Thunderbird Club

[Larry V]

I'd have to have Will be dressed up if he were playing the drums

As long as it's shiny, I'M IN!

Well, my drumming isn't up to Nasty Habits standards, or at least not for now. But really, I don't have the legs for it. It's all about the visuals, y'know, and even as a thoroughly shallow person, I have to acknowledge the painful truth. Even if I shaved 'em, they would still look like they belonged to a Yeti.

That's what having two bass drums is for! Or polyester pants

Stop making excuses! You already said you were in... rather enthusiastically I might add. "I'M IN!", doesn't come from a guy worried about his legs. Oh and don't bother shaving... lots of new age gals have eschewed depilation.

Look how happy this gal looks.

She goes by the name, Chewy after her favorite Star Wars character.

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[JJR58]

Stop making excuses! You already said you were in... rather enthusiastically I might add. "I'M IN!", doesn't come from a guy worried about his legs. Oh and don't bother shaving... lots of new age gals have eschewed depilation.

Look how happy this gal looks.

View attachment 2759686

She goes by the name, Chewy after her favorite Star Wars character.

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Honestly, with her looks, i'll take the hairy legs.

 

[Larry V]

Honestly, with her looks, i'll take the hairy legs.

I'd get her drunk and shave her down.

I kid, I kid...

If I were her age it would be a deal breaker... at my current age, I'm not so sure.

 

[JJR58]

I'd get her drunk and shave her down.

I kid, I kid...

If I were her age it would be a deal breaker... at my current age, I'm not so sure.

At the rate things are going for me, i can be very forgiving and can compromise.

 

[Gaolee]

That's what having two bass drums is for! Or polyester pants

Looks like I need to have the discussion with my wife about why the double bass pedal wasn't enough... I'm sure she would be all for the usual N+1, and yet another band.

 

[kat888]

Rammstein

Links-Zwo Links-Zwo Links-Zwo-Drei-Vier

 

[theFixer]

Well since you asked, i'll have to give the short version, don't want to take up two pages worth here.
Problem is, i can't back it up, nothing to prove what i'm about to say is true. But it is, none the less, true.
My mom was a was a music loving wild child, she was a piano player, classical music trained. Also a big Jazz buff and was pretty amazing at both types of music.
So, in one of her many club romps, she met Gene and Stan before Kiss was Kiss.
She brought them home one day, Stan was hot for my mom, so i guess that played a big part in all of them meeting.
They were the scruffiest guys you'd ever meet. My brother and i took bass and guitar lessons from them, and they were the furthest thing ever from lessons, they really weren't teaching us anything.
Gene had a Pre CBS Jazz bass at the time, forget what Stan was bringing over. But, back then Gene was the greatest guy, he was real cool and humble. Stan was a jerk.
Anyway, after the course of them hanging out for some time, they told us about their rock stardom ambitions and Kiss. After they told us about what they were going to venture into, we just knew they were headed to the top.
And of course, once it all came together, we never saw them again, until, one day, my brother and i were chasing around some of our favorite underground bands, we were at at club in NYC at the time called Hurrahs, located somewhere near Lincoln Center, well, Stan was there out of makeup, we recognized him right away, we figured, hey it's Stan, he'd probably be happy to see us, Not.
He didn't remember a thing, and when we tried telling him about, you know, remember my mom (her name inserted here), he was like oh, yeah, and walked away.
So, it was cool in the beginning, but i guess these are the things that happen when you become a star.
The last band i was in, the guitar player knew Tommy Thayer, we got one of our CD's to him, hoping Gene would give a listen, i included a short note to see if he'd remember me, guess he couldn't care less because we never heard back from Tommy.
And now, the first of the chrome bits have arrived, it'll go on tonight.
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That's an amazing tale! Your descriptions of their characters matches everything I've ever heard about them (before and since KISS). It's gotta be kinda weird to look at them now, & know that they hung out with you in your living room! As for the fame-induced amnesia... I'm familiar with that. I went to school, K through 12, with 3 of the 4 guys in a band called "Thought Industry".

