Top Ten Loudest bands

I one of us doesn't say this I will, and I think we are all in agreement here...thank you for everything you contibuted to the band and for your ongoing contributions as well Eric...

Doggone interesting about Stephens (weird--my copy of Red Weather on Philips says "Stevens" on the spine). Vincebus and Outsideinside boast such phenomenal grumbling fluid fuzz riffage & then there's the spacious creative flow of his first solo Red Weather that kept that spacious signature sound alive...and suddenly along came Cast of Thousands and Silver Metre and beyond; & the groundbreaking old skool psychophuzz suddenly got lost in merging traffic with a gazillion other bands in the early 70's trying to make it big in the post bubblegum dayz of AM hit radio or whatever the hell was going on.


'Cast was on Famous Charisma fer chrissakes! The same label that brought you such gems from early Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator, Audience and String Driven Thing....even Monty Python comedy rekkids!!!! But then even Famous Charisma had a few drink coasters a la A Cast of Thousands....Spreadeagle and Automatic Fine Tuning come to mind.

Makes me wonder if the PR people at Philips said "we want you guys to sound like Blue Mink, Mouth & MacNeil and Paul Mauriat" and the other crap on that label at that time...after not doing that well with more adventurous pioneers ike Thorinshield and Man. If that's the case, I'd say they ought to go back to making light bulbs...

Leigh threw up a myspace page last summer...the streaming audio kinda less than I expected...you either super mellow out, figure the first couple BC albums and Red Weather was 'enough already' in his book, or just jump on some other bandwagon you're more comfy with & has (unfortunately for most of us here) a wider overall acceptance.

Nonetheless, I sure am glad those three gems got released when they did...makes me wonder how the record label peeps felt about all that psyche and volume back then when a few Kinks and Hendrix songs were the only fits of earbleed that happened in those days. Stephens, you cut some desert island classics, my man. I was a late bloomer to a lot of this, but I'm much more enriched for it.

Why do you keep saying Blue Cheer is Randy's band? Did I miss something here? He played on side B of one album. Blue Cheer's finest hour was on their first two albums. Didn't he try to get the Blue Cheer name from them at one point? If so, what an asshole.

Well, when Randy quit The Other Half and was looking for a band, he had been informed that Leigh had just left BC and since he already knew Paul he was a shoo-in. But, more importantly, since Randy claims that he influenced their sound when BC went from a 6 piece to a 3 piece, he feels that Blue cheer is really his band. They were just waiting for the opportunity for Randy to join, and when he did it all made sense. So, essentially, all Blue Cheer has done, and continues to do, is pioneer Randy's sound because after all, Randy influenced the band so therefore it's his sound, ideas and concept.

Randy is great and all, but I have to agree that he is far from being Cheer's owner. He is kind of like Tommy Bolin playing in Deep Purple. The sound was different, but that was about all.

And a big thanks to Eric from me as well! ;D

Yeah it would be nice if Randy would go on tour.

Wow, interesting discussion! Alas, I have to put my 2 cents in, because a lot of ground is being covered here and a lot of clarification is necessary. Since I am unable to clarify many points, I will list some major ones (that I find of interest) , so that Eric or people more in the know can chime in. (One of the reasons that make bulletin boards difficult is that when someone makes a statement, it has to be taken at face value. Context, insinuations, conjecture are all tranparent as the conversation is not taking place face to face.) So......

Leigh, Dickie and Paul were pretty young when the started Blue Cheer. So the fact that they needed Gut, Jerry, Peter and Doug to help them out, rings true.

Randy was hired to lead the band, it was not his call. Dickie and Paul were rather compromised and help was needed to fulfill contract obligations of 6 records. Much the same way as Bruce Stephens and Gary Yoder were hired. Listen to albums 4 thru 6 and you tell me Bruce or Gary were not the leader of the band (at that time).

I think Blue Cheer was equal parts of Leigh, Paul and of course Dickie. Dickie being the main songwriter and singer of the first 2 albums was of course the leader of the band. Still like Jimi Hendrix, Dickie was no good at managing the band. That is why Duck now manges the band. However, Dickie still doing the majority of the writing and singing remains the leader of the band. Because Dickie is in the leadership role the band now sounds as much like Blue Cheer as it ever was.

Randy played with the band thru a major tour that took them through Europe that lasted almost a year. Blue Cheer only recorded one side with him to fulfill a contract obligation. This was after the tour. Listen to that side to see how tight and diciplined they were as a band. For his efforts on this tour, Randy was given a paltry sum.

Was Blue Cheer influenced by Randy Holden? At that time playing live was the thing to do. Records was an afterthought. Leigh, Paul and Dickie had heard Randy at a number of gigs. Was that an influence of why Dickie felt he didn't need to replace the two band members he fired and his brother who walked? You tell me.

Randy's Population II sounded more like Blue Cheer than anything Blue Cheer did after OutsideInside.

New Improved has done pretty well in sales.

Jerry Russell hated Randy Holden.

Randy has looked out for Dickie's interests a number of times.

Randy hasn't played much, because Hobbit went bankrupt on the eve of his release Population II which has been pirated to death.

Randy leading Blue Cheer would most likely just be a vehicle for Randy's material back then. Randy would have done his songs and Dickie would have done his. Since Randy sang his own songs, Dickie might have had trouble with that. By the time Bruce and Gary came along, Dickie might have gone along with it better.


Randy doesn't hate Blue Cheer music. He actually thinks the riff in Out of Focus is genius!

Who is the better guitarist, Leigh Stephens, Duck MacDonald, Tommy Bolin , Randy Holden, Frank Marino, Jeff Beck........does it matter? At times I hear a little Frank Marino in Duck's solos, but Duck shreds better. Bolin was into the funk. All of these guys have or deserve their own legacy. Only Leigh could have done Vincebus Eruptum. I don't know how he did it, and I doubt he remembers either.

Right now things seem pretty good in both camps. Duck is well suited to continue Blue Cheer's legacy. Hopefully, Randy continues with his solo efforts.