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The honeydrippers


catkind

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I saw them back in 1980-something. I remember Plant saying something about Bonzo, and everyone applauded and cheered (I think it must have been Bonzo's birthday). I also remember people up in the rafters over the stage, with their legs hanging down. They were swinging their legs back and forth to the music. It was a good concert.

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I saw them back in 1980-something. I remember Plant saying something about Bonzo, and everyone applauded and cheered (I think it must have been Bonzo's birthday). I also remember people up in the rafters over the stage, with their legs hanging down. They were swinging their legs back and forth to the music. It was a good concert.

The Metro Center in Minneapolis on May 31st 1988.

Onstage he said "today is May the 31st, a special day for me…my old mate Bonzo's birthday...(dedicates 'Black Country Woman' to John Bonham) "

FYI, that morning Robert was flown into Holman Airport from Midway Airport in Chicago. He stayed the night at The Whitney hotel located at 150 Portland Avenue. Next day he was flown to General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee.

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The Metro Center in Minneapolis on May 31st 1988.

Onstage he said "today is May the 31st, a special day for me…my old mate Bonzo's birthday...(dedicates 'Black Country Woman' to John Bonham) "

FYI, that morning Robert was flown into Holman Airport from Midway Airport in Chicago. He stayed the night at The Whitney hotel located at 150 Portland Avenue. Next day he was flown to General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee.

Wow, Steve! :o

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:notworthy: Steve Jones, factmaster.

Why didn't that group stay together longer? They were good.

According to Robert, he had tired of their "menopausic rumblings" and on October 14th 1985 he issued a press release stating all of the members of his band were out. It's interesting to note the Led Zeppelin rehearsals in Bath were held that January, so one could argue they were actually disbanded in the hopes of a Led Zeppelin reunion.

When Bill Curbishley took over management of his solo career in August 1986 one of

the first decisions they made was that it would be best to assemble a far younger

lineup for Robert to perform and record with. Robert got in touch with Phil Johnstone

through Virgin Records and through Johnstone, Plant met Dave Barrett. Within two

days, he was writing new material with them. Plant contacted Chris Blackwell and

Doug Boyle about a month later and Charlie Jones was brought in during the final

stages of album recording to replace Phil Scragg.

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I saw the Honeydrippers at Hard Rock Cafe in NYC, maybe 1985. Hard to remember the exact year. What a great place to see Robert! I didn't get to touch him but my friend and I got close! That was a unique show since the performance was on the balcony level of the Cafe. Much different environment than a typical concert. Very intimate.

Robert Plant and The Honeydrippers, so far as I know, never performed in NYC. Their August 5th 1985 Madison Square Garden concert was cancelled.

How certain are you about where you saw them?

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I am 100% certain. To clarify, it wasn't a "concert", more accurately it was an appearance. There were no tickets to purchase. My best friend and I heard they would be there on a local radio station so we went to New York City that day. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe about 2 hrs. before the show was to start. When the staff started to hurry us along to make room for more patrons, we ate much slower and ordered coffee to stall. By the time the Honeydrippers came out we gave up our seats to make our way closer.

I'm trying to find more information since this event wasn't on Robert Plant's website. It may have been the same time the Honeydrippers appeared on SNL. That would make sense! It doesn't say the year but seems like it would have been 84', just prior to the new year (since 85 stood out in my mind).

Edit: in must have been end of 1984 because I know it was the 2nd time I saw Robert and the 3rd was at Live Aid. No sketchy memory when it comes to that venue (yeah JFK!!!! No longer in existance, bummer).

http://www.sweetslyrics.com/bio-Robert%20Plant.html

Gets together with a number of musicians and records old R & B tunes as the Honeydrippers releasing Honeydrippers Volume 1 This album is incredible successful with the hit "Sea of Love" as the song charts at #3 in the US. Plant would then play with the Honeydrippers on the December 15th edition of Saturday Night Live which is hosted is Eddie Murphy.

This is gettting very intriguing.

