Karen Booth
Today’s RNRHS comes from Minneapolis music legend, Chris Osgood. When I started interning at Twin/Tone Records in 1987, I was just an eager, U of M sophomore from the suburbs of St. Paul. I had led a somewhat sheltered musical existence. I thought the Urban Guerrillas were dangerous. I didn’t know a lot about Chris Osgood or his band, The Suicide Commandos, but I was smart enough to know the most important piece of information–all of those bands I loved? The Replacements? Soul Asylum? Husker Du? The Suburbs? Well, they may have never existed without the Commandos, a band that created an all-new, loud and fast rock landscape in Minneapolis, just as the Ramones did in NY and The Sex Pistols did in England. The first time I met Paul Westerberg, I was introduced by Chris, backstage at a Replacements show. It was like being introduced to Al Pacino by Jack Nicholson. No question, both men worthy of untold amounts of praise and worship for what they do so well, but it was apparent in Westerberg’s eyes that Chris was the real rock star backstage that night. THAT was cool.
Chris Osgood
Minnetonka High School, Minnetonka, MN, Class of ‘72, Currently: I play guitar and sing in a Punk Rock Band called The Suicide Commandos. We formed in 1975. I am the Vice President of Community Relations at McNally Smith College of Music, St.Paul, MN and I am the Executive Director of the McNally Smith College of Music Foundation. I also import wine from France. I work with seven producers in SW France.
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: Delaney & Bonnie, any song
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: Rod Stewart’s Spinada wine bottle (I still have it somewhere!)
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Black Sabbath
Best show or concert you saw in high school: A tie: The Faces and The Grease Band, The Rolling Stones and Steve Wonder. (I saw The Doors and The Bonzo Dog Band in Junior High, so they don’t count!)
I had a band in High School w/my girlfriend Carol Flaig (along w/future Commando Dave Ahl and bassist Henry Neils). “Sue Veneer and the Mementos”. We played all over MN and WI every weekend and did a lot of Delaney and Bonnie songs because of the double male-female vocals. My Peter Case-like “sneak-out” story is actually a “sneak-in” story- We’d go down to the West Bank on Tuesday nights for Dime Beer Night at the Triangle Bar and listen to Roy Alstead and the Mill City Band, which is why I play guitar the funny way I do! My buddy X-Boy lead singer Casey Macpherson actually snuck out of his bedroom and clambered down the side of his house to see The Rolling Stones at Excelsior Amusement Park ca. 1965. He could hear them playing from his bedroom!
Optional bonus question: Best high school make-out song: We found all music very romantic in high school! Mwaaah!
Today’s RNRHS from Scott Carle is jam-packed with music memories, and yet, I know that Scott exercised restraint. Not sure if I’ve ever met a bigger music FAN. Beyond the fact that he’s an unbelievable musician and has been in a bazillion bands, the man lives and breathes music. Who else sets up a music memorabilia exhibit for his birthday party? And it wasn’t just a few 45s on a table…he had an entire party room at Duke full of posters, rare vinyl, t-shirts, photographs, ticket stubs, ratty faded flyers pulled from a kiosk on Franklin Street with the staples still in it. Incredible!
Scott Carle
Northern High School, Durham, N.C., Class of ’79, Currently: Work for a small business (commercial door pivots) owned by a close friend and longtime supporter of my 30 year run in the music business…Jeff Hales..thanks! Also manage a unique coffee shop – C Store in the Bella Union at Duke owned by Sam Clowney (guitarist w/ the Veldt and Parklife). Teach drum lessons. Travel overseas. Still play and record on a regular basis. Most recently was with Lost in the Trees. Play with Calico Haunts, Jason Merritt, Bullcity. Was also with Collapsis, the B-sides and Marat. And most certainly do shows with Dillon Fence whenever we get the chance.
