Johno Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 It was 32 years ago today on May 7, 1976 that while playing Olympia Stadium in Detroit, a fan gave Paul McCartney a Detroit Red Wings sticker that he stuck on his 1964 Epiphone Texan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 It was 32 years ago today on May 7' date=' 1976 that while playing Olympia Stadium in Detroit, a fan gave Paul McCartney a Detroit Red Wings sticker that he stuck on his 1964 Epiphone Texan.[/quote'] I was at that concert...paid $5.50 to sit in a sky box directly above the stage with a waitress bringing us drinks from the Olympia Club that was right outside our door which was also five steps from a semi-private restroom (my dad was a season ticket holder and a member of the Olympia Club). As a perk I parked (for free) within the stadium property a hundred feet from their limos, busses and semis The program was $3.50 and I still have it...in October of 2005 I saw Macca at the Palace Of Auburn Hills..the tickets were $252.50 plus the various surcharges and the program was $25...the parking was $12...we ate at the buffet they had in the Palace at $30 a person...why not when a personal pizza was $15?... things have changed a bit... The story I heard about the fabulous Winged Wheel (by the way my winged wheel avatar is in honor of the Detroit Red Wings not Paulie- GO WINGS !) was that their dressing room was the Red Wings dressing room (in those days the Wings (the Red ones) didn't play much in May (the Cup playoffs)) and McCartney found the logo in the dressing room, liked it and stuck it on his Texan....oh, and before their first encore they returned to the stage with hockey sticks acting as if they'd accidentally brought the sticks rather than their instruments and then returned to the dressing room coming back to actually play...it was cool because from our vantage point we could see both the stage and back stage and knew when they were coming back for their encores. ...and Al's your uncle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubstar Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johno Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 Go Red Wings! I had read an interview with Paul and he said a fan gave him the sticker. He and his band Wings did two shows there at that time. May 7, 1976 and May 8, 1976. I only saw him once in 1989 at the Forum in L.A. Someone had left a box of programs unattended in a box on the floor. I grabbed two and my buddy grabbed two. After the show there was a V.I.P. party at the Forum Club. We didn't have V.I.P badges to get in so we went to where the limos were parked hoping to get a couple of passes from someone who was leaving. A limo driver told us he was driving Ringo Starr's manager and he was on his way to the car. He and his wife gave us their badges and then he asked if he could buy one of our programs because he forgot to get one and he wanted to show it to Ringo who couldn't attend the concert. Buy one? The guy just gave us two V.I.P. passes! So we gave him two and said have one for yourself and give the other to Ringo. He got a program, Ringo got a program, we got two V.I.P passes and went to the party and still had a program each for ourselves. A win-win situation! For free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Go Red Wings! I had read an interview with Paul and he said a fan gave him the sticker. He and his band Wings did two shows there at that time. May 7' date=' 1976 and May 8, 1976. I only saw him once in 1989 at the Forum in L.A. Someone had left a box of programs unattended in a box on the floor. I grabbed two and my buddy grabbed two. After the show there was a V.I.P. party at the Forum Club. We didn't have V.I.P badges to get in so we went to where the limos were parked hoping to get a couple of passes from someone who was leaving. A limo driver told us he was driving Ringo Starr's manager and he was on his way to the car. He and his wife gave us their badges and then he asked if he could buy one of our programs because he forgot to get one and he wanted to show it to Ringo who couldn't attend the concert. Buy one? The guy just gave us two V.I.P. passes! So we gave him two and said have one for yourself and give the other to Ringo. He got a program, Ringo got a program, we got two V.I.P passes and went to the party and still had a program each for ourselves. A win-win situation! For free! [/quote'] That was "Get Back World Tour" that I also saw in February of 1990 at The Palace Of Auburn Hills (I also saw them again at The Silverdome (Pontiac Michigan) -The New World Tour in 1993- the programs for that puppy were free (I have four of them in a box in the basement lol. I did the same thing. I came across a box of programs as we were leaving and grabbed a few extras-they were nice programs even if they did have a good share of PETA propaganda). The cool part for me was for the 1990 show my brother worked for the people who owned the Palace and Pine Knob (Now DTE Music Theater)as a staff photographer/public relations guy and as a perk we got to see a lot of shows for either free or very cheap. The Macca show though we had to pay for and I think it was $50 a pop but...we were in the front row..before the days of the "pit" and McCartney was maybe fifteen feet from us the entire night. My kids were becoming teenagers and wanted to see concerts so I thought I'd start them out right with a Beatle but even I never expected front row lol (My brother was thinking about leaving the job and they were looking for ways to keep him I guess lol). McCartney was really cool giving my kids the thumbs up quite often and making a face at my ex wife when he caught her checking him out with binoculars...