Keith Nivan Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Building on the very successful "First Records You Owned" thread ...Is there a band out there that you were hip to before anybody else?I'm talking pre-record-release here. You know, you walked into a bar and the ... who (well, maybe not The Who) ... were playing. You were smitten and you saw them every chance you got from then forward; saw them play three sets; followed them around town; saw them add and drop songs from the set; got to know other early-adopter fans; maybe got to know the band.Then when they Hit It BIG (or Medium ... or small) you could proudly say "I remember seeing them way back at The Crumby Dive for a $1 cover."Maybe it was the Berries for some of you guys. Stories?Maybe you stumbled into the Ramones circa '75 in NYC.Maybe you got dragged out to the bar one night in college and some band named REM was playing...Any good stories out there?Maybe it was The Stories?!?!?"Keith" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Saw Barbra Streisand perform when she was still a teenager...Does that count? Kirk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachberry Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 RASPBERRIES 1970 HIGH SCHOOL DANCES. $0.75SAW THEM BEFORE DAVE JOINED THE BAND. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachberry Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 ARTFUL DODGER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannoman Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 This is probably worth half a point: I saw Bill Haley and His Comets when they were a C&W band around 1951- I wasn't a band follower though (too young - 12 y/o).Ted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilyn Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I'm always under the radar. My current fave is a San Diego band called Louis XIV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Well I certainly can't match Ted seeing Bill Haley or Beachberry seeing the Raspberries. I am sure that being witness to those bands in their almost embyonic stages must have been an incredible revelation. In fact on that scale, my 'discoveries' are quite insignificant. There are a couple of acts that I saw before they hit it big: one act I remember very clearly, the other one is a total blur:I saw Bryan Adams play at the McGill University ballroom in the very early 1980's with about 150 people in the audience. At that time he was known primarily for a disco-styled single that had been a hit in Canada the previous year. The very next year Bryan was back in Montreal, playing at the Montreal Forum, opening for Foreigner, with about 15,000 people in the audience. In 1960 while we were living in England, my dad took me to a Cliff Richard concert. Now my memory is usually pretty good with this sort of thing, but since I was only 1 or so at the time, the concert left no mark on me. Ironically when I was in my early teens, I became a big fan of Cliff's pop songs. His music was played and sung a great deal in our household. I'm sure that Julia H can recite the words of "Lucky Lips" or "Bachelor Boy" from start to finish. Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Bruce at The Stone Pony. We all knew he really "had it!" and was something really special. Saw Atlantic City Expressway (Bon Jovi's band) but never saw him with BonJovi, although he lived VERY geographically close to me.Bernie can probably tell you all you want to know about Bruce AND BonJovi! --Darlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Sidoti Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I was in the front row at the Ryman Auditorium with about 60 people from Sony Music in the audience watching Dixie Chicks perform for the relaunching of Monument Records. They were the first act signed to the label and you could just tell they had something different and unique with the lineup, looks, and most of all their musicianship and songs. They had their chops down and it was an amazing 30 minute show of some of their songs from their forthcoming debut album, "Wide Open Spaces", that went through the roof. They were very nice as well as we all hung out after the show.Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaAllByMyself Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Marvin ~ Not just "Bachelor Boy', but "Congratulations' and "Summer Holiday' as well! I'm not a Cliff Richard fan as such, but I do like "Miss You Nights' (the song ~ I haven't tried the perfume yet). You've reminded me that I saw him in concert many moons ago, probably around 1974, though I can't remember much about it. I do remember after the concert watching a whole load of girls throwing themselves on his car as he tried to drive out the car park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Darlene, I would have loved to have been at the Stone Pony for THAT show.Julia I knew that I could count on you. "Miss You Nights" is fabulous, as is the entire "I'm Nearly Famous" album. Most people would know the U.S. hit from this album, "Devil Woman."Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Allen Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 The Police, just before their first LP was released. They were traveling around the Northeast in a beat up old Ford station wagon (and helping their roadies load and unload the gear -- Sting included). