New job and OMFG moment.

[simes]

Around the year 2000 I was on a course in Hexham. Got talking music with another course member, I said my love of music had lead to me becoming a bass player. She said her husband played bass in band, I asked her the name of the band........Prefab Sprout......She was Martin MacAloon's wife. She was lovely.

[Bigwan]

2 hours ago, Si600 said:

My cousin's brother in law is Mark Mynett from Kill II This. He played the Bridal Chorus at their wedding, my mum put her hands over her ears. 😂

Like 6'8" Mark Mynett? One of the funniest guys I've ever met! 

[Si600]

7 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

Like 6'8" Mark Mynett? One of the funniest guys I've ever met! 

That's him. He's unnecessarily tall

[Strawbs664]

This is not quite in the same league as some of these stories, but it was my OMFG moment.

At least 30 years ago, my band had a support slot at a decent sized club in Bournemouth. It was one of our first "big" gigs, proper PA, proper little stage and lights - the works, so we were all well up for it. The gig went OK & afterwards I was hanging about in the "backstage" area (i.e. the corridor on the way to the kitchens) when I noticed some guy I didn't know chatting to our singer.

I wander over to see what's what & this guy compliments us on the gig and says he's a bass player too. I immediately think "Oh stinky poo! Here we go, this is going to get very dull very quickly" expecting a 3 hour conversation on strings, amps, action height and so on, when all I really wanted was a quick chat & a drink with someone that looked interesting.

Anyway, I thank him & ask if he's in a band. He is - "What are they called?" I ask "Hawkwind" he says!

[Rich]

It's not that much of an OMG moment, but... back in 1986 the band I was in were rehearsing one Saturday afternoon at Angie's in Wokingham. We'd pretty much finished and were having a chat prior to packing up when a guy walked in at the back of the club. He was in shadows so I couldn't see his face. "Oh sorry", he said, "are you still playing? I can come back in a bit". We told him we were done and were about to pack up. He struck up a conversation, asked us what we were called etc., and being young and arrogant and convinced of our impending fame, we were a bit cheeky with some of our replies. He either didn't notice or wasn't bothered by it. After a few questions he says "Good stuff...", steps forward into the light to shake our hands, "my name's Herbie...". I mentally added the word 'Flowers' and my jaw did a clang. Turned out his jazz quartet were playing at Angie's that evening. After the greetings, he looked at us and reached into his pocket... "Well I dunno about you, but I'm skinning up...". Made one for us to pass round and one for himself, and my god it was good gear
Thank god he turned up too late to hear me playing   

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

Great thread this. Some great stories.

I just wonder how many "famous" people I may have met over the years, because I have no idea who most of the people being talked about actually are. I'm kind of ignorant when it comes to celebrities. I wouldn't know many musicians if they sat in front of me and played their entire back catalogue. 😂

[bazzbass]

my girlfriend's deadbeat older brother rang me at an inopportune moment to ask me to pick him up from a pub across town. Mumble grumble I get there and he's in the beer garden with another man drinking, they were both a fair bit older than I.

Anyway,over a beer we chat, his mate Peter and I got around to football (Aussie Rules) when my girlfriend's brother said "you know Peter played SANFL in the 60s?" (SANFL is our state based feeder league to AFL)

Me "really? who for?"

Peter "Sturt"

Me "Get OUT,I barracked for Sturt in the 60s,what's your surname?"

Peter "Endersby"

Me"................OMFG your number was 3 and it was the first number I put on my guernsey (jersey)" 

I was having a beer with my first childhood sporting hero, all because of my girlfriend's useless, dropbeat older brother hehe

[BassTractor]

5 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I wouldn't know many musicians if they sat in front of me and played their entire back catalogue. 😂

I knoooow.... and it also reminds me of the story of my friends - classical musicians - who went to the sauna and talked about music together. Some bloke there started chatting with them: "You're musicians, aren't you? So am I."
My friend asked about what he was, and who, upon which he replied: "I'm in Focus. I'm Jan Akkerman."
My friend: "Never heard of."
Jan Akkerman: "😒"

😁

[Newfoundfreedom]

12 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

I knoooow.... and it also reminds me of the story of my friends - classical musicians - who went to the sauna and talked about music together. Some bloke there started chatting with them: "You're musicians, aren't you? So am I."
My friend asked about what he was, and who, upon which he replied: "I'm in Focus. I'm Jan Akkerman."
My friend: "Never heard of."
Jan Akkerman: "😒"

😁

Case and point. I have absolutely no idea who Jan Akkerman is either. 😕

[Teebs]

2 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Case and point. I have absolutely no idea who Jan Akkerman is either. 😕

...he was in Focus

[Newfoundfreedom]

1 minute ago, Teebs said:

...he was in Focus

That would probably help if I'd ever heard of focus. 

[Teebs]

4 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

That would probably help if I'd ever heard of focus. 

Prog-rock yodelling at its finest!

I give you...Hocus Pocus...by Focus!

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 minutes ago, Teebs said:

Prog-rock yodelling at its finest!

I give you...Hocus Pocus...by Focus!

