Fresno Famous

Charlie Musslewhite

A highlight for me was meeting Charlie Musslewhite in the green room and seeing his little kid run around. Ozzy Ozborne asked me a question, but I didn't know who he was. Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers were high energy - I still have one of their buttons, but nothing compared to the Bixler music - they were the soul of the club. Judy was kind and generous of spirit. The WBY was my home away from home from 1977-1981. I danced with a lot of guys, but preferred to move to the music standing behind the half-wall along the entrance. It was impossible to sit, the music just took hold. I was sad to see it go - short hair and abnoxious norms started taking over - culturally, it was like going from great to worse.

I regret that I missed the jazz venues of the time considering the amount of local jazz talent - but, the Blue offered a good range from folk to blues to jazz and rock and roll. I heard that Rickie Lee Jones performed there, unannounced- if that's true, damn, I'd have LOVED to have seen her.

I Remember When

I used to love to go the "Blue". There was one night that a guy with a twelve string guitar played and he sang his own songs. I think his name was Dennis Pinkston.
Does anyone know what happened to him ?

good times, indeed

Great string of bands, good decor and fantastically nice people. Sorry to hear the place has shut down. $0.75 Lowenbrau, that was hard to beat for a college student and, after the 5th one, that awesome neon sculpture running along the ceiling line turned insanely psychodelic.

Anyone remember seeing this at the WBY...

...it was the Spring of 1987. A funky local TV Sportscaster named Vic "the Brick" Jacobs fronted a band of three FSU students from Kingsburg. Vic had a nightly schtick that involved tossing a foam stage brick at the TV camera.

The band's name was Love Rod Exchange. Very neo-punkish. Jacobs was on a tear on stage - someone who genuinely felt comfortable belting out altered lyrics to covers of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Good Love". The house was packed that evening for the mid-week show at the Wild Blue Yonder. I gave up head counting at 100.

Not sure where those students ended up, but Jacobs is in LA doing afternoon drive time stint sports radio for KLAC AM570. His mug is all over town on outdoor billbaords.

Jacobs still loves to perform on stage. He's currently the frontman for another band called MWA, Mashugganas With Attitude. They make regular appearances at local clubs and telethons. There are also videos of them on YouTube.

I used to spend many evenings at the WBY. I got to know Judy Bixler quite well. She would tell me stories about their gigs last weekend at one of the many regional venues the played at.

One story I sort of recall, was when Jim got into some kind of trouble in Paso Robles. Judy had to plead with a CHP or Sherrif Deputy to not take him to jail. It wasn't so much about what Jim may or may not have done, it was the passion in how she told the story and how all members of the band were crazy-connected, relying on her to save Jims butt from being hauled away.

Judy had a way of talking to you as if you were her brother or sister - that kind of all knowing understanding, being able to say exactly what you wanted to hear to soothe the issues at hand.

Boy, I never realized how much I missed Judy until now.

fond (?) memories of the Wild Blue

Yeah, Theraminman, it was a cool place to play for the most part, but towards the end I remember having to fight for my band's fair share of the door money when the Blue would suddenly decide that, "we now take 25% of the door when it's a local band," or some other hogwash. And I also recall that Thursdays were 75 cent Lowenbrau Dark draft nights-and they always ran out right before the opening band started at 9:30. There was even a protest march outside one night over the beer "bait and switch" that was going on. All that aside, I had a lot of fun there, but the Oly paid a LOT better!!

i saw the Goo Goo Dolls at

i saw the Goo Goo Dolls at the Wild Blue in 1991 and talked with them afterwards ... funny how times change since i was the fattest but prettiest of the bunch then

paper Christmas decorations?

Mr. H-S,
I'm not sure if this what you're remembering, but
I know that Nate Butler has put on his
"MMM MMM Christmas" show for...something like 10 or 11 years?
I'm not sure if that's enough to put him back in the Time Machine into the Wild Blue. He has a tree and brings scissors and glue and glitter and stuff and encourages the audience to deck out the tree during the show.
He did it for years and years at Club Fred,once or twice at Starline, and now (I may be wrong) I think he does it at Last Call/Zapps.

