Music videos that feature Thunderbirds

[uwe]

I think anyone with a hard rock heart should like Saxon - Biff is quite the character -, the issue is just that no one takes them quite seriously! They are like everyone's pet NWOBM survivor that is "also" liked, but never attained either the mass popularity of Iron Maiden or the critics' appeal of Judas Priest.

I've seen them a couple of times over the decades, they never fail to entertain. I love Suzy Hold On, which is gloriously dumb.



The newer stuff holds up well too (with TBird content, so we're right back on track!  ).



Speaking of 70+ olds that can still sing/deliver like they were young, Herr Hughes is a wonder of nature.





Hearing Burn or Mistreated without a dominant Hammond is a weird sensation for an old DP warhorse like me, but I appreciate David Lowy's chugging-choppy, almost punkish rhythm guitar to it. Purple music with a rhythm guitar is rare.

[westen44]

I can only speak for myself, and certainly not for an entire country, but I think Americans never quite bought into that idea that Saxon should be taken lightly.  They're just another NWOBHM band--nothing more and nothing less.  Besides that, if nothing else, Biff's singing, like we've noted, is still actually pretty good.  That's just not something that can be taken for granted.

Glenn Hughes, not only still sounds young, but even looks younger than his years.  He has definitely been doing something right or maybe it's all just genetics.  Whatever it is, it's obviously something very much to his advantage and something anyone would wish for. 

[uwe]

Mind you, he's been living in California since the mid-70ies! Which means: new & very white teeth (= heavy dental), new hair, new knees, efficient rehabs and whaterver else needed to be done. But behind all that exterior there is some real talent and a voice holding up of the Brummie boy who was named by his parents after Glenn Miller.

BTW, Papa Biff makes music with his spawn too, helps out on bass (a Ric!) and harmony vocals, keeping in the background, a good father ...





Meanwhile, ex-members from the original line-up keep busy too.



For the more traditionally-minded among you ... 

[westen44]

That's really good stuff.  I need to order that Heavy Water CD now. 

[uwe]

You resident metalhead! 

But actually that Heavy Water album is quite good and not just an example of raging nepotism. And some would say that Junior has a more variable voice than Dad ever had, not that Biff's vocals are without charm.

[westen44]

Too often nepotism is involved; that is true.  In this case, real talent is obviously there.  I just now ordered the CD. 

[doombass]

We will be the warmup act for Electric Boys on March 25. Should be fun.

[doombass]

Odd Custom Shop model?

[4stringer77]

It looks like the G2 gene Simmons tbird.

[Dave W]

It looks like the G2 gene Simmons tbird.

I think you're right.

[doombass]

This concert took place in 2016 so maybe an inspiration for the Gene-bird?

[uwe]

The young man playing that TBird, in case you wondered, is Jared Followill of the Kings of Leon who also performed Take It Easy in the vid.

https://editorial01.shutterstock.com/wm-preview-1500/9086587v/cdd14241/Shutterstock_9086587v.jpg

Jared, widely recognized as the heartthrob by the (sizable) female demographic of the band's fan base, has been avidly playing TBirds for so long now, he just needs to place a call with the Gibson Custom Shop to get what he wants. Or perhaps his bass tech does it all, watch here at 00:40 ...









I don't think he would want to be caught near anything associated with Gene Simmons. (Plus, a G2 would have featured the SG-Z type fretboard inlays - and not just dots - as well as a Hipshot bridge, but Jared apparently does fine with the holy immaculate three-point which is such a conundrum to many here ...  )

[Alanko]

I miss the good old days when the Kings of Leon were like a bunch of unreconstructed farm boys who had never seen a mirror or much of the outside world. They were weird and everywhere when I was a teenager.

[uwe]

On that first album they couldn't even play - it made the New York Dolls debut sound like Weather Report. The second album was still of largely robust nature, only by the third one were they playing music and from then on they grew and grew. I bought all their albums just to hear them develop.

Jared was the first one to turn purdy. He also mastered the bass pretty quickly given that he had not really played the instrument before they recorded their debut.

He was always pretty much a Gibson guy, started with a 70ies EB-3 (finger-played) and moved on to TBirds and a pick as their music reached the arenas.

[4stringer77]

This video features a Spector Thunderbird and boobies. Not the blue footed kind.