Tragic Dude Thing (Old Kids On The Block!)

Myths & Legends By Jah Paul Jo

One thing I came to terms with very early in my Dread Zeppelin career was that we were a “Boy’s Band.” Not like ‘Nsync or even our contemporaries, New Kids On The Block, who girls went crazy for… no, it was that mostly boys liked us. Usually brainy guys who ran in packs. Rarely, if they were lucky enough to score a date, the boys would drag complaining girlfriends along to the Dread Zeppelin show who, clearly, couldn’t/wouldn’t/didn’t-really-want-to grasp the concept.

“Why does Elvis have to be so fat?” asked the puzzled ladies. In fact, that’s the question that Lisa Marie Presley, herself, asked us at an early Dread Zeppelin gig. They would also ask why the bass player wasn’t wearing any pants.

We didn’t know. I still don’t. But it makes me laugh.

So many times, after a gig, a brainy boy would try to impress a non-plussed date by telling me that they had had the VERY SAME IDEA for a band: playing reggae versions of Led Zeppelin or, even worse, reggae versions of The Stones or the Beatles or The Doors, etc. – which to me WASN’T the same idea and, in fact, was kind of dumb. They would, more often than not, go into great detail, how this idea had come to them, perhaps in a dream, and how they *would have* done it far better than we.

I would have to gently point out to them – for many times the backstage boys would be higher than kites and not mind one bit getting into a fight – yes, you might have had that very same idea but the big difference was… (deep breath)… WE actually did it and YOU didn’t.

In our friendly pool of insanity of 1989, we had a guy that could sing like Elvis; but he certainly didn’t look the part so we had to improvise. A guitarist with an encylopaedic knowledge of Led Zeppelin riffs and could play ‘em in his sleep. Another who was a graphic artist with a wicked sense of humor. Yet another who was an ace photographer and a sound engineer in his spare time. Plus we had the three “road dogs,” who had already had some success as The Prime Movers and knew how the whole thing worked (or didn’t – as the case may be).

We did the only thing we could think of at the time: Led Zeppelin inna reggae style – with a fat Elvis impersonator singing. The perfect storm. A tempest in a teapot.

And it was quite popular – especially with boys. A “Tragic Dude Thing” we called it.

Everybody knows, the whole reason that you want to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band in the first place is to impress chicks… right?

WHAT were we thinking?!!

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