Big Name Rock Bands Before We All Knew Them

[Plowboy]

I think I went to that one. If I'm not mistaken, the Paladium was the Acadamy of Music back then.

I think it was called the Paladium @ that time. I think it was near Harlem.

Foghat took the Show. Steve Miller Band was kinda lame.

PS
My first live show was Deep Purple and Billy Preston @ the Allentown Fairgrounds, Allentown, PA. 1972.

 

[ChileMass]

Very first rock concert I ever saw was Aerosmith in the gym of the Univ of Maine at Farmington in early 1973 before "Dream On" went national and became a huge hit. There were about 500 kids there and the band (<<gasp>>) swore and drank wine onstage. What a scandal. I just remember that they were all very skinny and hairy. My Dad was not impressed......

 

[dmc]

Saw DMB, Blues Traveler, Sping Drs and Phish befor they got big at Wetlands and Roseland..

used to catch the Ramones at CBGB in highschool - but they were already pretty big by then..

Also used to catch Twisted Sister in Brooklyn every once and a while... Was a fun time..

 

[Max]

The Amboy Dukes before anyone knew who Ted Nugent was.

 

[Johnskiismore]

In the early ninties I saw Godsmack at I think it was Club 3 in Somerville, MA.

 

[kickstand]

was that back when Sully was still the drummer? I have a friend who saw them multiple times at the clubs before they got signed. Said she used to sit on top of the speakers at some of their shows. Have other friends who used to do the same at Gangsta Bitch Barbie shows - that's Powerman 5000 to the rest of you - at the Rat. Unfortunately, I was not a part of these.

 

[LisaBatt]

wondering....

Hey DMC, saw in your post you mentioned Twisted Sister , I too saw them way back then . Wondering if you liked "The Good Rats" ...not a band to many people know of. They played alot with Twisted Sister in A rock club in Portchester New York in the early/mid 80's. Infact I still have a "rat" from one of there concerts somewhere in my attic!!! I also remember going to the Pallidum in NYC, CBGB's, The Ritz , Peppermint lounge , and my all time favorite was Danceteria Ah yes, those good ole days of rock and rock clubs!!!!!

 

[dmc]

Hey DMC, saw in your post you mentioned Twisted Sister , I too saw them way back then . Wondering if you liked "The Good Rats" ...not a band to many people know of. They played alot with Twisted Sister in A rock club in Portchester New York in the early/mid 80's. Infact I still have a "rat" from one of there concerts somewhere in my attic!!! I also remember going to the Pallidum in NYC, CBGB's, The Ritz , Peppermint lounge , and my all time favorite was Danceteria Ah yes, those good ole days of rock and rock clubs!!!!!

Oh yeah! Good Rats were awesome... i heard they were getting back together again and playing locally.. Saw them a bunch in and around NYC and NJ

I miss the old Ritz and the old Lonestar Cafe'... Great places...

 

[LisaBatt]

DMC if you like

...check out thegoodrats@goodrats.com I just found this web site. I would like to buy some of their music on cd, since all of my albums are boxed up . One of these days I will go through all that great vinyl and replace the broken needle on the old stero record player...I'm lazy and have been replacing older music through cd purchases. ok take care .

 

[ChileMass]

Oh yeah! Good Rats were awesome... i heard they were getting back together again and playing locally.. Saw them a bunch in and around NYC and NJ

I miss the old Ritz and the old Lonestar Cafe'... Great places...

Wow - you guys just jogged my memory - in the spring of 1978 I saw the Talking Heads warm up for The Good Rats at Page Hall in Albany. There were only about 350 people there and it only cost $1.50 for student admission. The Talking Heads played for about 45 minutes and got booed off the stage. Then the crowd (mostly from Lawn Guyland) started going nuts when they thought The Good Rats were coming onstage. But when the Talking Heads came out to do an encore that nobody had requested, the crowd did everything but throw things at them. They did a very short version of "Take Me to the River" and ran off.

Hard to believe the Talking Heads got so famous just a few years after......

