We’ve got an honest-to-goodness contest to announce for those of you with a strong constitution and creative writing skills.
The fantastic Wolfgang’s Vault site, which holds an incredible amount of otherwise unreleased streaming audio concerts from the “exquisitely preserved, original archives of Bill Graham Presents.” There are classic concerts by all the big arena names of the past, from Aerosmith through ZZ Top. You can even hear The Sons of Champlin‘s legendary 1972 gig at Winterland!
One gig that never occurred to me as being available at Wolfgang’s Vault, however, is Billy Idol’s 1984 show at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. I don’t know, I would have figured no one would take care to preserve such a recording.
To my surprise, Billy Idol’s 1984 show at the Oakland Coliseum has been preserved, and now you can listen to it in streaming audio at Wolfgang’s Vault. Check out this excerpt from the concert summary:
This show was captured for the King Biscuit Flower Hour Radio Concert Series in 1984, when Billy Idol was at the peak of his popularity. He had become a poster child for MTV, and his Elvis-inspired “snarled” upper lip and spiked blonde hair had become a popular pop culture image all over the American landscape.
Although this set only features about half of the songs played during the entire show, it’s almost a greatest hits collection. Included are air-tight versions of “Rebel Yell,” “Dancing With Myself,” “Hot In The City,” “Mony Mony” (his rocked-out cover of an old Tommy James & The Shondells song), an extended version of “White Wedding,” as well as a blistering eight-minute version of “Flesh for Fantasy.”
You get that last part, which promises a blistering eight-miinute version of “Flesh for Fantasy”? I dare you, Rock Town Hall, to listen to this concert. Who among you is brave enough to take on this task?
The Townsperson who reports back to us with the most detailed, descriptive, vivid review of this streaming concert will win something even better than the patented RTH non-prize: a limited edition Rock Town Hall t-shirt, like the ones our models have been advertising. No joke! I know this is a difficult mission. You have until midnight, Sunday, December 16, to post your review here, in the comments field accompanying this post. The winner will be selected shortly thereafter and contacted regarding shirt size, address, and the so forth.
I dare you, Rock Town Hall!
Strikes me that in some ways, just buying the shirt would be cheaper.
Just looking at the the video’s freeze frame frightens me. o.o
Jesus, Mod. Not that this is the first time our community has brought to mind the TV show Jackass, but the guy in a port-o-potty while it is picked up and inverted seems like maybe he could have had worse, you know? “Blistering?” It’s kind of like the misuse of the words “shock and awe” in Iraq. *This* townsman is not going to scar his psyche for the holidays with this “ew, smell my finger” offer. But thanks for asking.
I hear you, Townspeople (and welcome to the fray, hissing fauna – don’t be a stranger!). Listen up: I won’t call you wussies for not taking this challenge for only one reason: I’d be implicating myself, to date. I trust that there’s at least one brave Townsperson among us.
A little more than 25 hours left to submit your entries!
Less than 22 minutes to go!
Note: There were no winners in this contest, or as Townman Mwall might look at it: everyone was a winner.
Guess it was one of those things where to be a winner you’d have to be a loser.