Frank Gutch Jr: The Bluest Skies You Ever Seen: A View, Not a History, of Seattle Rock Music; Plus a Couple of Notes…..

And it’s my view.  It won’t mention Heart except to say that I knew their days were well past when they became a tribute band (and it was long before The Kennedy Center performance) and it won’t mention Nirvana because, let’s face it, Nirvana has already been mentioned enough (Okay, I might mention them once).  I might mention Perry Como, though, because he had the hit with those lyrics and I might mention Bobby Sherman (just for the hell of it).  I will mention many artists and bands of evidently little consequence outside of that fair city because I certainly do not hear them mentioned by people outside the Pac Northwest (by the people I know, anyway).  But first, should you think Seattle a mere backdrop for movies and TV programs, let us look at what the youth think, and before you start pounding the keyboard in protest, I have not vetted the information and don’t really care (though having lived in Seattle for over thirteen years, I can attest to the fact that everyone does love Dick’s… Drive-In, and how can you not love the fact that they have a train/trolley called the SLUT).  I’m just glad to see the youth making this attempt:

Frank Gutch Jr: ‘Til Death Do Us Part… A Nod To Musicians Who Left Us In 2015, But First…; Plus Notes!

This is not my favorite column to write.  In my youth, death was death, something which happened to everyone else.  As a young man, I looked upon it as simply draining the talent pool because by then I was consumed with music— immersed in it to the point that life beyond it was a blur.  In middle-age, it began becoming personal— friends and favorites taking the dive either stunningly quick or in dire circumstances.

Frank Gutch Jr: George Romansic… Turning the Lights Out

It’s another rough week.  I found out over the weekend that good friend George Romansic, who had been very ill, had died.  Georgie.  The guy with the goofy smile.  His smile wasn’t goofy as much as it always fronted that face.  Always.  I never saw a guy smile so much.  He had reason, of course— a great life with wife Joan Maneri and daughter Maddie, music, friends.  Georgie had tons of friends.  Tons.  If you were anywhere near the music business in Seattle from the eighties to the present, you knew of George if not knew him personally.  He was easy to know.