We got together
as junior high classmates. We sang pretty
good harmonies..really used Thanks to the
site, I was reacquainted with an old Jr.
High garage bandmate that I haven't seen
or heard from in over 30 years. He
stumbled across it (this site) and
recognized our group by my description of
our stage outfits. Since we've emailed
back and forth, I've been reminded of of
details from our short careers as Rock
Gods. Early on, our
drummer quit. We found another guy who
lived with his big sister, in a big house
without parents, where we could practice
and party. He also had long hair... he
couldn't play, but the other stuff
outweighed that....he scraped together a
battered kit out of different old junk....
the cymbals were smashed flat. they
looked(and sounded) like large pancakes.
One afternoon, while walking home from
practice, I stopped at a little shopping
center, guitar case in hand, to have a
coke and stand around looking cool for the
chicks in their white go-go boots and
training bras...I was standing in the
parking lot when someone called out some
sort of derogatory remark like "look at
the long haired spaz with the guitar", or
"Hey Ringo"....I set the guitar down and
walked toward the source of the "chop"...
a few seconds later, I heard a loud
CRUNCH. I turned around and saw that I had
put my Gibson ES-125 behind the rear
wheels of a car, whose owner didn't notice
......I took it to a shop and they did a
nice job fixing it. We never could
decide on a band name, so we made several
cardboard bass drum head signs with
different names. One guy had a Silvertone
single 12" speaker amp. he rebuilt it,
making it 4 feet tall with the speaker in
the middle, well hidden behind the grill
cloth. Aside from the drummer, we all had
relative(or better) pitch, and used to
harmonize our little adolescent hearts
out. we often added extra harmony parts to
record arrangements, like doing The
Beatles "Things We Said Today" in 2 parts,
ala Peter & Gordon....we were capable
of picking out parts and would sit around
singing stuff by The Hollies and other
vocal-ish groups..we even had a version of
The Animals/John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom,
that sounded like a convoluted Supremes
(with Tinker Toy and pancake drums,of
course). I learned that
our old lead player went on to become a
good fusion guitarist, who taught at GIT
in California..........I stayed in the biz
myself... besides the occasional short
stint in some bar bands, I've managed to
support myself (in a starving artist sorta
way, I'm single and have simple tastes) as
a stage manager (in the 70s, when local
promoters handled most of the production
details for acts they booked),
guitar/backline tech.(80s), live sound
engineer (80s-present)..I must also
include babysitter in my resume...I used
to tour with a legendary "character" in
the world of rock & Roll....since he
and I seemed to always be awake when
others were sleeping, one of my duties
became keeping him away from the trouble
that he was notorious for getting
into.....lets just say that that the
rumors of complete blood transfusions (for
him and his more well known buddy) are NOT
true!..... other stories, like throwing up
behind an opening act's bass amp ARE
true...but aside from the shenanigans, I
learned many things, including that the
true magic in music comes from the degree
of commitment you are willing to give to
it...whether playing, technically
supporting, or listening...you either make
it an accessory or a necessity. My love of music,
and refusal to let go of it, has taken to
to many places around the planet, and I've
met many of the idols of my youth.
.....now that I'm older and lazier, I
don't get out and gig that often, unless
it's cushy and pays sorta well. These
days, I mostly sell used vinyl records on
the net (60s a specialty)...never could
handle a REAL JOB...still got that long
hair too. I'm kinda still immersed in the
whole scene that I started out with. I'm
always hearing the music of the era,
discovering new things all the time. A few
weeks ago, I mixed for a band that was in
town without a soundman. during the show,
they played an old Who song that they were
messing around with at sound check. they
ended up NAILING the tune...it was a
moment filled with the mysterious factor
in music that makes some people play
air-guitar, or a baby jump and stomp for
joy....and it was a song from the days
that greatly influenced me. it was an
example of the magic. ...Thanks for
helping me fill some holes in the memories
of my sordid and seamy past (and
present). cheers,
Bill Simoneau
Personnel: Influences: Equipment:
Rehearsal
Space: Band
Vehicles: Fashion
Statement: Best
Gig: Gig
from
Hell!: Last
Gig: Information contributed by Bill Simoneau |
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