The Hooters! Celebrating the local legendary Philly band with two performances!

0:05 SPEAKER_00: Hey everybody, welcome back to the concert room. Inside the Philly Concert Experience. I'm your host, Bob Hill. The Concert Room is a podcast session dedicated to all the great performances and performers who played on the stage at the legendary Philadelphia Spectrum Arena. The Spectrum held numerous events and concerts over its 40 plus years of existence, earning the nickname America Show Place. The Spectrum was a special place for music fans and bands. And thank you for joining me today. I've got a really special show in store for us.

0:42 SPEAKER_00: Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite bands, and we're going to go local today, and we're going to do a little tribute and history, and we're going to talk about one of the legendary bands here in the Philadelphia area for many decades, and that is the Hooters. Now, if you have heard of the Hooters and their music, then I think uh you're going to enjoy this show today. And if you've never heard of the Hooters, I think you're going to be in for a real treat. You're going to get to know the band that we have come to love here in the Philadelphia area, that we grew up with and we've seen many times, and we've enjoyed their music.

1:24 SPEAKER_00: And hopefully by the end of my show here today, you'll become a fan of the Hooters. They are still touring here and there with some shows. And if you get a chance to see them, I highly recommend that you go out and see them. High energy dance. Just a great, great live band, and one of the true original bands here in the Philadelphia area. So let's talk about the Hooters. And I think it's really just a a good time to kind of do some shows with a local flavor because a lot of my well, not a lot, all of my podcasts even with my guests that I've spoken with, we've always concentrated on the national acts and bands and artists that have played in our area, specifically, you know, the spectrum and the surrounding venues.

2:22 SPEAKER_00: So I think it's uh time we go a little bit local here and get you familiar with kind of a Philly scene. So let's talk about the Hooters. They are an American rock band, of course. They were founded in Philadelphia in 1980. The Hooters combine elements of rock, reggae, ska, and folk music. Founding members Rob Hyman and Eric Basillion. They met in 1971 at the University of Pennsylvania. All throughout the uh 70s, they had some projects. They played in a Philly-based band, gigged around, and uh actually also released two albums under the band name Baby Grant.

3:06 SPEAKER_00: But in 1980, the Hooters were formed by Hyman and Bazillion. The band played their first show on July 4th that year, 1980, and they took their name from a nickname for an instrument called the Melodica. And it's kind of a type of keyboard harmonica that you blow into and you play the kind of a like a small keyboard on it. It's sort of like a big harmonica slash kazoo with a keyboard, which makes sense because the melodica is made by Honor, which is you know the famous name for their harmonicas. So kind of a quirky sound with that.

3:49 SPEAKER_00: And uh well, I'll give you a short melodica riff here so you can you can hear it. Again, if you're familiar with the Hooters songs and and sound, this is part of their music. But if not, this is what the melodica sounds like.

4:19 SPEAKER_00: Yep, so that's the sound, and that melodica gave the band their name because Rob Hyman jokingly called it a Hooter, and the the name stuck, and I think that kind of fits in with back then in the early eighties, eighty, eighty one, eighty-two, when they were kind of gigging around the filiary and the clubs, because the Hooters fit in, especially with their style of music, the ska, the ri reggae, the new wave, the pop elements and rock elements. But the Hooters was kind of a cool name because back then there was a lot of new wave bands that kind of had those kind of quirky names like the alarm and the jam and U2 and REM, the Hooters, and they kind of fit in with that kind of genre of music.

5:17 SPEAKER_00: So that's what the that's where they got their name after a quirky little instrument called the Melodica. Yeah, so again, during the nineteen eighties the Hooters played, as I mentioned before, Philadelphia's club scene. Boosted by airplay on rock radio station WMR, a major rock radio station here in Philadelphia. Really important because back then with WMMR, a lot of the DJs and rock radio in general and all the markets had their own show. And so a lot of these DJs, like Michael Tearson and Pierre Robert, they would play a lot of the local music, local cuts, and they soon became a huge success along, you know, here in the United States.

6:05 SPEAKER_00: So during the early 80s, they were playing everything from uh clubs to high schools, and I first saw the Hooters, they actually played my high school, and I d I can't remember what year it was, maybe eighty-three, I think it was eighty-three. They would play auditoriums, high school auditoriums, and it was pretty cool. So, you know, my high school auditorium, Hooters, the place auditorium was packed. They played other high schools, they played, as I said, all the clubs. And on September 25th, 1982, the Hooters opened for one of the Who's farewell tour concerts.

6:47 SPEAKER_00: That was at JFK Stadium in Philly, and also on the bill there was the Clash in Santana in 1983. John Kuzma, who was a the guitarist, and Bobby Woods on bass, left the band, and they were replaced by John Lilly on guitar and backing vocals, and Rob Miller on bass and backing vocals. Two former members of another popular local group, Robert Hazard and the Heroes. And the reason why I bring that up is because I'm going to talk about Robert Hazard here in just a minute. I'm going to tie it all in. Later in 1983, the Hooters began working on their first album.

