In honor of the opening of baseball season (yeah, I know, a couple of teams that fly under the radar opened their seasons last night, but the season really begins at 1:05 EST, when the Nationals’ John Lannan throws his first pitch to Jimmy Rollins, shortstop for the repeat-defending NL champion PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES), let’s open a baseball-themed thread for discussion.
One of the simple joys of reviewing the schedule for the upcoming baseball season is seeing if your team is going to have a throwback uniform day, that is, a day when an old-style uniform is brought back into use for one game. I read that the Houston Astros are planning a 1965 throwback-uniform day, complete with the grounds crew reviving the astronaut suits they originally wore when the Houston franchise first switched its name from the Colt 45s. When the home team wears throwback unis the road team gets to wear them too. The Phillies will be wearing their own ’65 road throwbacks when they face the Astros in this game. Better yet, when facing the Brewers in their ’70s throwback uniforms later this season the Phils get to revive their polyester road blues!
So what’s this have to do with ROCK Town Hall, you ask? Imagine the following artists were going to tour in a Throwback Look. Which Look would you choose for them to bring back? Please be as specific and nerdy as your heart desires. Please feel free to cap off your choices with an artist of your own choosing in a desired Throwback Look.
- The Beatles
- Devo
- Elvis Presley
- Roy Wood
- Madonna
- The Rolling Stones
- David Bowie
The Ramones, Chrissie Hynde, AC/DC, and other slaves to a single Look will not be scheduled to perform on this day.
Mod,
I did a few days down at Spring Training last week and was prepared to do some proactive RTH research on the at-bat music the Phillies might have been testing out, but I am sad to report that whoever was running the sound system in Clearwater was just mixing and matching a handful of clips. I hope they kept that guy down in the minors.
The appeal of a good throwback day in baseball – and football has started to get into it the last few years – is digging up either an oddball, unexpected pick or at least something significantly different than what you normally see. So if the Stones did a Throwback Night stop on a tour, the only appropriate choice would be the Dirty Work crayola suits. Since we only see half of Wyman on the cover anyway, Darryl Jones could feel free to wear jeans or sensible slacks if he didn’t feel like committing. Or even hide behind a couch for most of the show. (https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/index.php/every-picture-tells-a-story)
The Shea Stadium brown jackets feel like the most Throwback-appropriate uniforms for the Beatles. Recognizable, matching, historic but not the plain old matching suits, nor as obvious as the Pepper outfits. You’d have to figure, were they a baseball team, the Beatles would have already sold tons of Pepper road jerseys. Throwback Night would give them an excuse to sell some Shea jerseys, especially if this were taking place at the new Citi Field.
For Madonna, I really don’t want to see creepy, cadaverous 2000s Madonna in the sensible choice of Lucky Star-era Ur Madonna. Maybe a more forgiving, actual throwback jersey from A League Of Their Own.
Bowie would have the ultimate collection of Throwbacks, naturally. But Screamin’ Lord Byron Bowie from the “Blue Jean” video or Ashes To Ashes Mime Bowie would be the winners on Bowie Turn Back The Clock night.
Roy Wood being Roy Wood, I think he’d actually take a cue from Ken Griffey Jr. and do a Turn Ahead The Clock gig, to give him an excuse to dress as a Space Pirate instead of a Caveman Samurai for once.
alexmagic wrote:
RIGHT ON!
For Elvis I think you need to go with the leather ’69 Comeback ensemble, which was a conceptual throwback in its own right. (Young, slim Elvis never wore leather head to toe, did he?)
Another Beatles throwback Look could be the “Hey Jude” album cover photos, in which they tried to “casually” dress in all black, in an attempt, I believe I read, to look like The Band.
* The Beatles – I like the brown Shea uni idea, but I’d prefer to see them hit the stage as the Savage Young Beatles, in Hamburg rocker gear.
* Devo — No opinion
* Elvis Presley — unshaven, floppy cowboy hat, as his main character in “Charro!” Or perhaps in racing togs and open-face helmet, as in “Spinout!”
* Roy Wood — page-boy haircut from early Move days. Every other Wood look has involved that gigantic mound of hair he has, so he’d have to zag on that one.
* Madonna – I suppose I still lust after writhing, wedding-dressed “Like a Virgin” Madonna, but she’s got no curves anymore. That would be pure yuck. Same goes for the faux “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” look, which is probably otherwise my fave. I guess she’d look best these days in her dowdy, rags-and-tatters-with-Raybans look from the time she was married to Sean Penn. (Boy, talk about two people who deserved each other!)
* The Rolling Stones – 1975 tour. Mick with mascara and false eyelashes, Keef with rottun teef and North African white linen shirt, Dan Armstrong plexiglas guitar.
* David Bowie – David Jones era.
As far as other throwback unis go, can I get at least one rocker with a massive natural Izro to sport one again? I say: Neil Schon, get that hair growing in time for your next Journey reunion!
Screw that, I have to watch throwback PERFORMANCES by my team. 11 to feckin 1.