May 022014
It might be argued that our readers are not be the best audience to answer this question, but let’s say you were at a party and walked into a room populated by the 6 members of The Association appearing in the following clip. Which guy would you target to converse with, as the band member most likely—relatively speaking—to be the coolest member of the band? From left to right:
- “The Cabinet Member”
- “The Guy Not Cool Enough to Be Playing a Vox Teardrop Guitar”
- “The Singer With the Crooked Mouth Who Looks Like He Should Be Playing One of the Goons in Straw Dogs“
- “The Shorter Singer Who Likely Instituted the Band’s Dress Code”
- “The Bass Player Who Looks Like the Canadian Member of The Rascals”
- “The Drummer”
I look forward to your choice and rationale.
I go for #1 “The Cabinet Member” — he looks like he’d be OK — the other dudes look like stiffs to me, especially that drummer. I see later versions of these guys performing are sans drummer.
Aside #1: One of the first pop songs I remember is The Association’s “Windy” which KDWB and WDGY in Mpls. played over and over again while I was sitting a toddler car seat that had a fake steering wheels and a little red horn. Aside #2: I’ve never seen a group — other than Up With People — with more former members on their Wiki page.
What brings this up today, of all days, when one of the members of this group has passed away? (ok, Wednesday)
http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2014/05/passing-larry-ramos-of-association-1942.html?m=1
Yes, the rock world mourns the death of Larry Ramon. He was a great…man! He is not in the band at the time of this video, however, so he is inteligible as an answer to the question.
The best thing about this video is the ONE single solitary microphone placed in the middle of the stage. The mic is the James Brown of this video.
The placement of that microphone truly conveys the authenticity of this great musical performance by a group of students from Brigham-Young University.
I’m going to go with the bass player. There is a certain finesse to his playing and attitude that I kind of dig. He looks like he’s solving a puzzle. I was going to say the drummer as a default, because drummers are cool you know. But this guy seems really into playing this lite tune, which seems awry.
Comment of the Month contender!
Holy shit, are these the same squares who recorded Along Comes Mary? Dude, seriously.
The drummer. He’s the best looking and there’s something about the way that he appears to be uncomfortable in wearing that waistcoat that makes me want to rip it off of him. He probably is a lacrosse player or a member of the glee club, alas.
Coolest. None of the above.
I’m going with crooked-mouth guy, because he doesn’t fit into this band of sorority girl’s dream dates. He may not actually be cool, but he’s not as uncool as the other student council president types.
God, I don’t know. But I’ve been running some numbers here and they confirm what I always suspected, that this is the wussiest song ever, and that even with five members the Association was so wussy that the guys from Air Supply could slap them silly.
I forgot these guys were in Monterey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g005kP4RIA
Yes, only because Scott McKenzie insisted on having someone on the bill he could beat up.
I dunno, can we have a wuss-off between the Association and the 5th Dimension? Or a 3-way wuss-a-thon including Air Supply.
I am going for the cabinet member – I relate to him. Probably of Jewish or Italian decent and he is the first to begin losing his hair. I also like the way he aggressively strums his guitar during the climatic part of the song
Mr Mod – wouldn’t you also peg him for the first one to sport a Van Dyke?
I could definitely see The Cabinet Member being the first to grow a Van Dyke!