Obviously, these guys have had to go through a WHOLE lot after the loss of their charismatic leader ... Paul Revere, "The Madman Of Rock And Roll", died last year.
Many of us are still grieving over this loss ... fans, friends, family members, business associates (and most certainly) band members ... he touched ALL of us in different ways ... but it was Paul's dying wishes that the band continue on without him ... he did NOT want their music to die along with him ... he worked TOO long and TOO hard to keep these great rock and roll classics alive ... so we were absolutely THRILLED to get this update from Tommy (a long-time Forgotten Hits Reader and supporter), letting us know how the band is soldiering on without him.
The revamped show launched recently in Las Vegas to rave reviews and enthusiastic audiences ... and will be coming back to The Arcada Theatre in May. A full performance schedule can be found here: http://www.pollstar.com/resultsArtist.aspx?ID=305989
(Check back often for updates!)
Tommy tells us ALL about it in his own words below ...
Hey Kent,
I was just looking at the new blog post and it hit me to write you and catch you up. Interesting article, BTW, about the non-original Little River Band. We’re trying to avoid falling into that situation where people accuse us of trying to be Paul Revere and The Raiders without any original members. The band is Paul’s band, hand-picked and groomed by Paul to perform his slam-bam, thank you ma’am style rock and roll show. We’re keeping our promise to Paul that we wouldn’t let it die with him. Just another example of the generous caring guy Paul was, always concerned about “his boys”.
I know that you love any and all info about all the groups so I thought I’d share our Vegas trip with you.
We had a fantastic weekend in Vegas! Our first outing with our somewhat retooled show without Paul. We’ve lengthened many songs to their original versions and added two “new” Raiders Top 40 hits, “Don’t Take It So Hard” and “Too Much Talk”. We produced a video of the “Best Of Paul’s Comedy” as well as a photo montage that had people laughing and crying (especially me).
Original Raider Phil “Fang” Volk got up and performed “Kicks” with us and brought down the house, and Nick Fortuna (of The Buckinghams) and Fang both joined us for an encore. The next night, Righteous Brother Bill Medley joined us onstage. Bill told a couple of inside stories about his friendship with Paul and then performed “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” with us. People from all over the country showed up and really rocked the joint!
We can’t begin to tell everyone how grateful we are for the continued support of fans and stars alike as the band enters a new era as “Paul Revere’s Raiders”. It’s been hard even thinking about performing without Paul, but after working everything out, we feel great about the show, and hope we get a chance to bring it to as many cities as possible this year. I walked away from this weekend feeling that people were grateful to have the chance to see Paul one last time, and pumped to celebrate The Raiders music along with Paul’s band. It’s a Love Fest to be sure.
A big thanks also to Paul Shaffer who offered to perform with us at our first show after Paul passed away at crunch time. Paul Shaffer is a really wonderful guy. And on a side note, if you guys haven’t read his book, “We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives”, pick it up. A fast, fun and funny read about Paul’s career and the music biz he’s been such a huge part of, from Vegas showrooms to prime time television. Fantastic inside showbiz stories. I recommend it to everyone, and they always thank me for it later.
Hope to see you at our ARCADA show on Sunday, May 17th.
Happy New Year, buddy, and continued success to you!
Tommy
Tommy tells us ALL about it in his own words below ...
Hey Kent,
I was just looking at the new blog post and it hit me to write you and catch you up. Interesting article, BTW, about the non-original Little River Band. We’re trying to avoid falling into that situation where people accuse us of trying to be Paul Revere and The Raiders without any original members. The band is Paul’s band, hand-picked and groomed by Paul to perform his slam-bam, thank you ma’am style rock and roll show. We’re keeping our promise to Paul that we wouldn’t let it die with him. Just another example of the generous caring guy Paul was, always concerned about “his boys”.
I know that you love any and all info about all the groups so I thought I’d share our Vegas trip with you.
We had a fantastic weekend in Vegas! Our first outing with our somewhat retooled show without Paul. We’ve lengthened many songs to their original versions and added two “new” Raiders Top 40 hits, “Don’t Take It So Hard” and “Too Much Talk”. We produced a video of the “Best Of Paul’s Comedy” as well as a photo montage that had people laughing and crying (especially me).
Original Raider Phil “Fang” Volk got up and performed “Kicks” with us and brought down the house, and Nick Fortuna (of The Buckinghams) and Fang both joined us for an encore. The next night, Righteous Brother Bill Medley joined us onstage. Bill told a couple of inside stories about his friendship with Paul and then performed “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” with us. People from all over the country showed up and really rocked the joint!
We can’t begin to tell everyone how grateful we are for the continued support of fans and stars alike as the band enters a new era as “Paul Revere’s Raiders”. It’s been hard even thinking about performing without Paul, but after working everything out, we feel great about the show, and hope we get a chance to bring it to as many cities as possible this year. I walked away from this weekend feeling that people were grateful to have the chance to see Paul one last time, and pumped to celebrate The Raiders music along with Paul’s band. It’s a Love Fest to be sure.
A big thanks also to Paul Shaffer who offered to perform with us at our first show after Paul passed away at crunch time. Paul Shaffer is a really wonderful guy. And on a side note, if you guys haven’t read his book, “We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives”, pick it up. A fast, fun and funny read about Paul’s career and the music biz he’s been such a huge part of, from Vegas showrooms to prime time television. Fantastic inside showbiz stories. I recommend it to everyone, and they always thank me for it later.
Hope to see you at our ARCADA show on Sunday, May 17th.
Happy New Year, buddy, and continued success to you!
Tommy
Fang ... back on stage with Paul Revere's Raiders
at one of their comeback shows in Las Vegas
(photo courtesy of Tommy Scheckel)
Those are two of my long-lost Raiders favorites ... it'll be great to hear them again, especially performed live by the band. Looking forward to The Arcada Show in May ... and please keep us posted regarding your other activities. SO happy to hear that the fans are supporting Paul's Guys! Thanks for thinking of us, Tommy! (kk)
Paul Revere's birthday was last Wednesday, January 7th ... he would have been 77 years old ... and I've got to tell you that before he started having health problems he had the look and energy of a man half that age ... just a GREAT guy who really enjoyed life.
FH Reader Frank B sent in a couple of links worth sharing ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ8RdgHqk8U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lCIQ_v5LxE