Band or song that reminds me of high school: The first thing that comes to mind is Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” Many mornings this would be on the radio on the drive to school in someone’s 70’s Camaro or Firebird. This song came out of the gate and we all just loved it. When I heard the Foo Fighters cover, I loved it again. Radio in the 70’s was incredible. If you look back at the charts it was full of so many genres. One big album that affected everyone was “Some Girls” by the Stones. Everywhere…every party, every car was “Beast of Burden”..”Miss You”…”Shattered”…and it was like that in every American town, no doubt. I , along with many friends, fellow athletes and bandmates were into all the music at that time….every week at the Greensboro Coliseum there were shows: Pink Floyd,Queen, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Blue Oyster Cult, Earth Wind and Fire, Alice Cooper, Rush, ELO, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, etc. The radio was exploding with everyone from Van Halen, Todd Rundgren, KISS, the Bee Gees, Meat Loaf, Stevie Wonder, ABBA, the Knack, Boston, Deep Purple….we were playing vinyl by the Runaways, Yes, Genesis, Fleetwood Mac, Lynryd Skynyrd, UFO, Black Sabbath, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix,Grand Funk, Zappa and many others. Then you had things on the radio like Andy Gibb, Olivia Newton John ( w/ Travolta!), Foghat and Leif Garrett! “Dark Side of the Moon” was still a major and beautiful album…even though it came out years before, it’s impact was gigantic.
Back to the question…..the band that reminds me most of those years is Led Zeppelin…no question about it. Like Cameron Crowe and millions of others, Zeppelin was the one for me. And besides the Rafferty tune the song that really did it for me then was Alice Cooper’s “Billon Dollar Babies” with Alice and Donovan on vocals. This tune blew my mind and still does today. I can only wonder how many times I’ve listened to that one. My friend , David Ferguson had a cool sister who had that Alice record on 8-track tape. And my high school band was called “Oasis”…..David was on bass. We didn’t really like the name…we did covers of Frampton, the Cars, Nugent, Heart, Steve Miller, etc. A guy named Eddie Stephens played guitar….he was light years ahead of us….he was pretty much Roy Clark…to this day he’s the finest musician I know….can play any instrument extremely well.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia: The poster was KISS. Bought from Spencers at Northgate Mall …shot from their “Alive” period….intense poster….and it was everywhere. Should mention: there was a head shop (one of the 1st) called “The Joint” in Durham… had amazing posters for sale in the back. Giant 6-foot-tall ones….I had the Zeppelin and Rush ones….along with one of all the guitar heroes ( Townsend, Page, Jimi, Richards, Clapton, Mason, Frehley, Blackmore, Beck). Still have it. The most admired shirt I saw in high school was a Zeppelin shirt with their photos on the back from Zeppelin lll….I only saw that shirt on one person and I wished I had one. Where is it Keith McClintock? The shirt I wore out was a Ted Nugent shirt w/ him on guitar outlined in cosmic blue. Keep in mind that was when Ted was not mouthing off, just delivering the goods with relentless shows with bands like Montrose opening. Shirt is still in very good condition.
Band I hated that everyone else liked: Did not have a band I hated but disco (although I liked some of it) was not feeling or sounding great at the time. Saturday Night Fever was huge..I liked the Bee Gees but some of the other songs in the movie weren’t all that . I appreciate them more now. Plus the movie to a teenager was quite depressing at the time…it left me with a bad feeling. As far as songs go that were popular….I couldn’t get into things like Robert John’s “Sad Eyes” or even the Commodores “Once Twice Three Times a Lady” and these were huge songs. And I love the Faces and early Rod Stewart but his monstrous hit “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” was not on my list. Ugh.
Best concert : Oh my. Unbelievably it was my first show. We had a youth group at our swim and raquet club in Durham where I spent my summers and each Wednesday we’d get together and listen to music…cook food….Mark Cromer (who went on to play football at Oklahoma) played drums to Elton’s”The Bitch Is Back” and blew my mind. I eventually bought his drum kit and became a disciple of John Bonham, Keith Moon and Carl Palmer. Anyway, one week the lady who led our group announced that the following week she had chartered a bus to Greensboro and purchased tickets for all 30 of us to see a concert in the Coliseum. We all had never been to a show and in those days shows were pretty much 18 and up….we were just entering high school. Well, the concert was THE WHO. What an introduction. It was beyond intense. The new album was “The Who By Numbers” (single was “Squeezebox”). Reggae band opened. Festival seating only. We sat under the guardrails in the back corner lower level. Daltrey….Townsend….Entwistle…Moon. They did all of “Tommy” and most of ” Who’s Next”. We all were electrified ….emotionally, physically, collectively. After that I / we were never the same. We went outside trying to see the bus or limos leave. The Who were long gone probably but hundreds of us were there…still shaking from the excitement. I remember telling Scott Wells: “we’re coming back to these things” These concerts!
