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Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Edgy MD Jan 03 2020 12:30 PM

So, I may have mentioned this two years ago or so, but while I was having a back-'n'-forth in a Facebook power pop appreciation book, I realize I recognize the name of the guy I'm going back and forth with. It's Vinnie Zummo, the guitarist in Joe Jackson's backing band after he stopped touring with the original Joe Jackson Band. He's only a big shot by the standards of the geekiest Joe Jackson geeks, but for much of my life, that would have been one of the first descriptions a friend would offer up about me. So I let Vinnie know, "Oh, hey, I know who you are." He's flattered. He's still a working sideman, studio and touring, making his own progressive records, playing every instrument. And he friends me. Cool, I'm friends with the guy who played on Joe Jackson's 7th-11th albums! But you know he rarely posts, but today he did. Apparently legendary session bass player Carol Kaye is in the news a lot lately, because she's become a really cranky old lady, and she's currently cranky about the character based on her in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, created without her permission. Vinnie shared that he had a nice little online correspondence going with Ms. Kaye, and it was great, until he used the term "Wrecking Crew," which apparently is like saying "cleaning woman" around Steve Martin. "Wrecking Crew" was a name coined by Hal Blaine and it seems she and Hal had a decades-long hate thing going that didn't even quite end with Hal's death in March. Her response was a six-page screed filled with all-caps ranting, at the end of which she unfriended the guy. Poor Vinnie. Don't mess with the old ladies. The first guy who reads that responds "Hal wasn't a fan of hers, either. based on what I've heard from other players, I would tend to side with Hal on this one." I'm about to respond with something neutral like, "Well, I'm not sure I need to pick a side between a grouchy old lady and a dead guy," and I realize the guy I'm typing to is Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, Weird Al's longtime drummer. The Internet's strange. But who would be a better non-famous famous guy to have an online bickerfest with than Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz?

Benjamin Grimm Jan 03 2020 12:39 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Edgy MD wrote: But who would be a better non-famous famous guy to have an online bickerfest with than Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz? I would suggest Joseph P. Goryeb, although sadly, he's dead at the present time. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E0FGyrfMUbM/hqdefault.jpg> "When your bank says no, Champion says yes!"

Johnny Lunchbucket Jan 03 2020 12:59 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

I just looked up Vinnie Zummo and see where in addition to Edgy, he and I have 3 additional mutual fb pals, including the lead singer of the TallBoys of 1991 Star Search fame.

Lefty Specialist Jan 03 2020 02:13 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Edgy MD wrote: But who would be a better non-famous famous guy to have an online bickerfest with than Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz? I would suggest Joseph P. Goryeb, although sadly, he's dead at the present time. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E0FGyrfMUbM/hqdefault.jpg> "When your bank says no, Champion says yes!" Or perhaps George Zimmer, founder and former CEO of of Men's Wearhouse. He likes the way you look, which could make it difficult to argue with him. https://starcasm.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Youre-going-to-like-the-way-you-look.-I-guarantee-it.jpg>

Fman99 Jan 03 2020 06:48 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

These are big shots? Jeez. The bar is low nowadays.

Edgy MD Jan 03 2020 10:36 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

YOU WISH you could get into an online dustup with Bermuda Schwartz. Show some RESPECT for the man who gave you the groundbreaking rhythm tracks for "I Lost on Jeopardy" and "I Think I'm a Clone Now." Also, LOOK at these assholes in the audience refusing to be rocked. [YOUTUBE]awhKLysayiY[/YOUTUBE]

Lefty Specialist Jan 04 2020 05:19 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Kind of an Elvis Costello vibe going on there. And Ed McMahon! Was looking for crumpled cans of Bud on the corner of the set but didn't find any.

whippoorwill Jan 04 2020 08:09 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

I, for one, am impressed with Joe Jackson's drummer. Steppin' ouuu—t...

Edgy MD Jan 04 2020 12:06 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

His drummer on that track was augmented by the dynamite percussionist Sue Hodjopoulos, who subsequently stuck with him for like 25 years. I saw her backing him twice and she totally stole the show both times. [YOUTUBE]-stf0rmbOXw[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]g3jnC-DfirQ[/YOUTUBE]

Edgy MD Jan 10 2020 06:15 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Bad Brains frontman Paul "HR" Hudson is my neighbor in Charles Village, Baltimore.

Lefty Specialist Jan 10 2020 09:04 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020 Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 10 2020 01:05 PM

Lefty Jr met Adam Schiff in DC, shook his hand and told him to watch out for lawsuits. Schiff laughed and said he would. Jr said it was a panic moment and it was the only thing he could think of to say.

Willets Point Jan 10 2020 09:17 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Edgy MD wrote: Bad Brains frontman Paul "HR" Hudson is my neighbor in Charles Village, Baltimore. I guess he was Banned in D.C.