7:28 SPEAKER_00: The result was Amore. It was released on the independent label Antenna. Sold over a hundred thousand copies. Again, gig and band, they were all over Philadelphia, all over radio, and one of the top acts to uh see in all the rock clubs. Amori included All You Zombies, Hangin' on a Heartbeat, Fighting on the Same Side, and Blood from a Stone. Some of these songs would appear in different versions on later albums, and I think Amori captures the same energy and spirit that made the Hooters, you know, really admired for their uh live performances.

8:07 SPEAKER_00: So that same year, 1983, Bazillion and Hyman were asked to write, arrange, and perform on the debut album of a relatively unknown singer named Cindy Lauper. And she was recording She's So Unusual. It was being produced by their former producer and friend Rick Cherdoff. That's how they became, you know, kind of involved with her debut album. Hyman, Rob Hyman co-wrote the song Time After Time. And he also sang the uh lower harmony vocal on the uh choruses. That of course went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles.

8:47 SPEAKER_00: Also nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. So great little tie-in. If you ever hear well, you I'm sure you've heard Time After Time with the Cindy Lauper. And that's co-written by Rob Hyman. So let's circle back to Robert Hazzard. I mentioned Robert Hazzard. He was another Philly local legend here who toured around the same time, the same clubs as the Hooters in the uh 80s. Great band. Again, the Philly scene back then, just a lot of diversity with bands, not just rock bands or metal bands.

9:26 SPEAKER_00: These kind of bands with Robert Hazard and the heroes, the Hooters, Tommy Conwell, the Dave's one of my all-time favorite bands. These were just really great times to be out in the clubs and to sing these bands. Now, Robert Hazzard he wrote and composed and recorded a demo of a song called Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. He recorded that demo in 1979. And of course, that was recorded again in 1983 by Cindy Lauper on the album She's So Unusual. Again, turned that into a best-selling hit. So there are two local Philly ties with Cindy Lauper's debut album, She's So Unusual, in 1983, co-written by Hooter and co-written by Robert Hazard, these two songs.

10:20 SPEAKER_00: So I think that's a great little tie-in, and that kind of gives you an idea of how great this scene was in the Philly area back in the early to mid 1980s. Just wonderful. The Hooters, by the way, do play time after time live in their shows, and it's just uh it's kind of the same version, same melody, and it's just uh it's just great and wonderful. Great song. So cool little tie-in there. So on July 26, 1984, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia, Columbia Records signed the Hooters. So the Hooters debut album, Nervous Night, was released in 1985 on Columbia Records.

11:05 SPEAKER_00: Went two times platinum, probably still going up, and included great Billboard top 40 hits day by day, and we danced, and where did the children go? Rolling Stone named the Hooters best new band of the year. They're really taking off and having a lot of success here in the uh mid-80s. Let's jump back to a really important event though, uh, July 13, 1985. This was the live aid concert in Philadelphia at JFK Stadium. The Hooters took the stage in their hometown of Philadelphia as part of the largest benefit concert ever held.

11:47 SPEAKER_00: And the Hooters actually kicked off the the day with And We Danced. That moment really cemented them as global stars. Europe especially embraced them around this time, Germany, Sweden, other countries. They toured extensively overseas, uh so they're achieving now a level of international fame. And we're all really proud of them, you know, around this time. It's it's just, you know, they're really hitting the big time. And of course, MTV. They're you know, they're putting videos out. I'm actually looking at their album right now.

12:22 SPEAKER_00: I have it hanging on my wall. I just picked it up Nervous Night over the summer. I lost my original copy back in the 80s a long time ago. So good timing. I happen to look up on my wall here in my studio, and there is the album hanging on the wall. Good find this summer. Let's talk about some of the spectrum shows on November 24th, 1987. This is Thanksgiving night. The Hooters headlined the Spectrum in Philadelphia for the very first time. The show was broadcast live on MTV and also the Westwood One Radio Network simultaneously.

13:00 SPEAKER_00: April 27th, 1988. This was WMMR's Rock Radio Station's 20th anniversary party. They played on April 27th, 1993. That was WMMR's 25th anniversary concert, and they played on November 22nd, 2001, with David Lee Roth and Fuel. This was Pierre Robert's 20th anniversary concert in celebration of his 20 years at WMMR. And unfortunately, as we touched on my podcast show a couple weeks ago, and Pierre, we unfortunately lost a couple weeks ago to a sudden death, and you can pull up my podcast show dedicated to Pierre.

13:48 SPEAKER_00: You know, we're still kind of in shock about that. We miss him dearly. And the Hooters would play a concert called the Last Call Concert. This was on October 23rd, 2009. It was a part of the Final Farewell concert series for the Philadelphia Spectrum Arena. And this was a Philly centric concert. It was it featured Legends Hall Notes, Todd Rut Rundgren, and of course the Hooters. And this was to celebrate the venue's history with uh local stars before its permanent closure. Later that month, of course, with Pearl Jam's historic four sold-out shows ending on October 31st, Halloween night, 2009.

