In the Fifties, they all wanted to be Buddy Holly. In the Sixties it was the Beatles or the Stones. The Seventies meant the Eagles, the Eighties, Huey Lewis & The News and the Nineties, Hootie & The Blowfish. And it continues today. Depending on their musical tastes, where they live and what their parents will let them listen to, thousands upon thousands of kids have been strumming on guitars, banging on drums or pounding on keyboards with the hopes of making it with a band.
But reality has a funny way of getting in the way. In most cases, talent and ambition don't line up. In other situations, while the chops might be there, the magic formula of material and marketing just don't gel. And even for those that get that first lucky break, parlaying that into mainstream success is a lottery at best.
And so even the most talented of the lot move on to other venues. They become accountants and marketing gurus and production supervisors. They buy houses and get married and have kids. And they file their musical exploits away along with their Erector Sets and their Barbie dolls. But while they make a living and a life in arenas from Wall Street to Main Street, many never lose the desire to join together with a group of like-minded individuals, to dust off the picks and the sticks, and to play a little rock and roll.
To cater to this crowd, a small firm called Off Wall Street Jam started up in 1990. It offers lunchtime, after work and weekend sessions where anyone can come in, pick up a guitar or a pair of sticks, and start jamming away with a bunch of kindred souls. Whether it's blues, metal or acoustic, they have a group for you, where you can relive your fantasies, cozy in the knowledge that your fellow travelers aren't looking down at you, but doing the same thing.
Throughout the country and the working world, the same thing happened in a more haphazard way. But the results were the same: a little garage band action by people old enough to own the garages. Of course, the next step from a casual get-together is a formal dinner party. And it's no different in the music business. So rather than link up with an ever-rotating cast of characters every week, alliances started to form of a more permanent nature. And because geography and schedule dictates so many choices, many of these groups started to gel around the workplace.
More and more company bands began to spring up. With the blessing of the bosses, who saw these as another way of fostering teamwork and employee morale, firms even began make these semi-official organizations, offering them not only the use of company facilities for rehearsals, but opportunities to play at employee functions and even the use of the company name. So up sprang bands such as "The Marsh Blues Brokers" from insurance broker Marsh & McClennan, and "The Briggs Bluesbusters" from lawn mower manufacturer Briggs & Stratton, as well as "Parts Rock and Accessories Roll" from motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson and "Yield to Maturity" from the financial firm National City Corporation.
For the guys and girls in the bands, many times it's the fulfillment of a childhood dream. They get the chance to jam, along with sponsorship from their employer, and even a few groupies to boot. Says Pat "The Wailer " Waller, a senior tax manager at PeopleSoft, who fronts company band "The Raving Daves," "This is awesome! We don 't get paid for this, it's just something that's fun."
More and more bands are popping up, performing in their communities at various events. In Allentown, PA a band formed at chemical producer Air products called "The Difference" booked 34 gigs last year, from fundraisers for the American Diabetes Foundation to providing entertainment at an industry convention. In fact, corporate bands like The Difference have become such a widespread phenomena in corporate America that Fortune Magazine, in association with The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, sponsors a Battle of the Corporate Bands.
The Battle, being held for the third time this year on October 17th at the Hall of Fame in Cleveland, is a nationwide musical slugfest to find the best in industrial strength rockers. Bands are invited to submit three-song CD's, which are evaluated by reps from the magazine, the Museum and industry insiders. Fourteen finalists were chosen to come to come to a two-day event at the Hall's home . This year, they include "The Residuals" from Fleet Capital Leasing, "Blue Truck" from American Express Financial Advisors and "The Bastards" from eBrandSecure.
On that weekend, the bands and their brethren will play in a day-long festival, culminating with a 15-minute set from each in front of a panel of celebrity judges, who in the past have included such luminaries as Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Sam Moore of the group Sam and Dave, and Seymour Stein, chairman of London-Sire records. The winners get honors, a year-long tribute in a special museum display, and best of all, leather rock and roll varsity jackets with their names embroidered on the front.
It's quite a journey. From being the Devil's Music, capable of corrupting the youth of this country with its incessant beat and swivel-hipped performers, Rock has become embraced by that most American of institutions, the money-making corporation as an after-work activity for morale building. Not that anyone is complaining, but to quote the Grateful Dead... and is this context, that alone is ironic...what a long, strange trip it's been.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford always wanted to play in a band, but never had the chops. That, plus he played flute. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review and The Scarsdale Inquirer.
