Music - Before they were famous

skibum609
Massachusetts
Growing up in Boston we were lucky enough to have a killer local music scene, so it was not unheard of to see local bands in weird places, who later went on to fame. Not local fame mind you, real fame. In 1975-76 a local band was getting a lot of airplay from their first album, which wasn't released nationally for a couple of years. Fall semester 1976 they played in the campus bar known as "the blue wall" and we drank forty-five cent Tuborg drafts and watched the Cars, who dominated mtv and music awards in the late 70's and early 80's. Goofy Rock Ocasek married Paulina Porzikova....In early 1975 another local band was gearing up to play their first gig in the Boston Garden. They chose to do a run through of the entire show in the ballroom of the Sheraton Tara hotel where my brother worked and let the workers bring in a few friends. Got to see Boston with 22 people.

Finally scored tickets in 1975 to see Black Sabbath. They managed to look like amateurs playing their first show compared to their back-up band who got called back for 3 encores. After their last encore as we were walking out a buddy said I bet I hear the last song they played so much I hate by 1980. They did and he did, although now you still hear Rock and Roll all Night all the time because hey, Kiss became famous.

One more. Very first High School dance at the Wayland High school field House. The band was incredible. Serious rock and roll and their singer had a voice that was unique but not melodic. We were sure they would hit it big, but no one ever thought you'd still be hearing about them 50 years later. Kudos Aerosmith, best High School Dance Band ever.

13 comments

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docsavage
3 years ago
I played bass guitar in an Indiana punk rock band in the late seventies. One of the local musicians then was a guy who was a Bowie imitator. That didn't work in Indiana so he switched to more of a Springsteen imitator. He also changed his name from Johnny Cougar to John Cougar Mellencamp. That worked much better for him.

I had a friend in the early eighties who walked into a tiny club one time with about thirty people in it watching a band on the small stage. He asked someone what the name of the band was and they said they were called the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
clubdude
3 years ago
10/21/74 saw Kiss at a bar in Lansing, MI. To this day I've fairly sure Gene Simmons was driving the U-haul!
ElDuderino_AZ
3 years ago
Used to go to see Jimmy Eat World all the time at a small club in Tempe, AZ in 99-01... couple hundred people. And then they got big for a few years after that. Not RHCP or Aerosmith big, but big enough. My buddy's band in college got one of their songs on Smallville and they had a decent following on Tucson, but after school they just went their separate ways. And then he (drummer) was asked to go on tour with The Format, but didn't want to (good...they sucked). The guy from the Format went on to form an even crappier band, but one that got bigger, called FUN.
Muddy
3 years ago
There were so many good rock bands running around back in the day. Now? Shit are there even any famous rock bands out there to see?

And no never seen any big time up and comers to the best of my knowledge.
Dave_Anderson
3 years ago
I usrd to help Mozart with his organ when he was a starving college student. Wait that sounds kind of gay. Never mind.
Cashman1234
3 years ago
I’m pretty sure I saw a few bands at CBGB’s and other spots in Greenwich Village back in the 1980’s that were on their way up. Some were never going to make it, but they were fun to watch in a small club.
mike710
3 years ago
Saw Billy Idol play at a college party bar called the Devils House in the early 80's. He only had one popular song, "Hot in the City", at the time.

The Romantics also played there once. It wasn't really a live music club but b a party bar.

A buddy of mine got into a scuffle with the Drummer of the Knack at a bar called Dooleys.
motorhead
3 years ago
Pretty cool Doc Savage. I was in Bloomington in the late 70’s and the Bloomington prog rock radio station played “Johnny Cougar” before he became nationally known. So it’s pretty awesome you saw him in person
EastCoaster
3 years ago
Love the thread, skibum. Thanks for starting it.

Not sure how many of you are familiar with the late Dan Fogelberg, whose first hit song, released in 1974, was "Part of the Plan" (produced by Joe Walsh). In 1969 I saw him play by himself -- for free -- to a small crowd at a coffeehouse at the University of Illinois when he was a student there. I saw him again in the summer of 1973 at the Exit Inn in Nashville, where he played, with the house bass player, to an audience of about 10 people. He went on to sell millions of LPs before he died of cancer in 2007.

In 1976, I got to hear a new band from Rockford, Illinois, play a show to about 40 people. Despite the small audience, it was a very high-energy performance, and the lead guitar player was literally swinging from the rafters onstage. A real show-off. The following year, they released their first album, titled "Cheap Trick."

This is not *my* story, but I once bought a guitar from a guy in my home town who used to play in Little Richard's back-up band. He told me that for a while they had a lead guitar player -- a quiet guy, known to them only as "Jimbo" -- who never rehearsed with them and only showed up when they performed. This guitarist went on to have a pretty decent career of his own using the name Jimi. Yeah, Jimi Hendrix. Can you imagine?
Studme53
3 years ago
Saw Tom Petty & the HBs in 79 at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby Pa in 1979. The Fabulous Poodles were their opening act. Petty was great - remember them ?
Petty acted like he was drunk during the concert but wasn’t really. They did “Shout” from Animal House as an encore. Petty crowd surfed during it, singing the whole time and acting (?) drunk. First time I ever saw anyone do that. Incredible concert.
Icee Loco (asshole)
3 years ago
I know the guys from shoreline mafia
gobstopper007
3 years ago
My college in mid 80’s was a hot spot for bar bands trying to make it. Buddy worked at one of the small venues on campus and I occasionally helped out loading and unloading equipment. I remember going out after shows with Bruce Hornsby, REM and Hootie and the Blowfish. Most memorable was doing shots with Susanna Hoffs- she was just smoking hot.
Oliver_Clothesoff_66
3 years ago
Hootie & the Blowfish at a club called The Bayou in the Georgetown area of Washington DC in the early 90s, a couple years before Cracked Rear View was released. Their road manager at the time was a high school classmate.
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