We here in the Halls of Rock Town are sometimes taken to task for being overly negative, snarky, hyper-critical, and all too often, just downright rude. As part of our collective efforts to bring a bit of sunshine and light to the world wide web, we occasionally make an extra effort effort to find something good to say about, you know, stuff that is clearly godawful.
It is in that spirit that we embark on yet another effort to bring some positivity to our proceedings. Please spend some quality time with the video above, then—if you can—please find something nice to say about it. You’ll feel a whole lot better, I promise you.
I look forward to your comments. Just remember, if you can’t say anything nice about this video… please don’t say anything at all.
The dinosaur in the baseball cap genuinely made me chuckle with his reaction shot at 1:29.
Positive thought: Take a look at how his drum kit is set up when revealed at the 1 minute mark. There’s no way he could ever escape from there to go clown around an audience on stage.
Oh wait, check that! Zoom ahead to 2:06 and watch Luis perform an amazing 360 front flip over the front of his kit. He’d need to be in one of those rotating drum cages to keep him from leaving the throne, and even then, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could escape.
OK, so revised: Luis does not adhere to the seated drummer rule, but he is the greatest athlete in the history of rock, bumping Last Waltz-era Van Morrison down to #2.
I like that Del Shannon was able to get some acting work later on in his career, starring as a cop in this video. Although, now that I think about it, this could be the very thing that killed him…
And as far as the Athlete poll goes, I would suggest that although some of the contenders are certainly very active (James Brown, Iggy Pop), and some are most definitely fit (Henry Rollins), Van Morrison’s stunning display of potential field-goal kicking prowess is the only athletic skill I’ve seen on display from the lot of them.
Freddie Mercury always struck me as the athletic type.
I believe George Thorogood played independent league baseball or something like that.
Then there’s Shaq…
And Joe Strummer completed both the Paris and London Marathons at least once.
http://rundangerously.blogspot.ie/2010/05/joe-strummers-mysterious-disappearance.html
Only onstage athletic achievements will be considered. Mercury could be a good one, the way he managed that broken mic stand.
For pure cardio, Sam & Dave deserve to be in this athletic skills competition (arguably, they were doing synchronized swimming, if the stories about them routinely sweating through their suits are true.)
I haven’t had a chance to click on that Strummer link yet. If he competed in the London and Paris marathons simultaneously, I’d definitely put him up there with Van, Luis, Diamond Dave and Sam & Dave.
Good tag-team entry!
Who was the heavy metal wrestler-type in the late-’70s or early-’80s? I think he used to actually lift weights or do push-up or squat thrusts as part of his act? He needs to be considered.
Do you mean Darren Finizio from Muscle Factory? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcNAEs0Aaz8
I forgot about that guy! No, but he’s got to be in the running too. The guy I was thinking of had bleach blond hair. He may have had a name like Thor. I’m pretty sure Buskirk had all his works on LaserDisc.
It’s nice to see a young Jar Jar Binks. I always wondered where he came from.
Jon Mikl Thor!
I had to check the interwebs, but I was correct in identifying that guy complaining about the noise from the apartment window as Donnie Osmond. I can definitely say it’s nice for him to be in a video and NOT sing.
A Latino guy doing hair metal is a victory for diversity.
Also the dinosaur theme was oddly prescient, because this style of music was fast approaching its sell-by date when this was released.