RIP Greg Kihn
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Lance minimum goad Newberry
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He only had about 15 minutes of national fame, but Kihn was a local legend in the Bay Area. He hit the scene right when I was first getting into rock 'n roll and he was always playing all over the region, including opening for Charlie Daniels Band & Grateful Dead at Spartan Stadium in '79, so I saw him a few times and I was a fan.
It was pretty quick when he started writing all those slick MTV pop rock songs and I was off that train after that, but he later became a big local radio personality as a morning DJ on a popular South Bay rock station, doing that for almost 20 years. He also hosted a long run of multi-act "Kihncerts" at Shoreline Amphitheatre.
He was a good DJ and a fun little rocker. I met him a few times and he was always extremely cool and gracious, and I know many people who knew him well and I never heard a bad word about the guy, so I was sad to hear the news today.
On it goes.
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RIP dude was the unsung
RIP dude was the unsung portmanteau king of rock
album titles all plays on his name like
Kihnspiracy, Rekihndled, Khintagious, Next of Kihn, Kihntinued, and so on
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RIP Greg Kihn.
RIP Greg Kihn.
I remember him opening the Spartan Stadium show. He had a wild look in his eyes, and said "If it's going to rain, let it do it now!"
(It actually rained that day while the Grateful Dead were playing, during "Looks Like Rain.")
The highlight of Kihn's set was a rocking cover of "Johnny B. Goode."
Many years later I was tuned into Kihn's radio show and he told the story of that day. He said that before the show he was led backstage where there was a round table with the Grateful Dead sitting about it and a hash hookah in the middle. He said he was sat next to "the man himself" Jerry Garcia. He said after a couple of puffs on the hookah he was so stoned that he had to be led away. At that moment I grokked that wild look in his eyes when he took the stage.
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RIP Madison Avenue Man
RIP Madison Avenue Man
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Thanks for posting this Lance
Thanks for posting this Lance. I enjoyed him on the radio while I was doing stupid commutes. Weird Al's 'I Lost on Jeopardy' helped spread the news of Greg Kuhn. RIP
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>>>dude was the unsung
>>>dude was the unsung portmanteau king of rock<<<
Had to look that one up.
We're never too old to learn something new.
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09/01/79 Holleder Stadium -
09/01/79 Holleder Stadium - Rochester, NY
Opening act for the boys. Played both Around & Around and NFA.
I enjoyed him on the radio>>>> Also sat in as an MTV VJ in the early 80's
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https://youtu.be/AEY4L8j_pEU
https://youtu.be/AEY4L8j_pEU?si=uI2-QayerStk36nN
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From his radio show:
From his radio show:
He was touring with Journey. He noticed whenever they would set up the stage a roadie would come out and put a piece of paper with the name of the city they were in on the back of the PA where the audience couldn't see it. They were in Chicago, Greg and his prankster band mates decided to change to the paper to Detroit.
When Steve Perry came out, he said "Good evening Detroit!"
Which was responded to with huge boos and hisses. I guess Steve Perry didn't know which city he was in and they thought it was kind of funny.
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Very sad - a little too young
Very sad - a little too young to go.
I dug his music. His 2 big hits were good songs. I was playing the Breakup tune in a band not long ago. Always enjoyed it.
When I lived in the bay- seems like his band was playing almost every night somewhere back in the 70's.
We had a chance to see him at Spartan Stadium when he opened for the Dead - but got there late.
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This one got quite a bit of
This video got quite a bit of play back in the early days of MTV. Filmed at Mission Dolores Basilica, 16th @ Dolores.
Jeopardy - https://youtu.be/43_GqFW7iYc?si=9j5R9Z0v9TFLezFY
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Always enjoyed seeing Kihn
Always enjoyed seeing Kihn live. I really liked his radio show though. I also recall him writing a horror genre book in the 90s.