The SNL thing was an ad-hoc Honeydrippers, not the whole lineup. Brian Setzer of The Stray Cats filled in on guitar. That performance was put together as the album had just sold 100,000 copies -- well beyond expectations -- and he'd flown in from England.

Looking at everything I have chronicled, I would bet the Hard Rock Cafe performance

was within the last ten days of May 1985. He was in NYC doing media stuff before

going to Dallas for tour rehearsals. A promotional party to celebrate the release of

'Shaken n Stirred' was held in NYC on May 22nd 1985 and he did give a live interview and answer listener's questions on nationally-syndicated 'Rockline' on May 27th 1985.

Last ten days of May 1985...Memorial Day weekend...am I jogging any memories? It

would be so cool to confirm a previously unconfirmed performance. I do have some

doubt they'd perform prior to tour rehearsals, pushing this into a July 20th - August 5th time frame when several dates were cancelled, opening up other possibilities as

New York City, Uniondale (Nassau) and Saratoga Springs, NY were all cancelled.

Edit: I don't think it was around the time of the SNL thing because the full group had

not accompanied him from England, so far as I know.

Edited by SteveAJones
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I don't remember, I don't recall...haha. I said from the start I don't remember the date, but I think it was in 1985. Now if I try to remember what I wore, maybe I will regain some clues. btw, I like the research you just provided. It may have very well been in the spring because I don't remember dragging a coat around the Cafe. It was definitely before Live Aid. I don't know how you can get confirmation, maybe the Hard Rock or a radio station would be able to provide details. I have limited time to search the net and so far nothing has turned up. I might be able to find memorabilia of the event. I will make that a project when I get time to go through my valuables (I am a pack rat).

Please let me know if you find out anything more. My memory is good, but dates and the timeline of many events are sketchy. I had a very full life as a teenager. Today, not so much.

1984

He only made two trips to the state of New York in 1984. The first was in May 1984 to

actually record tracks for Honeydrippers Volume One over Mother's Day Weekend. The second was the SNL performance which we already talked about. So far as I know, Robbie Blunt, among the others, did not accompany him in December 1984. If you recall seeing Robbie Blunt on guitar at the gig, and I am correct that he stayed in England that December, it rules out 1984.

1985

Refer to everything in the thread already. We can rule out anything in New York that

July or August because your convinced it happened before Live Aid, July 13th 1985. His

only other appearances in the state of New York in 1985 happened within the last 10

days of May 1985. Richard Hogan of Circus magazine shows tour rehearsals began in

Dallas around May 28th, but that could be off by a day or so.

Bottom line is if you saw him perform with The Honeydrippers at Hard Rock Cafe in NYC

it almost has to be within those last ten days of May 1985. I'll keep checking and let's

hope someone else turns up with additional details in the meantime!

Edited by SteveAJones
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i think i saw the honey drippers on SNL in the mid 80's, with brian setzer on guitar.

love the album, still waiting patiently for vol II. will it ever happen?

Sadly I don't think so. Robert was planning to work on a volume II with Ahmet Ertegun but when he passed away, Robert commented that there'd be no point now :(

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Sadly I don't think so. Robert was planning to work on a volume II with Ahmet Ertegun but when he passed away, Robert commented that there'd be no point now :(

Aaw. I'm not a huge fan of The Honeydrippers album because of the production of it, I guess. I love that type of music but that album sounded too 'clean' or something. I dunno. But a second album in this day and age would have probably been really good. And I would have loved to see them live, I bet they sounded great live.

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Aaw. I'm not a huge fan of The Honeydrippers album because of the production of it, I guess. I love that type of music but that album sounded too 'clean' or something. I dunno. But a second album in this day and age would have probably been really good. And I would have loved to see them live, I bet they sounded great live.

I hear what you're saying. The originals certainly were more "raw" sounding. I suspect had a second volume come to fruition, it would have been quite different :)

I didn't see the concert Aqua and ledded went to but I've heard it and it was pretty amazing. Robert did a Honeydrippers set during his 85 tour which was quite fun.

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  • 4 years later...

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