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Benfer Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I worked with a guy in the mid 80's that booked all of the country acts for the Schaefferstown (pronounced Shafus-tawn by all the local dutchies) Carnival every year. Schaefferstown is a very small town located about 20 miles north of Lancaster, PA and had mostly no-name acts. Ron was excited to have booked the Judds for the summer of 1984. He did most of the booking a year in advance. Right after he got a commitment from them, they signed a deal with RCA. By the time the carnival date arrived, they had already had a top 20 hit, and were currently at the top of the charts with "Mama He's Crazy". It was a very big deal for the small town of Schaefferstown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I was at The Bottom Line in New York City for both shows when EC debuted his solo act there! It was April 2, 1976, to be exact. It was a very special night. Clive Davis and Jimmy Ienner were there, and Eric posed for newspaper photos, etc. What was really cool was that Eric was pretty unfazed by it all, and talked to everyone pretty much the same way he had done at Razz gigs. He was absolutely electric at both shows, and the music was very exciting. I took two rolls of color slides that night. Eric was kind enough to pose for a photo with me, which Bernie supplied a link for on my 1000th post. One of the pics (that of Eric and Clive) appears in Marathon Man. I knew after seeing that show that his solo music was going to be great. And it was. --Darlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachberry Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Another one that I judt remembered was "Johnny Cougar" opening for a Michael Stanley Band concert at the Cleveland Auto Show. I just cant remeber what year it was. But it was funny as hell to see Johnny dressed up like a glamour punk ala David Bowie or Mick Ronson, with glitter and tight leopard skin leather pants.That's rock and roll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I grew up in Spartanburg SC. A local band called the Rants, later the Vigilantes, then the Toy Factory played anywhere and everywhere. Two of the members were Tommy and Toy Caldwell. I remember being at their house with their younger brother (we were about 12) when their first song was played on the AM radio. And I remember annoying the crap out of the older brothers and their band mates. One of them even gave me the finger as he ran me out of his bedroom. About five years later they were touring... after changing their name to the Marshall Tucker Band. One of my favorite songs of all time is their "Can't You See". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Hey Gene. How about "Heard It In A Love Song"?Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I grew up in Peoria, Il in the 60's. When I was in high school we always had local bands that played at our school dances and after game sock hops and local church sponsored dances. One of the bands was called "The Coachmen". For awhile they were patterened after Paul Revere and the Raiders and wore similar clothes. They at one time in their lineup shuffles had a very talented young musician who was a student at neighboring Woodruff High School in Peoria. I went to Peoria High School..commonly called Central H.S. My sister had a crush on him several years earlier in 7th grade from meeting him at a dance class at the YWCA. Dan Fogelberg was a very good lead singer and guitarist for the local band. His dad was the band teacher at Woodruff H.S. and many years later the insipiratiion for Dan's song "Leader of the Band". He then went on to the University of Illinois and dropped out and pursued bigger and better things. Please include Dan in your prayers as he has been struggling with prostate cancer and we all wish for his speedy recovery. If you read his biography on his website it is eerie how it closely resembles and parallels Eric Carmen.Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I think I said in another thread that I remember seeing Cheap Trick when they were playing all the bars in the midwest. I think I was 18 (legal drinking age was 18 then in Wisconsin), so it was in 1976 or so. I remember Rick Nielsen putting a guitar through the ceiling at the old Waverly Beach ballroom (no longer there). I was amazed that someone would do that. Of course I had been drinking all night watching them so it was even more amazing when you were drunk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllvnbil Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Back in 1980, I was playing in the "Paul Pope Band" in a club in Rochester, N.Y. called the "Penny Arcade". We warmed up for this unknown band from the west coast called "Huey Lewis & the News". Little did we know a couple years later that they would be so famous! But that night, they were awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny S. Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Billy,I heard Huey Lewis say in an interview" I have the worst voice in the band".Tremendous vocals in that band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny S. Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I saw Rush at Chanel High School in 1974.....with original drummer John Rutsey.....DOING COVER TUNES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Bob Seger was big in Michigan, before anyone else ever heard of the guy. I saw him and the band at Delta College for $3 in the gym, back in about 1974. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymooladi Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 That is sad news about Dan, I've always liked his music. Come on Dan, it's your turn to fight for the Roses! Good Luck!June Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 The talents of Dan Fogelberg have been mentioned many times on this Message Board. He is certainly a fabulous musician, and to those who only know him from his softer ballads, he plays a pretty scorching lead guitar. How scorching you ask? After Bernie Leadon left the Eagles (post "One of These Nights", pre "Hotel California"), Henley and Frey first approached Dan to join the Eagles. Since he already had a solo career underway, he passed on the opportunity, and Joe Walsh was asked/joined. The rest is history...I've been a fan of Dan's lyrics for years and still feel that his double album "The Innocent Age" includes some of the most thought-provoking words attached to some of the prettiest melodies I've ever heard. I've had the opportunity to see him perform alone as well as with his band, and each time it's been incredible. Keep the faith, have strength Dan.Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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