Hundreds later….club shows…following the Bad Brains and Janes Addiction around the country…..U2, Stones, Floyd, McCartney, Dead stadium shows….theater shows with Missing Persons, My Bloody Valentine….countless local shows ….hardcore gigs w/ Corrosion of Conformity, Descendents, Circle Jerks..local Connells shows, Veldt, Sex Police, Pressure Boys, 3PM, Superchunk , REM, Drivin and Cryin…The Who still was the one. And it defines that time of being in high school and being exposed to music and finding it at a time in our lives that are not so easy.
Some honorable mentions ( from that time period ) would have to be : KISS at Dorton arena (Rock and Roll Over tour )…heartracing intense show from the 3rd row, complete with a guy’s head catching on fire in the audience right next to us…he was trying to blow fire like Gene Simmons …but inhaled instead of exhaling. The original Pumpkinhead. That’s another story. I had face make up on…Peter Criss. Other shows from that era….Rush on the Hemispheres tour! Aerosmith on the “Rocks” tour and Van Halen at Carter Finley Stadium…festival show w/ the Outlaws, Poco and Boston. VH ll had just come out and Eddie and the band left everyone nothing. Mind blowing performance.
Best High School Make-out song: from memory…walked into a party at the infamous Van household…they had 12 kids! Good parties. One night with people laying all around the basement…making out….I think it may have been “Sara Smile” by Hall and Oates. Good song. And good for that.
Love my Jersey girls! We had our fair share of big hair in Minnesota, but deep down we knew we would never be as poofy as Jersey and I’ll be honest. It hurt a little bit. Today my dear friend Jennifer Resnick takes the helm. She rocks in every sense of the word…amazing friend, mom, business-owner, style maven, multi-tasker, therapist, person who lives in my head when I’m shopping for clothes. Jen gave me a closet overhaul in the fall, which was awesome, and now I know that sometimes you just need to give yourself a good hard look in the mirror. Jen makes you try on everything that’s questionable–best quote from our session came when I put on a sweater I’d received as a gift. “Take that off right now. You look Amish.” I didn’t even cry. She’s that good.
Jennifer Resnick
North Plainfield High School, North Plainfield, NEW JERSEY!!!, Currently: Personal Stylist/Owner J Style Therapy
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: “With or Without You” by U2. My girlfriend Jenn and I spent weeks crying to this one over our lost loves. Guns N Roses, Howard Jones, Whitesnake & BON JOVI!!
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: blue/aqua/purple tie dyed t-shirt I purchased out of the back of a VW bus from an actively tripping dead-head during the 1986 Grateful Dead show at the Meadowlands in Jersey…
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Bruce Springsteen~I had no love for the Boss back then
Best show or concert you saw in high school: Every show at the Meadowlands form 1984-1989~ U2, Guns n Roses, The Who, Robert Plant, George Thorogood, Metallica…sometimes it was more the experience than the music~but it all rocked
Optional bonus question: Best high school make-out song: The Magic Garden Theme song.
Joe Henry likes to tell people he was in the army with my husband, Steve. It makes me smile to think about it, although I know the true meaning behind the inside joke and it isn’t entirely funny. Joe is impossible to capture with words, although I’m sure he could figure it out, damn him. Being charming and the kindest soul you could ever meet just isn’t good enough. He must also beguile us with his luminous, indelible, and (wait for it) toothsome way with words and music. Watch out when he puts the two together. It’s trouble. In the best possible way.
Joe was on both of the record labels I ever worked for–first on Coyote, which was a subsidiary of Twin/Tone. Steve and I went to see Joe play with The Jayhawks at Under the Street in Durham in 1990. For anyone who ever saw a show at Under the Street, you can close your mouth now. Through several odd twists of fate (although, aren’t all twists of fate odd?), Joe ended up on Mammoth Records soon after and that was where I landed as well. I’d like to take some credit, but I was just one of the many people on the sidelines yelling, “Yay!”. Over the years, Joe has written and performed some of my favorite music in the whole world. He even graciously performed some of it at Amity United Methodist Church on October 7, 1995, the day Steve and I were married. In a day filled with highlights, that was near the top, and I’d like to think better than being in the army.