Yup. That would explain why I've never heard of em. 😜

[BassTractor]

On 23/07/2019 at 18:10, Newfoundfreedom said:

Yup. That would explain why I've never heard of em. 😜

They were great musicians though, and IMHO had many very well made songs. Also, Jan Akkerman could improvise with relevance to the song in question - nearly as if the improvisation was composed.

Edited July 25, 2019 by BassTractor

[Chris2112]

On 21/07/2019 at 21:23, NancyJohnson said:

 

'Yeah, he's in Scouting For Girls.  They've been on Sony for about ten years.'

 

Are they still going? I remember them having a hit when I was in university (over a decade ago). 

[Chris2112]

20 hours ago, simes said:

Around the year 2000 I was on a course in Hexham. Got talking music with another course member, I said my love of music had lead to me becoming a bass player. She said her husband played bass in band, I asked her the name of the band........Prefab Sprout......She was Martin MacAloon's wife. She was lovely.

The woman from Prefab Sprout (I never knew her name) lived in my in-law's street in Wylam, Northumberland. I live round the corner. Heather Mills' sister used to live on the same street and she visited with Paul McCartney on occasion years ago. 

[Skinnyman]

51 minutes ago, Teebs said:

...he was in Focus

I think he's flogged that now and got a Corsa...

[miles'tone]

I've got nothing to add here other than what a great thread! 👌

[simes]

43 minutes ago, Chris2112 said:

The woman from Prefab Sprout (I never knew her name) lived in my in-law's street in Wylam, Northumberland. I live round the corner. Heather Mills' sister used to live on the same street and she visited with Paul McCartney on occasion years ago. 

She's called Wendy Smith and she was a guest tutor on the course one weekend, she taught us music therapy. And boy oh boy what a voice she has.

[SuperSeagull]

Was chatting to the girl cutting my hair in the local barbers recently and we got onto music and my bass playing. She then told me about an older guy who comes in for a haircut regularly and who also plays bass. She said he still toured a lot and had played with lots of names - when I showed her a picture of who I guessed it was on my phone she confirmed it was indeed Herbie Flowers. I primed her to ask about the bass line to Walk On The Wild Side when he next came in!

[stewblack]

Well, I was at in a meeting recently and who should be sat opposite me but                who played the            with                     . Even younger readers will have heard of                 . Just about one of the most famousist bands on the planet.

Given the strict code of anonymity governing the particular organisation to which I belong some of the specifics have been deleted from this post, but hey - still a heck of an anecdote I think you'll agree.

Oh and I regularly see              there as well, not as famous as he once was but highly influential back in the day.

[Teebs]

I've always admired               - even through the wilderness years, when his twin addictions to              and            threatened to end his musical career.

I recommend listening to                to get the best of his prodigious talents!

Stewblack knows his stuff!                  is one of the greatest                players of his generation!

👍

 

[KK Jale]

This is an obscure band but one I love, so....

I was in pub in Brixton with some mates years ago and got chatting to some guy. We quickly got on to music and I quite likely bleated on quite a lot about whatever project I was in at that time (probably the doomed Stax-type band). He seemed to understand everything very well and so I asked if he was doing any stuff himself. He turned a bit shy and mumbly and said, well, he did a bit of techy work, stage management and whatnot. Who are you with at the moment, I inquired? Well... The High Llamas, he replied. Wow, I replied, that's really cool... Gideon Gaye is one of my favourite underrated albums... I was listening to The Dutchman just the other week... very Beach Boys, but so original... blah blah blah. 

Some days later I recalled our chat and googled the band to look up some info about their more recent albums. A picture popped up. The bloke was in it. He wasn't a stage manager. It was Sean O'Hagan, lead singer of The High Llamas.

Bastard. 

Edited July 23, 2019 by KK Jale

[stewblack]

8 minutes ago, Teebs said:

I've always admired               - even through the wilderness years, when his twin addictions to              and            threatened to end his musical career.

I recommend listening to                to get the best of his prodigious talents!

Stewblack knows his stuff!                  is one of the greatest                players of his generation!

👍

 

*taps side of nose*

[Henrythe8]

That one time at BassCamp :-) (Warning : A bit of Sho-off content :-) )

There were those two guitar guys, mid-long hairs, kinda Old Rock Stars Wannabes. They seemed pretty relaxed, and they often played on stage. So I went to one of those and asks he maybe we could play Black Night by Deep Purple. The guy said "Sorry man, I don't know this one, but if you know some AC/DC, or something ?"

I said OK, we went on stage. He called his friend "Hey Stevie, come play with us". And we went on. We played a few songs, the guy sings very, VERY well, makes a friggin' show. I was thinking, damn, this guy should be famous.

And then, just then, at the back of the bar, there is a TV. And on TV, there was the guy I was playing With. It was PhilX from BonJovi. The other guitar guy was Stevie Salas (Rod Stewart, and some other bloke named Mick Jagger). And the Drummer was Brent Fitz (That plays with Slash). 

And, some days later, I was in a "testing Room" at Warwick HQ; playing the intro riff of Angry Again (Megadeth) on a Buzzard bass previously owned by John Entwistle. Tried several times, and finally did it right. The doors open and David Ellefson comes in saying : "Yes ! You nailed it, good work". We chatted and played a bit, and he gave me a pick saying that i could REALLY play metal. Believe me, I played it cool, saying thanks, man... but the 17 YO inside of me peed himself.