Friday, June 4, 2010

Next Week's Auction For A Private Concert

Next Week's Auction For A Private Concert

Hey, next week the auction begins for the private acoustic concert by me in your house!



As you may know, I am up for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training MAN OF THE YEAR! Yeah, I know what you're thinking- I'm not worthy! It's true, I'm not, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm trying to raise money to defeat cancer. It's sooooooooooo important that we keep the research going. A breakthrough is just around the corner! Let's keep the pressure on.

So, you can go over to the KFOX.COM website and click on the auction page and make a bid. Just think- I'll come to your house and play an entire acoustic gig just for you and your friends! Cool, huh?

All you have to do is make the winning bid at KFOX.COM. Auction ends on next Friday about the same time I get off the air. This is one of my favorite promotions here at KFOX and it's a great chance to raise some money to crush cancer.

I'll probably be playing the acoustic 12 string Boulder Creek guitar...



...and no doubt my Voyage-Air fold-away guitar...



...plus I'll most likely play my recently rebuilt by C.B. Perkins Guild 12 string from 1967. It's my most prized possession and I love that old guitar.



Help me strike a blow for the good guys and kick cancer's ass! This concert comes with a full measure of attitude and just the right groove.

Make your bid starting Monday! I'll see you at... your house!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Mello Yello Commercial 1983

Mello Yello Commercial 1983

Back in 1983, when we were flying high, the Coca-Cola Company hired the Greg Kihn Band to do a series of Mello Yello TV commercials. One of them was inspired by Jeopardy- it had the same music with new lyrics which I still remember to this day- imagine these words sung to the melody of Jeopardy-
Mello Yello to the rescue, Mello Yello to the rescue, Mello Yello to the rescue, Drink Mello Yello and go!



Mello Yello was similar to Mountain Dew- a high caffeine 7-up style soda that was marketed to young adults. I thought it was vile.



They flew us to Atlanta to shoot an entire concert during which we would stop and do several versions of the Mello Yello commercial. The crowd took it all in stride, plus they were probably pumped up to be in a TV commercial.



Backstage we had to shoot a series of pick-up shots of the band chugging Mello Yello after a hard concert. We did take after take- and we had to drink a few gulps of Mello Yello each time.

After about 10 minutes, my partner in crime- Steve Wright (bass player and co-songwriter) says to me, "Screw this, I'm pouring this swill out and refilling this can with beer!" And he did! He poured it out and carefully replaced it with ice cold Budweiser, which we chugged happily take after take. After an hour we were completely tanked. The shots of us drinking were particularly effective, according to the director. "You guys look like you're really lovin' it!" We didn't have the heart to tell him.



That TV commercial ran on the east coast in the mid 80's and we actually saw it a few times on tour. Those satisfied smiles after we chugged the drink were truly genuine! Little did they know we were chugging beer!

If you can find a live video of the GKB doing Tear That City Down, it was recorded later that same night. It featured Greg Douglass on lead guitar.

Oh, and one other thing- they paid us a freakin' fortune to do it! Years later, the money is all gone, and the commercial is lost to the sands of time, but the memory lingers on- in the form of this blog. Ain't life strange?

Oh, and one other thing-
Robert Berry (bass player in the Greg Kihn Band) is playing an acoustic show tonight in Felton, CA. at Don Quixote's. Apart from being a member of the GKB, Robert is an accomplished musician in his own right. This is first acoustic gig and I know he'd love it if you could show up.

Incredibly Strange Albums

Incredibly Strange Albums

I remember buying some weird albums over the years. Why? Hell, I don't remember. Maybe they were heavily discounted, or maybe I was just plain nuts, I don't know.

Most of these albums came out when I was young and impressionable.

The first really strange album I bought (right out of the cut-out bin) was Sounds Of The Zodiacon Elektra Records. Cyrus Faryar narrated some goofy spoken word stuff over space-themed other-worldly music with lots of reverb. I lit incense and played it in the dark. It set astrology back 500 years. That was my first. There were others, I'm ashamed to say. I went looking for some other incredibly strange albums on the web and here's what I came up with.



My sister actually bought this one by the fake Beatles- The Buggs! Obviously a rip-off.



Christmas with the Colonel? You gotta be kidding! Original or extra crispy? Hand me that drumstick.



I wish I could have been there for this one...



This one requires no explanation, or maybe I just don't have one...



One can only conjecture what this Yule Tide Classic sounds like... John Waters? Does Divine do a solo?



From an era of album cover art that will never be repeated!



Even the great Mohamed Ali got in the act.



And finally this... I have nothing to say. Your guess is as good as mine.


Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Sgt. Pepper/Giants/Troopfest

Sgt. Pepper/Giants/Troopfest

On this date in 1967, the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. I remember going to the record store that very day (I think it was a weekend) and staring at the cover and wondering what new madness the Beatles had dreamed up this time. We loved the Beatles and the release of every album was a major event.



It blew our minds. What a cover! There were cut-outs inside, plus printed lyrics!



Looking back, it's hard to believe that one band could hold us all in their sway like that- but the Beatles did! They were magic. Music really mattered back then. In fact, music was the most important thing in our lives.

In those days it wasn't unusual for people to go to the record store the very day a record came out just so they could be the first on their block to own it. I went with a buddy of mine. We both had enough money to buy one album. After hours of discussion we decided that he would buy Sgt. Pepper and I would buy Jimi Hendrix (Are You Experienced?) which had just come out that same week. We each kept our respective albums for a week, then switched. I loved the first Hendrix album... but Sgt. Pepper was beyond the beyond.

It was the greatest rock and roll album of all time.

It still is.

I traveled all the way to Abbey Road Studios in London a few years ago for the anniversary of Sgt. Pepper and I got to sit down at the famous piano in Studio One, and play the final monumental chord of A Day In The Life. It was spectacular... except for one thing. When I got back to the States and checked it, I found out that I had spent all that energy to play the WRONG CHORD! I played a "G" chord and it turns out the last chord of A Day In The Life was an "F!" God, did I feel like an idiot!



Thanks to all the listeners who showed up on Sunday at AT&T Park for the Giants Vs. Arizona. I sang God Bless America and Take Me Out To The Ball Game during the 7th inning stretch. Operation Care and Comfort was there to collect money and everyone had a great time. I'll have the video of that posted here shortly.



Speaking of Operation Care and Comfort- this year's TROOPFEST will be coming up in 2 weeks June 19 at the Britannia Arms and I will be performing an acoustic set. There are a limited amount of tickets so it might be a good idea to buy early. More on that later...