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Scott Halpin and me
John Hughes' entry entitled "An Interesting Website" concerned Scott Halpin and his night of fame at the Cow Palace back in 1973 and some dude named Brad who tried to get Scott to talk about it. However, Scott basically told him to get screwed, which is the way Scott desires it to be. As Scott told me last year, as we planed to see The Who in Chicago, "Even if I find a cure for cancer, I'm always going to be the guy who played drums for The Who." Indeed.
Halpin is an artist, and a damned good one, too...and he, his wife, and wonderful son, are living a life that is now long past that crazy day where Bill Graham threw him behind Keith's 16-piece drum set and said, "Can you do it?" Scott said, "Yeah," and the rest is history. In fact, the video tape of that night, shot for insurance purposes, shows they played more than just 3 songs, but who gives a shit? Scott told me the whole story as we planned a reunion of he, Pete, Roger, and Ox, for The Who's concert at Tinley Park on August 24, 2002.
The reunion went down as engineered, but, unfortunately Ox wasn't there. It was one of the greatest nights of my life...being in Pete's dressing room, then talking with Roger for 15 minutes in the inner sanctum of the backstage hallways...and I have the backstage pass...and the autographs...to prove it. Without the help of a wonderful red-headed P.A. of Pete's (who's name shall not be mentioned here), the whole gig would not have gone down. (Hell, I even met 3 wonderful ladies, who used to travel with Led Zeppelin, in the green room who regaled me with Keith Moon stories that will NEVER, EVER make it in the books....I laughed so hard I pulled a muscle in my rib cage....)
Being a lawyer for 23 years, I shook Pete's hand and looked into his eyes. I've represented them all and I can say, after all the shit that's gone down these last few months, that Pete Townshend is a good man. Of course, my meeting occurred before "the revelations," but his eyes betray a man who wants to left alone with his guitar and pen. Roger, on the other hand, is a riot, who's funny as hell and will talk to anybody.
Those two are the light & the dark, the fire and the water of The 'Oo and I met them both, with Scott Halpin in tow, on that hot Chicago night one year ago tonight, this 24th of August, 2003.
Scott and I got our autographs and left Tinley Park, he being a bit tattered with beer, but happy as hell seeing his mates again. The next evening, at Verizon Deer Creek in Noblesville, Indiana, I was lucky enough to get backstage again. I was working on my diary, recounting the previous night's escapade, when Simon Townshend came up and asked me what I was doing. Having spent many nights back there with John Mellencamp's entourage (John & I grew up together), I pretty much had the run of the place, knowing all the security personnel, I found a place to kick back and work on my diary before the show. Simon came out from the inner sanctum to look around and he found me writing in my journal, which apparenty interested him.
Simon & I spent over 30 minutes together talking about the tour, his own career, his brother Pete, and life in general. I showed him my diary entries, which made him laugh, and we basically talked like we'd known each other for years. Simon, too, is a wonderful, unpretentious person and I filled him in on the terrible traffic problems that plagued the Verizon venue. "If you guys are hoping to get out of here quickly," I told him," you'd better sucker the crowd into doing a second encore because you'll be two hours getting out of here even with police escorts. If not, the crowd will beat you outa here."
"Then will do a runner," Simon said. (A "runner" in English parlance is where you drink all night, run up the tab, then run like hell out of the pub without paying for the bill. A "runner" in music parlance is where the group plays like hell, keeping the crowd in their seats, then they run off the stage into their limos, then drive like hell out of the venue before the traffic jam becomes terrible.) "Thanks, Joe," Simon said and he left to get ready for the show.
And as the show wound down, The Who played their encore with the fury of God. I left and went backstage to see the limos and cars all lined up with the precision of an Army operation. I could hear Pete's stratocaster conclude and the roar of the crowd. All of a sudden, here they came: Pete, Rabbit, Roger, Zak, Simon....and Pino. They started to leave...until Pino had to answer the call of nature. As he was taking a piss, Pete yelled, "Come on," and Pino scrambled back in the van and off they went, driving like hell while I was laughing my ass off. I waved at Simon & he returned the wave....and The Who's gaggle of vans beat the traffic jam out of Deer Creek and they made it back to Chicago that night.
