OT - Of interest to metalheads only (and Kingston Trio fans)

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

I was staying in a hotel in Long Island in 1995 and was talking to a few colleagues in the Lobby when the Members of Van Halen walked in after a show.

Your hotel choice made this tour manager laugh out loud 220 days into the zombie apocalypse.

I will guess that the show must have been at Jones Beach, although I suppose it could have been at the Nassau Coliseum, either way, I always do my best to avoid putting the band at a hotel out there. Last time we spent the night in Philadelphia and drove in early afternoon directly to the venue for sound check, then headed out straight away after the show to the next city (and hotel).

When forced to stay somewhere close, that's the same hotel I have used.

[bigfanNY]

Jones Beach.. great night...

[Michael B]

I can't say I am a metalhead by any stretch. I like a song or two by the Scorpions, Judas Priest and a few others. The heaviest show I have ever been to was a Dead Kennedys show with original drummer Ted just before he left (The Channel, Boston). My musical tastes are all over the place and have gone to concerts ranging from New Age (George Winston) to traditional jazz (Ron Carter), folk (Arlo Guthrie), soul/r&b (James Brown), arena rock (Queen) and hardcore punk (the aforementioned DK's).

The one constant has been my 'Rock Book'. It is a book called 'The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock' compiled by two writers from NME (New Musical Express) the best music publication in the 1970's and 1980's out of England. I have been getting the book signed since 1979 when I was a poor college student and could not always afford the $6.99 - $7.99 vinyl. Since then I have gotten it signed by over 500 musicians. Every signature except for one was signed in front of me and I will not divulge that one. I was not as vigilant in the beginning, but I have a list of date and venues where it was signed and in the last 16 years I have also saved tickets, flyers and the such from events where it was signed. There have been a few people I did not realize had entries and forgot to bring it when I met them (Andrew Gold, Wendy Waldman) and a few who flat out refused to sign it (Van Morrison - me and him alone outside the downstairs bar at the Hard Rock in Boston after a show "I'm done working for the evening." and Robert Fripp, a pseudo-intellectual dick, "This is probably a piece of rubbish"). As the years go on inevitably some who have signed the book have passed away including a lot of good names (David Bowie, Jerry Garcia, Miles Davis, Carl Wilson, Paul Butterfield, Link Wray, Lou Reed, John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Joe Strummer, Leonard Cohen, Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Phil Everly, Maurice White, Tom Petty, Carl Perkins, Robert Palmer etc.).

This year alone 6 people who signed it have passed, two of them within a week of each other in October. Here are their signatures in no particular order:

Charlie Daniels - signed May 19,2006 at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA
Daniels.jpg

Dave Greenfield of the Stranglers. Died of Covid-19 - In store record signing Strawberries Records, Kenmore Sq. Boston October 14, 1980
Greenfield.jpg

Little Richard - October 5, 1984 in the lobby of Channel 4, Boston. He also signed his autobiography
little richard.jpg

Helen Reddy - April 26, 2008 Olsson's Books Alexandria, VA
reddy.jpg

Spencer Davis - June 15, 1996 Royal Sonesta Hotel, Cambridge, MA
spencer davis.jpg

Jerry Jeff Walker - September 21, 1989 Nightstage, Cambridge, MA
walker.jpg

Sorry for the long tale. I think I could talk an ear off a stalk of corn.

Michael 'I may have almost as many stories as Doug G.' B.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Michael B

The one constant has been my 'Rock Book'. It is a book called 'The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock' compiled by two writers from NME (New Musical Express) the best music publication in the 1970's and 1980's out of England. I have been getting the book signed since 1979 when I was a poor college student and could not always afford the $6.99 - $7.99 vinyl. Since then I have gotten it signed by over 500 musicians.

Michael 'I may have almost as many stories as Doug G.' B.

That book proves that you do.

Bravo!

I think you should start on page 1 and start telling us stories.

And I call dibs when you decide to part with it...

Doug

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

That book proves that you do.

Bravo!

I think you should start on page 1 and start telling us stories.

And I call dibs when you decide to part with it...