(from the front row lol)...That was a hard act to follow. A couple years later my son wanted to see Guns And Roses and my brother got us four tickets for that in about the tenth row (still in the red velvet ropes VIP section) which still gave my son quite a bit of street cred at school though he had to pick only two of his friends to take...wish I'd stayed home but there was no way I was letting a fourteen year old loose at a G'nR concert...as we were leaving my son and his friends were talking about the concert and his friends were awe-struck and my son says "it was cool but not as good as McCartney" lol. I loved it when my brother had that gig...I met Clapton numerous times (my brother did free-lace work for him as well as Phil Collins, Pat Benetar and others) and strangely I don't recall any extended conversations about guitars or music except about his retiring "Blackie" and whether CD's or vinyl were better. We talked about boxing (my dad was a professional back in the late 40's), boats and horse racing (my dad owned a piece of a harness racing horse in the 60's and I spent a lot of time around tracks) but very little about guitar or music...strange- In 1997 a few years after my brother left that job he called some people he knew at the Silverdome and got Rolling Stones tickets for us in the ninth row...it's so cool to be escorted to your seat with people ahead of you clearing the way lol...we got there over an hour early and I was checking out the stage when this guy who looked sorta familiar says "Incredible isn't it?"(remember-this is 1997) and I say "yeah, pretty cool"..meanwhile there's a small commotion on the other side of the stage-It's some young female holding media court" and the guy says "let her enjoy her fifteen minutes (of fame)" and snickers and I say who is it? and he says "I think that's Alanis Morrison (Morrisette) (lol)" and I start walking toward my seat and this guy is behind me a step asking if this was the first time I'd seen the Stones and I say "no, I've seen them a couple of times" and he says it's his first and he's really "geeked" about it..and says "enjoy the show and I say "you too" and he enters his aisle (row seven) and I enter mine (row nine) ..I'm walking toward my seat and my ex-wife and sister in law are franticly saying "what did he say to you, what did he say to you?" and I'm saying "what did who say to me? Then my ex says "that was George Clooney" and I said "who? "(remember it's 1997 lol) and they say "Batman" I say "Michael Keaton was Batman, that's not Michael Keaton" and my ex says "The new Batman" and I say "Oh, haven't seen it" and then she says "Roseanne's sister's boyfriend ???" I look at where he's sitting (two rows ahead directly in front of my sister in law) and say "yeah, right" and he's turned around and laughing having heard this exchange with my ex and he says to me"Fiona Apple...that's Fiona Apple not Alanis" and I say to him "right, thanks"..my ex says "I wish you'd asked him for his autograph" and I said "I'm not going to do that" and as I do he's obviously heard us and is passing his Stones program back to her that he's signed with "George Clooney- you know, Roseanne's sister's boyfriend" in parentheses and then my sister in law passed hers to him and he signed it and I passed mine to him so he'd have one, the show was starting and everyone was happy except the people between us who had to deal with it all lol.. Those were great times. ...and Al's your uncle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johno Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 At that 1989 McCartney show at the Forum, I was working for a rock radio station and the afternoon of the concert my program director put my name into Will Call for two tickets and I found a freind at the last minute to go with and we drove to L.A. My envelope was there with my name on it and two tickets. We went in and our seats were occupied. It was actor Easai Morales who played Ritchie Valens' brother in the movie La Bamba and a friend of his. He was really apologetic that he was in our seats but he checked his ticket and he was in the right seats. We looked at our tickets and they were for the same seats and then he noticed the date on my tickets were for the previous days show. I don't know how that could have possibly happened but to correct the mistake an usher got us two folding chairs and took us to the main floor right in front of the mix board. They literally created a special section for us and for a sound mix they were the best seats in the house. I noticed Michael McDonald sitting in front of us. His hair was white even back then. So I saw Paul McCartney who's best known song is Yesterday on a yesterday concert ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devlish Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Let's go Pens! although Detroit is going to take it.. I'm a Sabres fan, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 let's go penguins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 i always wondered about that sticker. thanks for the info. and ....of course....LET"S GO PENGUINS!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 grrrrr..........its gonna be a very long summer spent listening to red wing fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sangemon1281734057 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Thank God that's over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johno Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 If you want to see McCartney with his Epiphone in person there will be 100 more chances to do so and then that's it. He announced this week he will retire from touring after his final world tour that will start this fall. It will take two years to complete with 100 tour dates in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia. He's doing a free concert in Kiev, Ukraine on Saturday. Edit: After I read on various news sites this information I have read more about it and he has not announced it so it's not official. It's just being widely reported. He has not denied the tour is going to happen however, he just says there have been ongoing discussions about doing such a tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Wing Sticker Man Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 In 1976, I worked at Olympia Stadium and attended college at EMU in Ypsilanti. On that day in 1976, I was driving home from college, going right by Olympia that night, was not scheduled to work, but decided to do the 'old go in early and pretend like I'm working and get in free' as all the guys at the door knew who I was. I put on a work shirt and sat side stage (best seats in the house that night) and watched Paul & Linda (Wings) band. On a whim, I decided to get a decal, go back stage and give it as a gift hoping to get a chance to meet Paul and it worked! I had