And, thus, that was my two nights with The Who and Scott Halpin, bless their souls.
Crazy Joe
8/24/03
The Who Mailing List Digest <TheWho-Digest-Owner@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Who Mailing List Digest
Saturday, August 23 2003 Volume 10 : Number 255
In this issue:
Re: An interesting website
Keith's Soccer Balls; Minxes; To Snip or Not to Snip...?
Looking for Chris Sheppard
re: rog's voice getting stronger
Re: singing pete's songs
Re: Plant and Roger 2002
Re: no naked keith!
Re: much to do about the penis
Re: that rascal
Plant and Daltrey
deserving of an F+
Nip/Tuck & don't care if it's cut
Roger gig this Saturday - cancelled
Re: Roger gig this Saturday - cancelled
Happy Birthday Keith
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 18:50:34 +0100
From: John Hughes
Subject: Re: An interesting website
Got this one from my Todd List.
This particular page is *most* interesting
http://billionbrads.home.att.net/who.htm
then try
http://billionbrads.home.att.net/top10.htm
Cheers,
John
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 13:51:48 -0500
From: "Sigel, James J"
Subject: Keith's Soccer Balls; Minxes; To Snip or Not to Snip...?
Wow, what a potpourri of topics, eh? Keith's nude escapades, Roger's
vocals, Magic Bus, typeset characters with runny noses, whether or not
to leave a hat on the old fella, and the biggest mind blower of them all
- - I was right??? Lots to contemplate.
>>I had the immediate mental image of that wacked out picture of
>>naked Keith lying on the couch with his tooth missing and his
>>(a-hem) uncircumcised John Thomas exposed.
>
>Try to imagine the shot where he's covering up with the soccer
>ball instead.
Okay, here goes... "Imagine there's no wrinkly willy. It's easy if you
try. No flaccid John Thomas; between his legs only sky..." NO! It
doesn't work!!!
>That's the picture that haunts Jim.
How can it not?!? As demented as our beloved Keith was, that particular
picture is... well, demented. Just look at his face! The man was mad!
Mad, I tell you!!!
> Mrs. Barnabas Collins
Oh that's hilarious! Mrs. B. Collins...friggin' hilarious. And if it
wasn't a joke, my apologies to you, Mr. Collins, and of course, Judah
Zachary.
>I meant that *I* wanted to be naked, not Keith!
>See, not so much of a sicko. ?? Ummm.....
Whew, I feel better that you're naked... WHAT DID I SAY???
>Little sucker slipped out.
C'mon, Keith wasn't that small. Oh, you mean the booger!
>I like that. I am not always called nice names on this list,
Don't sell yourself short Jo, you're very well liked and I can think of
a bunch of nice names for you. Jo, for example. Sicilian Mother for
another...:-)
>Jo take a
>cold shower>
Anytime you'd like to extend this discussion, feel free to email me
offline. ;-) NOW I can think of some more nice names to call you, but
"Randy" ain't one of 'em! And since we're still on the subject: "By
the time I get to Phoenix, she'll be rising..."
>I was thinking of getting uncircumcised. Where can you get that done?
>
>Jim M
Jim, have you tried Spackle? Although, stay away from Sakreet that's
for blacktops if you know what I mean.
> Is Magic Bus drug oriented or not?
I don't know about the drug orientation or not, but recently a non-Who
fan told me that he heard Magic Bus is about masturbation. Say WHA???
"...I'm gonna spank my monkey every day... Too much, magic pud." And
Behind Blue Eyes is about laser surgery too.
>whats the big deal of not getting circumcised?
The great debate. This sounds the boxers or briefs debate. Since it's
no longer strictly a religious thing, some people are for circumcision,
some aren't. I've heard that having it done cuts down (no pun intended)
on sensitivity, but not having it done makes for a collection of all
sorts of gunk and goo (sorry for the scientific terminology) in the
nether regions. Me, I'm cleanly snipped and have been since Dr.
Gallagher broke me out of the egg. Sometimes I wonder what it would be
like to be UN-circumcised, and I just don't like the idea. I'm thinking
about putting little porkchop sideburns on the little guy, and calling
him "Little Elvis", which I couldn't do with all of that extra skin.
Did I say that out loud?
I hope everyone has a great weekend. See you on Monday!
