Aaron and Santa Cruz

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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:33 am

I am going to fast forward a little and I'll circle back around.
I’m working at KGRG and I get a few Goodness demos. Carrie Akre had been the singer in Hammerbox. Hammerbox did a lovely song called “If 3 was 2”. Fantastic. Carrie was a powerhouse. I’m not gonna lie, she intimidated me. I had her and Danny in and they played acoustic a couple times live on the air. We went on to play songs from their debut record more than any other band that year. I loved them. They were a little poppy but also had a darker side. Their secret weapon was the bass player Fiia McGann. Fiia could sing and play. Her delivery was perfect. Even with Carrie in the band, Fiia was compelling. They go on to sign with Atlantic records and take their self-released debut with them. I was hired at Immortal and moved to Hollywood.
Immortal was a small label and had a cluster of tiny offices just off Robertson in West Hollywood. I shared an office space with my co-worker Rick G and my boss Pontius. We listened to music all day and I would play the Goodness CD a lot. Finally one day Pontius asks me who we are listening to. He liked Goodness.
Goodness does just that one record, their self-released debut that Atlantic bought when they signed them and they were dropped.
By this time we had moved to brand new offices in Santa Monica. The spoils of having multiplatinum artists on the label. As soon as I found out I rushed to Pontius’s office and told him they had been released. By now I was working as a scout for Immortal. Yes, I started in promotions and was suddenly doing my dream job, scouting bands for a record label. I signed Goodness to Immortal Records.

This all ties together…I promise…
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:37 am

I'm trying to write this more like a love letter. I certainly don't want to come across as bragging. I'm reminiscing. Its been fun for me and a little therapeutic. I'm old now. Far, far removed from the life I am typing about. But it happened. And thinking back on it has been a lot of fun. I have wondered how narcissistic is this? But its been fun and I'm just going to keep going...
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby VicSpeed » Wed Aug 27, 2014 6:27 am

Thanks a lot for sharing this.

Awesome memories. :)
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby norman-grunge » Wed Aug 27, 2014 9:27 pm

Love the story how you heard Black for the very first time. It's the same thing for me when I heard Black for the first time. Love it...
One hand will wash the other!
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Thu Aug 28, 2014 4:17 am

I’m sitting at a coffee shop at the bottom of Queen Anne with a friend. Up skates Jeff. Yes, the bass player in the world’s biggest band, the man who wrote Jeremy, skateboards up to the coffee shop. He recognizes my friend and he sits with us for a few minutes. It wasn’t long after 911 and he was talking about how he thought that would affect the tour they were planning. He talked about buying some land in Montana and how his apartment or condo or something seemed really small.

Then he looked at me. “Do I know you? You look familiar” he says to me.

I was a familiar face but we had never actually met. He had seen me around and credit to him that he actually acknowledged it, of course he just might have been just being polite. I didn’t want to sit there and list every moment we had been in the same room together, although I might have been able to if I was pressed.

“I’m one of the million faces you’ve rocked,” I said to him. We all laughed.

And that was it, he skated off back out into the city.
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Thu Aug 28, 2014 8:00 am

Here is my list of PJ shows that I attended. In some cases I have the hard ticket, in others I have a pass, but for some I was on a list and have no ticket or pass. In the early shows, there were no tickets issued, you just paid the 5 bucks at the door. A couple of these shows I have already written about here and many of them I can't recall enough about to even write anything about...

