Wednesday, April 30, 2008

many ROCKIN' automotive-themed gig posters surfaced in April

(above) designer unknown; an oversize lobby placard for a Kansas club, 1963
(above) by "wally"
(above) by Jon Smith, for an Australian gig
(above) by Lonny Unitus
(above) by Don Clark
(above) by Dirty Donny
(above) by Jeff Boyes
(above) by Kevin O'Rourke
(above) by Tara McPherson
(above) by CSR Jara, for a gig in Argentina
(above) by Lars P. Krause (Dresden, Germany), for a gig in Sweden
(above) by Scrojo. Note homage to the ending of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
(above) by Paper Tiger Studios
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April was an especially rich month for rock gig posters. Some are freshly minted pieces, others just surfaced outta history during that period. I'm continually amazed at the talent brought to bear.
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Note that Tara McPherson is one of this country's brightest fine artists, now working out her studio in Brooklyn, NY. Her poster was done around 2003, and came as a result of a brief fascination with Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion-series cars.
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Many will recall Frank Kozik's famous poster for The Nomads (ART OF MODERN ROCK, page 188), but it's nice to see our European friends doing such great work for one of Sweden's top groups. The poster artist, Lars P. Krause, is a close associate of Danny F. Criminal (see earlier blog).
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When I spotted Jeff Boyes' poster at http://www.gigposters.com/, many of his fellow artists commented that Jeff's work is reminiscent of fine artist and printmaker Evan Hecox's automotive explorations in Mexico.
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Dirty Donny is closely associated with the West Coast hot rod scene, and has done many illustrations (including covers) for Mike LaVella's GEARHEAD magazine.
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Finally, altho Jon Smith's poster here is an homage to Ralph Steadman's work, he may be the most innovative rock postermaker going. Go to http://www.gigposters.com/ and check out his latest piece, for Widespread Panic, and tell me he ain't da sh_t.
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So, on to May and all the imaginative work, both historic and brand new, that's about to dazzle our eyes.

ROCKIN' up and down Great Britain (and over to Germany) with The Beatles

(above) The Quarry Men, atop a coal lorry on Rosebery Street, Liverpool, June 22, 1957
(above) August 16, 1960, at the ferry. This is then-manager Allan Williams' van,
loaded with the Beatles' gear, headed for an extended run of gigs at the Indra Club, Hamburg

