Posted by Wally Bunker on August 9, 2019, 11:08 pm, in reply to "Re: Party at The Beach"
I know much of Ambrosia is still together but i thought i read the other day that only the original singer from ARS was left. I know the great base player Paul Goddard died not long ago and another member died just 3 or 4 months ago probably after they were signed to come here even. ARS original singer didnt stick around long and left before the glory years began and Ronnie Hammond who replaced him died a few years back. The original singer has returned and is quite good as im sure you all saw tonite. When LRB came here several years back, they did not have one original member although Wayne Nelson came shortly after the band began and was probably its most talented member. His band has been through litigation with several of the originals and Nelson won in court and was allowed to keep naming rights. I thought LRB was really great when they came here, despite the rain. In fact id rather hear younger artists than some guys that have lost a few steps. Grand #### had a few originals and those guys started i think in the 60's. Bands break up get back together, break up again, lose guys bring in new guys, but the music stays really good in most cases or the bands wont get bookings. I always try to lure people here for these parties, and people sometimes say to me, hell those guys must be 75 years old the ones who arent dead. I simply say Charlie Daniels was here and hes old as hell but still killin it, and many of his members, though probably not with him from the start have been with him in some cases for 20 years or more. I wanted people to know that getting these acts involves a hell of a lot more than just a phone call and i dont know of one other city that does this. I doubt more than a few months will pass before the groundwork for next year begins. Several years ago a Loverboy member hunted down Mike Reno the original lead singer and found him in terrible health and weighing close to 400 lbs. The story has it that Reno was told if you can get off your ass and lose about 150 lbs maybe we can tour again. Reno is maybe 5 ft tall. At first he wasnt real excited about it, but after a while he started working out and about a year and a half later they started practicing to see if they could still perform. The answer was yes and they are working again and sound pretty good. Reno was pretty much the whole band, but i think the base player and drummer remain intact. If you guys could pull that off, that would be incredible. Pontoon already kills it with the party every single year even when i cant drag my old beat up butt to join in the fun. I told my dad about ARS and Ambrosia and he didnt know who they were but hes a little older. He declared that he wouldnt walk across the street to see any of them but would attend if anyone could get all 4 original Beatles together. I doubt Pontoon can pull that off but i bet next year will be another great success.
on August 9, 2019, 11:08 pm, in reply to "