Doug

Doug,

It is odd that you mention selling it. As you can imagine I have become very protective of it. Other than laying in on a table for someone to sign it has only left my hands exactly 3 times:

The previously mentioned time a merch person who worked for the musician offered to get it signed for me. We met at the club I was working at as a bouncer in Boston - Spit. It was in 1980 so I did not think of the book as I do now. Brought it to me at the club after a show. I got the person several years later in person and the signature was the same. Very big name.

Joan Armatrading at Lupos in Providence, RI - standing at the stage entrance which was a glass door allowing you to see inside. I asked one of her stage people if she was coming out after the sound check as I wanted to get my book signed. He said "I will take it to her for you." I watched him walk up to her and get it signed.

Charlie Daniels at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA - He walked out to the bus after the show which I believe was SOP for him. The driveway to the backstage also led to a daycare attached to the building. Unless the Alexandria PD was there you could always walk up the driveway. Walked up to the bus and one of his people said that he was happy to sign anything and he would bring it on to the bus.

All of that being said I have been asked many times what it was worth and would I sell it. I try not to say value out loud but I would sell it under certain conditions. It is just a thing and I have the stories. Every time a person dies the price goes up. It is not only 6 people who died this year, there were also at least three others last year - Paul Barrere of Little Feat, Art Neville and Dr. John. Watching the RRHOF inductions tonight and saw that there was one other person who signed the book and died about 7 weeks ago - Rocco Prestia of Tower of Power.

In the vintage card section Leon always says there should be a card in the thread. This one should have concert photos:

Rick Derringer - circa 1980 The Paradise, Boston
derringer 1-1.jpg

James Brown - Summer, 1980 Jonathan Swift's Harvard Sq. Cambridge, MA
brown,-james-1-1.jpg

Cab Calloway - late 1980's New England Conservatory of Music, Boston MA. He received an award and the played while his grandson who taught at the school played guitar
calloway-2-1.jpg

Phil Lynott - circa 1981 The Paradise, Boston. One of my favorites to shoot. He was a ham and would pose on stage and point his bass at me.

lynott-1a.jpg

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Michael B

Phil Lynott - circa 1981 The Paradise, Boston. One of my favorites to shoot. He was a ham and would pose on stage and point his bass at me.

Damn! Thin Lizzy at the Paradise. Amazing. I'll trade you my first show there (Steve Earle and the Dukes, March 1987) for that one!

And Spit. My first show ever in Boston was at Spit in July 1985. I was driving the equipment truck, with a guy from Wales, and selling merch. I wanted to get to the venue early so that I would have time to go to Fenway, but we kept getting lost. Each time we did we got new directions from somebody different. Finally, I gave up and decided to just go to Fenway first, the Wales guy asked how I expected to find "this Fenway place" I told him the Citgo sign would make it easy.

Nobody had told me in their various sets of directions that Spit was across the street from The Monster.

[bigfanNY]

Doug my Family is from Maine and asking for directions in NE is an adventure all it's own.
Thin Lizzy love the Whiskey in a jar Video with the girls dancing in prom dresses (check it out classic) and such a great song.
I apologize for bringing in the grammer police. Guess my reference to "stuffy people" went over some heads. But first time I ever read a thread with multiple references to Merciful Fate that included a grammer correction. I give a F... how folks refer to where they live.
I enjoyed much better The Ramones reference to Queens in Happy Family.
I will take my own advice and post a stub or pic with each post. Music Addicts come in all shapes and sizes no wrong or right. But if one of your top ten musical experiences was Rocking to the touring group of Jersey Boys at Westchester theater, then I understand the grammer posts completely.
Souvenirs of fun in on and around NJ.

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Damn! Thin Lizzy at the Paradise. Amazing. I'll trade you my first show there (Steve Earle and the Dukes, March 1987) for that one!

And Spit. My first show ever in Boston was at Spit in July 1985. I was driving the equipment truck, with a guy from Wales, and selling merch. I wanted to get to the venue early so that I would have time to go to Fenway, but we kept getting lost. Each time we did we got new directions from somebody different. Finally, I gave up and decided to just go to Fenway first, the Wales guy asked how I expected to find "this Fenway place" I told him the Citgo sign would make it easy.