 

[dmc]

Wow - you guys just jogged my memory - in the spring of 1978 I saw the Talking Heads warm up for The Good Rats at Page Hall in Albany. There were only about 350 people there and it only cost $1.50 for student admission. The Talking Heads played for about 45 minutes and got booed off the stage. Then the crowd (mostly from Lawn Guyland) started going nuts when they thought The Good Rats were coming onstage. But when the Talking Heads came out to do an encore that nobody had requested, the crowd did everything but throw things at them. They did a very short version of "Take Me to the River" and ran off.

Hard to believe the Talking Heads got so famous just a few years after......

THeads were getting famous in 1977 after thier "77" album... But really didn't start taking off until "More Songs About Buildings and Food" came out in 1978 - and really took off after their famous SNL apperence in 78...

 

[andyzee]

Hey DMC, saw in your post you mentioned Twisted Sister , I too saw them way back then . Wondering if you liked "The Good Rats" ...not a band to many people know of. They played alot with Twisted Sister in A rock club in Portchester New York in the early/mid 80's. Infact I still have a "rat" from one of there concerts somewhere in my attic!!! I also remember going to the Pallidum in NYC, CBGB's, The Ritz , Peppermint lounge , and my all time favorite was Danceteria Ah yes, those good ole days of rock and rock clubs!!!!!

Damn some of my old hunting grounds, wonder if we ever hooked up ? 8) Did you forget the Mudd club, Heat, Hurrah's, and Max's Kansas City? For after hours there was Berlins, the Nursery, Laight street.

Used to see Twisted Sister and the Good Rats at a local club here in NJ all the time in the 70's. Funny story about Twisted Sister, there was a guy that worked at our help desk, nice guy, kind of quiet. Well one day one of the guys at work saw one of these "Where are they now" shows and saw this guy on the show. It was the guitar player from Twisted Sister, Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda. He worked the desk here for a couple of years and then got the opportunity for a Twisted Sister reunion for something like $1 million bucks, he's no longer here

 

[awf170]

was that back when Sully was still the drummer? I have a friend who saw them multiple times at the clubs before they got signed. Said she used to sit on top of the speakers at some of their shows. Have other friends who used to do the same at Gangsta Bitch Barbie shows - that's Powerman 5000 to the rest of you - at the Rat. Unfortunately, I was not a part of these.

Speaking of Godsmack... did anyone see them when the played at Sugarloaf a while back?

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

On LI in the '70's Twisted Sister was a Bar Band covering Aerosmith and Party Band songs....they were ugly, loud and lots of fun before they hit it big...

Another LI Bar Band then was the Alley Cats later renamed the Stray Cats...now Brian's playing with His Big Band on PBS...I still like his stuff...

 

[andyzee]

On LI in the '70's Twisted Sister was a Bar Band covering Aerosmith and Party Band songs....they were ugly, loud and lots of fun before they hit it big...

Another LI Bar Band then was the Alley Cats later renamed the Stray Cats...now Brian's playing with His Big Band on PBS...I still like his stuff...

If you remember, Twisted Sister did a good cover of Lou Reed's "On the Wild Side" This was before they got Di Snyder as their lead singer.

 

[teachski]

Rick Springfield and the Raspberries played at my junior-senior high school when I was in 8th grade (1975 I think). In 1974, carefree gum sponsored a contest for High Schools where the winning prize was a concert with Rick opening for the Raspberries, My school won!

I saw Pat Benetar at a bar in Leominster, MA while in college, she hadn't made the charts yet.

I saw Foghat in concert at the Wallace Civic Center, Fitchburg, MA in the 70's before they gained fame.

 

[Johnskiismore]

was that back when Sully was still the drummer? I have a friend who saw them multiple times at the clubs before they got signed. Said she used to sit on top of the speakers at some of their shows. Have other friends who used to do the same at Gangsta Bitch Barbie shows - that's Powerman 5000 to the rest of you - at the Rat. Unfortunately, I was not a part of these.