(above) Must have been quite a moment in their lives, for two photos to have been taken
(above) In Germany, the four lads meet Gene Vincent ("Race With the Devil");
note that the foursome includes pre-Ringo drummer Pete Best (right)
(above) While in Germany, the Beatles meet photographer Astrid Kirchherr,
who took this photo and became lovers with erstwhile bassist Stu Sutcliffe (center)
(above) September, 1962. The Fab 4, now w. Ringo. Photo by Les Chadwick,
commissioned by then-publicist Peter Kaye; photo known as "the rubble."
(above) A typical British band-and-van scene in 1962, this with the N'Betweens.
(above) a popular choice for young bands, the Commer van.
(above) The Beatles, with their Commer van, early 1963
(above) Modern-day Beatles' merchandising with classic Corgi,
this with a Bedford van, covered in fans' graffiti, complete with two 'birds' and a placard
(above) the scene in front of the London Palladium, 10-13-63;
photo by Terence Spencer; fans swarmed every approaching vehicle. . . hoping
photo by Terence Spencer
(above) "She's A Must To Avoid." Yes, that song by Herman's Hermits. Similar hysteria
followed Frank Sinatra, and boybands like Duran, Duran; New Kids; Backstreet Boys, NSync
photo by Terence Spencer
(above) 1963. The Boys escape in their Austin Princess, with a Bobby looking tough
photo by Terence Spencer.
(above) All in, and headed for the concert, The Beatles, November 16, 1963
photo by Terence Spencer
(above) en route from their hotel in Bournemouth,
to their Coventry Theater show, 11-16-63
photo by Terence Spencer, five photos above from IT WAS THIRTY YEARS AGO TODAY
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There are hundreds of stories about the Beatles arduously making their way by van to shows all over the UK, beginning in 1960, and then, within scarcely three years, more stories about their out-maneuvering their fans as they sought to get to the stage, or escape from the concert buildings. Here are just some of which I found, while thinking about the life and times of driver, road manager, and ultimately Apple's Managing Director Neil Aspinall (previous blog).
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Saturday, June 22, 1957 (top photo here): "An unusual engagement, even by Quarry Men standards, playing from the back of a stationary coal lorry in the afternoon and evening during street celebrations for the 750th anniversary of King John issuing a Royal Charter "inviting settlers to take up burgages or building plots in Liverpool." Electricity to the lorry atop which they played was supplied by the man at #76, who ran the microphone lead through his front-room window." (On July 6, Lennon first met McCartney after a Quarry Men appearance, and on October 18, Paul made his first on-stage appearance with them. George Harrison would not join them until the following February).
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May 20, 1960. The beginning of the Beatles' (then the Silver Beetles) first out-of-town tour, to Scotland, backing singer Johnny Gentle. "Johnny Gentle was shocked upon meeting the Silver Beetles. They wore black jeans and black t-shirts, and appeared as if they had been sleeping in them for weeks. Also, they had no amplifiers for their electric guitars. While driving to Scotland, with Gentle at the wheel, their van hit an automobile. The Silver Beetles were shaken but uninjured--except for the drummer, Tommy Moore, who had been struck in the mouth by an instrument case and lost his front teeth. He was taken to a local hospital, while the group continued onward to their first engagement. It would be their official baptism in show biz, and were thoroughly elated to see their name, although in small print, on the advertising posters."
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August, 1960. "One evening in August," recalled Pete Best, "the phone rang and my mother, Mona, answered it. The caller was Paul McCartney, who asked to speak to me. I was not in, but got his message. Paul said the Beatles had been promised a trip to Hamburg, but would have to get a permanent drummer. He told me to meet him at the Jacaranda Club for an audition. I auditioned, and became the group's drummer on the spot. I had a Blue Pearl Premiere kit and was very proud of it. We played two gigs at the Jacaranda before going to Hamburg."
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Then-Manager Allan Williams recalled, "Prior to the trip, I got an old cream-and-green-colored van. It was dented, but had a roof rack to store the equipment." The group departed Liverpool about 10:00 am on August 16. Eight people, including Williams, his wife Beryl, a Liverpool club owner named Lord Woodbine, and an interpreter, Herr Steiner from the Heaven and Hell club, were crammed into the van headed for Hamburg via the ferry port known as the Hook of Holland. "We pulled into New Haven just in time to make the night ferry," Williams remembered. "The dockworkers were not very happy with the bundle atop the van and asked about its contents. The problem was whether they could get it on the crane. Lennon, always the leader, said, 'Come on mates, you can do it.' And they did." Rolling through the flatlands of Holland, the group sang songs to pass the time and arrived in Hamburg that evening."
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Remembers George, "It was cramped, that van. It didn't even have seats; we had to sit on our amplifiers. We drove down to Harwich and got the boat to the Hook of Holland. Driving through Holland, I remember we stopped at Arnhem where all the people had parachuted out to their deaths in WWII."
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Remembers Paul, "The strangest memory for me was being asked at the borders if we had any coffee. I couldn't understand it. Drugs, yes, guns, yes--we could understand booze or something like that, but a roaring trade in contraband coffee?"
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1961. "Aspinall had the odious duty of loading and unloading the Beatles gear at the clubs, under the watchful eyes and heavy breath of the local toughs, who would have been only too pleased to wade in for some action at the drop of a word. Every time Aspinall humped the gear into the hall, he had to lock the van very carefully, in case he returned to find the remaining equipment--indeed even the van itself--gone."
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January 1, 1962. "At 11:00 am on Monday, January 1st--a cold and icy New Years Day--John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best sat in the reception area at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, north London, and waited for the summons that would take them into the big time. While Brian Epstein had travelled down by train and stayed overnight with an aunt, for the four Beatles it had been an uncomfortable ten-hour journey, hunched in a van already crowded with their equipment, and battling against heavy New Years Eve snowstorms which caused road manager Neil Aspinall to lose his way near Wolverhampton."
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January 21, 1963. "Three months after starting as a bouncer at the Cavern Club, Mal Evans was hired by Brian Epstein as a driver and assistant road manager. Evans and road manager Neil Aspinall's duties were to drive the van while the band were on tour, set up and test the equijpment, and then pack it up again. The Beatles were being driven back to Liverpool from London by Evans, through a heavy fog on January 21, when the van's windscreen was hit by a large pebble and shattered. Evans had to break a larger hole in the windscreen to even see the road up ahead. The Beatles huddled in the back with a bottle of whisky and tried to stay warm in the freezing temperature.
