Outrageous turns 50, plays on
By Tim Gurrister, Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
But in 1964 The Beatles had invaded, male hair was growing, cultural shocks coming, and
Lots of teens formed garage bands back then. So The Livin' End, as they first called themselves, tried something to set the band apart -- a request line.
They put up a poster at school with a phone number and their song list. When a call came in, they'd just set the phone down and play.
"It worked," says Kaufman 50 years later.
"We got a lot of gigs that way, met a lot of girls."
Remarkably, irrepressibly, the band is still intact since those 1964 beginnings, membership subject to change while going through a slew of different names over the years.
The Livin' End became The Rogues, The Young Lads, then The Lads, Flesh,
During the tenure as Flesh, their
When the band was Rain, they experimented by adding horns to the ensemble. Fans wondered if the name had changed, asking "Is it still Rain? Yes, they said.
But since 1985 the name "Outrageous" has stuck, and today describes a bunch of mostly 60-year-olds still playing their rock and roll.
"We played it then, we play it now," Kaufman says proudly, just short of pumping his fist in the air.
"We've been playing the same songs for 50 years, but never play them the same way twice," Nichols adds. "It's called improvisation."
Back in the day, while still in school at
Kaufman et al went on to play in a number of Western states, as far away as
The list of names they opened for are well known to anyone over the age of 30.
The rest of you, if curious, can ask your parents: Jan and Dean,
Memorable are the encounters with rock icons
"Steve has never hit the high notes he did with
They never did open for the supergroup. But they knew the band liked to visit a certain club, the Winery, after hours following their
"They locked the doors at The Winery," Kaufman recalled. "It was after hours and they told the patrons a special guest was coming and they could stay if they wanted. But the doors would be locked."
"We had equipment lined up for them and asked them to jam," Nichols said. "The crowd went wild. We got an hour and 20 minutes with them."
Three Dog Night was very supportive, even remembered them when Kaufman and Nichols and a few other members said hello in the 1990s at the
But the band found contemporary icon
They were set to open for Rivers at Lagoon, and Rivers' contract apparently required he be paid before he performed.
Lagoon found they couldn't do that, planning to cover his full fee out of the gate.
The year the band spent as Flesh had its moments. "We just did Doors songs," Kaufman said.
Their lead singer at the time was a devotee of lead singer
Shortly after Morrison's arrest at a
"We were asked not to come back," said Kaufman. "I think we were banned from the entire
They never toyed in the drug scene, they say, but there was alcohol. "Early on when we played in clubs, sometimes we were paid in beer.," Kaufman said.
By 1974 the group actually had a record company contract offer, in the Still Rain days. But the contract gave most of the money to the record company, Three Dog Night's label, Kaufman and Nichols recall.
Plus band members at the time were entertaining better offers: falling in love, marriage and families.
Nichols and another near-50-year member,
The 8-member band today is a combination of working professionals and music diehards.
Guitarist
Lead singer
Insurance broker and saxophone player
They say sometimes it's hard to sort which, the band or the day job, is what they do "on the side."
The music is there when the day job doesn't satisfy, Schmidt said, or vice versa.
"It's a total distraction when you play," Barrios said. "You can't think of anything else."
"But we were smart enough not to give up our day jobs," said Jensen, while admitting he likes to claim the band paid for his house.
Mortgages do get paid off early, Young added during the general discussion on dual careers.
"The band was money to go to college," Barrios summed up.
They remain unconcerned they never hit the so-called big time.
"The thrill of playing before 10,000 people is enough," Nichols concluded. "And we did that."
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