Honestly, I don't know. I was there for my friends band who were opening! But when Godsmack started to get really popular my friend still had promo leaflets and ads from the Boston Phoenix showing his band on the line up with Godsmack. They opened more than once, and I will say I liked them alot!

You mentioned Gangsta Bitch Barbie, holy crap I remember when they played at Framingham State College and with Controlled Aggression (Bionic Manson) at the Red Star Pub in Framingham!

 

[LisaBatt]

Andyzee, thanks for jogging my memory too

Yes Mudd club, MKC, Hurrah's were great as well as The Limelight, and Heartbreak in NYC. I recall a club or two in NJ I went to as well. However the only one I remember was The Soap Factory. In Westchester County every tuesday night was rock night at a Beach Club along Shore Road...can't recall the name right now but ...it sure is fun remembering all this stuff...now to get back to reality, got to get to work... Here's a good laugh for you before I go, my 11yr old son, with his long hair and pink floyd & led Zep tee shirt's etc, can't believe his "mother" went to Black Sabbath concerts as a teenager (as well as lots of others) I am finally getting some respect from the middle school age crowd!!!! When I can't find my cd's from the car, I know whose room to look in. My very very first rock concert at the tender age of 13 was Grand Funk Railroad at Madison Square Garden....This is truly a blast from the bast....

 

[andyzee]

Yes Mudd club, MKC, Hurrah's were great as well as The Limelight, and Heartbreak in NYC. I recall a club or two in NJ I went to as well. However the only one I remember was The Soap Factory. In Westchester County every tuesday night was rock night at a Beach Club along Shore Road...can't recall the name right now but ...it sure is fun remembering all this stuff...now to get back to reality, got to get to work... Here's a good laugh for you before I go, my 11yr old son, with his long hair and pink floyd & led Zep tee shirt's etc, can't believe his "mother" went to Black Sabbath concerts as a teenager (as well as lots of others) I am finally getting some respect from the middle school age crowd!!!! When I can't find my cd's from the car, I know whose room to look in. My very very first rock concert at the tender age of 13 was Grand Funk Railroad at Madison Square Garden....This is truly a blast from the bast....

In NJ for original music at the time two good ones were, Hitsville in Passaic and Meadowbrook in Cedar Grove. Oh and Towpath in I think it was Paterson or West Paterson.

 

[augidog]

Rick Springfield and the Raspberries played at my junior-senior high school when I was in 8th grade (1975 I think). In 1974, carefree gum sponsored a contest for High Schools where the winning prize was a concert with Rick opening for the Raspberries, My school won!

http://www.ericcarmen.com/press/050114b.htm (they got it wrong, but this is the reference, i'm gonna post some details on their forum, also)

hi, teachski & all.

had to jump in here...i was googling around in my past and found this post, WOW! in CT, the winning school was Cheney Tech HS in Manchester, same one i wonder?

since i've posted, let's see what else i can remember...i quit school in '75 and joined the navy, was stationed in california, what a ton of good concerts:

Ted Nugent & Kansas (both new on the west coast) warmed us up for BOC in Long Beach

San Diego:
Sabbath & Van Halen (Runnin with the Devil)
Gary Wright (Dreamweaver)
Bob Seger (Night Moves)
Lynard Skynard (Free Bird)
Foghat & Black Oak (Jim Dandy)
Pink Floyd (Animals)
Chicago (7 or 8 i think)
Heart!!! (Magic Man)

San Fransisco...went to a little off-off broadfway dive called Savoy's, no cover and $1 longneck buds, saw Canned Heat.

and...in Philadelphia, Frank Zappa did a spontaneous performance of "Lather" at the Spectrum in '77.

tangerine dream, charlie daniels, the dead, CS&N, neil young ("trans" tour, very interesting), many more the braincells can't dredge up....

anyhoo, teachski, are you a cheney tech alumni by any chance?

oh yeah!!! just last winter in boston i saw Steve Winwood at the Orpheum (he had his original wooden cabinet Hammond & Leslie, it was like taking the old '64 chevy for a drive, wutta nite!)

this is a completely groovy thread, btw.