General Music Chat

The Cars came from Boston. Saw them open for Rick Derringer at the Paradise in 77, I think, before they released their first album. They didn't even have Greg Hawkes on keyboards playing with them yet. they were pretty bad.

Right, Mike. There's a concert vid of them on YT from around that time--but just after their first album--and they were still pretty bad. The story is that Rik Ocasek met Bennie Orr in Cleveland, and they both ended up in Columbus, doing folk-type music (imagine that!) and going nowhere. They ended up in Boston, where they hooked up w/ Elliot Easton, etc. and started to evolve into what they became. I guess flopping in Columbus can be as instructive as making it.

A personal Cars anecdote. After the 1st album was out and "Just What I Needed" was in heavy rotation, they were on the bill for a rock fest @ Legend Valley, just outside Columbus, in '78. My folks had the concessions contract and I worked it (sorta) which gave me a backstage pass. I hit the buffet tent and sat at 1 of the long tables, and there's these guys sitting across from me w/ multi-colored, streaked hair; I had never seen even a photo of the Cars and had no idea who they were. So we're chowin' down, smokin' some weed and yakkin' about this-and-that, and they were pretty low-key: just some folks gettin' some grub and chillin' out. I figured they were 1 of the bands, but thought it might be too fan-ish to ask. I was just happy to be out of the hot sun and get some decent food. It was a long day.

It wasn't until they went on--they weren't the headliner--that I realized who they were. They did a really good set that day. So I hung out w/ the Cars for a while...and didn't even know it.

Cool story DP, I have always been a Cars fan! We still have Just What I Needed on our set list.

Greg Hawkes, beside playing keyboards, also plays guitar, ukulele and saxophone. 5 or 6 years ago he released an album of all-uke versions of Beatles songs. His uke band headlined the Beatles benefit show we do each year the 2nd year we did that show. Really nice guy, very quiet.

Columbus was well known as a 'test-case' city; might still be, dunno.

And where Darrel Abbot was assassinated onstage.

I used to wonder why R&R Hall of Fame was in Cleveland before touring through for the first time. Ohio fans LOVE their live music scene and generally support it. Columbus GA is military, and Columbus SC is a college town (like Ohio).

And you mentioned Elliot Easton...I used to quote him from an interview in Guitar Player where he was talking about how much he practises and said, "If you're going to play stoned, you need to practice stoned"

Always found that hilarious, but true.

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I used to wonder why R&R Hall of Fame was in Cleveland before touring through for the first time. Ohio fans LOVE their live music scene and generally support it.

Cleveburg was actually a good choice. While Columbus spawned plenty of bands/acts, WMMS in Cleveland was instrumental in breaking bands like Rush, The James Gang, Bob Seger (I used to see him regularly at the Reynoldsburg Roller Rink for a buck), Springsteen, Roxy Music, The Raspberries (yeah, laugh now, but at the time...), The Jaggerz and countless others that 'MMS put into rotation and who went on to become national acts. They also sponsored the "World Series of Rock" fests @ Municipal Stadium. WLVQ (Q-FM) in Columbus started the Hometown Album Project, where bands could submit their homemade demo and the station would pick 12-13 of them (and yeah, it hadda be original music), give 'em free studio time and production and sell the resulting album. They did that for a number of years and gave lots of local bands significant exposure, in an era when studio time and production were too pricey for most bands. Haven't been back to Ohio in quite a while and don't know what they might be doing these days, but back then, they really supported the local music scene.

And you mentioned Elliot Easton...I used to quote him from an interview in Guitar Player where he was talking about how much he practises and said, "If you're going to play stoned, you need to practice stoned"

Now that's funny. And consistent w/ what I observed that day @ Legend Valley.