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"Lennon later told Aspinall, "You should have seen Mal. He put a bag over his head with just a big slit for eyes. It was freezing, perishing. Mal looked a bank robber."
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The group had a gig at lunchtime, and a show that night. But Mal showed up at Aspinall's that afternoon with the van in perfect condition, windscreen repaired. Noted Lennon, "We never knew how he'd managed to get it fixed again so quickly. Ten out of ten for Mal for not just leaving the van for someone else to get the repairs done."
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From the personal diary of Mal Evans, same day: "Lads went shopping. Paul and George bought slacks. George a shirt in Regent St. This was before the Sat Club recording and we lost them for awhile. Back to Lower Regent Studios for recording a talent spot. At about 8:15 pm the boys went to Brian's room in the Mayfair for a Daily Mail interview. I parked the gear and joined them later. We left London at about 10 pm, stopping at 'Fortes' on the M1 for dinner, and so homeward bound to Liverpool. Met a lot of fog, and suddenly the windscreen cracked with a terrible bang. Had to break a large hole to even see. Stopped for tea at transport cafe, and arrived home at about 5:00 am. I was up at 7:45, but the lads laid in till about five that afternoon. Lucky devils. They were on that night at the Cavern as fresh as ever with no after-effects. They are all great blokes with a sense of humour, and giving one the feeling they are a real team."
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1963. Remembers Ringo: "There are lots of driving stores. This is how a band gets close: in the van, going up and down the M1, freezing your balls off, fighting for the seats. A lot of madness went on in the van, but it got us together. We had a Bedford van, and mostly Neil would drive, sometimes one of the band. There'd be the passenger seat for one of us, and the other three--whichever three, the rest of us--would sit behind in the back on the bench seat, which was pretty miserable. We would go everywhere in that van and with the amps and gear, and everything would have to fit in with us. I remember sliding all over Scotland. It was bloody freezing in the winter."
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Ringo: "We never stopped anywhere. If we were in Elgin on a Thursday and needed to be in Portsmouth on Friday, we would just drive. We didn't know how to stop that van! If we had a day off and we were going to Liverpool from London, we would just drive. There was only a small piece of motorway in those days, so we'd be on the A5 for hours. Some nights it was so foggy, we'd be doing one mile an hour, but we'd still keep going. We were like homing pigeons, we just had to keep getting home.
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George: "There were a lot of good times in the van; all the rough-and-tumble stuff that happens. We had a good crash once. We were coming over the Pennines, the roads were icy, and I happened to be the driver. I was driving pretty quickly as we came through what turned out to be Goole in Yorkshire. Everything was fine until suddently I went into a right-hand turn. It was a bit sharper than it looked and we went up onto the grass bank, which then sloped down to the left. The whole van tipped as we went down the embankment, at the bottom of which was a wire-mesh fence with concrete posts. We bounced along--bump, bump, bump--knocking into all these posts, and finally came to a stop with Neil sitting in the front seat next to me, howling, 'Ow, ow, my arm!' The accident ripped the filler cap off and the petrol was pouring out. We scrambled out and had to shove t-shirts and things into the hole to try and stop the flow of petrol. We started to push the van back up on the road, when, out of nowhere, came 'Allo, 'allo, what's all this then?' It was a cop, and he booked us for crashing. A couple of months later I went to court. Brian came with me for moral support (He did stand by his lads!). But I think they banned me for driving for three months.
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Paul: "There were a lot of laughs in the back of the van, just naming albums and chatting about birds and other groups' music and things. I can't remember many deep conversations. There was a lot of giggling though!"
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Ringo: "When you're touring, things can be pretty tense sometimes, and the littlest things can suddently turn into a mountain. Once George and Paul were both planning to drive the van. George got into the drivers seat and Paul had the keys, and there was no way one was going to help the other. We sat there for, it seemed, two hours. If we were arguing, it was always about things like space. 'Who's going to sit on the spare seat?', because everyone else had to sit on the wheel arches, or the hard bench in the back, all the way to Scotland or somewhere. We used to get ratty with each other, pushing, protesting. 'It's my turn in the front!.'
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George: "Our early van became the centre of attention every time it pulled up at a show. It was brush-painted in red and grey, and from head to foot was covered in graffiti--girl's names and things like 'I love you John!!" It looked interesting, but the moment anybody saw it they would feel free to write all over it. It also presented the problem that if anything was going to get nicked, it was obvious where it was kept. Neil always had to worry about that."
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Paul: "On the longer journeys we would stop at service stations such as the Watford Gap to get a nice greasy meal. Occasionally we might see Gerry Marsden and the guys or other Liverpool bands there, and we'd have a laugh and exchange jokes."
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Finally, to cap off these automotive reminiscences, here's one last bit about Neil Aspinall, by Stephen Chupaska, writing in the New London Times:
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"Aspinall spearheaded the mid-90s 11-hour documentary, the "Beatles Anthology," along with the accompanying releases of outtakes and unreleased songs as well as the totally fun "Beatles at the BBC" double album. In the early days of the Beatles, he of course was the guy responsible for driving them from gig to gig. Who would've not wanted to be in that car? Presumably, he was waiting outside George Harrison's house, honking the horn, or helping John Lennon load in his Rickenbacker and amp. Maybe on the way to a show in Leeds, Paul McCartney asked him to turn up a Buddy Holly song on the car radio. He probably helped Ringo Starr look for the drum key he misplaced last night at the Cavern Club. Aspinall was part of the humdrum life in the Beatles before it all happend, and then, after the mania began. He never took a bow, never asked the swells to rattle their jewelry, and never said he was bigger than Jesus. He was just off to the side, wondering if he had enough gas money to get them home. And that's part of rock & roll, too."
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For the above tales, I consulted, among much else on the Internet and in my library:
THE COMPLETE BEATLES, by Mark Lewisohn
IT WAS THIRTY YEARS AGO TODAY, by Terence Spencer
HOW THEY BECAME THE BEATLES, by Gareth Pawlowski
FROM YESTERDAY TO TODAY, by the Editors of LIFE
THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY
THE BEATLES DIARY, by Barry Miles