Nobody had told me in their various sets of directions that Spit was across the street from The Monster.

I saw Thin Lizzy twice at the 'Dise - September 16, 1978 and December 2, 1980. Not even my first show there. I went either the first Friday or Saturday opening week, September 22 or 23, 1977. It was Rick Derringer with an unsigned local act - The Cars. I sat with the guys from Boston. They were huge at that time and came out for a show in this 550 seat club. I did not go to that many shows there, but still liked it. Shows I remember seeing there: Derringer (77, 78, 80) Ramones (79?, 80), Elvin Bishop 1979, , Peter Gabriel Halloween 1979, Boomtown Rats 1979 got Geldof's harmonica, The Cars 1978, The Plastics (Japanese new wave interviewed them after show) 1981, Secret Affair (British new wave) 1981, Greg Kihn Band, The Waitresses and Cheap Trick mid 1990's when they did their three night stay in each city. At least one of the times I went there Derringer's 2nd guitar was Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar's husband.

Spit was originally a new wave dance club only. They did some surprise concerts while I was there in 1980 - The Neighborhoods a popular Boston band, The Modettes ("White Mice"), Chelsea an original U.K. punk band and The Skatt Brothers (Walk the Night). A few musicians dropped in - Daryl Hall, Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith), Frank Zappa and John Lennon. They also asked me to come back to work the WBCN Rumble in 1981. One of the bands I saw during that week was the Young Snakes. Their lead singer was Aimee Mann a few years before she formed 'Til Tuesday. Once they started doing regular concerts it changed quite a bit though. I only went twice - The Fall, U.K. new wave and The Waitresses. I interviewed Chris Butler after the show. It was a great place to get autographs in the early days of concerts. I remember getting The Divinyls, Buzzcocks, Michael Schenker, Ace Frehley and the Georgia Satellites. While waiting for the Georgia Satellites I struck up a conversation with the lead singer of the opening act Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes.

I have an interesting tie between The Paradise and sports collecting. I went to a concert there in 1978, maybe Rick Derringer. The opening act was a local act called Fox Pass and they announced it was their last show. At the end of the show the drummer tossed both of his sticks and they landed at my feet as I was sitting in one of the bolted down seats right in front of the stage. No one reacted so I just picked them up and kept them. I put a sticker on them to remember where they were from. A few years later I found their indie single and bought it. Fast forward 10 years or so. I was in a baseball card store in the Boston suburbs. I knew the people who ran it and there was one other person there. I started talking to him and we got to music and he mentioned that he used to be in a band - Fox Pass! It was Jon Hall of Hall's Nostalgia. He used a stage name as there was already the well known John Hall of Orleans and a U.S. congressman. I mentioned I had the drumsticks and single and gave them to him.

Every post needs at least a photo.

Mick Jones - Clash on Broadway, Bonds, NYC, 1981. I went two nights the first week.
mick-jones-1-1_edited-1.jpg

Mark E. Smith of the Fall Spit 1981
fall-1-1.jpg

Johnny Ramone - The Paradise. One of my favorite photos of the ones I have taken.
johnny-ramone-3_edited-2.jpg

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

I first saw Van Halen in 1978 when they opened up for Black Sabbath at MSG. I was staying in a hotel in Long Island in 1995

...on...

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Your hotel choice made this tour manager laugh out loud 220 days into the zombie apocalypse.

I will guess that the show must have been at Jones Beach, although I suppose it could have been at the Nassau Coliseum, either way, I always do my best to avoid putting the band at a hotel out there. Last time we spent the night in Philadelphia and drove in early afternoon directly to the venue for sound check, then headed out straight away after the show to the next city (and hotel).

When forced to stay somewhere close, that's the same hotel I have used.

As a native Long Islander, I'm curious as to why you don't stay on the Island. I grew up in Wantagh in the 80s, moved to Queens for 20 years and then moved back to raise my family here in 2014. My wife hates it and I regret not moving to Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, Seaford or Massapequa. I reside in a sort of "wannabe" mobster town in western Nassau.

