Ever met a famous musician…. but not realised at the time?

[AustinArto]

Oh that reminds me I bought a Korg workstation off Warren Cuccurullo! Didn't know who he was until I asked him to write me a receipt and he rolled his eyes at me like I was asking for an autograph!

[goblin]

I get on very well, and have performed with Jackie Wilson's son... does that count?

[KK Jale]

A friend and I once got some freebies to a BBC TV event that was being held under the arches near Portobello Road. It was a songwriters' circle thing, and this one featured John Cale, Chrissie Hynde, and Nick Cave, swapping songs and stories.

So we went, and stood about halfway back and rather enjoyed the show, and I exchanged only a brief polite smile with the rather small woman standing on my right.

Afterwards my mate said "Haha! Blimey! Why didn't you talk to her? I would have!"

It was Kylie.

[MacDaddy]

[quote name='KK Jale' timestamp='1462558344' post='3044081']

It was Kylie.
[/quote]

I've heard of Kylie [size=4] [/size]

[sharkboy]

Not me, but a friend relayed this one. Soledad Brothers were playing Belfast, and this guy was working behind the bar at the venue. An American girl comes up for a drink and said bartender decides to try out his charm - "Has anyone ever told you that you look just like Meg White? Only much better looking", he tried, before smiling and adding "and probably a better drummer too!" Guess who?

Unknown to him, The Soledads were fellow Detroiters, and a bit of a pet project for Meg, having added percussion to their most recent album which Jack produced.

[darkandrew]

Reminds me of an interview I saw with Gary Numan, apparently a guy called Brian Warner got in touch, wanting to meet up. Gary's response was "Brian who?" and turned him down, not realising that Brian Warner is better known as Marilyn Manson.

Personally, when I was younger and wanting to get into the music industry, I got myself a tour of a rehearsal and concert sound / lighting facility in Thamesmead called Tasco; rehearsing there at the time was some generic sounding metal band that I was completely nonplussed by at the time, in fact it was only as I was leaving that I noticed the band's name stencilled on the flight cases - Judas Priest.

Edited May 6, 2016 by darkandrew

[AndyTravis]

Not me, but very apt...

Worked in a Manchester city centre guitar shop for years and on a bad day for staffing, we had our Synth/Software (huge prog fan) guy helping out on the guitar floor.

So a tall slim chap asks to try a reissue crybaby and needs a strap etc. So he's taken through the range, helped out no end and given great service, goes into a demo booth and comes out ready to buy. At this point I knew our prog wizard hadn't twigged on who it was (even though I'd spotted who it was straight away).

To set up a warranty, we used to take the customers details.

'Can I take your first name please?'
"It's Michael, well, Mike..."
Nothing...
'And your surname?'
"Rutherford, that's R, U, T, H..."

At this point I fell to pieces as Our Welsh Prog Wizard finally realised he was serving one of his heroes...idiot.

[Bilbo]

I was working as a roadie for a band recording at Rockfield studios and staying at their accommodation up the hill opposite. These two guys appeared and came in for a cup of tea and we sat and chatted for ages. Nothing embarrassing was said and it was all cool but I had no idea until I was later told that I was talking to half of Hawkwind (Huw Lloyd Langton and the then bass player who I still cannot name).

Also, when I played with Grant Nicholas of Feeder, we had an opportunity to jam with an American drummer guy for a couple of hours because he just wanted to play and was not otherwise busy. Lovely guy. Handlebar moustache. That'll be Richie Hayward of Little Feat then. Although I later found out he was Robert Plant's drummer, I still didn't know who Little Feat were!

[scalpy]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1462574826' post='3044193']
I was working as a roadie for a band recording at Rockfield studios and staying at their accommodation up the hill opposite. These two guys appeared and came in for a cup of tea and we sat and chatted for ages. Nothing embarrassing was said and it was all cool but I had no idea until I was later told that I was talking to half of Hawkwind (Huw Lloyd Langton and the then bass player who I still cannot name).

[/quote]

In fairness these things happen at Rockfield quite a lot!

