So... Alright - This One Goes to 11

Episode Date: September 19, 2023

A string of unfortunate fictional deaths leads Geoff down a rabbit hole of real ones. But hey, the music's good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So I've been on vacation for a few weeks. And in that period, I haven't been recording this pod, any podcast, obviously, because I was on vacation. My initial inclination was to try to bring a recording setup with me when I went out of town, and to try to record an episode or two while I was there. But common sense prevailed. And I realized that I should allow myself to have a vacation and not try to cram work into it. That's honestly unnecessary because I already have a pretty good buffer built up before the show even launches. However, I did want to maintain the cadence of occupying that space in my mind and being productive. So when I was on vacation, I organized a lot of notes, and I got a lot of the research ready so that when I came home, I could hit the ground running.

My plan today, last night, was go to bed, get up this morning, run a few quick little errands, and then jump right into one of the subjects that I had been researching. That I'm very excited about. I'm just looking at my notes here and I've got Arfish Adventurous, Jakartaarta and nusantara if you're not familiar with what's going on in jakarta and nusantara it's fascinating and i'm definitely definitely going to be talking about that in the future this dude from key west called happy jack what happened to apple i almost said what happened to avocado what happened to Acapulco Bombay bicycle club like there's just a keeps Sweden's building with wood there's just a ton of stuff I want to get in I met this dude at RTX who uh who walked from Los Angeles to New York City and I'm going to

interview him I just just a ton of stuff I want to talk about so I was excited to hit the ground running today but when I woke up this morning for some fucking reason all I could think about and I couldn't get it out of my head or couldn't get them out of my head, was Spinal Tap for some reason. So I've had to pivot because I just I can't drop this. First off, if you've never seen Spinal Tap, it is a phenomenal film. It is a Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest movie from the 70s. It's a mockumentary of a popular kind of like tawdry heavy metal band from the UK as they embark upon their US tour and all of the misadventures that happen along the way. It's kind of where I think Christopher Guest started to express himself via mockumentary. As you know, he, you probably know, he went on later to do Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show and A Mighty Wind and really kind of perfected that,

that form of entertainment. Well, it all started in Spinal Tap. If you've seen it once, you've probably seen it three or four times. It's one of those kinds of movies. Then you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven't seen it, you really should go back and watch it. It's got Michael McKeon. It's got Harry Shearer. It's got a tremendously talented cast. It's a lot of fun. It's one of those movies where if you if you watch it for the first time, you'll suddenly understand like 20 references you've been hearing your entire life, but you had no idea the genesis of them. You'll finally understand stuff like why people say this one goes to 11.

You know, it's just one of those movies where just like seeing it then reveals to you its place in the cultural zeitgeist and all of the things that it influenced. And then you you're like, it's one of those light bulb moments. You're like, oh, that's why they say that's why people say that. Oh, I get that. That's what people are referencing on top of it just being a really awesome movie. I haven't seen it in seven or eight years uh but the last time i saw it it held up pretty well so it probably still does today anyway now that i've talked a bunch about spinal tap i guess i should revise my earlier statement to say it wasn't that i couldn't get spinal tap out of my head it was that i couldn't get spinal taps drummers out of my head And if you've never seen the movie, this is going to be a minor spoiler. I apologize, but it's been out for like 45 fucking years.

So it should be okay. One of the bits in the film is that they have a revolving cast of drummers because their drummers that they hire keep dying in weird, unexplained ways. I think in the movie, throughout the course of the film, they reveal four drummers that have met suspicious ends or early ends, let's say. The first one, I have a little list here. The first one was John Stumpy Peppies, who died in a bizarre gardening accident that the authorities said was best left unsolved. The second drummer was Eric Stumpy Joe, who choked on vomit of unknown origin, perhaps, but not necessarily his own,

because you can't really dust for vomit. The third one was Peter James Bond, who spontaneously combusted on stage at a jazz festival. And then this other guy mick shrimpton who also exploded on stage spontaneously and so they were on like their fourth or fifth drummer in the film and i thought that was i don't know why but i just woke up thinking about that about about bands that have had a lot of members die early uh not of old age but just that have met untimely ends and i was thinking like is there another band out there like Spinal Tap who's legitimately had that many members die? And so I started reading a little bit about Spinal Tap

and I discovered something I didn't know. So I've understood since the mockumentary came out that Spinal Tap at some point bridged or crossed over from fictional band into legitimate real band. Like they played real music in the film, and it's pretty good. As a matter of fact, I'm going to add it to the playlist for this podcast, which, by the way, I should tell you, I've decided I'm going to make a playlist for the podcast on Spotify

