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| Paul Revere Dick RIP |
People my age are well aware of "Doonesbury" as it rings a bell or evokes memories. It was a symbol of the counterculture stuff going on in the 1960s. The music of that era is now "retro" at casino showrooms. The old singers probably can't carry a tune as well as in halcyon days, Bob Dylan being an example. The Strib frowned on Dylan after a performance where his apparent age-related decline was evident. Hey, it happens to all of us.
A part of us wants to think it's "sad," these retro acts still performing long after they had any chance to get "on the charts" again. But stop and think: Back when these people had their heyday as current acts, their fans were primarily too young to spend much money. The kids had to ask for a little money from their parents. Like, to attend the Beatles concert at Metropolitan Stadium in 1965. Organizers of the event weren't wowed by the turnout. But just think of the background facts I shared: Kids dependent on parents. It's not surprising. Years later when the Met was the site for a performance by long-established rock acts, the turnout was tremendous. The previously pubescent fans now had discretionary money!
So today we can sense an irony with retro acts, what cynics might call has-beens, actually "cleaning up" with money to be made at the likes of casinos. And the money comes from people who were once young and without monetary independence. All those young people who ate up "Paul Revere and the Raiders" now have money to spend at prestigious venues like in Las Vegas.
Back in that earlier time, you'd go to Las Vegas to hear the likes of Frank Sinatra.
"Paul Revere and the Raiders" were big in my neighborhood. Mark Lindsay left the group and the real "Paul Revere" kept it going, increasingly as one of those retro acts fueled by nostalgia.
"Has-beens?" Oh heck, that is absolutely no way to look at it. Music industry insiders know full well the truth. And that is, if you are blessed enough to have your "run" like the Raiders did in the '60s and early '70s, it is wholly legitimate to capitalize on that success in subsequent years, to parlay it. Respectable, yes. If you appreciate the principle of making money, yes.
There are countless young and talented musicians who fall short of having a "run" of success. The word "run" implies something finite. Oh yes, it most certainly is. Let's say the odds are prohibitive against having a lifetime run of being always current, always relevant.
Vicissitudes, yes
The best example of how a "run" can end in ignoble fashion was presented by John Denver. This is famous. He was arguably at the top of his game, apparently doing super for RCA Records, when he was cut loose after a "greatest hits" release.
Silly rabbit, in the music world it's well-known that a greatest hits album or a live album can be a sign the run is winding down. Another problem is the pressure to constantly come up with good new material. Song creation is not a science, though there are many accepted rules. Rules can notoriously be broken. The public is always looking for something new and there is no science for anticipating this.
Chuck Mangione and his flugelhorn had a nice little run after radio DJs across the U.S. decided they were sick of the BeeGees. Amazing but true. It's ironic to say "sick of" because these guys spurred commercial radio for a long time.
Horse's asses? Well maybe
Hey, want to know why people in the business end of popular music can be so famously rude and unfeeling? Remember the music industry guy at the end of the movie "Eddie and the Cruisers?" I almost wondered if this part of the script was written as sort of an inside joke to make a statement. The executive, having previewed some stuff that would really have been cutting-edge if it were released, sat there with his suit and tie on and scoffed: "A bunch of jerk-offs making weird sounds." The incident set the stage for an embittered "Eddie Wilson" to retreat from society, to fake his own death.
Rejection in the commercial music world is a constant but it still drives people nuts. Didn't Charles Manson have his music rejected? The Beach Boys actually did one of his numbers but the lyrics were substantively changed. It went from "Cease to Exist" to "Cease to Resist." Even this change can offend a vain songwriter.
John Denver was offended by being tossed by RCA. "Tossed," yes, but Denver had climbed to heights that can only be dreamed of by most musicians. No cause for the man to really be disconsolate, but he surely was. And yet he must have been fully aware of the cold nature of the music business.
Popular local chef George Haugen was a huge fan of John Denver. Remember him in the kitchen of Don's Cafe (Morris MN)? I always picture him there. Connie told me he got nervous working the till. Can't blame him. I once did an article on George after he was called up on the stage by Don Rickles in Las Vegas. George got a bottle of champagne courtesy of the comedian afterwards. I photographed George with the souvenir bottle. George is Korean by ancestry, so I'm sure there was something there for Rickles to mine.
I took in a Rickles show in Las Vegas once. I was not picked on by the comedian. I once shook hands with Paul Anka when the singer proceeded into the audience while singing a song in Las Vegas.
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| The Raiders during their original run |
Paul Revere's full name was Paul Revere Dick. He passed away a couple years ago. He kept the group going right to the end and always wore the Revolutionary War hat.
Looking back, the Raiders had as long a run as they probably could have expected. These things are destined to end, and later people second-guess as if mistakes were made. No, you just can't fight the hourglass. Lindsay left the group but he seemed to stay on amicable terms. It could be confusing because he was the featured singer but he was not Paul Revere. The Revere guy played the keyboard.
SCTV had a neat satire on the group in the 1980s. The show had Revere by himself playing just the organ part to Raiders tunes at a nightclub.
Unfortunately the Raiders are not as well remembered today as the Monkees. We all love the Monkees but they were primarily a made-for-TV phenomenon. A lot of the Raiders stuff on YouTube today is of highly "archival" quality, so much so, it can make you wince. By contrast, old ABBA videos are very sharp.
We remember Zonker and Santa Claus because I'm writing this post in December. The hippie motif of the original "Doonesbury" would seem strange today, but if the cartoonist can keep mining these characters in some way, all the more power to him. Stay in the salt mine.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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