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Thread: Funny Story - Regional band that went big

  1. #1

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    Default Funny Story - Regional band that went big

    I was reminded of a funny story while reading wired's thread about being filmed without approval. My story doesn't have much to do with his thread topic other than I put a smart-a comment at the end of his thread and it triggered a memory I wanted to share.

    I have a friend from way back in the day - 40 years ago or so. I haven't seen him in much of that time as he moved away.

    He was a local singer and was sought after by a lot of the bands around here because there weren't that many good singers back then.

    He had answered an ad for a singer to join an up and coming band out of Rockford. It's a good hour and a half away from here. He went up and auditioned. He was told he had been invited to join the band but turned it down because (in his own words) the band was a bunch of weirdos.

    Any idea who he was referring to?








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    Cheap Trick.
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  2. #2

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    Default Re: Funny Story - Regional band that went big

    Sounds about like a friend of mine who is a sound guy. He helped a sound guy who was running sound for a rock show one night. The main guy got sick, and my friend ran sound for the first time by himself. One of the bands loved the sound, and offered him a job after the show. He was in college, and couldn't travel, so he turned it down. The band was REO Speedwagon, and about a year and a half later they hit it big. He is still kicking himself today for not taking that opportunity.
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  3. #3

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    Default Re: Funny Story - Regional band that went big

    You just never know....
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  4. #4

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    I have a friend who plays saxophone , Pete . He gets a call to appear in a shooting for a music video . All he had to do was show up with his sax and pretend to play . When he got there they would tell him what he had to do . But they wouldn't tell him who the artist was . They offed him big money and all he had to do was show up , he had the part . Well he turned it down because they wouldn't tell him who it was for and to him it sounded "fishy" .
    It was for Paul McCartney's video for the song "Strangle Hold" !! And the way he found out who it was for finally was because I was on that video shoot too ! He turned down $1200 and a chance to be on stage with Sir Paul because he thought it was fishy .
    Now when I call him I pretend I'm Paul and say "This is Paul McCartney ..would you like to star in one of my videos?" and then the razing starts and we have good fun with it .
    Seriously ... I was at that shooting but that's a whole other story for another day ....

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Funny Story - Regional band that went big

    Quote Originally Posted by jedi View Post
    I have a friend who plays saxophone , Pete . He gets a call to appear in a shooting for a music video . All he had to do was show up with his sax and pretend to play . When he got there they would tell him what he had to do . But they wouldn't tell him who the artist was . They offed him big money and all he had to do was show up , he had the part . Well he turned it down because they wouldn't tell him who it was for and to him it sounded "fishy" .
    It was for Paul McCartney's video for the song "Strangle Hold" !! And the way he found out who it was for finally was because I was on that video shoot too ! He turned down $1200 and a chance to be on stage with Sir Paul because he thought it was fishy .
    Now when I call him I pretend I'm Paul and say "This is Paul McCartney ..would you like to star in one of my videos?" and then the razing starts and we have good fun with it .
    Seriously ... I was at that shooting but that's a whole other story for another day ....
    Post your story. We have time.
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  6. #6

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    Default Re: Funny Story - Regional band that went big

    yeah Cheap trick was super local to me.

  7. #7

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    Doh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Funny Story - Regional band that went big

    Quote Originally Posted by Bish View Post
    Post your story. We have time.
    Ok . Back in the day there use to be a lot of filming going on here in Tucson . Before the Old Tucson Studio and Sound Stage burned down .A lot of major films were done here . Back when I was in high school they were the TV series "Petrochelli" down town . We would get the morning paper and see what streets were being closed for filming , ditch school , and go down and spend the day watching them film .
    There was an agency you could sign up with and they would hire you for "extras" work . I did that and so that's how I wound up at the McCartney shoot .
    Jerry Marrota was the drummer on that video . I didn't hang with the crowed and tried to get on camera . Instead I hung out next to the speaker stack stage right of the band . That's where the cute makeup girl was hanging out . Next thing I knew I was up on stage handing the guys water and towels and they're talking and joking with me like we were best friends . Then Paul's talking to me too and I'm telling him that I was learning guitar so he starts to show me the chords to the song . And Linda and the kids were there too and the one standing next to her in the video was back there with us so I got him a chair and a soda and a plate of fruit . Linda was so nice and gracious , when she saw I was taking care of him she was so grateful she had Candy (the makeup girl) and I have lunch with them in the great room !
    In the opening scene of the video you see a Jeep drive up and Linda gets out . They did that same scene with me driving her up in my 67 Chevy Impala first . But the paint on the car was too faded and they couldn't get the lighting right . So they went with the Jeep .
    There have been lots of movies filmed here that I mooched my way into . We were hired to play for the cast and crew for the movie "Stir Crazy" and the "Cannonball Run " movies . "Fire Birds" with Nick Cage , Sean Young had pneumonia durring the filming and she went to the doctors office where my girlfriend at the time was working and so we got invited to the shooting scene where they were in the night club . Then Nick Cage came into the club where I was playing at too . "Tombstone"..the part where Dana sang Red River Valley was recorded at my friend Dave Matlin's studio and I mooched my way into that session . Then she showed up that night to party at the club I was playing at .
    The best tho was when we were hired to play for a week in Lake Powell at the marina for the teamsters and cast of St.Elsewhere with Howie Mendel . Howie was a bit of a loner on the set but he always seeked me out and would drag me to the early morning shoots for the day them we would watch the daily's and have lunch . On the last day of filming he tore the plackard off the door where we would go see the daily's and gave it to me .
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