5 Responses to Saturday Water Cooler: Happy Birthday Toni Basil, King Sunny Ade, David Coverdale, and Joan Jett

1. tejanarusa September 22nd, 2012 at 8:17 pm 1

   Hey, dakine. Interesting musical hoices. Have only heard of two of them!

   I was offline all day, but read PUAC tonight. Nice. Fall in New England! Sigh. Once I took that crisp air and visual beauty for granted, not realizing I ‘d end up in a semi-arid climate for most of my life. E ery fall I get nostalgi and wistful. Enjoy your NH autumn ; don’t lea e too soon!
   Btw I can’t belie e your Hoosier ca inet didn’t sell; thought they were in -demand and expensive! Maybe fashion has changed again.
   And, again, condole ces on losing your sister. Glad to hear your hard work is nearly done.
   Thanks for the music ed tonight!

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2. normanb September 23rd, 2012 at 4:29 am 2

   King Sunny Ade and I once performed at the same benefit event, for Tampa Community Radio WMNF 88.5 FM, an annual concert called “The Tropical Heatwave.” (There were lots of acts – I didn’t get to meet him.)

   I saw Joan Jett and the Blackhearts open for The Who in one of their first concerts after the deaths in Cincinatti, when they were at the peak of their popularity, the first tour after Keith Moon’s death. By the early 1980s, a huge percentage of The Who’s fans had become alcoholics. They had timed their drugs to be blasted at the concert. Someone erected a giant sign saying “The Who is God.”

   But there were two opening acts before fans would be allowed to see God: JJ & the BHs, plus the B52s.

   Scores of thousands of people there, I lost my traveling companions immediately. I got right up front. This was the Punker section: The aforementioned alcoholics had herded everyone identifiable as a Punk Rocker down onto the football field, near the stage. Joan Jett was first. She was great, did the song you posted here.

   The mob booed her, threw things at her. She made the best of it, got off on it. In a soccer move, she kicked out her foot to intentionally get hit by something.

   Next came the B-52s. The mob screamed “Not another ‘airplane’ band! They still wanted The Who. The B-52s were great, as the mob tried to boo them off the stage. They did a brilliant interpretation of Mesopotamia. Then got booed off.

   The Who may have brought those bands along because they themselves liked them, or maybe it was the management. The Who was spectacular, impossibly amazing.

   Thanks for the memories.

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3. SouthernDragon September 23rd, 2012 at 3:06 pm 3

   How about a couple short Joan Jett stories?

   In the mid-80s Joan and the Blackhearts played a now-exinct club in Tampa called the London Victory Club. Among the many stories that have come out of that night the one involving Joan is pretty cute. The place had 2 bathrooms, up a really narrow flight of stairs. During a set break I found myself standing behind Joan as she waited to use the loo like everybody else. I hadn’t realized how short she is. Place was hot as hell and her makeup was running down her face. We had a very pleasant conversation before she disappeared into the lady’s loo.

   Not long after that I was in my favourite watering hole in Gulfport and was talking to one of my musician friends. When I brought up the Joan concert he laughed and said, “Lemme tell ya something. A few years ago I was at a party with Joan Jett and she hit on my girlfriend.”

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4. normanb September 23rd, 2012 at 11:55 pm 4

   In response to SouthernDragon @ 3

   I remember the London Victory Club! (It’s been closed a long time.)

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5. Vote Socialist September 25th, 2012 at 12:06 am 5

   In response to normanb @ 2

   Heh, crowds for The Who’s stadium tours were not terribly nurturing, it’s true. I was at Shea Stadium in 1982 (yes, sadly, touring in support of “It’s Hard”, the album that was just an embarrassment), and we weren’t exactly kind to the opening act, David Johansen. (No New York Dolls love at the home of the Mets.)

   The main support, The Clash, got respect, though. Probably only because “Rock the Casbah” had entered mainstream rotation, but still.

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