Monday, April 28, 2008

Farewell to one of Rock's Great ROCKIN' Managers, Neil Aspinall of The Beatles


(above) The Beatles outside the Cavern Club, Liverpool, in early 1962, in front
of the Commer van driven by their young road manager, Neil Aspinall
(above) Neil Aspinall, top right
(above) Neil Aspinall (middle, with guitar) standing in for an ill George Harrison,
at the rehearsal for the Ed Sullivan Show, 1964

(above) Beginning in 1963, Mal Evans (left) became the regular driver of The Van
(above) Neil Aspinall (left) with Mal Evans (right);
photo by Linda Eastman who became Paul McCartney's wife
(above and below) examples of the birds at Beatles' shows in 1963;
Neil and Mal (and Derek Taylor) chose which female fans went backstage
(above two) These photos are from a filming at a 1963 concert in Manchester
(above) Neil Aspinall, once their road manager, always their confidant and fixer,
before he became the Managing Director who'd protect and grow their legacy

Neil Aspinall, "the fifth Beatle," died March 24, 2008 at age 67. For more than forty years he was their de-facto Chief Executive--for-Life, but wore many hats during that time, beginning with driver, then road manager upon the Beatles' return to Liverpool from their first extended stay in Germany. Much has been written about his passing, and here I'll provide some of the best remembrances, with a nod to the automotive aspects as that's the focus of this rock and cars blog. Note that as with all great folk history, each remembrance offers up just a slightly different set of facts.
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Edited from his long obit in The Economist, April 3rd:
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"He was brighter than they were. He had eight O-levels, where they mustered hardly any between them. He was richer: by January, 1961 he was earning two and a half pounds a week as a trainee accountant in Liverpool, enough to have saved up for a second-hand van, while they had to scrape the fare for the #81 bus across town, lugging their guitars up to the top deck. In certain lights, with enough Brylcreem on his hair and enough tight black leather on his limbs, he was as handsome as they were too, like a young Tom Courtenay.
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"Yet there seemed to be not one jealous bone in Neil Aspinall's body, which was why, for almost half a century, he was factotum, doorkeeper, and man-of-all-work for his four best friends. From driving the battered old Commer van he purchased, with its hard benches back and in the middle and his charges sleeping among the amps, he progressed to hiring the larger tour-type buses and then the chauffeured limousines with blacked-out windows, forcing their way through crowds of weeping teenage girls.
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"He could have told stories if he'd wanted to. Of getting lost one New Years night in the snow near Wolverhampton as he drove the band to their first big audition with Decca (which they subsequently failed). Of picking girls for them from the giggling, screaming candidates who milled at the stage doors, or forging hundreds of signatures on record sleeves and photos.
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"In the vans, buses, and hotel rooms, bits of paper piled up like confetti, carrying scraps of songs . . . and more scraps were stuffed in the pockets of the trousers Mr. Aspinall carried to the clearner's. He did not keep the scraps. His interest was not exploitation, but service. He was a handy man with a portable iron, and his job was to smooth out the creases in their story.
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"Paul and George he knew from school: Paul in [their] Art and English classes, George as a furtive fellow Woodbine-[cigarette] puffer behind the air-raid shelters. [Lennon's school adjoined theirs]. In a sense they were always members of the "Mad Lad" gang, larking together, or hurtling together down a back street as the Teds came after them. And for all the dazzle of the London Palladium or the Ed Sullivan Show, there was perhaps no more evocative venue for Mr. Aspinall than the Casbah Club in the basement of his lover-landlady's house, where behind the rhododendron hedges the Silver Beetles--as they were then--would play on Saturday nights. He had bought the benches and the luminous purple paint that glowed on the walls, and after the show he would guard the equipment. When [his best friend] drummer Pete Best was ditched by the group in favour of Ringo--the most painful test of Mr. Aspinall's loyalty--he ended his affair with Pete's mother, moved out, [and continued ferrying the boys in the van to their next show in Chester, and to the next shows after that].
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Edited from the obit in The Guardian:
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"Lennon invited McCartney and Harrison to join his skiffle group, the Quarry Men, which eventually mutated into Johnny and the Moondogs, the Silver Beetles, and finally, in 1960, the Beatles. But in the autumn of 1959 the group played an engagement at Mona Best's cellar Casbah Club, in West Derby, and Aspinall moved in with the Best's. In August, 1960, Best auditioned and became their drummer. Upon their return to Liverpool, the Beatles made the important move from traveling to gigs on public transport to piling into Aspinall's Commer van. Neil was asked to become their driver and roadie just before Christmas. Scarcely a year later, on New Year's Eve, 1961, he drove them down to London for their audition with Decca, famously getting lost first, arriving at 10 pm that night after a ten-hour journey through the snow."
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Edited from Darin Murphy's remembrance in The Huffington Post:
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"The Beatles really were a six-member team. You'll rarely hear their names mentioned and even more rarely see their faces, but Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans [who took over the driving in 1963] were the dynamic duo without which John, Paul, George, and Ringo could not have survived. Manager Brian Epstein was the well-known marketing genius; producer George Martin is credited on the albums; and Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best are Beatles folk legends. But Neil and Mal were everywhere the group was at all times, doing everything that a 10-man crew does today. They drove the van; ushered the boys through the screaming masses; carried their luggage, instruments, and amps; and set up and broke down their backline at every gig, studio session, TV appearance, radio appearance, film shoot, photo shoot, and rehearsal. They forged Beatle autographs on thousands of photos, record sleeves and other souvenirs; went out for food and drinks; procured equipment, instruments, and supplies; changed out their guitar strings and drum heads; and sometimes [aided by the band's late publicist Derek Taylor] even picked out the groupies. They both helped create the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album, without credit. In addition, they also had to bear the brunt of the group's hostility during the most nerve-racking times, listen to them argue amongst themselves, and occasionally bear full responsibility for lost or damaged gear (Mal had to buy John a new Gibson acoustic guitar after his was stolen, and almost lost his job over one of George's Gretsch guitars that fell off the van and was run over by a following truck). Due to their miraculous ability to be four or five places at once, Neil and Mal managed to form a sort of force field around the Beatles, shielding them--for the most part--from the chaotic hurricane surrounding the relatively peaceful eye in which they moved."
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Edited from the obit in The Telegraph:
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"Aspinall's involvement with the Beatles dated from December, 1960 when Pete Best asked him to become their driver, persuading him to combine his day job as a trainee accountant with driving a dilapidated Commer van which Aspinall would purchase, at night for ten shippings a week. Aspinall in short due course would cut a deal with the band by which he charged each of them five shippings per concert plus gasoline expense, as he was now responsible for driving them both days and nights. Although he was shocked when Best (his closest friend) was replaced by Ringo on August 16, 1962, he remained solidly with the band, and when a brawny Cavern Club bouncer named Mal Evans was taken on in 1963 to hump their instruments in and out of their battered Commer van, Aspinall then found himself in the role of personal assistant. As such, he became the Beatles' gatekeeper, guardian of their privacy, security, secrets, and eventually the group's fortunes, over which, as Managing Director of Apple from January, 1968 to midway through 2007, he exercised a shrewd stewardship. A quietly-spoken but tough negotiator, he was credited with having--single handedly--turned the Beatles into the world's highest-earning band, and, by extension, one of rock's biggest brands. "It was an unattractive life," he admitted later [in one of his few interviews], "and it went on for years. But at least I could go out. They were trapped."
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Edited from the New York Times' obit:
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"Of all the people in the Beatles' orbit, Aspinall had the most durable relationship with the group. When the Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, George Harrison made a point of saying that Aspinall should be considered the fifth Beatle. When an American manager, Allen Klein, was brought in to sort out the Beatles' finances after their breakup, Klein fired much of the staff but was told by John Lennon, "Don't touch Neil and Mal, they're ours.""
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Edited from Wikipedia:
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"The Beatles played at the opening of the Casbah Coffee Club on August 29, 1959, which was in the cellar of Mona Best's house. Aspinall soon rented a room in the house and became best pal with Pete Best. Having morphed into The Beatles by August, 1960, the band had previously used public transport to get to local gigs, but by the end of December they were playing two or three concerts on the same day or night, at different locations, and needed someone to drive them. Best asked Aspinall to be the driver, and, effectively, their part-time road manager, so Aspinall bought an "old, grey and maroon Commer van" for 80 pounds and charged each of the group five shillings per concert. When the Beatles returned from their second trip to Hamburg, Germany in July, 1961, Aspinall left his day job as an assistant accountant to become their full-time road manager. After Best was sacked by Brian Epstein in mid-August, Aspinall was waiting downstairs in Epstein's NEMS record shop and was the first one to talk to the (then) ex-Beatle in The Grapes pub, across from The Cavern Club where the Beatles were now regularly playing. Aspinall was furious and said he would stop working for the band as well, but Best strongly advised him not to. But at the next gig, Aspinall did ask McCartney and Lennon why they'd fired Best, and was told, by Lennon, "It's got nothing to do with you. You're only the driver." Aspinall from that point forward worked closely with Epstein, who provided weekly notes and payments for him to give to the group. The Beatles, at that stage in their career, had no choice but to travel in Aspinall's van along with their equipment, uncomfortably, as the British roads then were notoriously pot-holed and slow to navigate. Ringo Starr remembered being ceaselessly driven up and down Great Britain with one of the group in the passenger seat [a coveted, rotating position] and the other three on a hard bench seat in the back."
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Edited from the obit in The Independent:
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"When Mona Best opened her basement to create a teenage club, The Casbah, Aspinall helped to get it up and running. In August, 1960, her eldest son, Pete, joined the Beatles on drums for an extended first engagement in Hamburg. By the time they returned in December, they had transformed their sound and were fully dedicated to playing music. Aspinall would watch them play and sometimes drive them in a Ford van he'd just secured. As the bookings increased, Neil was asked, in July, 1961, to become their first full-time road manager. Aspinall's affair with Mona Best led to a son, Roag, born in July, 1962, but this did not ruin his relationship with Pete, and they remained friends until Aspinall's death. But, that friendship was tested in August, 1962, when Best was sacked by the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein. Best discussed the issue with Aspinall, and was surprised to hear that Neil was prepared to take the group to Chester that night, "as they haven't sacked me." When Neil asked the group why Best had been sacked, Lennon replied, "It's nothing to do with you. You're only the driver." Aspinall was a tough, authoritative figure who could control a situation without hitting anyone, although he must have come close that day with Lennon."
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Edited from the obit in the Yorkshire Evening Post:
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"Aspinall once said: "People used to say to me then, 'What do you do?' I'd stopped being an accountant, or pretending to be one by this time, and I said back, 'I drive the band around,' and they'd say, 'Yeah, I know that, but what do you do for a living?' Two years later, the same people were saying, 'You lucky git, Neil.'"
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Edited from the obit in the Daily Mirror:
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"In 1964, when Beatlemania swept the UK, ex-Cavern Club bouncer and newly-crowned roadie Mal Evans took over as driver and Neil became the road manager. It involved far more than ensuring the dressing rooms were up to scratch. Ringo, looking back, said, "Neil and Mal were all we had. Throughout our fame, we had just two guys looking after us." Even as the van became a bus and the bus became a limousine, the constant touring took its toll. Neil said, in a rare interview, "Our life was just going from one box to another, in the end. You'd be on an aeroplane, which was a box, and get into a limousine, which was another box, and drive to a hotel, another box." The band's late publicist Derek Taylor once described the enduring link between Neil and the Beatles as the "ultimate complementary relationship. They had no O-levels, he had lots. They had big egos, he had none." And that is the key to one of the most successful partnerships in musical history."
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In the blog that follows, I'll cover more of the Beatles' early automotive career, including showing you photos of the van which they took to their first gigs in Germany, and recall a few of the band's van-travel stories from those early days. Also, you'll se a remarkable photo of the Quarry Men playing a very early gig atop a coal lorry parked on the sidewalk.
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RIP Neil Aspinall. It was a wonderful ride, yes? You were an esteemed and caring manager and such good friends with the lads. You'll be missed but never forgotten. My thoughts are with several of your friends, Dell and Kym Furano from Signatures Network, and Jim McCullough, who were privileged to work with you on many projects and licenses involving the Beatles.
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FYI, to see Beatlemania in the UK in full hysteria, check out a 1963 filmclip "The Beatles Come to Town," from a gig in Manchester, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0191CFOCo04.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