Thought Industry - Wikipedia

If they were to see me now, I'd probly get a nod & a wave... but they'd keep walking. If I approached any of them, I'd probly get a "Hey... howzit goin'?", before they suddenly found themselves in a hurry for some instantly concocted reason. I used to hang out at their practices, help 'em haul their gear, go to their gigs, run lights for 'em, & hype the hell out of 'em every chance I got. Dustin Donaldson (their drummer) taught and inspired much of my drum playing. We'd take turns playing behind his drum set. He'd bang somethin' out, then I'd jump back there & try to copy it. We were 2 kids growing' up on opposite ends of a cornfield out in the middle of nowhere. I was there for their first band, "Fair Warning"... through "Darkness" and "Desecrater", and finally, "Thought Industry". The bigger and more popular they got... the more I found myself being ignored, forgotten about, and the butt of more than my share of jokes... and that was well before they ever got picked up by Metal Blade. Paul Enzio (guitar) always made a couple minutes for me when I would see him, and he wasn't even one of the guys I went to school with! Swollen heads and egos quickly rendered them insufferable... and they barely saw a tiny fraction of the fame & fortune of KISS. If they had... I'm sure we would've seen their heads in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! They're a math-thrash prog-metal kinda thing. If ya wanna check 'em out, I'll encourage you to go for their first Metal Blade release called "Songs for Insects". They covered "Red Barchetta" on their demo (which they sold at gigs and local record stores). I have it on cassette, but haven't been able to find it on the web.

 

[JJR58]

That's awesome, Jeff!

You had to be there Larry.
Guess what my first bass was. This is the real corker.

 

[theFixer]

You had to be there Larry.
Guess what my first bass was. This is the real corker.

Was it Gene's Jazz bass that you mentioned?

 

[JJR58]

Was it Gene's Jazz bass that you mentioned?

That's what i thought i was getting, after hounding my mom for a Fender, and i could barely play i note. No, for 20 bucks mom got me this.

 

[theFixer]

That's what i thought i was getting, after hounding my mom for a Fender, and i could barely play i note. No, for 20 bucks mom got me this.

View attachment 2759915

... and MY... don't you look thrilled about it

What year was that?

 

[JJR58]

... and MY... don't you look thrilled about it

What year was that?

Don't know, That was way before I met Gene. And that's the man himself, not me.

 

[Gaolee]

That's what i thought i was getting, after hounding my mom for a Fender, and i could barely play i note. No, for 20 bucks mom got me this.

View attachment 2759915

There's some guy whose name escapes me who played a bass kinda like that and had a little success at one time or another. He might have been a lefty...

 

[JJR58]

There's some guy whose name escapes me who played a bass kinda like that and had a little success at one time or another. He might have been a lefty...

it was a Segova, if that helps any.

 

[Gaolee]

it was a Segova, if that helps any.

The guy I was thinking had a Hoffner of some kind. But, he's one of those obscure old guys nobody has heard of...

I actually had a Segova for a while. It was a completely outrageous bass guitar. It had a trussrod, but I don't know why they bothered. The neck was laminated like a structural glue-lam beam. It was a fistful and could probably have been used to hoist boulders. The body was a big hollowbody with an absurd chevron shaped pickguard that covered the top parts of the f-holes and a big single coil pickup. It got closer to an upright bass sound than any other bass guitar before or since. It was great, but I hardly ever played it, and only played one show with it. So, I let it go. Those were cheap and obscure, but they weren't as bad as they should have been for the price.

 

[JJR58]

The guy I was thinking had a Hoffner of some kind. But, he's one of those obscure old guys nobody has heard of...

I actually had a Segova for a while. It was a completely outrageous bass guitar. It had a trussrod, but I don't know why they bothered. The neck was laminated like a structural glue-lam beam. It was a fistful and could probably have been used to hoist boulders. The body was a big hollowbody with an absurd chevron shaped pickguard that covered the top parts of the f-holes and a big single coil pickup. It got closer to an upright bass sound than any other bass guitar before or since. It was great, but I hardly ever played it, and only played one show with it. So, I let it go. Those were cheap and obscure, but they weren't as bad as they should have been for the price.

It was actually a good bass Will, I was to young and stupid to appreciate it. Live and learn? I'm still learning.

 

[JJR58]

@BklynKen, the Hipshot is on, and it rules.

 

[theFixer]

Don't know, That was way before I met Gene. And that's the man himself, not me.

I'm confused. Do you mean that your Mom got you the same bass that Gene Simmons has in that photo?

 

[kat888]

@BklynKen, the Hipshot is on, and it rules.

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Just need some shiny pickup covers.

 

[hillerup]

Barring extreme cases (like Gary Glitter)... I don't really give a crap about their political views, business practices, etc. I judge the music separately from the individual performing it. A murderer on death row is capable of painting a picture as beautiful as Rembrandt could... as can a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker. do I like KISS? Yes (the old stuff). Do I like Gene Simmons? HAYL naw!

Urgh... Just the thought of Gary Glitter send shivers down my spine... There is no place in the world for child molesters - May he rot in jail...