[rubis]

A number of years ago I used to live in Findon, West Sussex, and every year I'd go to the Festival of Speed at Goodwood.
One year I was there with a mate, in the paddock which is open to everyone to mingle with drivers, celebrities and priceless cars, unlike just about every other racing event you could mention, and I was on a mission to get a good look at Nick Mason's Ferrari 250 GTO
I noticed there were only two blokes around it and so we made a bee-line straight for it, one of the two blokes was stooped over, looking into the car, oblivious to everything around him, and as I zoomed in on the car, he stood up and I literally bumped into George Harrison.
We both apologised at the same time, me automatically saying " Really sorry George" then immediately turning to the car, not really registering fully who he was, he just grinned and said "It's beautiful isn't it?" and sauntered off, it took a few seconds before I said to my mate "That was George Harrison", my mate, not much of a music buff said " Yeah, but this is a 250GTO"

[Freddy Le Cragg]

I was outside the O2 in Oxford when the Damned were playing and didn't realise the bloke talking to me was Captain Sensible....

[SICbass]

[quote name='goblin' timestamp='1462555760' post='3044053']
I get on very well, and have performed with Jackie Wilson's son... does that count?
[/quote]

Was that, by any chance, Bobby Brooks?
I've worked with him too. He's absolutely brilliant and it's almost freakish how similar he looks and sounds like his dad.

[Deep Thought]

[quote name='rubis' timestamp='1462606542' post='3044274']
A number of years ago I used to live in Findon, West Sussex, and every year I'd go to the Festival of Speed at Goodwood.
One year I was there with a mate, in the paddock which is open to everyone to mingle with drivers, celebrities and priceless cars, unlike just about every other racing event you could mention, and I was on a mission to get a good look at Nick Mason's Ferrari 250 GTO
I noticed there were only two blokes around it and so we made a bee-line straight for it, one of the two blokes was stooped over, looking into the car, oblivious to everything around him, and as I zoomed in on the car, he stood up and I literally bumped into George Harrison.
We both apologised at the same time, me automatically saying " Really sorry George" then immediately turning to the car, not really registering fully who he was, he just grinned and said "It's beautiful isn't it?" and sauntered off, it took a few seconds before I said to my mate "That was George Harrison", my mate, not much of a music buff said " Yeah, but this is a 250GTO"
[/quote]

The first time I went to the Festival of Speed, my mate and I walked into the nearly deserted paddock to see four 250GTO's in a row-this was a time when one had recently changed hands for ten million. There's nothing like it for seeing historic and rare cars and bikes, It's also not hard to meet famous people just walking around, mainly racing drivers of course-there goes Stirling Moss, there's Emerson Fittipaldi, there's Damon Hill, there's Stirling Moss again, etc. Not seen any famous musicians myself, but I know they go there.

[NJE]

I was at a guitar show years ago and left the main hall for some peace and a cuppa and was sat on the benches outside the main entrance. There were a few others doing the same and a couple of seats away was a chap who looked like he reluctantly brought his son/daughter to the show. He had a scruffy rucksack and some jogging bottoms and trainers on, a bit scruffy looking and I said hello politely. It wasn't until he walked away that I caught a clear look at his face and it was Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden.

My friend and drummer went to do a job recently and got talking to the client and her husband. It turns out she was a singer and song writer and he was talking about music/gear and gigs with her. He was talking all about our band etc and didn't really chat much about her. He goes back a few times and a week or so later he was talking to the husband and asks does she do much music/gigging etc. The husband smiles and says "yeah she plays all over the place" and does some tours etc. My friend asks if she has done anything he would have heard, and the husband says "yes have you heard of Sade?...... my wife is Sade". His dad is a huge fan and he was so embarrassed that he had been jabbering on about our band.

My drummers dad (who I also play in another band with) sold a piece of machinery a few months ago and the chap turned up to collect and they chatted a bit and he left. My drummer had spotted him and after he left, he told his dad that the chap in the van was Steve Winwood.

