ALL THINGS: We Hardly Knew Ye?

  • Thread starter Thread starter LetTigerIn
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This hit me REALLY hard... We lost Cardinal Don from St. Hockey Puck...

http://pagesix.com/2017/04/06/don-rickles-is-dead-at-90/

He was my mentor and a good friend... Even though I was fired by him in 1994 for cracking him up on stage (during his act) we had a mutual agreement regarding buying material from me... He bought 12 jokes from me...and half were updated versions of his older material...

I once asked him why nobody ever saw him and George "The Animal" Steele in the same place...at my Salvation Army kettle location...and he laughed so hard I thought he hurt himself...

Requiescat in pace
 
jerseydevil said:
Trans-Siberian Orchestra Leader Paul O?Neill Dies at 61


Read More: Trans-Siberian Orchestra Leader Paul O'Neill Dies at 61 | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-oneill-trans-siberian-orchestra-rip/?trackback=tsmclip
Click to expand...

Before the whole TSO thing, Paul O'Neill partnered up with what could have been just another random metal band with a couple of hidden gem early albums that were followed by a somewhat lame record company attempt to become radio friendly. As producer and one of the principal songwriters for Savatage, O'Neill was an integral part of an unparalleled eight-album streak that helped pioneer the progressive metal genre. With Jon and Criss Oliva, Paul O'Neill helped to create what I consider the finest album ever made, Streets. As beloved as the band is within the progressive / power metal community, their one true mainstream success was with an instrumental that took two Christmas carols and converted them into a symphonic metal style. I was amazed when I heard a track from a concept album about the Bosnian war being played going into a commercial during Monday Night Football.



With the success of that song, Paul O'Neill was able to branch it off into the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, turning a long-held dream of his into a very successful yearly extravaganza. Although I do own and enjoy the TSO albums, Savatage is my favorite band of all time, and two years ago I flew to Germany to attend Wacken Open Air, the largest metal festival in all the land, to see Savatage play their first official show in over a decade, headlining the Friday night show. Savatage played a set on one of the main stages, then TSO played a set on the adjacent main stage, and then for the grand finale, in a move that was peak Paul O'Neill, both bands played a set together at the same time on both stages.

savatagetsowacken2015_638.jpg


I took the picture below myself, from the rail, at the close of one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen.

LNw9JBC.jpg


Paul O'Neill was a man of spectacle, a man who convinced a metal band from Florida to integrate covers of classical music into their repertoire, create several incredible concept albums that actually had coherent and compelling storylines, and incorporate counterpoint vocals to great effect in a handful of their most epic songs. I dream of Savatage songs being in Rock Band, forcing them to add a fourth microphone.


(section starts at 4:55, counterpoint at 5:25, but of course the whole song is gold)

Even if TSO is a part of the reason why there has been exactly one official Savatage show in the past decade, Paul O'Neill produced and cowrote eight of my all-time favorite albums and ensured that pretty much everyone who played on those albums was able to live comfortably by bringing them into TSO. O'Neill used his own success to collect actual historical artifacts and to randomly drive around New York and hand out enormous stacks of money to homeless people. He wrote some of the most emotional lyrics and storylines I have seen in music.

Paul O'Neill, rest in peace.



 
JWR said:
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney dead at 84

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2017/04/13/pittsburgh-steelers-owner-dan-rooney-dead-at-84.html
Click to expand...

The Penguins wore a Steelers sticker in honor of him. Not sure what his direct connection to the Pens was other than being influential in the city, but his dad Art was instrumental in bringing the Pens into being and was part owner for a time.


The pic is too big to post so here's a link to the stickered helmet.
https://twitter.com/penguins/status/852989392503410690/photo/1
 
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