Memorial Day Weekend

This holiday weekend brings some great old memories to mind. Rat Race Choir began playing the Hamptons in the early 70s at a place called Mitty's General Store. In those days the Hamptons were still a well kept summer secret of the blue blood social scene. We had a blast playing the hottest night club for the "beautiful people" all summer long. Although the venues changed over the years we continued this annual adventure and finally secured our own year round residence in South Hampton. The AC/DC lyrics "lock up your daughters, lock up your wife, lock up your back door, run for your life" seem to sum it up. Anyone that was a part of this time will remember these days with a smile... I do!

I thought I'd post this article that was written a while back about RZB. ~SL Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander tours with his own band. They say that old musicians never die- they just keep looking for the next gig. The truth is there is no such thing as an old musician. Legend has it that “If you are fortunate enough to make a living playing music that you love, you’ll never really get old.” So it should come as no surprise that at 60, Robin Zander, the iconic vocalist for Cheap Trick, decided to form a new band at the age when most people begin looking into real estate in Florida for their retirement. Zander already lives in Florida and has for quite some time. Maybe that’s where the fountain of youth really is. Because “the man of 1000 voices” has stamped his name on a group of musicians now known as The Robin Zander Band. This year is the 35 anniversary of Cheap Trick’s classic “Live At Budokan” album. The hits rich rock staple was originally recorded in Japan and released on April 28, 1978. Cheap Trick will play some special dates to honor that milestone. Robin’s new band will do their own renditions of hits like “I Want You To Want Me” and “Surrender” with its familiar refrain “Mommy’s alright, Daddy’s alright…but Zander wants to dig into the Cheap Trick catalog. This will be of particular interest to Cheap Trick fans who long to hear some deep cuts that have rarely if ever been performed live. The Robin Zander Band will also perform music to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Robin’s first solo album. The new band will bring to life several songs from that record and also visit classics from Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Beatles and The Who. The Robin Zander Band has the horsepower to do all this and more. Zander has enlisted musicians who can perform all of these songs with credibility. Hudson Valley classic rock fans will be pleased to know that the core band includes two former members of Rat Race Choir, guitar legend Mark Hitt and drummer extraordinaire Steve Luongo. These musicians are no strangers to performing live. In addition to Rat Race Choir they have taken the stage with John Entwistle of The Who, their original project TorQue and most recently with AC/DC rockers Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams. Filling in the bottom is Larry Hobbs on bass. “The Doctor”, as Robin calls him, is also a Florida resident and a close friend of Cliff Williams who introduced Hobbs to Luongo and Hitt. After playing several one off performances together over the years, Zander and company decided to give the band a name and book some tour dates. They are looking forward to continuing to perform a well rounded set of the music that they love. 2013 & 2014 show dates to be announced. www.robinzanderband.com