My late brother, Dwayne, was the bodyguard for Van Halen during the David Lee Roth years and even did a bit that was projected onto a huge screen to introduce the band at the 1983 Us Festival. He told me how surprising it is to discover how many bodyguards Van Halen had. They had him and whomever he hired but he said every guy from Pasadena owning a Van Halen T shirt would introduce himself as being Van Halen’s bodyguard. Naturally, they wouldn’t do this if they already knew he was Van Halen’s bodyguard, but if he was just a stranger it seemed being a Van Halen body guard was like working for Amway, everyone was doing it in the early 80s.
I had dinner with an old friend of mine and his son who, as a kid, took karate lessons.
I had dinner with an old friend of mine and his son who, as a kid, took karate lessons.
“My old instructor was the bodyguard for Van Halen”, he proudly told me. And this is 27 years later. This story points out the fact that a great many people crave the Rock & Roll spotlight so I’ve been contemplating the myriad of ways individuals can become a part of the Rock & Roll story.
1. Be a fan. This is the easiest. All you have to do is buy CDs, T shirts and other related merchandise and go to the shows. This is the entry level position of Rock & Roll.
2. Create fan art. This involves painting pictures of your favorite rock stars, writing stories about them, sending letters to them, contributing creatively to fan clubs and basically do whatever it is you do as a hobby but with Rock & Roll as your muse and subject matter.
3. Be a volunteer. This means offering to help out in any way possible for a touring act that may be coming to your town, helping out the local heroes, organizing fan clubs or PR campaigns and calling requests to radio stations.
4. Be a roadie or a groupie for a local band. Buying a good P.A. system is a way to worm your way into an up and coming local act’s good graces. Also, free sex and drugs are traditional methods as well.
5. Intern at radio stations, record labels, PR firms and even equipment rentals and transportation and record and musical instrument stores.
6. Become a paid employee of the above industries.
7. Be a musician in your own band and you’ve made the jump to the next level.
8. Produce records on your own for the local bands or light shows for their live gigs.
9. Start your own internet radio station or record label.
10. Join Rock & Roll Rehab.
1. Be a fan. This is the easiest. All you have to do is buy CDs, T shirts and other related merchandise and go to the shows. This is the entry level position of Rock & Roll.
2. Create fan art. This involves painting pictures of your favorite rock stars, writing stories about them, sending letters to them, contributing creatively to fan clubs and basically do whatever it is you do as a hobby but with Rock & Roll as your muse and subject matter.
3. Be a volunteer. This means offering to help out in any way possible for a touring act that may be coming to your town, helping out the local heroes, organizing fan clubs or PR campaigns and calling requests to radio stations.
4. Be a roadie or a groupie for a local band. Buying a good P.A. system is a way to worm your way into an up and coming local act’s good graces. Also, free sex and drugs are traditional methods as well.
5. Intern at radio stations, record labels, PR firms and even equipment rentals and transportation and record and musical instrument stores.
6. Become a paid employee of the above industries.
7. Be a musician in your own band and you’ve made the jump to the next level.
8. Produce records on your own for the local bands or light shows for their live gigs.
9. Start your own internet radio station or record label.
10. Join Rock & Roll Rehab.
What do you say? Please leave a comment below.
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