1. Nov 22 1990 Offramp, Inspector Luv, Bathtub Gin
2. Feb 1, 1991 Offramp, with Alice In Chains
3. Feb 25 1991 Offramp, with Alice In Chains
4. May 17 1991 Offramp,
5. July 4 1991, RKCNDY Bathtub Gin
6. August 3, 1991 RKCNDY
7. August 19, 1991 RKCNDY TEN Record release party...just a party, the band didn't play
8. August 23, 1991 Seattle Center Mural Ampitheater, Seattle...free show
9. August 29, 1991 RKCNDY ASCAP showcase
10. Sep 9 1991 RKCNDY
11. Sep 29 1991 Satyricon, Portland OR
12. Jan 3, 1992 RKCNDY
13. Jan 17 1992 Moore Theater Even Flow filmed
14. May 17 1992 Roseland Ballroom, Portland
15. July 22 1992 Lollapalooza, Bremerton WA
16. Sep 20 1992 Drop in the Park, Magnusson Park Seattle
17. June 6 1993 The Met, Spokane WA
18. Sep 5, 1993 George WA opening for Neil Young, with Blind Melon
19. Oct 25 1993 Offramp “secret show”
20. Dec 7, 1993 Seattle Center Arena
21. Dec 8 1993 Seattle Center Arena
22. Dec 9 1993 Seattle Center Arena,
23. Oct 1, 1994 Bridge School Benefit, Shoreline Amphitheater Mountainview CA
24. Feb 5 1995 Moore Theater, Seattle Fan Club show
25. Feb 8 1995 Adams Fieldhouse, Missoula MT
26. April 29, 1995 Mad Season, Moore Theater
27. Sep 14 1996 Showbox, Seattle
28. Sep 16 1996 Key Arena, Seattle
29. Oct 19 1996 Bridge School Benefit,Shoreline Amphitheater Mountainview CA
30. Nov 11 1997 Catalyst Club, Santa Cruz CA, warm up for the Stones
31. June 20, 1998 Grizzly Stadium, Missuola MT with Goodness
32. June 21, 1998 The Canyons, Park City Utah with Goodness
33. July 7 1998 Thomas & Mack Center, Vegas
34. July 13 1998 The Forum, LA CA
35. July 14 1998 The Forum, LA CA
36. Oct 31, 1999 Bridge School Benefit, Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountainview CA
37. Oct 22, 2000 MGM Grand Vegas 10th Anniversary Show
38. Oct 28 2000 Blockbuster Pavilion, Anaheim
39. Oct 31 2000 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountainview CA
40. Nov 5 2000 Key Arena, Seattle
41. Nov 6 2000 Key Arena Seattle
42. Nov 20 2001 Bridge School Benefit Shoreline Amphitheater, Mointainview CA
43. Nov 22 2001 Key Arena, Seattle
44. Dec 5 2002 Showbox, Seattle
45. Dec 6 2001 Showbox Seattle
46. Dec 8 2002 Key Arena Seattle
47. Dec 9 2002 Key Arena Seattle
48. Oct 22 2003 Benaroya Hall, Seattle
49. Sep 9 2004 Showbox Seattle
50. Sep 1 2005 The Gorge, George WA
51. Sep 2 2005 GM Place Vancouver BC
52. July 23 2006 The Gorge, George WA
53. July 24 2006 The Gorge, George WA
54. Sep 21 2009 Key Arena Seattle
55. Dec 4 2013 Rogers Arena, Vancouver BC

My number of shows, 55, is not that high compared to many PJ fans. But my number of 23 would have been pretty impressive in 1993.
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby LostRebel » Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:18 am

MLB.MB.PJ wrote:1. Nov 22 1990 Offramp, Inspector Luv, Bathtub Gin
26. April 29, 1995 Mad Season, Moore Theater
My number of shows, 55, is not that high compared to many PJ fans. But my number of 23 would have been pretty impressive in 1993.


It's not about the number of shows... It's about the shows! Like the two shows listed above!!!

Great stories, really enjoyed reading! Looking forward for new ones! :)
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Thu Aug 28, 2014 5:14 pm

I think I will remove that Mad Season show because it wasnt a pj show
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby arq » Thu Aug 28, 2014 5:19 pm

MLB.MB.PJ wrote:I think I will remove that Mad Season show because it wasnt a pj show


:shock: I need a time machine...
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Thu Aug 28, 2014 9:11 pm

31. June 20, 1998 Grizzly Stadium, Missuola MT with Goodness
32. June 21, 1998 The Canyons, Park City Utah with Goodness

I have established how much I loved Mother Love Bone and a little bit on how I fell in love with Pearl Jam. I should note that I could not love Temple of the Dog more, although this was really just a side project and not really a band. Soundgarden and Alice in Chains were both amazing too. And what can I say about Nirvana? Mudhoney was the one band of what I will call “The Big Five” that I didn’t really like as much. I loved “Touch Me I’m Sick”, it was perfect for me at that time of my life. Rebellious, dangerous, loud, in-your-face, and bombastic. But full records, and for that matter full shows, I liked but I didn’t LOVE. And I did what I could with my limited resources as a young man, just barely 21 years old, to see the bands I loved live. Ticket prices are not what they are now. I feel bad for young people today. The last time I saw PJ (last Dec in Vancouver BC) the ticket price was over $80. Soundgarden (with Nine Inch Nails) was over $100. A very large difference from the $25 tickets I paid for as a young man, or to take it even further, the $5 charge at the door of many clubs shows. Yes, I eventually followed my passion and worked in the music industry and was able to weasel my way into my fair share of shows for free, but I still bought tickets to bands I wanted to see.