The Garden City Hotel has a long history of discrimination. 47 years old, I've never been inside. But if you don't stay there, where are you going to go? The Long Island Marriott?

Fun thread. Only set lists I have are of recent vintage from shows at Brooklyn Steel (best music venue to hit NYC in years).

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Kevin

But if you don't stay there, where are you going to go? The Long Island Marriott?

That's plan "B", hahahaha.

I usually put bus drivers at the Best Western in Bar Harbour... which I suppose makes it plan "C".

[bigfanNY]

Originally Posted by Kevin

...on...






As a native Long Islander, I'm curious as to why you don't stay on the Island. I grew up in Wantagh in the 80s, moved to Queens for 20 years and then moved back to raise my family here in 2014. My wife hates it and I regret not moving to Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, Seaford or Massapequa. I reside in a sort of "wannabe" mobster town in western Nassau.

The Garden City Hotel has a long history of discrimination. 47 years old, I've never been inside. But if you don't stay there, where are you going to go? The Long Island Marriott?

Fun thread. Only set lists I have are of recent vintage from shows at Brooklyn Steel (best music venue to hit NYC in years).

Originally Posted by bigfanNY View Post
I first saw Van Halen in 1978 when they opened up for Black Sabbath at MSG. I was staying in a hotel in Long Island in 1995
...on...
Whats wrong with staying in Garden City??
Well for one whenever I am in Long Island I tend to meet one or two Stuffy folks among the thousands of cool people. And it is 100% worth the effort to stay in Manhatten and comute.
I am from jersey and that's the way we say it. When I am in cape cod I am in cape cod (not on the cape)

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

Originally Posted by bigfanNY View Post
I first saw Van Halen in 1978 when they opened up for Black Sabbath at MSG. I was staying in a hotel in Long Island in 1995
...on...
Whats wrong with staying in Garden City??
Well for one whenever I am in Long Island I tend to meet one or two Stuffy folks among the thousands of cool people. And it is 100% worth the effort to stay in Manhatten and comute.
I am from jersey and that's the way we say it. When I am in cape cod I am in cape cod (not on the cape)

I'm the town over from Garden City. I actually had two clients in Garden City - one was a fireman, the other a furrier. They both hated the town.

Garden City also put up quite a fuss when Wang was trying to put up a new arena in Uniondale.

As for Long Island and things to do, you need a vehicle. I moved into Queens in 1995 and moved back to raise a family in 2014. Now Queens...that's the place to be. Sigh...

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

Originally Posted by bigfanNY View Post
I first saw Van Halen in 1978 when they opened up for Black Sabbath at MSG. I was staying in a hotel in Long Island in 1995
...on...
Whats wrong with staying in Garden City??
Well for one whenever I am in Long Island I tend to meet one or two Stuffy folks among the thousands of cool people. And it is 100% worth the effort to stay in Manhatten and comute.
I am from jersey and that's the way we say it. When I am in cape cod I am in cape cod (not on the cape)

From someone who lived in Mass for 45 years, stayed many times at the windmill next to Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzard's Bay and am currently married to someone from Osterville it is 'at the Cape'. As in 'Where were you this weekend?' To the people up there there is only one Cape.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Michael B

From someone who lived in Mass for 45 years, stayed many times at the windmill next to Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzard's Bay and am currently married to someone from Osterville it is 'at the Cape'. As in 'Where were you this weekend?' To the people up there there is only one Cape.

Same thing with Long Island, anyone on Long Island or NYC metro refers to being "on Long Island". But I have a good friend in Lyndhurst, NJ. I'll ask him how he refers to his trips to LI.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Michael B

From someone who lived in Mass for 45 years, stayed many times at the windmill next to Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzard's Bay and am currently married to someone from Osterville it is 'at the Cape'. As in 'Where were you this weekend?' To the people up there there is only one Cape.

Yep, and you either go a lot, or not at all.

I've been at the cape, just barely, twice. And one of those was for work.