I guess it's just a part of Rock N Roll to have soon-to-be legends auditioning for their band in a strange or emberrasing way. So I figured it to be fun to make a thread about that.
In 1968 Terrence "Geezer" Butler placed an ad looking for a singer for a band he was putting together, it didn't take long before somebody responded. Butler's older brother answered the door and told him that "This thing at the door" was asking for him. When asking what he meant with "This thing" the reply was "go have a look yourself." When arriving at the door Butler was greeted by the sight of a skinhead wearing what looked like a brown gown, with a chimney sweeper in one hand and a sneeker with a dog leash attached in the other. The guy extended his hand and said:
" 'Ullo, I'm Ozzy."
In 1972 Queens based rock hopefulls KISS were auditioning for a lead guitar players and Bob Kullick was going to their man until a scruffy guy with an orange sneeker on one foot and a red sneeker on the other walked in and just ignored everybody around him, unzipped his gig bag, plugged in his guitar and started wailing away. After retrieving his jaw from the floor Paul Stanley went up to the guy and told him "Who the hell are you, shut the fuck up and await your turn" to which the guy we now know as Ace Frehley meekly replied "Okay sorry man." Frehley later said that the first song they played at the audition was "Duece" and that he "Loved it from the first note"
I love the Chad Smith story. They were auditioning drummers and Anthony Keidis was standing outside taking a break and saw Chad Smith walking up the street with some drums. he had an afro, porn star mustache. sneakers and was wearing tight bright shorts. Anthony was thinking "please don't let him be one of our candidates".
Chad sets up and gets into a contest with Flea until Flea couldn't keep up.
He got the job on the condition he'd shave his head. They told him to meet up with them later at a bar. Chad showed up with the afro and said he wasn't shaving it. The band figured he wasn't anyone's Bword, so the rest is history.
Another funny audition story was when Phil Collins auditioned for Genesis. The auditions were taking place at the mansion of Peter Gabriel's parents, Collins arrived early when he actually was one of the last on the list of people who'd audition that day. Gabriel told him that he could spend the time at the swimming pool. At which Collins went "Swimming pool? Have I died and gone to heaven?" while swimming Collins heard the three other guys doing their auditions and payed close attention to what was being said and what was being played. One of the guys actually started with a drum solo. So when Collins' turn came he was prepared, knew what to do and what not to do and according to several interviews with Peter Gabriel he noticed that as soon as Phil had his drumkit set up within less than ten minutes and sat down to play Gabriel already knew they found their man.
Related to that, when Bob Geldof asked Phil Collins to appear on Band Aid's "Do they know it's Christmas" Collins agreed and went to the studio where he found that the track sounded empty being only synths and a midi drumpart. He told Geldoff that he would fetch his drums and "toughen the thing up" Geldof was taken aback by that and went "Oh no this will at least take two days for him to get his drums inhere, miking the thing up and then getting the sound right." But when Collins' drumkit arrived it was set up within ten minutes, Collins himself set up the mikes where he knew they'd get the right sound and layed down the trac in two goes, taking less than half an hour to get the sound right. Geldof was impressed by this feat of profesionalism displayed.
In 1968 Terrence "Geezer" Butler placed an ad looking for a singer for a band he was putting together, it didn't take long before somebody responded. Butler's older brother answered the door and told him that "This thing at the door" was asking for him. When asking what he meant with "This thing" the reply was "go have a look yourself." When arriving at the door Butler was greeted by the sight of a skinhead wearing what looked like a brown gown, with a chimney sweeper in one hand and a sneeker with a dog leash attached in the other. The guy extended his hand and said:
" 'Ullo, I'm Ozzy."
In 1972 Queens based rock hopefulls KISS were auditioning for a lead guitar players and Bob Kullick was going to their man until a scruffy guy with an orange sneeker on one foot and a red sneeker on the other walked in and just ignored everybody around him, unzipped his gig bag, plugged in his guitar and started wailing away. After retrieving his jaw from the floor Paul Stanley went up to the guy and told him "Who the hell are you, shut the fuck up and await your turn" to which the guy we now know as Ace Frehley meekly replied "Okay sorry man." Frehley later said that the first song they played at the audition was "Duece" and that he "Loved it from the first note"
I love the Chad Smith story. They were auditioning drummers and Anthony Keidis was standing outside taking a break and saw Chad Smith walking up the street with some drums. he had an afro, porn star mustache. sneakers and was wearing tight bright shorts. Anthony was thinking "please don't let him be one of our candidates".
Chad sets up and gets into a contest with Flea until Flea couldn't keep up.
He got the job on the condition he'd shave his head. They told him to meet up with them later at a bar. Chad showed up with the afro and said he wasn't shaving it. The band figured he wasn't anyone's Bword, so the rest is history.
Another funny audition story was when Phil Collins auditioned for Genesis. The auditions were taking place at the mansion of Peter Gabriel's parents, Collins arrived early when he actually was one of the last on the list of people who'd audition that day. Gabriel told him that he could spend the time at the swimming pool. At which Collins went "Swimming pool? Have I died and gone to heaven?" while swimming Collins heard the three other guys doing their auditions and payed close attention to what was being said and what was being played. One of the guys actually started with a drum solo. So when Collins' turn came he was prepared, knew what to do and what not to do and according to several interviews with Peter Gabriel he noticed that as soon as Phil had his drumkit set up within less than ten minutes and sat down to play Gabriel already knew they found their man.
Related to that, when Bob Geldof asked Phil Collins to appear on Band Aid's "Do they know it's Christmas" Collins agreed and went to the studio where he found that the track sounded empty being only synths and a midi drumpart. He told Geldoff that he would fetch his drums and "toughen the thing up" Geldof was taken aback by that and went "Oh no this will at least take two days for him to get his drums inhere, miking the thing up and then getting the sound right." But when Collins' drumkit arrived it was set up within ten minutes, Collins himself set up the mikes where he knew they'd get the right sound and layed down the trac in two goes, taking less than half an hour to get the sound right. Geldof was impressed by this feat of profesionalism displayed.