But back to the point, I loved Pearl Jam and I think I have made that evident. I eventually worked for a record company and had the opportunity to work with a Seattle band called “Goodness”. I could say a lot about this experience. I was young and made some mistakes. My boss wanted Goodness to hire a “name” producer, the band wanted to use their hometown guy. I should have fought more for the hometown guy. The “name”guy was hired. When the recording was done, I should have fought harder for a couple songs to be included in the final release. They weren’t included. I shouldn’t have been so intimidated by the singer. I should have fought harder to be a part of the Rockfords record, I doubt it would have done any good, but I should have at least tried. I believed in Goodness so much. I thought they had great songs and that they were great people. And I should thank them for the experience. Not many people have that kind of experience and I am thankful for it. I might tell a couple of my favorite stories from this time, but none will touch this…

Again, I love Pearl Jam. One of my all time favorites. I wore that love on my sleeve. I made no excuses and I put on no masks to hide it. And I started working with Goodness and we put out their record “Anthem”. Just after its release and because of their relationship with Mike, they opened two shows for Pearl Jam in 1998. The band I was working with opening for my favorite band! I know I had the experience a few years earlier of my roommates band opening for them in clubs. But this was somehow different. I had worked my ass off to get into that position. Sure some of it was luck, but luck is just the residue of hard work and putting yourself in the right place at the right time and being prepared for it when it happens. Again, this was different. My favorite band! The band I was working with! I went to both shows they opened, in MT and UT, with some bounce in my step. I had been backstage to other shows before, even other PJ shows before. But these two shows I actually belonged there. I was working! How cool is that? I was WORKING. Getting paid to do this. And that reason is why that was a special moment in my life.
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Thu Aug 28, 2014 9:51 pm

5. July 4 1991, RKCNDY Bathtub Gin

I remember this show vividly. But the biggest thing that happened at this show was that Mike handed me a 3 song cassette with “Alive” “Wash” and “I’ve Got a Feeling” on it. I cannot tell you the amount of time me and my friends listened to this 3 song cassette over the next few weeks. It was the ONLY recorded music from PJ we had available to us. It was nearly two months before the release of Ten. We listened to it constantly. Three songs. Over and over...

Mind you, we did not know the Vedder backstory. The only backstory I knew was Mother Love Bone and Andy dying before Apple came out. I owned Love Bone’s “Apple” and the Temple CD. That was my backstory at that point. Thats what I knew. So because of this, “Alive” had an odd spin. Try, for a moment, to put that in perspective. In many peoples cases, Alive came first. Temple of the Dog was released before Ten but no one outside of Seattle really paid attention to it until Ten and Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger were released and climbing the charts. Most people didn’t, and lets face it still don’t, even know about Mother Love Bone. Because Mother Love Bone ended and Temple of the Dog was recorded because Andy Wood had died. THAT is the perspective I had and for the first few months I listened to “Alive” and why it held a different meaning to me. It wasn’t until Cameron Crowes article about them for the cover story in Rolling Stone that I learned Eddie’s story and why that song was written. Then it had a whole new meaning for me, although Eddie’s perspective of the song was really the only one all along.

Plus I am a GIANT Beatles fan and the cassette included the “I’ve Got a Feeling” cover. That helped fuel my fire a lot. Then there was “Wash”.

“Alive” had an odd spin, as I stated. “I’ve got a feeling” was a cover of my favorite band (which also included a reference to Andy Wood, that helped too). But “Wash” was the song I latched onto from that cassette. The noodling guitars I had loved so much in Love Bone. The understated vocals until you get to the end where Eddie just implores “WASH my love, WASH my, WASH my love”. I wrote earlier how much of an affect “Black” had on me, but it wasn’t on the cassette. It was a song I had only heard live. These songs I could listen to over and over again (and I did) as much as I wanted (and I did). So “Wash” became my song. I still put it in my top five PJ songs.