Joe Henry
Rochester Adams High School, Rochester, MI, Class of 1978, Currently: I am a singer and songwriter; a recording artist and -when the moon is full- a producer. I am also a poet and essayist (is that a word?) when ideas present themselves in ways that don’t suggest I might send them into the air somehow. I am currently co-writing a book with my brother on Richard Pryor and the way he changed the cultural landscape. We have also written a screeplay based on RP’s life which (touch wood) harry belafonte is going to produce for the screen. And though it has been decades since I have done so, I would some days still cut grass for money.
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: Well, there is much music that I loved in high school that will immediately take me back to that era, if I am to hear it in the right moment: Loudon Wainwright’s first album, Jackson’s Browne’s “late for the sky,” are two examples; but the most potent would be music that hung in the ether of that particular time, and to which i have had precious little reason to ever return. See: Boz Scagg’s “Lido.”
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: I had the near-psychadelic poster of Bob Dylan by Milton Glaser that came inside the first greatest hits album. I flew that flag for years the way some people do posters of Che Guevara -and for many of the same reasons.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Bear in mind that i considered myself (foolishly, i now see) some sort of purist in my high school years: i obsessed over Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie, Rev. gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt –as well as songwriters whom i believed to be touched and singular, like Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Tom Waits, and John Prine. I had also discovered jazz, and was deeply devoted to Thelonious Monk. I wanted music with the blood barely contained in its veins; thus I had a hair-trigger where smooth, popular bands were concerned. I seem to recall everyone digging the Bee Gees (circa “saturday night fever”), and to me they sounded like a 7-up commercial…”The Un-cola”. And I didn’t want anything “Un.”
Best show or concert you saw in high school: I saw my first live shows -and several in quick succession- at the Old Royal Oak Music Theatre, in that suburb of Detroit, the fall of 1976. (I couldn’t even drive yet.) After having spent years in my bedroom with my head under the lid of an old mono record player –like i was a mechanic and it was ’49 mercury- the spector of seeing people i admired walk out as flesh and blood beings and deliver songs into the air…well, it was almost too heady to bear. That october I saw Tom Waits and Randy Newman back-to-back on a Friday and Saturday night, respectively –the former wildly theatric in full beatnik mode; the latter, alone at a piano– and i was so electrified it left me twitching for days after. I am not sure it is possible, all things considered, to ever again see live music that could hit me with the same velocity. Given my tender age (15) and my aspirations for the future, seeing Tom and Randy the same weekend was like happening upon the burning bush in the wilderness. And it was singing.
Optional bonus question: Best high school make-out song: Without hesitation: “Loving You” by Minnie Ripperton.
I’ve known Glenn Boothe for a long time. He was music director at WXYC when I started my college radio promo job at Twin/Tone in Minneapolis and we all know that was a bajillion years ago. Glenn and I used to hang out at music conventions and were asked on many occasions if we were brother and sister. Never mind that his last name has an “e” and my maiden name does not. After a while, we got sick of it, and started telling people that we were ex-husband and wife, but were still friends. Never mind that we were both twenty at the time. I suppose people get married and divorced by twenty. I could tell some funny stories about Glenn, like the one about his top restaurant choice in Chapel Hill in 1990, but that would be sort of embarrassing. Let’s just say this restaurant had the best fried dairy product appetizer in town, is no longer there, and was across from The Siena Hotel.
But I digress…Glenn’s RNRHS entry is completely awesome–the story about his crafting of his own Top 25 chart is simply genius on many levels. I laughed out loud (yes, I LOL’d) at his criteria for the list and his great attention to detail, although it did not surprise me knowing Glenn’s never-ending love of music. But, Glenn. Dude. Why not just buy another notebook? You could have kept that puppy going for a long time.
Glenn Boothe
Morehead High School, Eden, NC, Class of 1985, Currently: Owner, Local 506 – Music venue in Chapel Hill, NC
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: I have to go with Adam and the Ants. Even though the band itself had broken up by my freshmen year, I was so obsessed with Adam Ant that it lasted through my senior year…and most of my high school friends would associate me with Adam. The thing is, when I got turned on to them in ninth grade, there was really no one my age in my hometown that knew about them. So I was talking about this band that I was fanatical about and no one really knew what I was talking about. It really wasn’t until my sophomore year that people started getting MTV, and that was right around when Adam put out his first solo album, Friend of Foe.
By the time of graduation my entire bedroom was covered with Adam-related posters, some from the more risqué Strip album era (which I’m sure had my parents second-guessing my sexuality.) There is a great photo that someone posted on Facebook of my high school Science Club – the photos were taken in the winter, so most people are wearing coats…except me, I’m sporting an Adam Ant t-shirt that I wore specifically for photo day! (I just looked and now can’t find the photo online…dang.)