that just throws up all the music and stuff that we talk about. So if you ever want to go hear it, just subscribe to that playlist on Spotify. And every time I talk about something interesting, I'll throw it up and then that way you can go find it easily. So I'll put some, I'll put some Spinal Tap songs up there. It's, let's call it So Alright. That'll be the name of the Spotify playlist. So you can search for me, Jeff L. Ramsey, it'll be in there. Or maybe you can just search for it. I don't know how Spotify works, but I'll make sure it's public. Anyway, so at some point, I guess the movie and the band was so revered and so kind of

beloved that they became a real band. Like they would show up and they would play shows every once in a while. And real musicians started to get involved with them like mick fleetwood dweezil zappa i think share uh joe satriani uh fucking oh slash like all these real musicians uh started to play with them and and like come in and join for sessions as as quote-unquote members of the band and i didn't i i knew that that happened but i didn't realize that that kind of kept the lore of Spinal Tap going, and they kind of continued to expand upon it and to build that universe

out. Which, by the way, how surreal must it be for a guy like Christopher Guest to create a fake heavy metal band in a movie that becomes so popular it becomes a real band and then not only does it get to become a real band but they get to play with people like share and slash like i gotta you gotta imagine a guy like chris or a guest wakes up every day of his life and goes how the fuck did i get here this is insane this is amazing like i can't think of anything cooler than than your fictional thing becoming so revered that it gets to become a real thing, and then it gets to play in the same waters as the most talented people that it was kind of lovingly sending up in the first place. found out like in the early 90s they released a uh like a another little mockumentary from like some live tour footage i guess i never saw it but i heard it was pretty funny and they continued to

make appearances on television as the band so guest would go on as as his character and going like the tonight show or whatever and as they did that they expanded the uh the lore kind of what i was getting at earlier they expanded the lore of the. And so from those four drummers who died, they added on, uh, which is, I think, fucking brilliant. So here's some more. Joe Mama Bester claimed he couldn't take this 4-4 shit, according to an MTV interview with Spinal Tap in November 1991. He disappeared along with his equipment during a Japanese tour. He is either dead or playing jazz. Richard Rick Shrimpton, who sold his dialysis machine for drugs and is presumed dead.

Sammy Stumpy Bateman, who died trying to jump over a tank full of sharks while on a tricycle in a freak show. That's a little dumb. Scott Skippy Scuffleton, whose fate is unknown. And Chris Papacado, who was eaten by his pet python Cleopatra.

And then it says, plus nine other drummers who have died at various times, all of whom are dead. So I think it's pretty funny that they continued that bit along. But anyway, to take it back to the point of this, when I woke up this morning, I couldn't get the idea out of my head of a band who had just suffered that kind of tragedy, but kept going. Unfortunately, lots of bands lose members. And if they choose to go on, I mean, fucking Queen is still a performing band now, right? I think they have Adam Lambert as their lead singer. That might be old information, but I do know Queen is like still a band. They lost Freddie Mercury. They still kept going. A lot of bands do that. But to lose like multiple

members, that's such a crazy concept. I decided to dive into today and try to find the band that had lost the most members to untimely demise, but has still continued. And that's not an easy thing to look up. I knew of a band already from my days in the punk world that had suffered a lot of unfortunate deaths of band members. And so I started there. But outside of them, I really couldn't find a lot of information about other bands that have lost multiple members and that are still going or that still went. Maybe they're not going now, but they continued after those members died, unfortunately. And if you know of any, please email me at jeff at ericsboss.com. That

is a real email address. It goes to Eric, and then he will pass it on to me. I would love to do more research. I'd love to find out more. I know this must have happened. I definitely, while couldn't find a lot, I definitely sparked a lot of other interesting questions, some other stuff that we'll get into. questions, some other stuff that we'll get into. or app. There are thousands of classes and over 50 Peloton instructors ready to support you from the beginning. Remember, doing something is everything. Rent the Peloton bike or bike plus today at onepeloton.ca slash bike slash rentals. All access memberships separate. Terms apply. Best Western made booking our family beach vacation a breeze, And it felt a little like... Life's a trip. make the most of it

at Best Western the band that I'm aware of was a band or maybe still is I don't know if they're still considered a functioning band or not looks like in 2019

they disbanded with no warning or formality. Most of the band members remain in other projects. That band is called Battalion of Saints. And if you are familiar with them, you know about them. If you're not familiar with them, they were a punk band from the early 80s who kind of similar in vein maybe to Misfits, but not as theatrical, horror-ish. More just like... Man, I don't even know how to describe them.

