An impressive work, Paul! Thanks! Only a few I was really aware of! In June of 1979, I was visiting L.A. for a week (from Houston), to see if I really wanted to move there! I wandered into the Sunset Blvd. Tower Records, and was met by the real-life, complete "The Knack" drum kit belonging to their drummer, Bruce Gary!
It was surrounded by hundreds of copies of their just-released debut Capitol album! But, after ogling all that, I noticed a familiar figure doing what I was doing: Eye-balling this impressively huge endcap display.....lead singer/guitarist, Doug Fieger! He had fallen by to have a glimpse of the recently-constructed display, and we shared a few words, but I mainly walked away just being gob-smacked that this was life in Hollywood....this couldn't happen in Houston!
Building a massive endcap with hundreds of albums? We did it, daily, at Cactus Records, where I worked for 3 years! But, having a recording artist just fall by to eye-ball it with record rep in tow? Nah. Not unless they were touring, and in town in the first place! I moved to L.A. in January '80!
And, so much of it (like this one) were just happenstance....I did nothing to "make" it happen! That's what makes it so cool....and, it's great to have a place like Substack (and you and your comment section) who are so willing and generous to have me share those stories!
Great stories! I’ve heard a lot of fun stories about the stars of the 60s and 70s because my uncle was a big music journalist in the UK and interviewed so many of them. Maybe you’ve heard of him, his name is Ray Connolly. He wrote biographies about John Lennon (who was a friend) and Elvis (who he interviewed under colonel surveillance!). His autobiography is called Born At The Right Time and is full of super interesting stories and anecdotes xx
Do you write about any of the stories you've heard from your Uncle? I bet there's some interesting stuff we would all like to hear. And John Lennon and Elvis...wow. Will have to do some research on Ray and check out the interviews if available.
I had not heard of your uncle, Francesca, but the main reason for that is that I was born and raised in Texas! Not that I didn't scour the UK rock tabs in the '70s on a weekly basis....NME, Sounds, and Melody Maker were all swept up off my local newsstand, that decade, after they made their week-long boat trips across the Atlantic!!
Now that I've looked him up, I'm more impressed that he wrote the screenplays for "That'll Be the Day" and "Stardust"! Thanks for following!
Another great collection, Paul. I knew the songs but didn't know much about the women who inspired them. It seems that the Boyd sisters really "got around" as we used t say.
I have sea shanties written after me, most notably "The Drunken Sailor." ;--)
Nice, I’ve heard it!
An impressive work, Paul! Thanks! Only a few I was really aware of! In June of 1979, I was visiting L.A. for a week (from Houston), to see if I really wanted to move there! I wandered into the Sunset Blvd. Tower Records, and was met by the real-life, complete "The Knack" drum kit belonging to their drummer, Bruce Gary!
It was surrounded by hundreds of copies of their just-released debut Capitol album! But, after ogling all that, I noticed a familiar figure doing what I was doing: Eye-balling this impressively huge endcap display.....lead singer/guitarist, Doug Fieger! He had fallen by to have a glimpse of the recently-constructed display, and we shared a few words, but I mainly walked away just being gob-smacked that this was life in Hollywood....this couldn't happen in Houston!
Building a massive endcap with hundreds of albums? We did it, daily, at Cactus Records, where I worked for 3 years! But, having a recording artist just fall by to eye-ball it with record rep in tow? Nah. Not unless they were touring, and in town in the first place! I moved to L.A. in January '80!
It's great that you have so many stories of early Rock and Roll days Brad.
And, so much of it (like this one) were just happenstance....I did nothing to "make" it happen! That's what makes it so cool....and, it's great to have a place like Substack (and you and your comment section) who are so willing and generous to have me share those stories!
👍
Great stories! I’ve heard a lot of fun stories about the stars of the 60s and 70s because my uncle was a big music journalist in the UK and interviewed so many of them. Maybe you’ve heard of him, his name is Ray Connolly. He wrote biographies about John Lennon (who was a friend) and Elvis (who he interviewed under colonel surveillance!). His autobiography is called Born At The Right Time and is full of super interesting stories and anecdotes xx
Love your comment, Francesca! Thank you!
Do you write about any of the stories you've heard from your Uncle? I bet there's some interesting stuff we would all like to hear. And John Lennon and Elvis...wow. Will have to do some research on Ray and check out the interviews if available.
Just get his autobiography on Amazon; it’s fascinating!
I had not heard of your uncle, Francesca, but the main reason for that is that I was born and raised in Texas! Not that I didn't scour the UK rock tabs in the '70s on a weekly basis....NME, Sounds, and Melody Maker were all swept up off my local newsstand, that decade, after they made their week-long boat trips across the Atlantic!!
Now that I've looked him up, I'm more impressed that he wrote the screenplays for "That'll Be the Day" and "Stardust"! Thanks for following!
Yes! Stardust was dedicated to me!!
Well, that's pretty cool!
So awesome...
I learn something new from you every day it seems Paul. I had no idea who those songs were named after.
Thanks, Matthew. It was fun to dig into some of the who's of songs.
Brilliant… just brilliant. Lots of great songs to revisit:
There are definitely some variations on some of the stories 😊
Thank you for this
So glad it made you feel good, Janette!
Another great collection, Paul. I knew the songs but didn't know much about the women who inspired them. It seems that the Boyd sisters really "got around" as we used t say.
Yeah, those Boyd sisters.