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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Fri Aug 29, 2014 8:57 am

Alice In Chains "Dirt". Massive record. It was a revelation is what it was. Look, this is the truth about “Dirt”. These are the records that Alice In Chains’ contemporaries released AFTER Facelift was released…

08/21/90 Alice In Chains – Facelift
08/21/90 Janes Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
04/16/91Temple of the Dog
05/28/91 Smashing Pumpkins – Gish
08/23/91 Nirvana – Nevermind
08/27/91 Pearl Jam – Ten
09/24/91 Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik
10/08/91 Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger
03/21/92 Alice In Chains – Sap (EP)
06/30/92 Singles Soundtrack
09/29/92 Alice in Chains – Dirt

That’s a heavy list to follow. I included the Smashing Pumpkins, RHCP and Janes because really? How couldn’t I? Look at the list…sure they released Sap a few months before Dirt, but it was an EP and by no means opened the door for what Dirt was. “Would?” was the single from the Singles soundtrack that was released a few months before Dirt. But even “would?” didn’t show the intensity that was coming.

Nine monster records released between Facelift and Dirt. Nine brilliant masterpieces in just about 2 years. I have no idea if there was pressure leading up to its release. If they recognized the landscape. Lets be honest, Facelift was really good but it was not Dirt. It was worlds apart from Dirt. Dirt was compelling and dark and anguished. It demanded your attention. I don’t know if they recognized it or felt pressure from it but I do know they delivered their opus. They completely blew it out of the water.

Look at the list of records in just two years! What a great time to love music. What a great time to love new music. Now let me just add one more…to the top...

07/19/90 Mother Love Bone – Apple
08/21/90 Alice In Chains – Facelift
08/21/90 Janes Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
04/16/91Temple of the Dog
05/28/91 Smashing Pumpkins – Gish
08/23/91 Nirvana – Nevermind
08/27/91 Pearl Jam – Ten
09/24/91 Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik
10/08/91 Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger
03/21/92 Alice In Chains – Sap (EP)
06/30/92 Singles Soundtrack
09/29/92 Alice in Chains – Dirt

Add Apple to that list and look at it. Its an evolution baby.

Now I’m going to say something that maybe I shouldn’t but who cares. No one is really reading this, its become a catharsis for me. And the VERY FEW people who actually are reading this don’t give a damn and/or don’t believe a word of what I’ve written. so here goes...

Remember when I said the guys came over and played us 5 songs from Dirt? Yeah…they went to the kitchen to get a beer and I slipped a blank cassette in the stereo and pushed record when no one was looking… I know… I KNOW.

Angry Chair. Godsmack. Damn That River. Down in a Hole. Rain When I Die.

I’m not quite sure exactly how far out ahead we had the five songs in advance of the record. A couple months or so. Before Dirt was release Alice played 3 shows in the Northwest but in odd places. Bellingham WA, Spokane WA and Olympia WA. My buddy Rick and I go to the Olympia show. We are right in front, right on the rail. Its an amazing show and at one point, between songs I hear Rick, three or four people down from me, jammed against the rail, his fist pumping while he yelled “PLAY GODSMACK!!! PLAY GODSMACK!!! Again, BEFORE Dirt had come out. Layne looked down at Rick like “who is this kid and how does he know the names to songs we haven’t released yet?”

I ducked out as fast as I could. After the show I mentioned it to Rick and he said “he looked like he wanted to stomp my head” But Rick never left the barrier. Not once.
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby arq » Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:32 pm

MLB.MB.PJ wrote:08/21/90 Alice In Chains – Facelift
08/21/90 Janes Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
04/16/91Temple of the Dog
05/28/91 Smashing Pumpkins – Gish
08/23/91 Nirvana – Nevermind
08/27/91 Pearl Jam – Ten
09/24/91 Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik
10/08/91 Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger
03/21/92 Alice In Chains – Sap (EP)
06/30/92 Singles Soundtrack
09/29/92 Alice in Chains – Dirt


I remember back them when these records came out, I was just staring to get into music and thought that was normal...
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Sat Aug 30, 2014 1:19 am

I want to say this about Bathtub Gin. They were good. I know I am biased but they were good. Let me tell you a few things about Bathtub Gin. First they were not anything close to “grunge”. They were a blues band in the same vein as the Black Crowes but before the Black Crowes. And they were really good.

