Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for January 12th

Another tour we foolishly missed out on... -- Well alright!, Van's a No-Show -- Here's where Elton got his name from...

1/12/1975 (43 years ago today) - The so-called Warner Brothers Music Show tour kicked off a nine-city, 18 show jaunt through Europe, and what a line-up it was -- in reverse alphabetical order -- Tower Of Power, Montrose, Little Feat, Graham Central Station, The Doobie Brothers and Bonaroo. By all reports, Little Feat got along with European audiences like a house on fire, Graham Central Station proved to be a more than damned tight live unit, and the who-the-hell-are-they(?) Bonaroo earned standing ovations, no small (Little) feat, when you consider the other acts on the bill. Bonaroo were led by singer-songwriter Bill Cuomo (who went on to write REO's "Can't Fight This Feeling" and Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie"), ex-Doobies drummer Michael Hossack, and one-time Steve Miller Band guitarist/songwriter Bobby Winkelman; they only made one self-titled LP back in 1975, a really hard-to-find yet totally fantastic pop-gem that's incredibly catchy to listen to: lost, gone, sadly forgotten, and absolutely worth searching for...Meanwhile, you can never go wrong with the Feat:

1/12/1993 (25 years ago today) - One more reason to love, love, love him: Van Morrison failed to turn up at the {his} Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction dinner, making him the first living inductee not to attend. High five's all around, thank you very much...

1/12/1941 - The "John" in "Elton John" was a direct, heart-felt tribute to this guy: British blues 'n boogie maestro Long John Baldry was born on this date, and his album "It Ain't Easy" (1971) is pretty close to a must-have for many Maine Rock & Roll Blimpsters: one side was produced by Elton, the other side by Rod Stewart which notably featured some rather nifty/tasty guitar work from Ronnie Wood (the title track's been done by many classic rock artists and though Three Dog Night's cover is a real good one, the most famous version has gotta be David Bowie's on "Ziggy Stardust"), plus there's the legendary spotlight track "Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King Of Rock And Roll", which is awesome! Baldry passed away due to complications from a severe chest infection on July 25, 2005; he was 64. Look up this album, it's a good one...

Share your love of the unknown with the Calendar here on our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"Don't feed me no TV dinners/When you know that I'm used to steak...", xoxo!