trigmogigmo

Photo Bomber or Lost Heartbreaker?

Nov 192021

I just finished watching the enjoyable and nostalgic documentary “Somewhere You Feel Free” about the making of Tom Petty’s Wildflowers. Some mindless related web surfing led me to this photo, supposedly from 1976, which was followed by more trails leading to various subjects like Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour (did you ever notice the striking similarity between the juicy guitar riffs of Twilley’s “I’m on Fire” and Petty’s “Strangered in the Night”?), Leon Russell and Denny Cordell (Shelter Records), Tom Leadon (Mudcrutch).

It’s obvious what set me off searching for more information: Who the heck is the extra dude in this photo, standing next to Petty and wearing the perhaps silk Japanese baseball jacket or kimono? It sure looks like an official band photoshoot, but it could be an interloper, guest, or studio collaborator. I found no answers (it’s surely none of the above-mentioned people) and no mention of there ever having briefly been a 5th Heartbreaker.

Townspeople, can we figure this out? There’s probably a simple answer rather than a big rock mystery.

(L-R: Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Tom Petty, ?????, Ron Blair, Stan Lynch)

(Update — see later comment regarding this newly found photo.)

Last Man Standing: Songs that reference other bands’ members by name

Posted by trigmogigmo

Oct 312016

This LMS invites you to submit rock songs by rock bands /musicians that directly reference other rock band members / rock musicians by name. This being the ROCK town hall, I am specifically including the aforementioned requirements. More specifically:

It’s gotta be rock on both sides: a rock artist mentioning a rock artist. I think Abba mentioning Joan Baez would be straying too far afield, if it happened!
It must be a mention of person; mentioning a band not does not count.
It can be just a first name or last name if it’s clear who it’s talking about. “The walrus was Paul” would count, except that:
It cannot be a band mentioning a member of that same band, unless it’s about an ex-member.
Also, Bob Dylan is out as a mentionee. There was already a whole thread dedicated to Dylan mentions!

Here’s my starter submission to kick things off:

https://youtu.be/UNZbP3ZVem4

The Smithereens’ “Behind The Wall Of Sleep”:

“and she stood just like Bill Wyman / now I am her biggest fan”

One mention at a time, please!

Real Estate Mystery Date

Posted by trigmogigmo

Mar 172016

A chain of little music events led me to ask this question. Some songs were playing on the car stereo, a web article about a music producer was seen, and a musician with an unusual name came to mind, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen a photo of the guy. A little web image search landed me on the following web page, and it is definitely the guy, as can be seen from the bio provided.

Who is this real estate agent and former musician? I guarantee you have heard his playing in more than one extremely well-known rock song. More clues will be provided as needed; think of this as a visual “Mystery Date” thread….

(click to see full-size image; I have blanked out the guy’s name)

Who *is* this real estate agent?!

Mystery Date

Posted by trigmogigmo

Dec 112015

Townsperson cherguevarra is the chief instigator of “Mystery Date” posts on RTH, and I always enjoy playing, even if I can’t figure anything out. This is my first contribution to the category.

As it happens, my lousy car-iPod integration is simply set to play every song in alphabetical order by song title (which is kind of interesting, since it plays every recording of the same song back-to-back). Over a few months I am now into song titles starting with “S”, and a couple of days ago this song started playing. I couldn’t identify the song or artist, and when the song info popped up on the screen, I thought to myself, in Dana-Carvey-imitating-Johnny-Carson-voice, “I did not know that.”

I wonder if anyone else knows this one. If not, what clues do you hear that would narrow down the time, place, genre, sartorial leanings, or persons involved? Post your thoughts, and I’ll respond to such inquiries with vague hints and opaque references that may lead you closer to the solution.

Standard Mystery Date rules: If you know who it is, don’t spoil it for the rest. Anyone who knows it can play the “mockcarr option.” This option is for those of you who just can’t hold your tongue and must let everyone know just how in-the-know you are by calling it. So if you know who it is and want everyone else to know that you know, email Mr. Moderator at mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com. If correct we will post how brilliant you are in the Comments section.

Audio File

Scream Meme

Posted by trigmogigmo

Sep 052013

It’s a simple question: Is there a better, more iconic rock scream than Roger Daltrey‘s wail in “Won’t Get Fooled Again”?

It could be a wordless scream, or just one word like Daltrey’s “yeah!” Maybe it’s a whole line or verse or song belted out with rage or destroyed vocal cords. Perhaps something less old school, like Trent Reznor in “Head Like a Hole” or Billy Corgan‘s rat in a “caaaaaage” in “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”.

Does Robert Plant have anything to bring to the challenge here? To start things off, I submit the “Immigrant Song” wailing as a top contender to the throne.

Please offer up your best candidates!

A Cool, Cruel Summer

Posted by trigmogigmo

Apr 102013

The Look of the Beach Boardwalk?

At theme parks and casinos around the country, former hit-making — and now aging — rockers are bringing their nostalgic hits to smaller audiences. On one hand I think it’s cool that bands like this continue to work and (hopefully) have fun doing their thing. On the other hand, does a barely-noticed local band like Y&T need to keep playing, and merit being on the same summer line-up as globally recognized bands like Blue Öyster Cult and ABC? Well, I suppose I’d say, “more power to ’em” if they’re having fun and making a living.

Here is the summer line-up at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Free Friday Night concert series:

http://www.beachboardwalk.com/concerts/

I find some of the descriptions, airbrushing, soft focus, and band-as-logo graphics, pretty funny. Good to know that “ABC’s Martin Fry is a revelation, an ageless soul man belting out Vegas glitter pop and uptown House in his electric blue lounge suit.” Nice (by which I mean “creepy”) to see old guys like Gregg Rolie and Eddie Money with lots of youthful stage makeup/airbrushing and hairdressing. Interesting graphic choice for WAR and Foghat to photoshop their stage photos into strange cartoon logos.

If I happened to be down at the boardwalk on a Friday this summer, I would actually stick around to watch maybe half of these groups. Any interesting tidbits you notice in these promos and bios? Who would you stay around to hear? (LMK CVB, obviously!)

Who’s Left

Posted by trigmogigmo

Aug 162012

An unused photo from the Who's Next album cover shoot

Who's pissed?

In a recent post about the closing ceremonies concert of the 2012 London Olympics, I mentioned the segment performed by “The Who,” whose name I put in quotes because I am not sure this is really The Who any more with half the band now deceased. Townsman mockcarr called them Who Are They? and 2000 Man referred to them now as The Two.

If they make another album it could be titled Who’s Left.

When a rock band member departs for whatever reason, whether the departure is fatal to the group continuing in any useful form depends on many factors. One may no longer find much interest in the current Who, but surely with Townshend and Daltrey still onboard as principal and front man, the two most important ingredients remain. Surely, had either of them had passed away rather than Moon and Entwistle, the band most definitely could not have continued.

What about the Stones? We still have Mick and Keith and Charlie and Ronnie. Is Charlie “expendable” in this context? I think Ronnie is. I take no joy in considering this.

This subject also reminds me that Shatner and Nimoy are the last of the four main original Star Trek actors left. There’s still a feasible Superbowl MMXVI-1701 Halftime Show to be had there. Rocket Man!

Scene from 2001 with primitive humanoids pawing at monolith.

Who Came First

What other bands are in need of a home care rock nurse or actuarial study? Is there a formula for declaring it over? I think the Who example is a good basis: the main songwriter and the front person are required and probably sufficient to continue. If they are one and the same, everyone else might be expendable if their roles are not too prominent. Of course, the non-casual fans know it all and have their own calculus for a particular situation.

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