14:36 SPEAKER_00: That was the last final concert and major event at the spectrum. But again, on October 23rd, 2009, tickets were rolled back to when the spectrum first opened. So ticket prices were$350,$4, which was great. Great way to give back and celebrate. And of course, the Hooters were a part of that because again, they're they're just such a legendary band here in the Philadelphia area. So that is obviously the last time they played the Spectrum. Now, of course, the Hooters played in other venues around town.

15:09 SPEAKER_00: They played the Tower Theater a couple times. That is an upper Derby PA. If you listen to my podcast sessions prior to this one, I have mentioned the Tower Theater many times. In fact, I did a podcast session dedicated to Ozzie Osborne when he passed away. I featured a song from the Tower Theater performance. The Tower Theater was sort of like the spectrum's little brother, if you will. Just certainly a legendary venue here in Philadelphia has since closed, unfortunately. But if you uh a lot of the same bands that came through the spectrum also played the uh Tower Theater.

15:50 SPEAKER_00: A lot of uh recordings from the spectrum, a lot of recordings from the tower theater. And I'm gonna kind of tie that in because what I'm going to do is I'm going to play two from the Hooters today. So you can listen to basically what I'm talking about. I'm going to play one song from the uh Tower Theater. It's it's excellent. But those shows at the Spectrum, the reason why they they played the the WMMR anniversary shows and the the anniversary show for Pierre Robert was because the WMMR was the first major station to play the music of the Hooters in the early 80s.

16:29 SPEAKER_00: So that was a great way for them to give back. So let's jump to the 90s. The Hooters enjoyed local success here in the Philadelphia area. And of course, over in Europe, I mentioned that too. They they did disband, but they reunited in 2003. They actually reunite reunited in Germany, where they performed a successful 17 city tour, and the success of that tour prompted two further tours in 2004 and 05. In uh May of 2023, the Hooters released Rocking and Swing, and they're still doing shows to this day, as I mentioned.

17:09 SPEAKER_00: In fact, a friend of mine just saw them recently last month, I think around Thanksgiving, at a local venue here in town. And for me, I saw them, as I mentioned, in 1983, saw them in the clubs in the 80s, before they kind of went international and and you know hit the big time. I saw them in 2017 at a beach resort venue. It was just absolutely great. So again, the Hooters uh today, they continue to record, tour, sell out shows with multi-generational audiences. You'll find lifelong fans standing next to people who just discovered them on streaming apps and hopefully podcasts like mine today.

17:54 SPEAKER_00: And that's the legacy of the Hooters, I think. It's they're a band that really never fit neatly into boxes. Boxes, like I said, they they had elements of ska and reggae and new weave and a little bit of punk, but rock, rock elements, the blended instruments uh you know that nobody expected. Of course, they incorporated the Hooter, which kind of set them apart, their harmonies, great hooks, and great storytelling. Just really rounds out how great of a band they are. So I hope that kind of gives you an idea of the Hooters and how important they are here in the Philadelphia area.

18:40 SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's get to some performances. I mentioned Live Aid 1985, they kicked it off with and we danced, and I'm gonna play that recording for you. I'm gonna play that performance so you can you can hear it. How they kick the day off with Live Aid and just really set the stage and set the mood for just uh a great, great day of music. And I can't think of a better band to kick off an event like that than the Hooters. And and also to tie it all back together, they do start out and we danced with The Hooter.

19:19 SPEAKER_00: So you're going to hear how they incorporated this quirky little instrument into one of their biggest hits, which is pretty cool. Also gonna go into one of my favorite songs. It's a fan favorite, and it's off their their album Nervous Night, which I mentioned before, and I'm gonna play All You Zombies. I did mention the Tower Theater. This is going to be All You Zombies from the Tower Theater, 1985. So here's the Hooters on the Stage, Live Aid, kicking off Live Aid with And We Danced, and then we'll go into All You Zombies at the Tower Theater.

24:28 SPEAKER_01: The Hooters in Philadelphia live.

24:33 SPEAKER_01: ABC's exclusive coverage of the Live Aid concert continues.

24:39 SPEAKER_01: More than that, we're proud of you for Canada to call them out and show your faces.

26:04 SPEAKER_01: Look at me in the eye. Let my people go in position on the mountain.

26:21 SPEAKER_01: I am the whole test.

26:42 SPEAKER_01: All you people in the street.

26:48 SPEAKER_01: All you stand in the hot places. The beach is gonna follow you.

26:59 SPEAKER_01: No one ever's gonna know.

27:04 SPEAKER_01: They all left everything.

27:09 SPEAKER_01: Working on his heart. Working all by himself Only noise, all it comes for the days, for the nice sunset for the spirit.

27:42 SPEAKER_01: Are you something I got faces? Are you people in the street?

27:52 SPEAKER_01: Are you still in my places?

30:34 SPEAKER_00: I hope that kind of gives you a great uh idea of how you're gonna get it for the free.

31:54 SPEAKER_00: And uh subscribe, uh leave a comment if you like, uh, and I will see you again with the country.