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: So my favorite piece of music memorabilia from high school is not something I bought but something I created. Math was always my favorite subject in high school so once I got obsessed with music, it didn’t take me long to combine my love of the two. In turn, inspired by Billboard magazine, in early 1982 I started keeping a chart of my own favorite songs. Yes, a chart where each week I ranked my 25 favorite songs!!
And being the numbers nerd that I am, I also kept separate statistics about the chart. For example, The Cars “Since You’re Gone” spent the most time at Number One and the only song to debut at Number One was “All Over Town” by April Wine (that song blew me away on first listen needless to say!)
The chart also had strict guidelines; for a song to qualify, I had to actually hear it on the radio. This ruled out me adding every song off an album by my favorite bands; however, luckily for me, the album rock station in Winston-Salem, WKZL, started a Sunday night show called New Generation that was inspired by what college radio was playing at the time (as I couldn’t actually hear any college radio stations on a regular basis.) In addition to introducing me to new chart-worthy acts like REM and U2, New Generation also impacted the chart by playing album tracks from bands I was already listening to (I actually remember being particular excited when I finally heard Duran Duran’s ‘Hold Back the Rain’ on New Generation so that it finally qualified for the chart!) In retrospect, this chart clearly reflects my tastes shifting from more mainstream acts (“Superfreak” was the first number one) to the so-called ‘college rock’ acts of the time.
My weekly chart finally came to an end in 1983, not because I outgrew it but because I finally filled up the notebook I was using! And now, what’s funny, thirty years later, I’m still kind of obsessed with charts and do a year-end music chart (inspired by the Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll.)
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: This one is difficult because I’m way more open-minded now about music than I was in high school. Back then, I primarily liked punk, new wave and the aforementioned ‘college rock’ so didn’t appreciate much that was very popular. My first concert was Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and even though I can now say it was awesome, not long after, when Joan Jett got much bigger, I painted a ‘no’ symbol (the circle with a slash) on the t-shirt I bought at the show (and had worn proudly before.) I’m just now realizing this wasn’t much different than Johnny Rotten writing “I Hate” on a Pink Floyd shirt but that wasn’t the inspiration, I just happened to come across a can of red paint.
But I digress, back to the question. I have to say, the bigger bands that everyone in Eden seemed to like that I didn’t at the time included Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Hank Williams, Jr but I can now appreciate those (or love in the case of Zeppelin.) I think what I hated more at the time was when my friends started liking ‘my’ music. Sure, I was happy that acts like Adam Ant or Duran Duran were getting more fans, but it still seemed personal. I remember feeling disappointed when I got a ride from a friend in high school and she was listening to The Clash album ‘Combat Rock’ – I bought that album the week it came out and this was a year later after ‘Rock The Casbah’ had been a hit. The Shareef wasn’t the only one that didn’t like it…
Best show or concert you saw in high school: This one’s easy – U2 at Kenan Stadium in 1983. First date of the War tour. It was only my second concert and is still my favorite concert of all-time. And I’m not the only one – most people I’ve met since who were in attendance agree it was a magical experience (and I’m amazed how many people I now know who were there.) I can still visualize The Edge sitting at the piano with his guitar playing both instruments during ‘New Years Day.’
The funny thing is U2 weren’t even the headliner – Todd Rundgren had to follow them playing solo! There were also two openers, one of which was, amazingly enough, Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five. I didn’t get rap music at all at the time (nor did most of the crowd unfortunately,) so kind of bummed I didn’t appreciate them as much as I enjoyed the timeless new wave of The Producers!?!?
Optional bonus question: Best high school make-out song: I wish I had an answer to this…but I wasn’t kissing many girls because of my music obsession…and when I did have the chance, playing DJ was the last thing on my mind. I did date a girl most of my senior year and I tried to turn her on to the music I liked but, in retrospect, she did a better job turning me onto her music. She was into hip-hop and I distinctly recall hearing The Beastie Boys “She’s On It” at her house and realizing this rap music I absolutely hated at the time wasn’t so bad when you added guitars.
Not long after, I remember making a tape of Run-DMC’s Raising Hell with only the songs with guitar. That tape didn’t include the guitar-less lead track “Peter Piper” which I now consider one of the baddest rap songs of all-time – and not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good!