no idea that it had become so popular with fans and the guitar company was now selling the 'special edition' Paul guitar with decal until just recently and no one knew how it all started....LOL...yep, it was me using my 'creativity' to get a chance to meet one of the Beatles! What can I say? College kid giving it the old college try...and it worked!!! Mike Kudzia Yes, Paul was correct. It was given to him by a fan! Me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 In 1976, I worked at Olympia Stadium and attended college at EMU in Ypsilanti. On that day in 1976, I was driving home from college, going right by Olympia that night, was not scheduled to work, but decided to do the 'old go in early and pretend like I'm working and get in free' as all the guys at the door knew who I was. I put on a work shirt and sat side stage (best seats in the house that night) and watched Paul & Linda (Wings) band. On a whim, I decided to get a decal, go back stage and give it as a gift hoping to get a chance to meet Paul and it worked! I had no idea that it had become so popular with fans and the guitar company was now selling the 'special edition' Paul guitar with decal until just recently and no one knew how it all started....LOL...yep, it was me using my 'creativity' to get a chance to meet one of the Beatles! What can I say? College kid giving it the old college try...and it worked!!! Mike Kudzia Yes, Paul was correct. It was given to him by a fan! Me! What a cool story. Did you manage to get a picture? Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Wing Sticker Man Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 What a cool story. Did you manage to get a picture? Red 333 OH! How I wished I had a picture now! No, unfortunately. This was pre cell phone days and no cameras were allowed backstage. AND, I had to....hmmm....'talk my way' into getting backstage, even though I had my work shirt on (Olympia Stadium issue). Paul had one of the tighter backstage securities that I ever saw at Olympia whle I worked there. Olympia was the hotbed for Detroit concerts then and I saw, and met, several stars including George Harrison (backstage and did get a action photo of him running through the curtain) and saw Elvis too, but he was too stoned to even talk, and had to be helped walking (just months before his overdose/death). Those were the days and a dream job for a college student to see lots of hockey and concerts. Our boss let us come in and see the show for free, when we were not scheduled to work, as long as we 'blended in' and didn't get into trouble...that was a nice benefit. So many good shows then: Led Zeppelin, Eagles with Joe Walsh, Elton John, Alice Cooper, John Denver, of course Wings, George Harrison with Billy Preston, Frank Sinatra...geeze, I can't remember all of them now. But, I hadn't thought about the Red Wing sticker for years until I saw a promo pic of Paul with it on his guitar, and then didn't realize that it was such a 'mystery' until a few days ago when I was telling a new friend about it and he forwarded a link discussing how it was still a mystery of how he got it! Then I went online and saw 30+ blogs/;posts/articles about the Red Wing Sticker 'Mystery' and started giggling as I read all the 'supposed' reasons of how and why he had it on his guitar! That is how I ended up here on Gibson as I read that they had actually made a batch of 'red wing' sticker guitars in 2005 in honor of Paul/Wings! Again, you can imagine, after all these years, of finding out that what I did in 1976 had caused such a 'stir' and I didn't even know about it until now! I always thought the story of how I got in for free, sat right next to the stage and actually met Paul was interesting enough, but I guess not! I thought 'fans' would like to know the true story, but maybe the 'mystery' was even more 'intriguing' to all the fans! ??? BTW: I did 'suggest' to Paul that he put it on his guitar as the name of his band was Wings and he was at the home of the Red Wings...and he did...the rest is history now. Also, it was an absolutely beautiful day/night in Detroit and the show was absolutely fantastic...the chemistry of the band and the audience was incredible...one of those 'special' moments. Then, I drove to my parents home and told them about it later that night but by then they were used to me telling stories of who I met at Olympia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Wing Sticker Man Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 In 1976, I worked at Olympia Stadium and attended college at EMU in Ypsilanti. On that day in 1976, I was driving home from college, going right by Olympia that night, was not scheduled to work, but decided to do the 'old go in early and pretend like I'm working and get in free' as all the guys at the door knew who I was. I put on a work shirt and sat side stage (best seats in the house that night) and watched Paul & Linda (Wings) band. On a whim, I decided to get a decal, go back stage and give it as a gift hoping to get a chance to meet Paul and it worked! I had no idea that it had become so popular with fans and the guitar company was now selling the 'special edition' Paul guitar with decal until just recently and no one knew how it all started....LOL...yep, it was me using my 'creativity' to get a chance to meet one of the Beatles! What can I say? College kid giving it the old college try...and it worked!!! Mike Kudzia Yes, Paul was correct. It was given to him by a fan! Me! http://womc.radio.com/2011/12/20/true-story-behind-mccartney-urban-legend/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Wing Sticker Man Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 What a cool story. Did you manage to get a picture? Red 333 http://womc.radio.com/2011/12/20/true-story-behind-mccartney-urban-legend/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Wing Sticker Man Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 It was 32 years ago today on May 7, 1976 that while playing Olympia Stadium in Detroit, a fan gave Paul McCartney a Detroit Red Wings sticker that he stuck on his 1964 Epiphone Texan. http://womc.radio.com/2011/12/20/true-story-behind-mccartney-urban-legend/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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