Saw Donnie Iris and Michael Stanley tonight. Donnie is 76 and Michael is 71. Gotta give props, voices still good. Strange to see concerts you saw 40 years ago and all the memories you long forgot. Time is a mind fuck.
Saw Donnie Iris and Michael Stanley tonight. Donnie is 76 and Michael is 71. Gotta give props, voices still good. Strange to see concerts you saw 40 years ago and all the memories you long forgot. Time is a mind fuck.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan
Saw the Who in Seattle with Liam Gallagher opening in October.
They sounded great.
(•_•) ..
∫\ \___( •_•)
_∫∫ _∫∫ɯ \ \
Originally Posted by Hockey Guy
The story of Donnie Iris is interesting.
He faced a lawsuit over his one big hit, "Ah Leah" from 1982.
The lawsuit was actually frivolous, and was eventually dismissed. In a 2004 interview, he blamed the lawsuit for derailing his career, and said that MCA dropped him because of the hassle of it.
In reality, Iris and his producer were dropped by MCA when they demanded continued creative control, despite their two prior albums charting fairly poorly. He kept making music, but never really recovered.
"Ah Leah" is actually a good song, especially when viewed from the prevailing style of 1982 music, but I think Iris never really caught on because he was a short, skinny, nerdy 39-year-old with bad teeth. He had the musical talent, but not the looks or demeanor of a pop star. I realize that others have overcome this (David Byrne is a good example), but if I had to guess what was holding back Iris' popularity, it was probably that.
Brandon and I got free tickets to see a Seven Stars only concert in Las Vegas of Don Henley in 2012.
He was 65 then, but still sounded good.
We were shocked at how many people were in the auditorium. Supposedly they also handed out tickets to big gamblers who weren't Seven Stars, but these tickets weren't available for purchase, yet a large theater (I think in the Flamingo) filled up.
Yeah, Christopher Cross was an unbelievably talented singer/songwriter that was a huge star in the late 70's, early 80's, until the MTV age hit & that was the end of his run with the record buying public.
David Byrne was an oddball & had his own little niche in the market that didn't depend on radio play & being a "popstar". His fans probably would have raked the Talking Heads over the coals if he had changed to conform to the MTV crowd like they did to David Bowie.
(•_•) ..
∫\ \___( •_•)
_∫∫ _∫∫ɯ \ \
Originally Posted by Hockey Guy
I laughed when you said the artists because that is so NE Ohio. Obviously I’ve seen those artists 100 times also because they were constantly playing around the corner growing up. Donnie was in the mortgage business and I had a few appraiser buddies that would talk to him frequently when they had a property over that way. It was always kind of amazing how fine the line is in entertainment between massive success and having to work a regular job despite being local famous. I’ve known successful wedding bands who made a living off that, so I was a little shocked that a guy with a hit who seemingly played constantly at medium sized venues still had a regular job.
I play poker with a few ex athletes like that. Guys who had 4-6 year NFL careers and are now 50-something insurance salesmen or whatever and playing 1-3 games. Not for a living. Just out of boredom I’m sure, same as me.
david byrne was a chad though, look at those shoulders
I have no idea who that is. Not David Byrne, but this Donnie person.
I went to an old person concert in Vegas a few weeks ago. It was The Goo Goo Dolls and some other randoms. They were ok. The only good thing was that I could sit down and not feel guilty.
Alot of these old bands tour the country from country fairs to small stages in Vegas, Reno, and even Indian Casinos.
I saw the Grass roots at our Siskiyou County Fair.
they were so old.. they did 3 songs. and came back for a one song encore..
tickets were like $20 and after the show they charged $5 for a live autograph photo of the band. It took about 10 seconds per customer
and they signed for about 30 minutes. I believe this is plus EV but would need Druffs Stamp of approval if worth the time.
You misunderstood. I didn't say Byrne was a one hit wonder. I said that he overcame less-than-rockstar looks to have a successful career in that era.
Though as someone already pointed out, he had that oddball appeal which went well with his music. Donnie Iris didn't really have that. He was a short, skinny, not-very-attractive middle-aged dude with musical talent. Unfortunately, that was a bit hard to translate into success just as the MTV era got going. His creative control arguments with his label definitely didn't help matters.
These people ought to be ashamed of themselves
been to a few shows this year...
three dog night casino in washington state was good show, got to wasted on edibles
like the Hockey guy the Who and liam Galager, eddy vedder jumped on stage to sing the punk and the godfather. killer show
Queen, with Adam Lambert very good show.... kids got pipes but he's no Freddy.
Electric Light Orchestra.. probably the best show I've ever seen.
Colin James... Canadian icon blues singer, lives about 5 blocks from me
all hail Hydra
Originally Posted by DanDruff:Since I'm a 6'2" Republican with an average-sized nose and a last name which doesn't end with "stein", "man", or "berg", I can hide among the goyim and remain undetected unless I open my mouth about money matters.
I always refused to go to concerts and stand, clap, raise arms, sing along and cheer like a school girl. Reasoning being, I'm a man.
I prefer windows down, radio on, head nodding mouth shut cruising, with or without a beer.
Not sure how you guys do it.
My rank of the “old” bands I’ve seen in Vegas over the past few years:
The Cure
Aerosmith
Elton John
Queen
Gwen Stefani
Brooks & Dunn & Reba
Def Leppard
Tex Benekee
Nelson Riddle
Paul Anka
Tony Bennett
Frank Sinatra
Buck Owens
Last edited by GrenadaRoger; 12-25-2019 at 04:22 PM.
(long before there was a PFA i had my Grenade & Crossbones avatar at DD)
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)