NAMM Report
Bobby Frank and I just got back yesterday morning from our trip to the NAMM show in Anaheim, CA. NAMM is the organization that used to be the National Association of Music Merchants. It is a convention of manufacturers of musical instruments and accessories who set up booths for the folks who buy such things, like music store owners and buyers.
We were there supporting the work we did on the booth for RODE Microphones, out of Sydney, Australia.
We managed to find two Aussie girls now living in LA, Szilva and Shelly, to act as hostesses during the show. Here I am giving them a pep talk.
You see a lot of musicians walking around at NAMM, many of whom are only famous inside musician circles. (”Isn’t that the guy that played keys in Flock of Seagulls?”) We saw Danny Seraphine, the drummer from the early days of Chicago walking around. He was one of the main influences for both Bobby and me to start playing drums. (Both of us attribute the four bar solo from “Make Me Smile” as pivotal in our initial instrument choice.) So I took Bobby’s pic with him. Danny is on the left. They look like long, lost cousins.
Here’s a photo of Lita Ford. At least, I think it’s Lita Ford.
I listened to a group called Synergy Brass Quintet at the Conn-Selmer booth. They played Rossini’s Overture from “Barber of Seville”, which most of us remember as the soundtrack to Bugs Bunny’s “Rabbit of Seville.” This photo is of their French Horn Player, Jon Hurrell, and his very distinctive hair style.
And finally, speaking of hair, NAMM is known for it. There are tens of thousands of aging rocker dudes who haven’t cut their hair in decades milling about. In fact, much like a company might say “our staff has over 200 years experience” I decided that the NAMM show has “over 1,000,000 years of hair.” I also coined the phrase “Crystal Male” which is the distinctive straight hair down to the belt look that a lot of rocker guys are know to sport. There were mohawks and braided beards and pink hair and green hair and half-shaved heads and any other style of hair you could imagine. Then, there was this:
All in all, it was a good show, there’s a funny story involving blue duct tape, a big magnet, a two-block ride in a stretch Hummer and maybe just a little bit of alcohol. But sometimes, you have to let what happens at NAMM stay at NAMM.
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