I'll throw a song or two up in the playlist, the So Alright playlist, so you can hear them. I definitely enjoyed them at times in my life, and I definitely have a couple songs that I dig. But in my experience, they were one of couple songs that i dig but in my experience they were one of those bands what's the best way i can say this they seemed like i liked edgy i liked horror elements i liked uh the fuck you attitude i appreciated a certain level of like nihilism and fuck you i'm gonna do what i. You can't tell me what to do kind of mentality

and attitude that really appeals to to us in our late teens, early 20s. And they definitely had that in spades. But they they always struck me as kind of like a kind of a heavy band, maybe not in sound, but just like in kind of tone and mood and vibe. I guess maybe the best way to describe them is I found them to be one of those bands that's kind of like aggressively self-destructive. There's a huge self-destructive vein that runs smack dab through the middle of the and every subset of the punk scene and the punk world. And there are bands that deal with it in a healthy way and there are bands that don't. And this is one of those bands that just like, they just seemed aggressive about it in a way that was kind of a turnoff to

me. I found a lot of the people, at least in my community and in the punk communities that I was a part of as I moved around the country in my youth, I found that the people who liked, who really liked them, who liked them a lot. And don't get me wrong, there was a point in my life when I considered getting a Battalion of Saints tattoo. I never did. I never liked them, who liked them a lot. And don't get me wrong, there was a point in my life when I considered getting a Battalion of Saints tattoo. I never did. I never liked them quite that much. I realized that before I got it. But there were people, the people that I knew

that were super, super into them were pretty dark and pretty violent and aggressively self-destructive. And I tried to kind of steer clear of those scenes because, man, it's easy to fall into that hole and it can be pretty hard to even want to climb out once you kind of give in to that world. So I always kind of tried to avoid it and keep it at arm's length. But anyway, the band suffered a lot, a lot, a lot of tragedy. And there may be bands out there that suffered more, but this one definitely suffered a bunch. First off, this is one of those bands too, that has had a million

members. Like I'm looking at their discography on Wikipedia and there are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. And there are 24 past members listed. Pretty fucking significant for a punk band to have 24 past members. And of those past members, I am aware of four of them that have died. One of their guitarists overdosed. One of their members committed suicide. Another member died of health problems related to drug abuse. And then a fourth one died of aids and so terrible terrible tragedy and the band continued clearly because they had over 20 members at different points i don't think they ever had more than four at a time just a horrible horrible amount of loss and and tragedy surrounding this one band and maybe they're the most although i guess spinal tap no i'll say

fictionally i know they're a real band now but all their dead members are fictional so outside of battalion of saints i don't i couldn't find really any information and actually even google searching didn't find me the battalion of saints information i just knew it if i hadn't known it i i don't know that i would have gotten there on my own today but if you're aware of any other bands that have suffered that kind of loss and kept going i would would really love to hear about them and read about them and check out their music. Because I think it's just kind of like, I can't imagine having to triumph over that kind of pain and loss. And it's fascinating to me that some people are able to do it and keep going. So I was pretty disappointed that I couldn't really...

That sounds really terrible. I wasn't disappointed that there are not other bands out there where people have died. I was just disappointed that if there are, I couldn't find them. I don't want anybody to die. Let me put that on the record. I'm on the record right here. I don't want anybody to die ever. I'm not looking for that. But in the course, I got to thinking about how ridiculous it was that that band Battalion of Saints had had 24 members. And that got me thinking, what band has had the most members in their career? I started looking into that and it gets a little wild.

Black Sabbath has had 27 different band members. Leonard Skinner has also had 27 band members. Quiet Riot, of all bands, has had 27 members. Leonard Skinner has also had 27 band members. Quiet Riot, of all bands, has had 27 members. Heart had 29. Whitesnake, if you remember fucking Whitesnake, somehow they had 41 different band members throughout their history. And then Santana, who I always viewed was viewed as like a dude with a jam band he had 68 so those are a lot but not nearly as much as george clinton and the p-funk all-stars or the p-funk collective which counts a roster of 189 total members of the p-funk collective including 23 different bands so i don't know if you can count that as one band but even if you can't, the fact that Whitesnake had 41 members, like Jesus Christ,

that got me thinking, if you've had 41, is it just like a spinal tap thing where you're just replacing drummers left and right? Or have you cycled through so many different band members throughout the history of the band that there are no, maybe only one or maybe even possibly no original members left in the band, which is a fascinating idea to me. I remember there was a punk band years and years ago called Unwritten Law, who at one point I think only had one or maybe even not any original members. I think they have some original members now.