keep those good ROCKIN' thoughts a-comin' for our good friend Alton Kelley, rock guy and car guy

(above) Kelley's collab. with Randy Tuten.
This is the famous Diamond T 'doodle bug' tanker of the '30s.
(above) Kelley collected cars like these, and sometimes stuck 'em in his posters
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Further to my earlier blog, esteemed rock poster artist and car guy Alton Kelley's been moved from Petaluma Valley General Hospital to California-Pacific Hospital in San Francisco for more intensive care. All his friends in rock and cars are wishing him strength, hoping for a full recovery from major back problems and attending complications.
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If you're reading this blog and know Kelley, please post your good thoughts and best wishes to him at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/altonkelley. Many thanks from me, his wife Marguerite, and his kids and relatives. His work is of course iconic, celebrated throughout the world. Get well soon, Kelley. Rock on, man!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Aerosmith's Joe Perry buys a ROCKIN' 1971 Olds 442 from the Volo, IL Auto Museum

(above and two below) Joe Perry's 1971 Olds 442

(above) note the bench seat . . . important!
(above and three below) Rich Brigidi's 1966 Olds 442


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First saw the following as I was crusin' the net in search of . . . something related but unrelated, if you get my drift. Suddenly, this:
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"ROCK-N-ROLL STARS VISIT VOLO AUTO MUSEUM"
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"Volo, IL: Visit the Volo Auto Museum and you're guaranteed to see some of the hottest cars to ever hit the street . . . and you might even spot a rock star or two.
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"After playing two sold-out concerts in the area, James Hetfield, lead singer of Metallica, spent a day touring the Volo Auto Museum. Hetfield said he traveled to the museum specifically to see the George Barris Movie and TV Car Collection.
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"He snapped a ton of pictures of the original Batmobile, Grandpa Munster's Drag-U-La, the Starsky and Hutch Gran Torino, and other famous Barris cars. He also purchased several Barris items from the museum's gift shop. The museum's staff honored Hetfield's request not to take any pictures and to keep his visit as low key as possible. With a big smile on his face, Hetfield left, promising to visit again soon.
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"Metallica is not the museum's only Rock-N-Roll connection. Joe Perry, lead guitarist for Aerosmith, purchased an Oldsmobile 442 convertible from the museum.
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"Perry said he searched the entire nation before finally finding the right car (a 1971 model) hidden among the museum's collection of nearly 300 muscle cars. He said his search was made more difficult because he wanted a bench seat (so he could sit close to his wife)."
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Dave Boe at the Volo Auto Museum was kind to send photos of Perry's 442.
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Then, I contacted Rich Brigidi, the famous Philadelphia street racer whose story was first told by Bob Frump in the Philadelphia Inquirer, where I discovered it and republished it (on pages 164-165) in ROCKIN' DOWN THE HIGHWAY. Rich has become a friend, and he's helping ROCKIN' become a television series. More on that in short due course.
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Here's a little bit of what Rich had to say about his own 1966 442:
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"Pretty coincidental about Perry wanting a 442 with a bench seat instead of buckets. When I ordered my 442 in March of 1966, I ordered a bench seat with it. In 1966 the convertible Cutlass with the 442 option automatically came with buckets so I had to wait a little longer for the car just because of the bench seat. I'm not sure, but I could have the only '66 442 convertible without buckets. I just love the bench seat/4-speed look.
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"I don't know the 1971 442's anywhere near as well as I know the 1966-67 model year. But from the pictures you sent, I see that Joe's car is an automatic-on-the-column with the bench seat. To have the bench seat with an automatic, the shifter has to be on the steering column because the floor-shift automativ would come with a console (and that would necessitate bucket seats). I've seen 1971 442 column-shift automatics like Joe's, so they're around. But I believe them to be pretty scarce, so, yes, I'm sure he looked for his for some time.
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"The only other thing that caught my attention is the black stripe down the center of the hood. Again, my expertise is not in the 1971-72 model years, but I don't remember the hood stripes quite looking like that. I also see there were some additional modifications like the nerf-bar bumpers, and the lack of the triple side stripes (that's to say, the way I've seen 'em in most photos). I also would have liked a picture of the engine! But that won't mean a thing if Joe bought the car for cruising with his wife, as the paragraph states."
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You can see and read more about Rich's 442 at http://www.442.com/vcs/1964_1972/brigidi.html
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Here's what Rich said there: "I ordered this car new in '66 and after one year I was at the dragstrip almost every weekend. 1966 was the only year that the tri-carb L69 package was available, and only 240 L69 convertibles were produced. The car classified E/Stock and won its class 23 times at three different tracks: Atco, New Jersey; Vargo, Pennsylvania; and Maplegrove, Pennsylvania. It ran a best ET of 12.71 with an average ET of about 12.82 and top mph of 105. This was while being street-driven every day!
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"I sold it in 1970, and was fortunate enough to find it and repurchase it in 1979. It's now restored to its Sixties appearance (to the dismay of some purists), and has Cragar mags, Sun tach, and Stewart-Warner gauges. The car appeared in the 1994 Snap-On Tools calendar, on the cover of Muscle Monthly (NMCA Magazine), and twice in Hot Rod Magazine's "Readers' Rides" section.
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"In 1995, this convertible won "Best in Class" in Street Stock at the Olds Nationals in Greensboro, NC and scored 946 points at Atlanta the following year in Seniors. Now it's shown less and driven more, and I've come to one conclusion: there is NOTHING like the sound of a musclecar with the trips wide open."
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The Olds 442 was first introduced as an option package for the F-85 and Cutlass models sold in the U.S. beginning with the 1964 model year. It became a model in its own right from 1968 to 1971, then reverted to an option through the mid-1970s (it was revived as a name in the 1980s on the rear-wheel-drive Cutlass Supreme and again in the early 1990s as an option package for the new front-wheel-drive Cutlass).
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The 442 was born out of the competition between Pontiac Division and Oldsmobile. It began as a hasty reponse to the Pontiac Tempest GTO. Some say the 442 was IT, the ultimate muscle car.
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The 442 package originally signified the engine's 4-barrel carb, the 4-speed manual transmission, and the dual (2) exhausts.
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Interestingly (and revisiting for a moment my posts from earlier this month about the Olds Rocket 88), Oldsmobile automobiles have paced the Indianapolis 500 more than any other car manufacturer's product. In 1949 famous Indy winner Wilbur Shaw drove a Rocket 88 convertible, with Olds' chief engineer Jack Wolfram riding shotgun. That same car was available at the dealerships. In 1960, Indy winner Sam Hanks drove an Olds 98 convertible as the Indy pace car (the last pace car delivered stock from the dealership). In 1970, Indy winner Roger Ward drove a 442 convertible to lead off that year's race; it too was available from the dealership, but the actual pace car's engine was tweaked.
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You can read more about the Volo Auto Museum at http://volocars.com/. The Museum is now in its 47th year, located on a 30-acre theme park. The collection includes nearly 300 antique and famous cars, which it displays year-round in five climate-controlled showrooms. The Museum also has established itself as a specialized collector-car sales company . . . so Joe Perry came to the right place.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

