Think yousa国际传媒檝e seen a lot of concerts? Meet Surreysa国际传媒檚 Colin Hartridge, a walking, talking encyclopedia of rock nsa国际传媒� roll.
By his count, hesa国际传媒檚 witnessed close to 1,000 concerts in his 68 years, and has many of the ticket stubs as proof of his love for live music.
The kicker is, Hartridge is still an avid concert-goer, with two or three on his calendar every week. He also still frequently drums at jam nights around Metro Vancouver, as a blast from his past with the band Sparkling Apple.
In another music-related passion of his, hesa国际传媒檚 hosted his own from his Guildford-area townhouse for the past four years, giving listeners new themed shows every Monday on mixcloud.com.
This weeksa国际传媒檚 episode, his 256th, is dubbed and features 34 songs with the word sa国际传媒渕oonsa国际传媒� in the title, including tunes by Nat King Cole, Ozzy Osbourne, Captain Beefheart, John Mellencamp and others.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 just something I like to do, for fun,sa国际传媒� Hartridge said. sa国际传媒淥n Mixcloud, theresa国际传媒檚 a listener count for each show, but I have no idea where theysa国际传媒檙e listening from unless they sa国际传媒榝avouritesa国际传媒� or repost the show,sa国际传媒� he added. sa国际传媒淚f they do that, I can see that Captain Maniac Show friends have tuned in from Greece or South Africa, or France or England or wherever.sa国际传媒�
Hartridge, a retired graphic designer who still creates posters for buddies in bands, moved to Surrey with his family when he was six years old, and has lived in the city ever since.
He started playing drums at age 16, a couple years after he saw The Beatles play Empire Stadium in Vancouver. The landmark show, in 1964, was his first as a concert-goer.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檇 seen The Beatles on TV, Ed Sullivansa国际传媒檚 show, and of course I saw Ringo and said, sa国际传媒榃ell, I can do that!sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� Hartridge recalled with a laugh. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檇 always be tapping on window sills with my momsa国际传媒檚 knitting needles and my dad finally said, sa国际传媒榊ou should take drum lessons.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� I took lessons for about six months (at a place in Vancouver), but they were more interested in Latin rhythms, sambas and all that, but I just wanted to play rock sa国际传媒榥sa国际传媒� roll. So I sort of ended up teaching myself just by listening to records and playing along to those.sa国际传媒�
As a teen in the late 1960s, Hartridge saw concerts by several iconic rock bands that travelled through Vancouver, including Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin and more.
Hartridge has a sharp memory for details of those performances.
sa国际传媒淭he best concert I ever went to was the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and that was sa国际传媒�68 at the Pacific Coliseum, and they had about three other bands on before him sa国际传媒� Eire Apparent, Soft Machine and Vanilla Fudge, so by the time Hendrix came on, it was about midnight,sa国际传媒� he recalled.
sa国际传媒淪o he came on and said to the crowd, sa国际传媒業sa国际传媒檝e got a cold,sa国际传媒� but he still played like nobodysa国际传媒檚 business. I remember that his grandmother was in the audience, because she lived not too far away from there, in Strathcona, around there. So when he did sa国际传媒楩oxy Lady,sa国际传媒� he dedicated it to her.sa国际传媒�
Earlier that year, the Coliseum also played host to Cream, with Eric Clapton on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass and Ginger Baker on drums.
sa国际传媒淚 remember them playing only six songs, but of course each song was at least 10 minutes long,sa国际传媒� Hartridge said. sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檇 do a framework of the song and then theysa国际传媒檇 jam sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒楽unshine of Your Lovesa国际传媒� with extended solos that went on for years.sa国际传媒�
Back then, hesa国际传媒檇 attend a lot of concerts sa国际传媒渂ecause they were events you just had to go to,sa国际传媒� he explained.
sa国际传媒淏y todaysa国际传媒檚 standards it was cheap sa国际传媒� I saw Led Zeppelin for $5, so I guess thatsa国际传媒檇 be like $50 today, or something. And back then we didnsa国际传媒檛 have any digital distractions, and we didnsa国际传媒檛 spend a lot of time watching TV, so we went to concerts. You know, sa国际传媒楾hin Lizzysa国际传媒檚 in town, letsa国际传媒檚 go see sa国际传媒榚m.sa国际传媒� One time it was T. Rex and the opening band was Blue Oyster Cult, who we really liked back then, so we went and couldnsa国际传媒檛 stand T. Rex, so we left after a couple songs.sa国际传媒�
The band Hartridge has seen most often in concert is Blue Oyster Cult sa国际传媒� probably 10 times, he said.
sa国际传媒淚 know theysa国际传媒檙e coming here in the summer, to that , but Isa国际传媒檓 pretty sure itsa国际传媒檚 not all the original guys. So Isa国际传媒檒l probably go see that. And a band like Zeppelin, every time they came to town wesa国际传媒檇 go see sa国际传媒榚m, just because it was Zeppelin. They were here in sa国际传媒�68 for the first time, and a bunch of times after that. I saw them all, I think.sa国际传媒�
Not surprisingly, the music of many of the bands Hartridge has seen in concert is played on his Captain Maniac show.
Out of the gate, his very first episode was called a two-hour collection of songs recorded by Jet, Rose Tattoo, The Cult, The Sex Pistols, Big Sugar and others.
The weekly series is sa国际传媒渄evoted to the music *I* want to play sa国际传媒� not what Isa国际传媒檓 TOLD to play, but what *I* want to play, with the emphasis on loud and proud rock and roll!sa国际传媒� Hartridge wrote in an introduction.
to visit sa国际传媒淭he Captain Maniac Showsa国际传媒� page on Facebook.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of , launched in 1969, just after Hartridge had graduated from high school.
sa国际传媒淚t started off as the Plastic Rat Blues Band, and we had one guy leave so we wanted to change the name to something else,sa国际传媒� he recalled. sa国际传媒淲e had a bottle of cider in front of us, and that was it, OK. It stuck.sa国际传媒�
For Sparkling Apple, a final gig is in the works for later this year.
sa国际传媒淲e havensa国际传媒檛 played for a while because Art has sciatica, and I have problems with my eyes (I had a torn retina),sa国际传媒� Hartridge explained.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 going to happen, possibly at Donegalsa国际传媒檚 (in Surrey) but not until after summer, probably in the fall. I donsa国际传媒檛 see us playing beyond that show.sa国际传媒�
to read Sparkling Applesa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒淩oad Stories,sa国际传媒� written by Hartridge.
Last Saturday night (April 13), in another of his concert-going experiences, Hartridge helped celebrate the 70th birthday of Doni Underhill, the former Trooper bass player, at in Guildford. The night included a four-song reunion performance by singer Ra McGuire, guitar player Brian Smith, drummer Tommy Stewart and Underhill on bass sa国际传媒� the bandsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渃lassicsa国际传媒� edition, minus keyboardist Frank Ludwig. They played the classic cuts sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e Here for a Good Time,sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒�3 Dressed as a 9,sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒淭he Boys in the Bright White Sports Carsa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒淩aise a Little Hell.sa国际传媒�
Early Sunday, Hartridge posted on Facebook: sa国际传媒淲asnsa国际传媒檛 that a party?sa国际传媒�
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tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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