Ready for another round of bad hair, bad fashion, and (probably if we could hear them) bad music? You've got to hand it to every one of these bands for trying. Getting on stage, whether it be the Ohio State Fair or the martini lounge at the local Howard Johnson's, took guts. Especially when you do with the pizzazz of a band like "Virginia" (above). I'll bet they blew the bank buying those outfits. Did they feel silly, or more likely did they feel like they were on the cusp of "making it"? We'll never know.
This looks like the cast for a soap opera, not a musical group. I can only assume the old fella with the girl on his lap is Fred. Hey, if ugly mugs like Keith Richards and Steven Tyler can get scores of dames, why not Fred Waring?
I think "The Emporium" refers to the gig location rather than the band's name. I dig the miniskirt.
Christian folk music band - The Changing
Lord I hated hair metal. What a dumb name Lynyrd Skynyrd would kick their asses.
A Google search gets you another singer, who sort of looks similar but started recording in 2000. Not her.
An old found photograph. No idea who this young woman is, but you got to hand it to her wardrobe selection: a leotard and high heeled sandals. Her keyboardist doesn't seem too thrilled.
This has to be the worst name for a blues band ever. Why on earth would they choose this mid century sex study as their band name? Mannekin would have been better than this. Or even better - Nighthawks. Now that's a cool name.
1987 group Metro. Their lead singer is a tall drink of water. Much better than that other Metro...
1986 group Jeteye. Not sure if this is a play on "Jedi", but either way it's a stupid name. Did I mention I hate hair metal?
More to come....
I'm guessing one of Virginia's member's wife made those outfits. Or the guy down front.
ReplyDeleteJacobs Brothers; perhaps an act at Futureworld, because that can't be real hair.
Nighthawks guy, yes, we know you have tattoos. No need to hold your arms in that exact position to get them in the shot.
Mazarati. Seriously? Did Prince condone this sort of thing? I'm right near Excelsior, MN and Paisley Park Studios, but feel SO lucky that I've never seen this band.
"Nighthawks guy, yes, we know you have tattoos. No need to hold your arms in that exact position to get them in the shot."
DeleteAh, but back then, it was a novelty! Not every rocker was covered in ink like they are now.
Fred Warring and the Pennsylvanians was a quite famous and accomplished musical ensemble with easy listening and light classical/jazz elements. Keith Jarrett got his start with them as a teen I understand.
ReplyDeleteRight you are, dandiacal! You beat me to the punch. This must have been towards the end of his run.
DeleteFred also invented the blender. Harry Simion of "the Little Drummer Boy" fame was also one of Fred Warring's Pensylvanians.
DeleteW-w-w-w-what?? He invented the blender? Holy crap you're right.
DeleteMore about Fred Waring: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Waring
ReplyDeleteRight; Fred Waring is not exactly a Holiday Inn wannabee.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure who the rest of Metro were, but the late Duncan Browne had quite a bit of success as a solo artist, especially in Europe. Here in the USA I remember two of his songs "Wild Places" and "American Heartbeat" used to get quite a bit of FM airplay in the late 70s/early 80s. They were quite good in a rocked up Donovan kind of way. Also, "Criminal World" a song written by Browne, Godwin and Lyons of Metro was covered by David Bowie on his big selling "Let's Dance" album.
ReplyDeleteI saw the Kinsey Report a couple times in the 90s. If I remember right the guitarist played on some Marley records.
ReplyDeleteThey are a family act who started backing their father, Big Daddy Kinsey.
DeletePerhaps Jacobs is their last name and they are brothers? Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteKinsey Report is an awful name, but they are fairly well known in blues circles.
As a former member of several 70's/80's lounge bands myself, I gotta wonder what Fred Waring and crew could have possibly been getting paid. That's a lot of mouths to feed on a Hoilday Inn budget. Just sayin'....
ReplyDeleteMannekin is actually the etymological source for mannequin - it's Dutch/Flemish for little fellow. Why on earth hair rockers call themselves little fellows, that's another question.
ReplyDeleteI think I had an 8track tape of Fred Waring and his group.
ReplyDeleteVirginia 's outfits are like the ones Cheech y Chong's band wore...you know kinda like different but the same,you know?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see the Changing try to play their music while the carousel is moving.
ReplyDeleteThe Jacobs Brothers picture is from 1989? I would have guessed 1979 based on their look.
Apparently, I'm the only person who thinks The Kinsey Report is a great band name!
Sean Lyons of Metro looks a lot like Kevin Bacon.
Mazarati were signed to Paisley Park by Prince himself. They sang the backup vocals on Prince's song "Kiss"
ReplyDeleteThis is another one of my favorite features.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about other parts, but around here you rarely see "live music" (i.e. cover bands) any more - at least at the smaller bars. It's all karaoke and DJs. Which is fine with me because most of those cover bands totally sucked. Back 20 yrs ago there was a handful of them who would all play the same circuit of bars around the area, I knew most of them by name, but now I can't think of any. It's kinda funny when I look back because they all played pretty much the same set list: Mustang Sally, Sharp Dressed Man, Journey... maybe they might get real crazy and throw in some AC/DC. It seems so nightmarish now. Some people loved that stuff though.
Mannekin have one of their songs up on YouTube. You know when hair metal is really turgid, plodding, with no energy and singing about love being power? Step forward Mannekin...
ReplyDeleteThe band Virginia are standing in front of a blank street sign implying that they are a band from nowhere that is going nowhere.
ReplyDeleteKinsey Report--I'll go with you on it being a bad name.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, Donald Kinsey played with Bob Marley, Albert King, Roy Buchanan and others. He (and his brothers) are the son of Big Daddy Kinsey--a big Chicago Blues name. While they might have played a Holiday Inn, they're probably played for a larger venue or two in their time.
Check Mannekin's management. That's Bill Aucoin's company, the discoverer and manager of Kiss in the days when it was more about the music than the merchandising. Maybe these guys had something going for them that didn't quite make it out of the club scene - or the hairspray cloud.
ReplyDeleteHm, I was born in '76 and even I know who Fred Waring is.
ReplyDeleteWow. The Fred Waring pile on continues.
DeleteHe has somewhat of a catalog available on Amazon.
DeleteExactly...Waring dates back to the 1920's. Oh, and he didn't invent the blender...he just popularized it.
DeleteI absolutely love these posts. They really have a bit of everything! Thanks, Gilligan!
ReplyDelete"The Jacobs Brothers?"
ReplyDeleteMore like the "Sky-Rug Brothers!"
Al Bigley
The Fred Waring group looks great and stylish for the time in which they performed. They were a class act.
ReplyDelete