And I was always kind of blown away by that, the idea that like it could be an entirely I mean, if you think about it, it makes sense if you want the band to continue. And then like you have eras in bands when members leave and then new members come in and then they bring a new creative energy into it and then they assume some of the identity of the band through their creative efforts and then those people can become leaders

and then as other people move on. I can see the transfer of ownership and power as it goes on. It's just wild to think about a band that starts with three or four people having a career, and then someday down the road, that band is still going, but none of those people are in it. So I looked that up, and there's a lot. There are a lot of bands who are still going or still went who didn't have any of their original members. I'm going to list a few. The Blood Brothers apparently just passed the torch to new people. If you've ever heard of the band Christian Death,

they went for a while after they lost all their original members. I think by 1985, all the original members of the kind of popular band Fang were gone, and they kept going. GWAR, of all bands, the last original member was Davecky uh you know him as odorous unungus he died in 2014 that's very sad and so guar continued he was the last original member of that the uh have you ever heard the band in flames they don't have any of their original members left the kingsmen have had a billion members apparently nowhere near the original lineup molly hatchett napalm death it kind of

surprised sepultura tsol the velvet underground yes like their last original member uh chris squire he died in 2015 and they're still going so there are a surprising number of bands who are still going strong or who continued to go strong with no original members i think that's kind of cool i think i like that i think that's kind of cool. I think I like that. I think that's neat. Like, could you imagine you joined a band in their second year? You know, the original guitar player decided to go off to college and he quit the band and then you join and suddenly you take off and then you have a 20 year or a 15 year career. It's your band at that point, just because you weren't there for day one.

I mean, you've been there along all of the growth and the work and you've put in the hours. I think it's cool that you can pass a band on through its members as they come and go. I think that's kind of a neat concept. And that got me thinking, I wonder what band has been going the longest, like consistently started and still plugging away. Like what's the longest running active band? I thought it was probably going to be something like the Rolling Stones. I looked it up. They've been going for 61 straight years. But it turns out the pop band, the Searchers, who you might remember from like Love Potion number nine, they've been going consistently for 66 years.

So I think that might be the band in pop culture who's been going the longest. Definitely going to add a couple of searcher songs to the playlist. So be sure to check them out if you want to know what they sound like. They're classics. In researching them, I stumbled on something that's kind of fascinating and I guess makes total sense and I should have probably, probably should have, my mind should have probably gone there immediately, but it didn't. America's oldest continually active professional music organization is older than our nation's capital. The United States Marine Band was founded by an act of Congress, and then it was signed by, into being by fucking president at the time, John Adams, in 1798. So I think DC became capital like probably two years, two or three years 1798. So I think DC became capital like probably two or three years

after that. So I guess they're the clear winner, longest active band, and probably most band members. And obviously, they're clearly number one in every category we've discovered today. So congratulations to the US Marine Band on sticking it out for well over 200 years. So congratulations to the U.S. Marine Band on sticking it out for well over 200 years. That got me thinking, I wonder who the longest performing actor or actress is in Hollywood, like somebody who's been going for 60, 70, 80 years. I would have thought it was Betty White until she died. So I looked it up and it is apparently June Lockhart, who was born on June 25th, almost my birthday, 1925. She began her film career

in the very early 1930s. She was in A Christmas Carol. She was in Meet Me in St. Louis. She was in Lost in Space. She was in Lassie. She was in Petticoat Junction. You probably don't know what that is, but that was an old sitcom from the 60s. She has a pretty ridiculous resume here. Did her first television show in 1949, her first movie in 1938. Her most recent film was 2019, Bonji Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm. Her most recent television appearance was in 2021. She played the voice of Alpha Control in Lost in Space, I guess as an homage to her original role in the show. That's pretty fucking cool. She was also in Cold Case recently. She was in Grey's Anatomy not too long ago. She was in Beverly Hills 90210 in the 90s. She's been in Babylon 5. She was an amazing story. She was in Pound Puppies. She was in Full House. She's been in

so much. Falcon Crest. Oh, I wonder if she was in Dallas. She was never Full House. She's been in so much. Falcon Crest, Knot's Landing. Oh, I wonder if she was in Dallas. She was never in Dallas, but she was in Knot's Landing, which is a Dallas spinoff. That's pretty fucking cool. She was in Murder, She Wrote. She was in Magnet PI. God damn, she was in the Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Anyway, so congratulations to 98-year-old June Lockhart, who has been appearing in film and television, probably theater before this, but has been appearing in film and television since at least 1938. That's, let's see, 85 solid years of acting. That kind of boggles the mind, doesn't it? That's absolutely insane. I'm going to go look up and watch some old June Lockhart films or television shows now in homage to her incredible run in Hollywood.

That's pretty fucking fantastic. Hats off to her. All right.