Ball had never seen before, but absolutely dug, right from the first note and the first bike.
Charlie played the rest of his kick-ass set, with his buddies sitting on their bikes, digging the music and enjoying themselves right in the middle of his stage set up. Two of the more memorable riders and bikes were Dennis Sanfilippo, who sat on a Captain America replica Panhead, and Jim Elrite, a 35-year member of the Red & White, who sat on the “My Evil Twin” show bike. Overall, it was a great night, with bikers, dancing women, bikes, and a lot of half (or completely) naked, half or completely drunk people. Like I said, it sounds like a normal night with Charlie, to me.
Charlie, as I mentioned, is a well-known icon in the biker community, often playing at the big biker events around the country. At Sturgis, he’s always invited to play at one of the sacred lands of bikerdom, the Buffalo Chip. Generally, if bikers are gathering, Charlie will be there to entertain them. And the biker crowd comes to see him in mobs.
They come to hear him because they hear the road in his music, and they hear licks and sounds from BB King, Deacon Jones, Freddy King, and John Lee Hooker. Why? Because Charlie played and toured with those and other famous, world-renowned musicians. Having played with these guys makes Charlie’s music cross cultural, class, and racial lines easily. It echoes the core of what makes bands like the Allman Brothers, and ZZ-Top, as well as BB King and his Lucille great mucisians. But let’s be clear, while Charlie’s music has the same roots as these other down home bands, he has his own unique style of music that you have to hear to appreciate.
People who listen to Charlie hear the kind of music that has its roots in broken-down little Riverside bars, where the whiskey and the women are cheap and you better mind your manners lest you get a percussive attitude readjustment. Good ol’ down home stuff.
Charlie’s music can be hard to find, since most big producers think of it as “biker music” and don’t think it will sell (they’ve been wrong before). If you’ve heard him, and can’t get enough, check out his website at www.charliebrechtel.com. He’ll be coming out with a new CD soon, called “Ironvudu” which is a musical tribute to his own bike, now being built by Texas customizer Sonny Keaton and Rich (a Tophatter from Charlie’s current stomping grounds in Angel’s Camp, California). Give it a listen. It’ll make you feel like your heels are ripping down the road, 4 inches from the blacktop, just listening to it.
But now Charlie is branching out, and getting up close and personal with the Internet. His girls, his band, and the general biker lifestyle are all going to be promoted in that electronic window on the world, complete with videos of builds, gigs, girls who like to work on bikes topless, and bikers who want to learn from mechanics that don’t smell like 90 weight. If you want to hear Charlie’s stuff, and hear him narrate some really cool videos, go check it out. It’s excellent stuff.
Charlie has been a good friend of our own Mr. Ball for years. Even some of the songs Charlie has written are references to Bandit. I’ll let you guess which ones, but if you’re still a little vague on this, check out songs that have references to “5-Ball” in them. Charlie has watched him grow the Bikernet site from a little one-page, small-time on-line site into a big, well-respected international website that gets thousands of hits a day, and contains the latest and greatest writings of famous and well-respected authors, like me (had to give myself a plug…no one else will). Charlie took that seed of an idea and said, “Well, hell, if Bandit can do this, who can’t?” Or something to that effect (I’m just guessing).
Charlie has set up a site called www.sturgisriderlive.com, which will work well with his Biker’s Inner Circle internet gig. This site is “adult” oriented, which I take to mean that there are significant numbers of shots of adult body parts. Lots of photos and videos of women admiring custom bikes in their altogether, while we all admire their altogether. The site will have photos and videos of things going on all around the biker kingdom.
You’ll get to vote on-line each year for Ms. Sturgis at the Buffalo Chip, and there will be photo and video shoots of custom bike builds and shows. There is an area that’s a tribute to the late Dave Mann (Charlie and Dave were good friends). Like any site run by someone in the core of a culture, this site will grow and get better and better, and will be a stop off for bikers from all over the world. The site is up and running now, so stop by, put your feet up, keep your hands in sight, and enjoy!
–Hiway