They had a song played on the major Rock station in Seattle and had it rank the #11 requested song of the year.

They opened the first ever Mookie Blaylock show. Opened for Temple of the Dog, the one and only time the band played an entire set. Both shows were at the Off Ramp.

When Vedder and Mike appeared for the FIRST time on MTV (on Headbangers Ball). Backstage Mike, in sharpie, wrote Bath Tub Gin on his white shirt. I watched it with Brian. He was stoked Mike would do something so amazing for them. Labels came around and talked to them. Labels came around and talked to just about every band playing clubs in Seattle after the success of “The Big Five”. But they were a blues band. They didn’t fit the “grunge” mold.

Other bands, like the War Babies, My Sisters Machine, Sweetwater signed record deals. Bathtub Gin and Lazy Susan didn’t. Green Apple Quick Step did.

Sweetwater had a cool vibe and I was surprised they didn’t take off. Head Down is a great song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnFHndoaxFc
The War Babies were not “grunge” either but this is the War Babies… and I think its also a tribute song for Andrew Wood http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAK5_kVmzfU
Green Apple Quick Step, formally Inspector Luv and the Ride Me Babies, were managed by Kelly Curtis too… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_0zyAhu8a8
My Sisters Machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LiEhk_fPQE

Bathtub Gin…not professionally shot…live at the Off Ramp, 1992. And tell me this isn’t good…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIA4H2BB3pw
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Re: Aaron and Santa Cruz

Postby MLB.MB.PJ » Sat Aug 30, 2014 3:46 am

I talked to Brian the other day. I asked him if he remembered when we met he invited me to a show. He said “the Mookie Blaylock show?” Then I told him it was their first show ever. Didn’t impress him. It was the Temple of the Dog show that he was proud of. I asked him about the ASCAP showcase. He didn’t even watch PJ play, he was out back smoking.

The band broke up in about 1993, maybe 1994. They talked with a couple labels but never signed a deal.

After I moved back to Seattle from LA I managed a couple local bands. I thought I could parley my music biz experience into managing bands. All it did was drain my bank account. Brian was putting a new band together. He had a drummer and a guitar player and was looking for a singer and bass player and before I knew it the singer and bass player from Bathtub Gin was practicing with them. They asked me to help get them some shows. I told them I would but they needed a name. They got back to me a few days later, they were going with Bathtub Gin. We contacted Brett Eliason, who was PJ’s sound guy and had produced the Mad Season record. He is also the guy who devised the technology to record and reproduce concerts and have the CD of the show for sale that very night. Brett produced a 5 song demo for them. For free, by the way, for FREE. They played a couple shows but it was over when Josh, the new guitar player, fucked up his parts at a show. He was fired on the spot and the whole thing fell apart.

Then one day I was talking with the guy who had played guitar in the War Babies, Tommy. Tommy was telling me that he had written a handful of songs and the he had a drummer but he needed a bass player and drummer. I told him I did. So soon enough I was managing a band called Hustler AMX with Johnny and Troy, singer and bass player from Bathtub Gin, Tommy from the War Babies and Paul, Sweet Waters drummer. Hustler AMX. We hired the same producer who had produced the first Foo Fighters record and recorded a 6 song demo. When they played shows I tagged the show with "Where did all the great Seattle Bands go? They formed Hustler AMX". They broke up about 4 months later.

Here’s the last one…for the night…one night, at a Hustler AMX show, Shawn Smith was talking with me at the bar. He was telling me that he had been recording songs in his basement. He asked me if I wanted to hear it and tell him what I thought. Are you kidding me?!? Yes! I drove him to his place. He’s inside for about 15 minutes and comes back out with two CD’s. The titles were marked in permanent pen, “Apples” and “Oranges”. A few days later I emailed him. I told him it was some of his best work. He has used some of the songs on a couple of his self released CD’s. I still have the apples and oranges CD’s, I’ll pull them out and post a picture.
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