Nov 242014
Hello Everyone,
I don’t really mean to be the primary instigator of Mystery Date posts, but I can’t help myself. I run across interesting things and I get curious to read what people have to say about them. [Dude…one never needs to apologize for launching a thread! – Mr. Mod]
Here’s a tune you might find interesting:
http://www.noahsimon.com/MysteryGuest1119.mp3
Give a listen! If you know what it is, then SHHH!! All regular Mystery Date rules apply…
They sound a lot like Valhalla:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXb0Gv39C0M
They do! See, you could’ve posted that one yourself! I think the Valhalla singer has some pitch problems there, though.
No idea. Oddly compelling in a ponderous 70s sort of way, though.
I’m going to put on my Bennett Cerf disguise & ask the following questions:
1. Was this song produced between 1968 & 1973?
2. Did the group performing the song come from England
or the US?
3. Is the group who performed the song a famous one or
if one (or more) or the performers later became famous
w/another band or solo career(s)?
Here’s my line:
1. Yes
2. U.S.
3. Two members became famous later.
Do you guys like this song? It has grown on me after a few listens.
This song sounds a bit like Cream to me. I do like the guitar a bit.
My follow-up question would be whether the 2 members who became famous did so by playing the same type of music as represented by the song.
Like misterioso, I’m drawn to ponderous ’70s songs like this, especially if I hear a Traffic vibe, which I do. I would have pegged this for a second-rate Traffic from the UK, or an offshoot of an offshoot band from that era, like a Less-Than-Supergroup involving members of Family, Blind Faith, and Ginger Baker’s Air Force. But the fact that they’re a US band with 2 members who became famous later makes me rethink that angle. Here are some additional questions:
1. Did the 2 band members later come to fame in the same group?
2. Did either of the band members write a hit song for another artist (ie, not for their own band/solo career)?
Yes, they went into the same group. The famous group plays more concise tunes. I have no knowledge of these guys writing for other people.
I also hear Cream – it’s the singer, I think.
The guitars sound like Dick Wagner and/or Steve Hunter.
I’m going to make a wild guess & ask if the group the 2 guys went to was Cheap Trick
With added effects I was initially thinking Phil Manzenera, especially as it took a while for singing to enter. I was thinking it was going to be one of his instrumental bands.
That’s no way to dance around the guessing game, is it? 🙂
I actually have band with Philadelphia roots in mind IF I were to pose a guess.
Well, go ahead and get all your guesses lined up!
Philadelphia roots? That’s right, it’s the Dovells.
Yes, a definite Traffic vibe.
Did the two who went on to fame do so in a Southern rock band?
Any direct ties to Todd Rundgren?
I like where discojoe and Mr. Mod are heading. There are a couple of guitar/chord changes that are VERY distinctive. May I guess that two of the OTHER players had a direct Rundgren connection?
I initially heard some Emerson, Lake and Palmer vibe; Mr. Royale suggested something more in the Guess Who vein. We were guessing that they metastasized into Foreigner, but the American direction is confusing.
I kinda like the track 🙂
I think there is more than one person who knows exactly what this is!
I’m on pins and needles!
No sense in delaying this any longer – the Mystery Date was “The Fuse,” which included songwriter/guitarist Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Peterson (who later added an “S” to his name). Diskojoe was spot-on!
This is from their album released in 1970. Neilsen was not the lead guitarist in this band, that was one Craig Myers. The drummer was named Chip Greenman, let’s come back to him. Wikipedia reports that after the singer and drummer left the group, Thom Mooney and Robert Antoni from the Nazz joined the group, which then performed as the Fuse or the Nazz on a gig-by-gig basis.
While Nielsen and Peterson went on to some kind of renown, this is overshadowed by the achievements of drummer, Chip Greenman, who apparently worked in the aerospace industry when not drumming. But in the 80’s he was drummer for a band called the Names, which somehow ended up starring in a totally craptastic looking movie called “Terror On Tour!” Seems the premise was a band called “The Clowns,” who wear masks, make-up and costumes, are on tour and people start getting murdered, perhaps by a member of the band. The promo makes it appear that this might even happen on stage. Ooooh kids, that’s scary!
It must’ve been a hot movie, since – according to Chip’s website – it was two years between filming and the release date. Direct to VHS!
Check out this trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAD4dK2dp7k
I hope you enjoyed your Mystery Date!
Awesome! First I thought it was the band that predated the Hooters, hence the songwritng question. Then I thought it was some Hall & Oates foray into blooz-rock, hence the Rundgren guess. Philly seemed to have a lot of Cream-inspired bands in the early ’70s. I forgot that those Cheap Trick guys had a stint in Philly. I believe they used to work at the city’s big gay bar at the time, Artemis, which tied them to some of the leadling lights of Philly’s early punk scene.
Totally! That’s exactly what I was thinking, and while that song seems kind of full of itself, I like the guitars a lot and i can see me listening to that.
I’d have never guessed this one, Cher, but it sounds like I know it. I’m going to have to look for it. I have soft spot for that overblown 70’s thing.
I knew this one so I stayed mum. I’ve always been a fan of this album, which is actually extremely heavy for its time. Cheap Trick fans aren’t likely to like it, but early 70s hard rock fans might not like Cheap Trick either. I’m that rare person who likes both.