Category Archive: ‘Wednesday Rock Blogging’

The Vandals

The Vandals formed in 1980 in Huntington Beach. The band quickly built a reputation in the LA and Orange County punk rock community which also included bands such as Bad Religion, Descendents, Black Flag, T.S.O.L., the Germs, X, Suicidal Tendencies, The Dickies, and Fullerton’s Social Distortion.

This clip includes footage of a typical mosh pit of the era (1:35). Hat tip Shira!

Siouxsie and the Banshees

Another band that blazed the early punk-rock trail in the late 1970s and early 1980s was Siouxsie and the Banshees.  They suffered a similar fate as X, as both struggled for radio airplay and record-company recognition even though they were hailed as ground-breaking bands that influenced many:

TGRnRBITW

With the Rolling Stones beginning their “50th and Counting” tour on Friday at Staples Center, let’s reach back to the days when they were a more viable force in the rock ‘n’ roll world.

I was in the front of the crowd at the L.A. Coliseum in 1981 when the Stones played with the J. Geils Band and George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers.  Some no-name kid opened the show wearing women’s lingerie and was promptly hit in the hand by a thrown Jack Daniels bottle while playing guitar, and then booed off stage.

The late Bill Graham came out and admonished the crowd, saying that Prince was destined to be huge some day.

Here is footage from the same tour in Tempe – You may want to cut straight to the 11:00-minute mark, where Mick is wearing a Ladainian jersey (how did he know?) and the excitement cuts loose.

Talking Heads

For many of us the transition out of the hard-rocking 1970s and into the punk/new-wave era was helped greatly by the Pretenders, and this band:

Joe Walsh

Those of us who grew up in the ’70s knew Joe Walsh as a solo artist and guitar hero.  Only later did I learn that he and his family were living in Olivenhain (back in the 1990s):

From wiki:

Walsh ran for President of the United States in 1980 on top of his music career as a mock campaign. He promised to make “Life’s Been Good” the new national anthem if he won, and ran on a platform of “Free Gas For Everyone.”

Though Walsh was not old enough to actually assume the office, he wanted to raise public awareness of the election. In 1992 Walsh ran for vice president with Rev. Goat Carson under the slogan “We Want Our Money Back!”.

In 1994, Walsh noted that he woke up after blacking out when arriving in Paris, France on an airplane. He had his passport, but did not remember getting on the plane. That was his turning point and he has been sober ever since. Jimmy Page’s sunburst 1959 Gibson Les Paul, better known as his “Number 1″ was originally owned by Joe Walsh and was sold to Page in 1969.

Deep Purple

The first concert I ever saw was Deep Purple with Savoy Brown at Big Surf in Tempe, Arizona in 1974, not long after David Coverdale took over vocals.

This is the same tour, but from their stop at the Ontario Speedway for California Jam:

Beat Farmers

Country Dick’s ode to San Diego real estate!

Transfer

The San Diego-based band ‘Transfer’ is preparing for their next tour of Europe, which begins on March 10th in Belfast: LINK to Website

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

A baby-boomer staple, from the Hollies:

John Prine

The legend: