Comment by Brian Burger on November 17, 2015 at 6:52pm

Coach, love to hear about your adventures collecting! Things are cooling down(winter) up North so opportunities down South(where it's still warm) in sunny Florida will be heating up. Disney's food and wine just ended and last night we tried for Chaka Khan but she pulled a Hank Williams Jr and left the stage and the park during the last song while her band was still playing. Well as a grapher you live and learn and we'll know for the next time she come here. Keep up the great blogs!

Comment by Ian Baldock on November 17, 2015 at 7:04pm

Keep em comin coach!

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on November 20, 2015 at 12:43am

Really nice stuff! It is nice when signers are eager. I remember Heston having a sign up that said "ten feet away for any photographs"  - I waited over an hour to get a Soylent Green VHS (old times) signed in green felt tip, and I had to grovel. But, I got it, low "r" and all. Shatner had a sign that said " No handshakes or photography" - I just said "Thanks for the years of enjoyment" and stuck my hand out - which was met with his heartily. I swear I saw women there with their...birth certificates to be signed. The strangest in person signing I have experienced, at this moment anyway, was Jonathan Frid. Big line behind me - he stops, gets up, takes me by the shoulder and walks me behind a column. He then tells me that he saw something in my eye - that when he was a kid he went to the serials and the local single screen was not quite as large as it should have been. Every Friday he saw "Coming Next Week - Frid" ("Friday" was cut off) - and it was upon this he hitched his star. This I shall remember. The sig was for a friend- I don't have one. But those, you can buy with $. The experience...

Eric

Comment by RobO on November 20, 2015 at 8:27am

Great post! You prove that the singing opportunities are always out there. You just need to act with integrity, hope for high sleuthing ability and go get em! Thanks

Comment by Terry G. on November 20, 2015 at 2:09pm

I can understand the guys getting sigs from the Baby's- they haven't toured here in decades and stay mainly on the UK side, so it's looked at as a one time opportunity. John Waite is a solo act now and he signs stuff freely and plays the U.S. all the time, so getting ANY of the other guys is tough. Frankly, I'd probably bring 6-7 albums out if they ever played down here, just knowing I might never see them again. I always find it funny that the "see them on eBay line" comes out from an artists mouth. And it's usually from someone who has little value to begin with- I mean, is there truly a market for Baby's autographs?  Even vintage full-band signed albums don't go for much so why would a Brock-Stocker signed album go for more than $10? And if they signed so many, as you said, doesn't that devalue them even more, lol?  It's not like anyone outside the hobby even knows that band, let alone the players...but what you say is true, the autograph seekers should have some self-control and get a few signed, then allow others to get some-it's the right thing to do but I've found that it rarely occurs to people in the heat of the moment..

Comment by Coachgd on November 22, 2015 at 2:50pm

Thanks for the compliments!  I'll keep writing if you keep reading them!  

Terry, I agree with you 6-7 albums at most.  I would get 3-4 and then get back in line.  But I am not kidding when I say 20-30 albums that this couple had.  Unbelievable!! I couldn't  imagine 1. having that many  2.  getting them all signed at the same time.  3.  not caring that I'm holding up the line/ making others wait.  Oh well, to each his own!

Comment by Terry G. on November 24, 2015 at 9:52pm

I guess it's always been a struggle with that type of behavior in this hobby. People who bring multiples are almost always looked at as "dealers" whose obtained autographs will surely end up on eBay. We know this isn't always true but have to admit it does happen. You can't judge the person based on that alone- like I said, a real fan is more likely to be excited and bring a ton of stuff out-I've always differentiated it by WHAT they have- dealers are more likely, IME, to have multiples of the SAME ALBUM while the hard core fans usually have more from the artists catalog. For example, I've always liked Southside Johnny's music but never once had seen him play util 2 years ago when he played down here for the first time in decades. I went out with 10 albums spanning his career and he signed them all, and we had a discussion about some of them. I felt guilty asking him to sign so many- but I told him the truth, that I had never seen him but truly was a fan and that if he only wanted to sign one, please sign this (my favorite one), to which he laughed and said "I think I can sign for the only fan out here, let's see what you got!!" But I've also seen what you speak of, that one guy who brings EVERYTHING out and expects to get it all signed. I recall one night where I was out trying to get Jeff Beck along with one other hobbyist and we thought we had a good chance UNTIL a third guy showed up- with EVERY single one of his albums in both vinyl and CD versions and about 30 8 X 10 glossys. We tried to get him to limit himself but his view was "if I get to him first, he'll sign what he wants, he can say no"....and as beck stepped out of the van later, he looked at that huge stack of stuff  and said "sorry, not signing tonight"...I did get him after the show but it proves that some artists DO notice volume and make decisions based on that..

Comment by Brian Burger on November 25, 2015 at 8:54am

Yeah I also heard that Jeff Beck will not sign guitars and that if you had photo standing there and if someone showed up with a guitar and stood next to you the autograph session would be over immediately. Artists aren't stupid even older artists although I've never personally tried for Beck.

Comment by Coachgd on November 25, 2015 at 5:07pm

I'm ok gettin multiples signed, my favorite band is Van Halen and I would love to get every album signed. However I would never get more than 3-4 signed at one time, especially if there were others waiting. I have one friend who brings every cd that he has of a band plus a drum head to every show. His attitude is the same as the Jeff beck guy, "he can say no, if not I'll keep putting them out." Now this guy never sells and is a fan and never has more than 1 of the same cd. Another friend told me one time Kenny Loggins was headed into a show and he stopped to sign. He had a stack and Kenny said- "ok, I'm signing but once I see the same album, I'm done." Luckily he had all different albums.

I also don't begrudge people who sell items. I just don't like some of the attitudes that I see; like the artist owes them to sign their stack of albums. Sure, it's nice when the artists are nice and willing signers. But I never feel that I am owed anything.
As far as the Baby's goes. I think they put out 5 albums and maybe 2 greatest hits. To have 20-30 albums means at best, they had least 3-4 of each album. Even the new lead singer told me "yeah, I have 15 friends that I'm getting these signed for."

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