Trapdoor

Was the trapdoor Tower Districts Chinatown Tunnel???
I remember a concert there where it was Christmas Eve and there was paper and glue etc on the tables for people to make decorations to trim the little Christmas tree all while the show was going on. Trying to remember the group playing: Camper Van Beethoven? or was it somebody else.

the wild blue's 'trap door'

It's ok Fezgurl, I can confirm it for you, cuz I didn't drink nothin' stronger than Dr. Pepper in those days.
But do you remember...backstage (which meant 'down the hallway past the bathrooms' haha) there was some sort of
pit...a mini basement hovel ....there was a trapdoor (no kidding) and below was the sort of 'backstage'
'green room'[always seemed a very 'cheech and chong'kind of 'green room']. There was a couch...and I think that was about it. I have pictures to prove it. Also...trying to pull up these memories)...also,if you went to the right(not down the trapdoor)...there was storage and then this long hallway (that must still be there in the building) that was a sort of 'inner back alley' that connected all the little businesses there....the barber shop, beauty parlor, book store , etc. The one time I ventured down that way, I got sort of spooked and came back to the safe haven of loud 80's rock music.

thems were the days...my friend

oh! the lighting loft...
the ladder was hard to navigate in stilettos but well worth the view.

more good times.

and the fun-filled-booze-soaked-musical memories just keep comin'...

smuggling your girlfriend in

When my peers and I started playing at the Blue
we were on the young side [old man voice: thems were the days], so some of us might have girlfriends who were under-21 but wished to see the show. So, said date would come early with the band for soundcheck,go up into the lighting loft---they had this wood ladder up to this little deck up there in the dark corner near the ceiling---you could sit up there with your best gal and watch the other band and she could stay up there all stow-a-way-like while your band would play. (Much better than having to peek through the little venetian blinds from the sidewalk the way I would do sometimes if a superbly great band was playing and I was still under 21.)

The Coors Mystique

Coors wasn't available East of the Rockies (or was it the Mississippi River) so there was a certain mystique to the beer (unfounded after you drank the stuff). Burt Reynold's movie" Smokey and the Bandit" was based on a guy smuggling Coors across the country.

when someone ordered a Coors he would say...

"we don't serve right-wing-john-birch-society-beer here"

yeah, I remember union-buster Coors, but I got to tell you that when I was in Biloxi Miss, stationed at Keesler AFB (73-74), guys who went home for leave (furlough for you Army-types) to Calif or Texas would come back bringing Coors loaded to the gills in their p/ups, not sure what that was about, nobody ever did that for Schlitz or Hamms

before they moved the bar to the side...

it was in the corner...tended by "TEX"...
when someone ordered a Coors he would say...

"we don't serve right-wing-john-birch-society-beer here"

good times.

Wild blues over the late Wild Blue...

When the Wild Blue closed up shop, I was soooo SURPRISED no one came forward, bought the place and re-opened it (I know it's something now---but it's NOT the music venue it used to be).

Back in the late 80s/early 90s, it was the place to go to see a band. It was perfect. There was a bar on one wall, a dance floor on the opposite wall, the stage and plenty of seating. It was a great place to go and had been an institution for YEARS (my mom used to go in the early 70s when it had been The Wild Blue Yonder).

I mean, I used to also go to The Oly (Olympic Tavern) / Club Fred back then, too... And I understand that Club Fred is THE place to go for live music these days. I'm sorry, but Club Fred didn't hold a candle to the Blue.

It's really ashame the Blue is gone...

happy to oblige, look what I found

is this copyright or name infringement?