send your best wishes to a great ROCKIN' friend, poster artist Alton Kelley

(above) outside the Grateful Dead office on Lincoln Ave., around 1971. left to right: David Nelson, Spencer Dryden, Alton Kelley, Dave Torbert, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, John 'Marmaduke' Dawson (photo by Ken Cohen).
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Alton Kelley, the great rock concert poster artist of the '60s, '70s. and '80s has taken ill. He's had several back surgeries in the last two weeks, and there are further complications. He's in Petaluma (CA) Valley Hospital,
and those of you reading this blog may wish to send personal notes to his guestbook at this hospice-type website:
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http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/altonkelley
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Kelley's wife, Marguerite, will read the thoughts you post to Kelley this weekend. We're all hoping Kelley pulls thru. He's always been a great gentleman and friend, and is known throughout the world for his longtime artistic partnership with fellow artist Stanley Mouse in Kelley-Mouse Studios.
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If you chance to Google-up Kelley's name, you'll see he was one of the original Family Dog concert-promoting-collective members, before the late Chet Helms (who discovered Janis Joplin) took over the FD, and before their rival, Bill Graham.
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Kelley was one of the first psychedelic-types who walked in San Francisco, in 1965, a year before it exploded into a scene that astonished the world. Imagine being one of the first five people in SF knowing that something was about to happen.
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Then, in early 1966, finding a soul-mate in Mouse, with the two of them going off to the SF Public library to discover images from hundreds of years past and repurpose them into rock posters for the first dance-style concerts at Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium and Winterland dance arena, and the Family Dog's Avalon Ballroom. My, my, my . . . what a great time to be alive.
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So Kelley, a longtime hot-rodder and custom-car collector as well, is one of rock's elder statesmen, who starred in the same big leagues as Mouse, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, Wes Wilson, David Singer, Randy Tuten, Gary Grimshaw, John Van Hamersveld, and others.
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Kelley is one of the earliest guys to have put a personal name on rock posters (beyond the 1950s-style letterpress and day-glo work of Hatch Show Print, Globe Poster, and Tilghman Press, all which preceded psychedelic). There wouldn't have been an Art Chantry, or a Frank Kozik, or a Coop, or a Jay Ryan in the suceeding years, if Kelley and the others hadn't stumbled onto making posters for rock concerts.
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Simple as that.
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Kelley don't want no tears, no flowers. But he does want to be remembered. So while he's here--and let's hope he'll be here for a long, long time to come--let's do just that, remember the man. Rock on, Kelley. Get well soon, friend!
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Sunday, April 13, 2008

ROCKIN' across the burnin' desert with alt-rockers Panic At The Disco and a borrowed 23-window

(above) Panic At The Disco, aboard their borrowed 23-window "split-type,"
the classic "original" VW bus type built between 1950 and 1967.
(above and below) between Los Angeles and Panic's roots in Las Vegas,
across the Mojave Desert, via Barstow and Nipton, CA


