Time for a little flashback.. or as they say in ye onine social networks, a “Throwback Thursday”…..
I’ve been shooting videos for quite a few years. One of the things I’m rather proud of is the fact I was able to capture what i’ve been told is the only footage of the band known as “Big Hair.”
Big Hair was a rockin’ little cowpunk band from San Jose, California. Scott Long, Caryl Miller, Theresa McClure, Matt Rook, Margot Lipp and Ricky Quisol were members of this fine group that had a short, but memorable run. When the band fell apart, it splintered off into various splinter groups – Frontier F-in’ Wives, Whistling Bullets, The Kettles, the Frisky Frolics, and probably some other groups I’m forgetting.
I shot some concert footage of this band at an event produced by KFJC Radio in conjunction with the I.B.S. conference (some kind of college radio consortium) that took place at at the Works Gallery in San Jose, California on November 22, 1985. This took place a few years after the infamous Maximum LOUIE LOUIE event and there were a lot of KFJC types that participated at both events. This particular concert had quite a few other bands that performed that night – Tex & the Horseheads, the Morlocks and Thin White Rope.
That night, I had a borrowed video camera that was an old tube camera with portable VHS recorder. The camera was not a great camera for low low-light situations, but it was the best camera available at the time.
After I shot this video, only a handful of people ever saw it. Decades later, thanks to the internet, and YouTube in particular, I was able to share it with a much wider audience.
One of the songs they performed was a cover of “Wild Thing,” a song often considered a “LOUIE Bastard.” Scott Long did the lead vocals on this one!
Caryl Miller, who sadly passed away a few years ago, did an rockin’ version of “These Boots Are Made for Walking,” followed by Margot Lipp (now Margot Potter) performing a number called “12th Street Blues.”
Margot Lipp did a great rendition of “Fever” a 1956 song performed by a lot of musicians- Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, Little Willie John, and many others.
While Big Hair performed a lot of inspired covers, one of the big highlights of this band for many of us, was hearing some original songs written by Theresa McClure, who played bass in this band.
Here’s a Theresa original entitled “I Love You (More Than You Know).”
Then there’s “Love Hate & Desire,” which she co-wrote with band member Matt Rook. This song became a staple song in Matt’s future band, The Frontier F-in’ Wives.
Theresa also collaborated with Caryl on a song entitled “Giddy Up and Go.”
Thanks to the online social networks I was able to connect with band members I hadn’t communicated with in decades. It felt wonderful to be able to reconnect and share this material all these years later.
Then, there’s the present… with my old friend Theresa dealing with some serious struggles right now..
Theresa is dealing with real problems right now and she’s embarking some major changes in her life. She just created a GoFundMe page as a means to get out of an awful situation and move back to her old base in California.
As some of you know I’m going through a horrible divorce and I lost everything but my personal property. I really want and need to come back home as I am homeless here.
Please help me come home and rock Cali.
Thank you all for anything You can contribute.
If any of my friends out in Cyberspace can assist my friend Theresa, that would be wonderful. I haven’t seen her in decades, and would love to see her back in California again, playing music with some of her old friends again.
In fact, here’s what I’ll do….
For the first five people that read this page and then donate to Theresa’s GoFundMe campaign, I will send an archival “KFJC NO LOUIE LOUIE BUTTON.”
Whoever reads this page and donates $100 to Theresa’s GoFundMe campaign, I will give them an extremely rare LOUIE LOUIE WINE COOLER BOTTLE. If you are in or at least visiting San Francisco Bay Area, the first five that do so can choose to receive a sealed bottle with actual wine cooler, if you are of legal age. Everyone else gets an empty bottle.
You need to contact me directly if you want these items and we will work out the details – this is NOT an official offer from Theresa or GoFundMe… just me.
– E.P.
(ye LouieLouie.net producer/administrator)
Direct link for Theresa’s GoFundMe page at:
https://www.gofundme.com/rp4tvbnc