LWFS Jan 13 2020 09:18 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Met astronaut/MLBS Mike Massimino at my daughter's school today. Could NOT get a selfie, owing to time constraints (and, if we're being frank, my being the only parent chaperone actually wrangling difficult kids, instead of angling for selfies/fussing with phones). Solid dude, who handles poop-related questions with real aplomb. https://www.propertyinnovationsummit.com/images/speaker/2018/mike-massimino.jpg >

Edgy MD Jan 14 2020 08:08 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Really, can you imagine anybody else with a job like that? It takes not only high technical proficiency, but a fantastic memory, and a ton of courage and discipline and self-sacrifice, and all anybody wants to ask you are the low-brow questions — poopin' and pissin' and fartin' and fuckin'.

LWFS Jan 16 2020 09:01 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

To be fair, these were 8-12 y/o kids, mostly. To be really fair, I was totally wondering about the poop thing, too.

Edgy MD Jan 16 2020 09:17 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

It's 2020. We all 8-12-year-old kids.

Fman99 Jan 22 2020 10:35 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Sometimes you run into someone and you only know that they are in fact a big shot* because your friends recognize them. I spent this past weekend in Palm Bay, FL, with a couple who I know through my local run club, who relocated to Florida at the end of 2018. It was a nice visit, a surprise to my friend John that his wife Brandi and I planned with the (successful) intent of surprising him by showing up on a Friday for a weekend of running, beers, sunrises and sunsets and generally pleasant times. My friend John works Fridays through Sundays at the Renninger's Flea Market in Palm Bay, in support of his business of pool table-related services (installing, relocating, refinishing, buying & selling etc.). He was at work, Sunday morning, and Brandi and I were driving over there to have lunch with him. As we pulled in to the flea market parking lot, my friend Brandi got very excited when she spotted Janet from last season's "Survivor." Her and her husband are both big fans of the show, and they were very happy to talk to her about how she had played the game and how they had rooted for her as the "local" favorite (she is a lifeguard and also resides in Palm Bay). Me? Meh. I loathe Survivor. LOATHE IT. It's really just months of nothing, gabbing on and on about alliances and teaming up and their stupid challenges. And whining about all of their self-imposed absences of creature comforts. Plus, the host is a big winded jackass. Plus, also some more, it's a fucking game show. They're not surviving anything. There are cameras and crews everywhere. It's a game show. Would you watch the same 15 idiots from an episode of the Price is Right for four months? Oh, wait, you mean, that'd be boring? FUCK YES IT WOULD. So I told her, in as friendly a way as I could, that while I personally didn't watch Survivor, my wife and kids did regularly (a sore point at my house), and that they would be excited to know that I had met her. It was about as nice a gesture as I could whip up.

Johnny Lunchbucket Jan 22 2020 11:02 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

I like survivor, most seasons anyway: This one was loaded with awful people and hot girls voted off too early so didn;t get into it much. Janet however was one of the few likeable cast members from this recent season; stood up alone in support of a cast member wierded out by a borderline sex offender and whom the other risible candidates only saw as an easy contestant to argue against at the end, while voting out the sympathetic victim.

Edgy MD Jan 22 2020 11:29 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Listen, Brandi, I own every Survivor album and I'm telling you that THAT chick was never in the band.

seawolf17 Jan 22 2020 11:45 AM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

We are absolutely Survivor appointment viewers in our house, and we were all Janet fans. I think you said the right thing.

Lefty Specialist Jan 22 2020 12:36 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

=LWFS post_id=29834 time=1579190465 user_id=84] To be fair, these were 8-12 y/o kids, mostly. To be really fair, I was totally wondering about the poop thing, too.

Soooooooo.....what's the poop on the poop? Baggies in the airlock? Recycling for plant experiments? Massive doses of Imodium? Diaper Genies?

41Forever Jan 22 2020 01:13 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

I love Survivor, but last season was the first I could never get around to watching. The whole season is on my DVR, and I don't know whether to try to binge before the start of the next season or just delete and move on to the next one.

Johnny Lunchbucket Jan 22 2020 02:40 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

It was a a bad season. w/o too many spoilers there were only a few admirable players, and even they were sketchy and stupid at times. Not to mention the brand itself which completely botched addressing an obvious #MeToo event that happened in full view after which Probst "apologized" by patting himself on the back for how Survivor reflected The Times We Live In Today. This was NOT like when Trans Zack got outed.

seawolf17 Jan 22 2020 02:43 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

I thought the season started with a lot of promise, and did try to tackle some bigger societal issues that arose. Unfortunately, they fumbled them in the context of and in service of the game, which really sucked.

LWFS Jan 22 2020 08:13 PM Re: Big Shot Encounters in 2020

Lefty Specialist wrote: To be fair, these were 8-12 y/o kids, mostly. To be really fair, I was totally wondering about the poop thing, too. Soooooooo.....what's the poop on the poop? Baggies in the airlock? Recycling for plant experiments? Massive doses of Imodium? Diaper Genies? He emphasized how important proper alignment was, since the toilet they used had a four-inch opening; there was practice before leaving for space, using an in-toilet cam. He also mentioned straps for the thighs, and an "Easy Rider" posture. It sounded... involved. (Apparently, the ISS has it easier, with powerful vacuum suckage, and less need for anal archery.)