Melissa Wade, from Knoxville, on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, fronts the band and writes most of their original material. She is also an accomplished pianist and piano instructor. She brings to the band many years of performance experience in a variety of musical styles.
Philip Coward, from Knoxville, on mandolin, lead acoustic guitar and vocals, shares leadership duties in the band and contributes to their signature energetic show. He also co-writes and arranges much of the group's original material and has performed in various bands for almost 30 years, one of which toured overseas with the USO in the 1970's.
Classically-trained violinist and virtuoso fiddlers, sisters, Laura Knight and Cindy Wallace light up the band's stage show with lively fiddle tunes as well as beautiful string arrangements on their slower numbers. They have performed in many bands, including Wild Mountain Honey, and The Wallace Sisters. Their credentials also include many years at Dollywood theme park.

http://www.wildblueyonderband.com/

then I found this:

The Wild Blue Yonder - A dubious historical accounting.

by,
Dr. Linus Appalling
Sandford University, Red Leaf, California.
PART I
In the 1970s, a pack of Camels cost 35¢, the neo-fascist national corporate terror state was well underway, Bush was flunking out of Yale, Miles Davis had gone electric, the network pundits had begun the long arduous spin cycle and begrudged apology for Vietnam, interest rates were double-digit due to the cost of war, and peace never had or was given a chance.
In the Big Ugly (Fresno, California) -- the city that never wakes, home of blatant political corruption, toxic agri-business and diesel fuel sunsets -- life was stagnant, severe, and under the shade of a cowboy hat.

http://thewildblueyonder.net/

and this:

Local Music Rock n' Roll Reasearch Project??? (oh boy! oh boy!)
Wouldn't it be nice to have a handy-dandy reference tool regarding Local Music?
It could settle arguments over dinner about exactly when The Olympic Tavern changed into Club Fred. Or, what was that record store called that was ran by that guy from Capital Punishment?
This could be a website! This could evolve into a book! This could link other sites that have already worked up their own piece of the historic puzzle/mural (choose your own metaphor).
[Sheesh, someone should write a GRANT!!]
But imagine:

http://www.fresnofamous.com/node/4084

and these on Youtube:
Mad Dog at the Wild Blue Yonder, July 26, 1987. John Ayala plays flute.
http://www.videocarnage.com/video_fPtOsydvWtI.html

Footprints, by Darrell Devaurs recorded live at the Wild Blue Yonder in Fresno on July 26, 1987. Mad Dog is Darrell Devaurs, John Ayala, Ron Delarm, Dave Stewart and Ric Seaberg.
http://www.videocarnage.com/video_Ikg3N6FRa2M.html

former band member:
http://www.jeffreywbowman.com/bio.html

or this:

Jim Karagozian is a seasoned performer and talented kanun player. He has been performing for over 20 years in various ensembles and small combo groups.

Jim's earliest professional performing experiences began in 1979 when he hooked up with four other musicians from the South Valley. The young men formed a band and began playing picnics, weddings and other private functions. This alliance lasted for nearly 15 years. Meanwhile, Jim continued playing with other musicians in both formal and informal settings. Jim and his brother, Ed (who plays doumbek), occasionally performed together in small combo groups and as backup musicians for dancers in the Central Valley. Along with yet another doumbek player, Jim eventually became a regular at the legendary Wild Blue Yonder in Fresno's Tower District, performing music for a local Middle Eastern dance troupe.

http://www.bitmunk.com/view/media/6708963

or this:

Randy Houser started playing the guitar at age sixteen. Randy began writing songs and recording with the help of a high school friend, John Ceballos, on John's eight track recording deck. He was influenced by the music of the late 60's and early 70's being played at the time on radio station's KFRC, the Big 610, and KYA. Randy spent his teenage years in Concord, Ca until the age of seventeen. He graduated from Clayton Valley H.S. and joined the Navy for 3 years. After a year of junior college in Napa, Ca., he moved to Fresno. Randy started checking out the local music scene at a night club in the Tower District called THE WILD BLUE YONDER. Open Mic nights were a once a month occurrence where local singer/songwriters could strut their stuff. In 1980, Randy weaseled his way into a local rock band, ALLOY. After changing players, Alloy renamed itself BLONDE OZZIE.

http://www.angelfire.com/band2/bigtrees/randyhouser.html