(above) a trick shot

(above and below) the critical crossroads at Nipton

(above) somewhere in the middle of the burnin' desert
(above and below) "omigod we have a breakdown . . ." (maybe)
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Those of you who follow this blog may or may not watch MTV frequently, but currently running is a sort of song-cycle set to a 7-set visual travelogue, as produced by MTV, Atlantic Records, starring a relatively new band with aspirations towards Radiohead's success . . . Panic At The Disco.
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Honestly, I'm not familiar with their music, so I can't quite say which of their songs actually fuel this expedition across the Mojave Desert (possibly en route to L.A., possibly returning to their hometown of Las Vegas, but definitely referencing Barstow, Nipton, and points in between). As the band's second album, PRETTY. ODD was released on March 25, 2008, and the album's first single, "Nine in the Afternoon," preceded the album, likely that's the focus of the promotion.
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Kinda nifty, actually. Great camera work. And the bus itself is cherry, as well as the snippets of the music. The bandmembers, seems to me, would seem awfully appealing to teenage girls in the way all the great pop bands do.
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Panic At The Disco (previously known as Panic! At The Disco, and often shortened to merely Panic! or Panic, or PATD) is an alt-rock band that originated near Las Vegas (in a suburb, Summerlin, NV, specifically). As Wikipedia notes, "their sound incorporates elements of pop, electronica, dance, and rock, along with many other genres."
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Panic was formed in 2004. The current bandmembers include Brendon Urie, Ryan Ross, Jon Walker (who replaced Brent Wilson), and Spencer Smith. Ross (guitarist) and Smith (drummer) are the two who founded the group. Wikipedia also notes, "Panic [has been] known for old-style circus shows, where they bring an entourage of contortionists and dancers on stage with them as they perform." However a new variety of "backgrounding" themes apparently has emerged, one possibly involving this VW bus odyssey.
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The bus itself was loaned for the 7-cycle videoshoot by a person posing as "lasvegas13window" on http://www.thesamba.com/, which I believe is a site specific to VW devotees. Here's some of the dialogue I saw on-site (warning: these are not teenage girls dialoguing here):
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LASVEGAS13WINDOW: "[These] are some clips of my 23-window [split-type] bus, with the band "Panic at the Disco." They've started playing these clips on primetime to promote [MTV and the band]. Tell me what you guys think!!! I'm so excited with the coverage they have of my bus!!
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JHUNG1977: "Very nice 23-window you have there! Love the color, and the band is actually very good!"
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///MINK: "Cool. Did I sell you the driver's seat in that bus?"
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LASVEGAS13 WINDOW: "Yes, Mink, I think you did sell me that seat! I don't remember if I got it from you or from a guy in New Zealand!?! Either way, pretty cool videos, huh? Make sure you check out all seven of the clips, because my bus is in more than one clip!"
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STANAGON: "Tell us what it was like to let the "talent" drive your bus. Hopefully they were upfront about this from the beginning and paid you well to use and drive such a nice bus."
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MYSAMBA: "Love the bus shots, not so keen on the band though . . ."
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DSTEFUN: "The band sucks, but the bus is cool. Or in the words of my wife, 'Too much band, not enough bus.'"
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LASVEGAS13WINDOW: "I guess there aren't very many Panic At The Disco fans in these forums. Unless there are a bunch of 12-16-year-old girls who are restoring and driving VW buses these days. At least the band didn't try to use a "Bay-type" bus in their video . . . . haha!"
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PYROMAN: "Kool score on the much air time your bus got!"
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SUEBUG: "Ummmm, excuse me. I like Panic At The Disco and I'm old enough to be their mother. This video was just their acoustic version. You were brave to let 19-23-year-olds play with your bus. Now you'll be followed in Vegas by groupies. Nice reward! And sweet bus!"
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'64CALLOOKDUB: "I've been seeing that bus on MTV a lot, and knew it couldn't have belonged to any of those guys."
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LASVEGAS13WINDOW: "I actually was on the [traveling] set the whole time and I supervised all the bus stuff. I've been trying to catch as much of the MTV coverage that I can, and they show the clips either the first 30 or the last 30 seconds of the commercial break. You can see the entire video they put together at http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=223365.
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FYI, for those of you unlikely to visit Nipton, CA anytime soon, it's an unincorporated town two miles across the stateline from Searchlight, NV in eastern San Bernardino County. It's effectively the gateway to the Mojave Desert National Preserve. Nipton was established as Nippeno Camp in 1905 with the advent of the San Pedro/LosAngeles/and Salt Lake Railroad, as a place for gold miners and itinerant ranchhands to reside. For many years, Nipton had the most lottery ticket sales in the state for the California State Lottery (as many Las Vegas residents made the relatively short trip down to get their tickets). Cuttently there's a small (5 room) hotel, originally constructed in 1910, and an even smaller general store. Of course, you could also visit http://www.nipton.com/aboutnipton2.html to tuck in and learn more.
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In my next blog, I'll explore the VW "split" and "bay" types relative to Dead Heads, hippies, and Woodstock attendees, all covered in a marvelous new book TRAVELING WITH THE VW BUS & CAMPER (Abbeville Press, NY, 2007), that I just received from the publisher.
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special thanks to MTV, Atlantic Records, and Panic At The Disco, for the use of these (low-res) stills, and to www.thesamba.com for the dialogue.