Edited May 7, 2016 by NJE

[ubit]

Not quite the same but, many moons ago I was going out with a girl who worked in a hotel. This allowed her to stay in any hotel in the chain free of charge. We drove to Edinburgh to see Marillion and checked into this nice posh hotel. The concierge asked us what we were there for and we told him the Marillion concert. He said, oh, they are staying here. You will probably see them in the bar later. We went to the gig and enjoyed it immensely. Afterwards, we came back and asked if the rest of our party could come in for a drink. They said yes and we all waked into the bar. Fish looked up and gave a look that said oh no, here comes more autograph hunters. In that moment, we decided to play it cool and I proudly laid my keys on the table and went to the bar. I even shouted my mate Pete what he wanted and Pete Trewavas , the bass player, turned and I said sorry pal, not you. We sat and had a few and completely ignored our idols because we didn't want to look like dicks !

[blue]

I met Sly Stone in the the early 80s. I knew who he was though. Nice guy, not pretentious just another guy. We we're both in the nens bathroom of a bar he was playing.

The last time I saw him prior to this was headlining at Madison Square Garden.


Blue

Edited May 8, 2016 by blue

[Stance]

In 1999 I met the chilli peppers in Sweden while I was on holidays, - Anthony's a dick btw - Chad, on the other hand, was a really nice down-to-earth guy.

Spend like 6 hours talking to Pogo (Marylin Manson's keyboard player) back in the late 90's - They were in the same club I normally went to, and no one really knew who they were (Twiggy was also there) Really nice and knowledgeable guy -

Met Justin Hawkins while I stopped for gas - they were playing Rock In Rio (Lisbon) at the time -

But my wife is totally clueless as to who these guys are or what they do (at least, most of them) so 10 years ago, while in London, she was outside a HRC - I think it was Britney Spears' birthday party (or something like that) - and this guy aproaches her and asks her what was going on, she said it was BS's party, and as the guy walked away, she realised it was The Edge....

[BassTractor]

Aye, Chris Squire was my bass hero, so I found out where he lived, and stalked him for years until finally, on a Thursday afternoon, just as he was about to...
...but then that nasty Kex really ruined everything with his thread title and subject, didn't he?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I went to the big annual music equipment exhibition at Olympia one year in the early 80s. After checking out lots of shiny basses and other instruments at the main show, I checked out the unofficial 'over the road show' in the upstairs room of the pub opposite where a few smaller companies, who presumably had a tighter budget than the ones exhibiting in Olympia, were showing off their kit. One of the exhibitors was a guitar company I'd never heard of before called G&L, and sitting by the guitars there was an old fella who looked like he was someone's grandpa who had come along for a day out. I later found out a little about G&L, and after seeing photos of the founders I realised it had been Leo sitting there.

[goblin]

[quote name='SICbass' timestamp='1462612480' post='3044328']
Was that, by any chance, Bobby Brooks?
I've worked with him too. He's absolutely brilliant and it's almost freakish how similar he looks and sounds like his dad.
[/quote]

That's the one! When playing, you could shut your eyes and imagine it was his dad! Such a nice, down to earth guy too. I'm looking forwards to working with him again.

[NickRiffed]

Went to a schoolmates place one weekend near Regents Park in London.
He was one of five Thompson brothers I'd met three of the others.
In the morning he casually introduced me to his big brother, Richard, and his sister in law, Linda who had just flown in from the states.

Not a scooby until years later.

[stu_g]

i once went to london guitar show in my youth, my two mates started getting excitable saying look theres wurzel! i turned round expecting to see wurzel maybe accompanied by aunt sally turns out it was the bloke from motorhead? i had no clue saxon where my favourite band back then

[ras52]

A friend of mine struck up a conversation in the ladies' loos of a restaurant, mentioning how the place seemed to be besieged by paparazzi. One of the ladies say yes, it was because of "her", indicating her companion. Only afterwards did she learn that the lady was part of "her" entourage, and "she" was none other than acclaimed singing sensation Kerry Katona. My friend was none the wiser!

[sunburstjazz1967]

At last a name I've heard of in the thread!

[Norm]

[quote name='goblin' timestamp='1462555760' post='3044053']
I get on very well, and have performed with Jackie Wilson's son... does that count?
[/quote]

Tell him from me, next time you see him, his dad was a great darts player! ;-)