Unt/denton Music Gets U.k. Royal Treatment

[PlummMeanGreen]

Picked up an early Sunday edition of the Fort Worth Star Telegram this Saturday evening as I couldn't help but notice its front page photo and Denton/UNT Music Scene headline with that photo being a very nice shot of the Denton County courthouse in downtown Denton along with NT jazz graduates and very popular music group (especially in Great Britain), ie, Midlake standing in the forefront of the Denton courthouse.

In the A & E part of the Sunday Star Telegram, local S/T writers Preston Jones and Cary Darling dedicate an entire full page of the Denton/UNT music scene with some very comprehensive full coverage of our alma mater's history from past to present. So for any of you who have access to tomorrow's Sunday FWST, it would be well worth picking up a copy of it tomorrow.

Writer Jude Rogers of the British newspaper The Guardian after spending several days in Denton with the UNT jazz studies alums which make up the group Midlake writes: that the "North Texas city is fast becoming an American musical heartland where something is happening."

The Star Telegram co-authors continued on the Denton/UNT music scene coverage as they wrote: When it comes to Texas music, Austin typically grabs the glory. But the "live music capital of the world" might need to watch its back, if a recent article in the U.K. newspaper The Guardian is any indicator."

The S/T article continued saying: As for those who think that new development along Fry Street, where so many UNT students hang out and which gave birth to the legendary Fry Street Fair, will stifle the music, another says: "Nonsense!" It's stronger than a piece of geography. It will survive ...The music scene has been alive and well for 100 years. It's not going anywhere."

Just A Few of the Sunday Star Telegram's Coverage/Notes of UNT & Denton's Famous Music Legacy:

Pat Boone: The man who would come to be known for his squeaky clean pop and gospel singing is an NT Ex.

Don Henley: The drummer/singer from Gilmer, Texas, went to UNT for a couple of years in the late 60's before heading to L.A. to from the Eagles.

Lyle Mays: The celebrated and Grammy-winning jazz pianist is known for his work the the Pat Metheny Group.

Meat Loaf: The singer, born Marvin Lee Aday, who found "paradise by the dashboard light" attended UNT in the mid-60's.

Norah Jones: Born in New York and now based there, Jones is UNT's most famous alum currently on the pop charts. Her latest album, Not Too Late, is double platinum and she headlines Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie on June 11.

Roy Orbison: Vernon-born Orbison attended UNT and after 2 years signed up with the legendary Sun Records. He went on to have smash hits as "Oh, Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely and Blue Bayou. A side-note: The Dallas Morning News ran a big article on Orbison soon after his death and a childhood friend said about Orbison: "Roy didn't come up with his Orbison style of singing falsetto featured in most of his hits until he attended that school in Denton."

Chomsky: Renowned for their live shows, Chomskhy, though they released onlyh 3 albums, had a far-reaching local and gional impact in the late 90's. Former guitarist Glen Reynolds is still making music; his solo debut, In Between Days, is due out in June.

Sly Stone: The lead singer of the pioneer funk-rock band Sly & the Family Stone was born in Denton in 1944.

Other music groups with UNT beginnings featured in the Sunday Fort Worth Star Telegram article were: Slobberbone, Brave Combo, Deep Blue Something, Lift to Experience, the Baptist Generals and of course, a much longer feature on the band featured in a photo in the front page photo of tomorrow's Sunday Fort Worth Star Telegram: Midlake

Edited April 29, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[greenminer]

Slobberbone was one of my great memories of Denton. And it was at their farewell concert weekend at Dan's Silverleaf that I first heard Will Johnson and Centro-matic. I can't believe I didn't hear them (Centro) until AFTER I left Denton. Right now I relive it all through my Slobberbone cds and now The Drams and Centro. Best wishes to WJ, Brent Best and crew. I need to check more into the Baptist Generals.

Everytime I head back for a visit I grab something from the local bin. I'm amazed at how good the stuff is, despite my random/ignorant choices. A couple examples of groups I found that way (and bought for my sis, too) are Brave Combo and Snarky Puppy. The latter is really hitting it off. They just opened this past Monday at the Granada Theater for Victor Wooten.

I'll stop there. I could go on forever about Denton/UNT music.

[PlummMeanGreen]

I remember Brave Combo when they first started out when they were the entertainment at a Mean Green Club/dinner gathering that was held in the oval lobby area of the Super Pit. I cannot remember the year that event took place, though.

Also noticed that the Sunday FWST UNT/Denton front page was on the upper part of yesterday's early Sunday edition but on the bottom half of today's edition. No matter where its headline placement, it was a tremendous article for Denton and UNT that will (amazinly) introduce so many from the West O' Plex (Greater Fort Worth, Johnson, Hood, Palo Pinto and Parker counties) as to what (has been) and is going on as far as music goes at the Top of DFW's Golden Triangle.

This article kind of reminds me of the so called "overnight sensation" pop stars whose quality has been well known to many for years, but suddenly he (or she) gets some kind of big break or sudden "over-due" publicity that makes them that, well, "overnight sensation." Most in the Metroplex who know anything about good live music whether it be jazz, classical, grunge, R & B, Rock and Roll, etc, etc, etc, have known about the Denton music scene for decadses and didn't need today's enormous coverage in the Sunday Fort Worth Star Telegram to tell them about it at all. The grand opening of UNT's Murchison Perfroming Arts Center and DFW's rich and famous who were there that evening was a rather large clue of our alma mater's College of Music's respect.

OUCH! Great stuff, though, and I'm sure the Denton Chamber of Commerce might now even consider altering their present single page promo slick or brochure of their version of Denton, Texas, America, to even include and mention the name "the University of North Texas" next time they put a brand new brochure together for publication? What a concept, eh? (Probably some mention of TWU wouldn't hurt, either).

TANTAMOUNT TO THIS, PERHAPS? Sorry, but if the Vatican City were to put together their own "chamber of commerce'esque" type brochure, somehow/someway I just have to think they would mention the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church which are the main institutions that make the Vatican City, well, uh, the Vatican City. Sometimes, one just has to wonder who Denton's "idea makers" are and from whence they are coming from when they leave out (by name) the very university which is glaringly missing in their present single page Denton C of C promo slick; yet the name of the very university that even gave their fine, fair city the chance in the first place to have such a magnificent article promoting their city in a major Texas newspaper. Simply (totally) amazing what our alma mater has to contend with and within the borders of its home city with those Denton movers & shakers who sometimes make some stranger than hell decisions with who they would leave out of their promotional literature.

FWIW, can anyone possibly conjure up a visualization of a Denton, Texas, without there being a University of North Texas and Texas Women's University being within its city limits for the last 100 plus years?

Edited April 30, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen