Kerry & Bush don't just have Skull & Bones in common.

February 5, 2004 6:23 PM

John Kerry, Garage Rocker?Record geeks have uncovered that John Kerry played bass with the Electras, a Ventures-style instrumental band formed at St. Paul's Academy of Concord, NH. Strangely enough, George W. Bush also has a connection to the sub-subgenre of 1960s garage bands, known as "prep rock." When he attended Andover, Dubya was allegedly a "clapper" with the frat rock band, the Torques, although prep rock aficionados generally prefer other Andover bands, such as The Rising Storm and the Satans.
posted by jonp72 (24 comments total)

I've heard some of the Rising Storm's stuff. It's not bad.
posted by jonmc at 6:47 PM on February 5, 2004

General George Babbitt, an Air Force 4-star general (retired in 2000), was the original drummer for The Ventures, who went on to record "Wipeout" and the theme from "Hawaii Five-0." Pretty cool.
posted by davidmsc at 7:30 PM on February 5, 2004

Maybe Arf Arf will reissue it!
posted by elvissinatra at 7:31 PM on February 5, 2004

Mo Tucker from the Velvet Underground was actually a bird colonel in the 1st SF Group, a graduate of the Belgian commando school and a proud wearer of rare Rhodesian jump wings.
posted by adamgreenfield at 8:31 PM on February 5, 2004

Bush was also a male cheerleader at Andover.

Lets see, Jimi Hendrix was in the Army for a year. That's where he met his bassist for Band of Gypsies
posted by skallas at 9:33 PM on February 5, 2004

Photo of Bush cheerleading here. Might be a fake.
posted by skallas at 9:35 PM on February 5, 2004

You think that's weird? Jimmy Carter is a blogger.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 9:46 PM on February 5, 2004

Mo Tucker from the Velvet Underground was actually a bird colonel in the 1st SF Group, a graduate of the Belgian commando school and a proud wearer of rare Rhodesian jump wings.

Huh? Are you sure you're not confusing her with some random Moe Tucker?
posted by jonp72 at 11:39 PM on February 5, 2004

No, he's confusing Moe Tucker with a drummer.
posted by interrobang at 12:31 AM on February 6, 2004

Are you shittin' me, interrobang? "Moe Tucker versus Meg White: Original Drum Battle II" is the koolest drummer record ever.
posted by arto at 1:07 AM on February 6, 2004

This reminds me of when Topper Headon became Prime Minister and everyone asked about The Clash instead of policy during PMQ's.
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:45 AM on February 6, 2004

George W. Bush was a busy little bee at Andover with his cheerleading and clapping, He was quite the social butterfly, and acquired a nickname - The Lip.

XQUZYPHYR - That Carter Blog isn't fo the faint of heart. It seemed to be mostly about Guinea worms : "....Most distressing was the sight of a Guinea worm emerging from a grapefruit-size abscess on the breast of a pregnant 15-year-old girl. She had been treated by a local custom of inserting a hot iron into the lesion caused by the emerging worm.........."
posted by troutfishing at 5:59 AM on February 6, 2004

Lets see, Jimi Hendrix was in the Army for a year. That's where he met his bassist for Band of Gypsies

Not only was he in the Army, he was in the 101st Airborne, and he did indeed meet Billy Cox there. Other musician/veterans include John Prine, John Fogerty, Johnny Cash, and Archie Bell from Archie Bell & The Drells. They recorded "Tighten Up," and "Showdown." Bell was actually recovering from combat wounds in Vietnam when "Tighten Up" hit #1.
posted by jonmc at 6:37 AM on February 6, 2004

jonmc, how could you forget the King? Y'know: "G.I. Blues"?
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:44 AM on February 6, 2004

Well, he was drafted after he was famous, and I figured everybody knew that one.
posted by jonmc at 8:00 AM on February 6, 2004

You'd be surprised, and saddened, at the general paucity of knowledge regarding the King among today's youth.
posted by adamgreenfield at 8:15 AM on February 6, 2004

The King was singing about "thug life" back when Old Dirty Bastard was still in diapers!
posted by Pollomacho at 8:27 AM on February 6, 2004

Well, that was James Cleveland who sang it first, Pollomacho. But Elvis had some thug in 'em. Look at "Jailhouse Rock" and "Trouble."
posted by jonmc at 8:44 AM on February 6, 2004

Nice try but Elvis hit the top of the charts in 1969 with the song. Candi Stanton was nominated for Best Female R&B performance in 1972 for her version. Cleveland won the Gospel Grammy in 1974 with his album "In the Ghetto." The words and music are by Scott Davis, so I'd assume that actually he sang it first, but the fact remains that Elvis was singing the song "In the Ghetto" while the ODB was less than one year old, regardless of who performed the song first or last.
posted by Pollomacho at 9:12 AM on February 6, 2004

HA! I went to Andover and was in a band with Andover mates (Blue Bus), and the one thing I have to say about it is everyone there has an over-inflated sense of self-importance. Our band played in several battle of the bands, won, opened for Guster and others, but to me, that was it, we were a high-school band made of high-school students having fun.

Then I get this email recently where some folks wanted to have a reunion, film it, and make a documentary about it. Let's rent a mansion, drink, jam, and make art of it. Sure, we were good, for a high school band, but we were a high school band still. Considering high school was 9 years ago, I've let it go.

But that's the thing about Andover - it's a kingmaker school for those with the right pedigree or networking skills, but because of proximity, or history, or self-aggrandizement, it makes many students feel like kings instantly, and that's just wrong. Your kids are getting too much positive reinforcement; humility is highly underrated.
posted by billpena at 9:39 AM on February 6, 2004

The mac daddy who wrote "In the Ghetto" - as well as that electronic remix favorite "A Little Less Conversation" - was at least a half-country singer. But the whole damn world is country! Dirty South! Fo shizzle, etc.
posted by raysmj at 10:06 AM on February 6, 2004

My bad, very true raysmj, still it does not change my original point.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:46 AM on February 6, 2004

Don't primary voters realize that Bass players are unelectable?
posted by drezdn at 1:49 PM on February 6, 2004

Incidentally, the album's on eBay.
posted by Vidiot at 2:09 PM on February 8, 2004