Little Elvis has Left the Building in Colorado
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 16:04:14 EDT
From: Jeffmbike@xxxxxxx
Subject: Looking for Chris Sheppard
Hello Group,
I was wondering if anyone has heard from Chris. We use to trade a lot,
but I have not heard anything from him in a long time. I was just wondering
if he is OK? Any info would be appreciated
Jeff
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 21:55:42 -0400
From: Sroundtable@xxxxxxx
Subject: re: rog's voice getting stronger
> And from Tommy up until Who Are You, it's evident to me,
> that Roger got better and better with each album.
Great observation. Try this as evidence:
1. Listen to Baba O'Riley studio version...
2. Listen and/or watch Baba O'Riley from the Shepperton show (TKAA)
Roger hits those high notes with absolute accuracy AND amazing power. Notice the "fight for" and "get my BACK." He is at his absolute peak. I'm not sure there is any vocalist who could hit those notes as purely as Roger did with such awe inspiring power as in that performance.
Side note: I'm not wild about the way he sings Baba O today. I think he could hit those notes rather than fudging them the way he does. For example, there are many notes that he can hit today pretty solidly that I absolutely can not (as a debateably professional singer of Who covers). The notes in Baba I can, though I have to work real hard to do it. He somewhat annoyingly rounds off the notes on "fields" and "meals" and "living." The big "OOOOOOOOOOH!" he does before "sally take my.." is genius, however, and he nails the shit out of that note.
Mc
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 22:01:50 -0400
From: Sroundtable@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: singing pete's songs
> Singing is not easy and Pete's songs are not always easy to
> sing, right MC?
One has never said a truer thing. The subtleties in the songs make them extremely difficult. Let's put it this way. My band, Who are They (little plug), plays a number of non-Who covers, including ACDC, Eagles, Zeppelin, Ozzy, Kinks, Clapton. I am naturally much more familiar with the Who songs, yet I have BY FAR the most trouble singing them properly. DAMN THAT PETE TOWNSHEND! I have no trouble whatsoever singing the other songs almost flawlessly (aside from botching lyrics). I think this is a real testament to Roger, that Pete knew he could make these difficult vocal changes and wide ranging notes because Roger could knock them all out of the park.
Mc
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 22:14:03 -0400
From: Sroundtable@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Plant and Roger 2002
> I though Plant sounded fine as I saw him 3 times with THE
> WHO last year. He's
> not Daltrey but who is ya know lol.
I whole-heartedly agree. I though Plant's voice sounded excellent, and it seems his has held up a little better than Roger's. Plant can't quite wail the way he used with same force and power, but he has no trouble hitting the notes. He sounded great on Four Sticks and Goin to California when I saw him open for The Who. Daltrey's power has certainly held up, but the range, naturally, has diminished. After all, Roger probably had the greatest range of any lead singer, belting out low and high notes with such accuracy and volume. I also am not wild about the way he is singing some of the songs these days, but that is simply a personal opinion about his vocal choices. A prime example is Bargain. Can't stand the way he sings that these days. Baba O'Riley and WGFA have some questionable vocal choices, but shit, he's Roger Daltrey and what the fuck do I know? He's still my hero.
Mc
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 22:05:16 -0500
From: Alan McKendree
Subject: Re: no naked keith!
> Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 14:58:57 -0400
> From: "Schrade, Scott"
>
>> I seriously would like to know if he was circumcised or not....
>
> He wasn't. There is a picture in Dave Marsh's biography of The
> Who, Before I Get Old, which shows Moon naked on a couch with a
> very *UN*circumcised penis. That's the picture that haunts Jim.
I believe that routine circumcision was not practiced in the UK in the
'40s -- and I once saw John autograph a "Generations" lithograph by
writing "The Fourskins" as a caption before signing it. Make of that
what you will.
Cheers,
Alan
"That's unbelievable, if that's true"
-- Howard Stern, 5/25/00
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 22:12:29 -0500
From: Alan McKendree
Subject: Re: much to do about the penis
> Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 15:52:36 EDT
> From: SicilianMother@xxxxxxx
>
> Dear Mrs Barnabas Collins,
>
> ...after she [sees] that he isn't circumcised, she not only won't have
> sex with him, but a few scenes later, he catches her making out with
> her girlfriend.
