Robin Zander - Best Rock Singer!?

[tedsingingfox]

[tomaragon]

I think both singers are great!I’ve always enjoyed Paul Rodgers soulful voice.He’s always sort of reminded me of a preacher in a gospel church urging the congregation to “Feel Good”.He can still belt it out pretty good for 58!Queen and Paul Rodgersand here are some very old clips of the band Free when they were obviously just kids in their early 20’s. Very Raw stuff here.....Mr. BigAll Right Now

[elser]

I was attending a rather infamous music school in Hollywood about 10 years ago. While sitting outside studying, this long haired blond dude sits down next me and starts chatting away. I was kind of busy so I just fed him a steady stream of one syllable words like 'hmm' and 'oh'. After awhile he got the message and walked off.About an hour later I walked into the school building, there's a stage right when you walk in, and there was Cheap Trick on stage and the blond dude talking to me turned out to be Robin Zander. So I felt like a stuck up prig and it turns out Robin Zander is a really nice guy.And ya, he's definitely under rated as a singer, I think all the players in that band are. Great songs and what a killer image, two nerds and two rockers.Elser

[ernstinen]

Quote:I was attending a rather infamous music school in Hollywood about 10 years ago. While sitting outside studying, this long haired blond dude sits down next me and starts chatting away. I was kind of busy so I just fed him a steady stream of one syllable words like 'hmm' and 'oh'. After awhile he got the message and walked off.About an hour later I walked into the school building, there's a stage right when you walk in, and there was Cheap Trick on stage and the blond dude talking to me turned out to be Robin Zander. So I felt like a stuck up prig and it turns out Robin Zander is a really nice guy.And ya, he's definitely under rated as a singer, I think all the players in that band are. Great songs and what a killer image, two nerds and two rockers.Great story! That "infamous school" wouldn't be Musicians Institute, would it by any chance!? I've known so many people that have gone there --- G.I.T., B.I.T. --- Is there a P.I.T.? I knew a great singer who I met at the National Academy of Songwriters down in Hollywood, and he asked me to play lead guitar and piano for some showcases he was doing. Man, the guy had a great voice, and a classic frontman image to boot. So we started rehearsing, and he decided to bring in a young Japanese guitarist who came from G.I.T. to play some rhythm guitar. This kid had chops to burn, but he played through some goofy digital Zoom unit with tons of effects built in. He could get any sound in the world out of this thing, but it sounded so, er, PROCESSED. So here I am with a '63 Strat plugged into a Soldano half stack with a Boss chorus pedal and a Vox wah wah. Basic old school tube amp/guitar setup. --- After a few rehearsals, the young guitarist asked me "Man, HOW do you get your sound? It's fantastic!" ------- Well, Grasshopper, a nice sounding guitar, a quality tube amp, and a guitar cable to plug the two together. Grasshopper goes "Wow, cool man!"But anyway, I digress --- weren't we talking about Robin Zander? Ern

[tomaragon]

Robin is definitely under rated.I saw Cheap Trick in the late 70's at the Santa Cruz Civic in Ca.Great, great Show............ Also I'd say Cheap Trick has to be in the top 4 for "the loudest performance" I have ever witnessed! The other 3 loudest bands were ZZ Top , Blue Cheer and The Steve Vai Band.Steve Vai's band didn't seem so loud at the time because the sound quality was so clear and your ears can take a lot more when the sound is pristine. However, my ears literally rang for two solid days and I was very concerned that I'd "finally did it".Fortunately they gradually went back to normal.

[elser]

Quote:[quote author=fretnoise board=general thread=1207919540 post=1208083065]So here I am with a '63 Strat plugged into a Soldano half stack with a Boss chorus pedal and a Vox wah wah. Basic old school tube amp/guitar setup. --- After a few rehearsals, the young guitarist asked me "Man, HOW do you get your sound? It's fantastic!" ------- Well, Grasshopper, a nice sounding guitar, a quality tube amp, and a guitar cable to plug the two together. Grasshopper goes "Wow, cool man!"But anyway, I digress --- weren't we talking about Robin Zander? Ern Hey Ern, ya that was the school. It gets a bit of a bad reputation, I think undeservedly. There's no substitute for talent and experience(and good gear), but if you need to learn things like theory and technique, a school, almost any school, is a good place to learn it. Oh ya, and Robin Zander rocks!Elser

[ernstinen]

Quote:Also I'd say Cheap Trick has to be in the top 4 for "the loudest performance" I have ever witnessed! The other 3 loudest bands were ZZ Top , Blue Cheer and The Steve Vai Band.I never saw Cheap Trick live, but I saw ZZ Top at an outdoor concert a few years ago here in L.A., and they sounded great --- not too loud, but then again it WAS outside.Wasn't Blue Cheer's claim to fame that they were "The Loudest Band In The World!?" I never saw them or the MC5, but I wouldn't doubt they cranked it up to 11. I did road crew for RUSH one night in Kalamazoo, and had a backstage pass. That allowed me to go under the stage, and I watched them from between the fence (that keeps the crowd back) and the stage. THAT was loud, but then again I was about 20 feet away from 4 Hi-Watt stacks! They were REALLY good, though.The BEST live sound I ever heard was when Steely Dan began touring again about 10 years ago. It was at a great outdoor theater east of L.A., and the sound was perfect! It sounded like the most expensive stereo system you've ever heard. Man, Donald Fagen is a genius. They were fantastic!The WORST loud band I've seen was when I first moved to L.A. and wanted to see how the hard rock bands compared to the Michigan bands. I saw a "show" where the opening band had a lead guitarist that used about 10 white plastic speaker horns that were stacked about 20 feet wide and 20 feet high, with 5 Marshall heads. You couldn't even HEAR the rhythm guitarist, who played through a full Marshall stack. Yuk! Then the headliner came out: Motley Crue. Loud, and just terrible. Wow! Ern

[silvercord]

Hey Ern... im a generation younger, but if you dont mind, i'd like togive props to folks that have changed my life growing up in music......Mike Patton(faith no more, mr bungle)he woke up me to the talent of the voice~(ok im being a dork slipping this in..but if you want to heara really talented singer listen to Matt Kelly from a band in L.A. called "the autumns")...he has made the most lovely bittersweet melodiesand i dont need to say it ..as it should go without saying...butJeff Buckley...nuf' said, knowwhatimeanErn?

[hookstownbrown]

I saw Cheap Trick in a 5000 seat auditorium in the late 70's.We drove 70 miles each way -- back then, a long haul -- and were treated to great sound, and a flawless performance... Nothing short of a great show! For me, the best live sound would have to go to Kansas. I saw them probably 20 times in different venues around the area... Yeah, I was and still am a major fan... They consistently delivered on the audio, and also the performance.Brad Delp... Saw him live and he delivered bigtime... Another great rock vocalist.Rush was another band that we stalked... Ern, I would have killed for backstage passes to a Rush concert. I knew every note of Lifeson's first four albums. Geddy Lee fried his voice early on, but I don't think Rush would have become so big had he backed off. They were great live.I always looked for bands who sounded at least as good live, than on vinyl. That was my thing. Blue Cheer... Never saw them, bit I heard the same claim to fame. Loud ain't always a good thing. They never got any airplay in Pgh.Who has heard Ian Gillan live? I wonder if he could hit those studio notes...