Please Help ID this bass player from 86/87

[Obese Chess]

Probably not, but for the sake of brainstorming, Jan Zukowski from The Nighthawks?

Then again, I don’t think the cheeks/mouth line up with Jan’s from what I see in his pics.

I thought of Jan Zukowski as well. A known ESP player. Couldn't locate a good pic of him as a young man, though.

The Bar Band Bassman

Here's Zukowski in 84. Solid guess, honestly.

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

Beach Boys were the '86 homecoming show headliners. Level 42 had a 1987 show in El Paso, but I don't think that's Mark King. Other than that, I can't find anything else.

I also saw The Beach Boys listed under The University of El Paso’s 1986 concert schedule, but couldn’t find any backup band listings.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Best bet would probably be the yearbooks, but they aren’t online past 1972. Their alumni publication wasn’t very helpful.

 

[Rootzilla]

He looks like a guy in his mid/late 40s trying very hard not to look like a guy in his mid/late 40s.

As a guy in his mid/late 40s I'd say, if you're correct, his succeeding pretty damn well

 

[tim gueguen]

Seems to me you'd be further ahead trying to find if any of the local music magazines of the era are online, if there were such things. He was probably the bassist for some local or regional band.

 

[garrett77]

I feel like the suspenders could be a clue, but I am not really remembering how common they were - I was 10 in '87.

 

[Killing Floor]

Beach Boys were the '86 homecoming show headliners. Level 42 had a 1987 show in El Paso, but I don't think that's Mark King. Other than that, I can't find anything else.

Roger McGuinn was supporting The Beach Boys on tour and shows as opener 2 days prior and 2 days after El Paso.

Edit and fun fact, Beach Boys are listed by numerous sources at both UTEP and Rice Arena in Houston on October 18, 86. For those unfamiliar with Tejas geography, those cities are 750 miles apart.

 

[Killing Floor]

I feel like the suspenders could be a clue, but I am not really remembering how common they were - I was 10 in '87.

That just means the band had a dorky bassist.

 

[jerry]

That just means the band had a dorky bassist.

I actually went through a "suspenders" on stage period, it was also around my mullet period, but I am a bit of a dork.

 

[Diplock]

I feel like the suspenders could be a clue, but I am not really remembering how common they were - I was 10 in '87.

Unfortunately suspenders were a thing with pop bands from the 70's into the 80's.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Roger McGuinn was supporting The Beach Boys on tour and shows as opener 2 days prior and 2 days after El Paso.

Edit and fun fact, Beach Boys are listed by numerous sources at both UTEP and Rice Arena in Houston on October 18, 86. For those unfamiliar with Tejas geography, those cities are 750 miles apart.

The Beach Boys mention came from their alumni quarterly.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Are you sure it isn't Timothy Treadwell ?
View attachment 5143910

If a bear eats a bass player, I imagine he’d have the s***s for a week.

Riis

 

[Killing Floor]

The Beach Boys mention came from their alumni quarterly.

And a few quick searches of BB tour histories definitely confirm they were playing at UTEP in October, 86. And that tracks with typical homecoming season.
Now just need to obsess on the opener.

 

[garrett77]

Looking at Beach Boys posters from the 1986 tour, I see John Cafferty & the Brown Beaver Band and Katrina and the Waves, but not in El Paso...

 

[White Beard]

It's obviously Sting...
I can't believe no one has ID'd yet

No, Even though Sting was blond at this point, he had that flat-top with a rat-tail thing going on. And the guy in the picture doesn't have any face paint on... He wasn't doing full-on Crow face paint, but he was doing the Bladerunners face paint like the Ultimate Warrior.

 

[Michedelic]

No, Even though Sting was blond at this point, he had that flat-top with a rat-tail thing going on. And the guy in the picture doesn't have any face paint on... He wasn't doing full-on Crow face paint, but he was doing the Bladerunners face paint like the Ultimate Warrior.

Sting, circa ‘86…

 

[Michedelic]

I’m going to play until long after it’s solved.

Rick Willis?

He would have been older, and had curley hair, a thinner face, and a more pointy nose. I saw him with Roxy Music in ‘76

 

[Michedelic]

He looks like a guy in his mid/late 40s trying very hard not to look like a guy in his mid/late 40s.

Mid late 40’s? No way. He was getting jowley, but I’d say late 30’s at the oldest.

 

[Michedelic]

That's not Nick Beggs, is it?

maybe

View attachment 5143708

Not Mark King or Nick Beggs.

In that time period, he was in a band called Ellis, Beggs, and Howard, who seemed to have stayed in the UK/Europe, and only had a limited sucess there.

 

[White Beard]

Sting, circa '86...