The sight of an uncircumcised penis turned her gay on the spot??!
Ptpthphhtht :-P. Sounds like "Reefer Madness" revisited, to me.
Mrs. Barnabas Collins, I'm with you 110%.
Cheers,
Alan
"That's unbelievable, if that's true"
-- Howard Stern, 5/25/00
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 22:27:00 -0500
From: Alan McKendree
Subject: Re: that rascal
> Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 17:21:21 EDT
> From: Keithjmoon70@xxxxxxx
>
> In a message dated 8/21/2003 5:07:40 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> JOELTLE515@xxxxxxx writes:
> now, who said this? whats PK?
> Oh just my smart alec son Paul when he was 10. He actually kept a
> straight
> face when he said it. It was his youthful stab at arrogant folks, to
> which I
> quoted what Banquo said to his nephew Fleance in MacBeth: "Silence,
> you egg!"
The line is "What! You egg. Young fry of treachery!", and it's spoken
by a murderer hired by Macbeth just before he kills Macduff's son.
Fleance is Banquo's son.
Cheers,
Alan
"the average Texan...carries not just a gun but a SHOTGUN." --Pete
Townshend, 1967
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 23:38:59 EDT
From: JOELTLE515@xxxxxxx
Subject: Plant and Daltrey
anyone see the 1978 episode of VH1's "I Love the 70's" where they're fighting
about zeppelin vs. the who?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 00:06:32 EDT
From: Keithjmoon70@xxxxxxx
Subject: deserving of an F+
In a message dated 8/22/2003 11:29:51 PM Eastern Standard Time,
amck@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
The line is "What! You egg. Young fry of treachery!", and it's spoken
by a murderer hired by Macbeth just before he kills Macduff's son.
Fleance is Banquo's son.
Alan:
Now that is scary. I got an A in that class. Further proof that the 70's
Pontiac Mi. bussing experiment didn't work. Or that I'm just getting old. :-(
MacBeth's tragic flaw *was* ambition though,....right?
Anyhow, "What! you egg. Young fry of treachery !" works too. All I need in
this house about now is for my kids to start correcting me for how I misquote
Shakespeare when I am yelling at them.
Jon in Mi.
Reality is for people who can't handle drugs
- -My old neighbor's bumper sticker
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 00:10:38 EDT
From: SicilianMother@xxxxxxx
Subject: Nip/Tuck & don't care if it's cut
In a message dated 8/22/2003 8:15:08 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
amck@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
The sight of an uncircumcised penis turned her gay on the spot??!
Ptpthphhtht :-P. Sounds like "Reefer Madness" revisited, to me.
It was part of the story line of a cool new show on FX called Nip/Tuck. The
writers on this show have got to be on something, because it is completely
wild.
To Mrs. Barnabas Collins,
Trust me, if I ever meet my soul mate, I couldn't care less whether his dick
is circumcised or not.
Jo :)
am, but I have other good qualities that make up for it :)>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 12:52:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: Brian Cady
Subject: Roger gig this Saturday - cancelled
Roger will not be appearing as G Tom Mac's special
guest at the Sunset Junction Street Fair in Los
Angeles Saturday (August 23rd).
Roger will be in Vancouver this weekend shooting for
The History Channel's Extreme History show. Sorry for
those who made plans.
=====
- -Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
http://www.thewho.net/News
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 00:31:28 EDT
From: JOELTLE515@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Roger gig this Saturday - cancelled
In a message dated 8/23/2003 12:30:25 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
brianinatlanta2001@xxxxxxxxx writes:
> Roger will not be appearing as G Tom Mac's special
> guest at the Sunset Junction Street Fair in Los
> Angeles Saturday (August 23rd).
>
roger had a gig on saturday? didn't hear anything about it or read
anything..
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 10:03:19 -0400
From: "jacqueline"
Subject: Happy Birthday Keith
Dear Keith;
I will always celebrate the day you were given to us. Your energy and passion
are always an inspiration to me.
With Love
jacqueline
"I am the best Keith Moon-Type drummer in the world!"
[demime 1.01b removed an attachment of type application/octet-stream which had a name of Blue Sky.jpg]
------------------------------
End of The Who Mailing List Digest V10 #255
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