On reconsidering my previous answer of “Jack Logan,” I would add “the Atlanta Falcons.” I’m occasionally rather embarrassed at how much, and how sincerely, I care about the Falcons.
Even though they won’t play within a hundred clicks of Kamloops, I have faithfully trekked out to each of their concerts that is within a seven hour drive. I have crossed international borders to see them play. I have bought their T-shirts. I have bought their CDs (the most telling part, since I never buy CDs). I know the most useless facts about the band. I know the most useless facts about all side projects undertaken by each member of the band. I like all the other bands connected to them (Destroyer, Immaculate Machine, et cetera).
I guess I’m not the NUMBER ONE fan, since I’m sure someone out there also picks into their personal lives or stalks their cousins or something weird. But I sure do like them a lot.
I used to have a real thing for the actress Barbara Harris, I can still recite the whole “I’m thirty four years old, right now I could do a great twenty-two” speech from the film Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?***** I have the original cast recording of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever****** and I still have her picture hanging in the living room, and under the transparent pickguard on my Telecaster.
***** If you’re not a BH fan do not bother watching this film. You’ll probably want to miss Nice Girls Don’t Explode too, and. . . (stops digging) On the other hand she’s in Robert Altman’s Nashville and Alfred Hitchcock’s last film Family Plot.
******for some reason Babara Streisand got the film part, bitch.
I’m certainly in the top tier of fans of the Legion of Super-Heroes, though there are a few who could probably give me a run for my money. Most of those, though, have gone pro and written for the book.
I’m the Number One Royals fan, east of the Mississippi, if not everywhere.
Fairport Convention, esp w/ both Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny.
Is that the same Sandy Denny of “Battle Evermore” fame?
I was always a fan of Mike Morgan. He played for 12 major league teams between 1978 and 2002.
I was at this game where he hit 2 batsmen in the first inning and got yanked after getting only two outs. The O’s scored 10 runs in the first. It was, without a doubt, the worst pitching performance I’ve ever seen. He had NO IDEA where the plate was.
Brady Anderson was hit by pitch TWICE in the first inning, tying the major league record. That’s a record that will never be broken.
I was also a big fan of Mike Bordick because he’s from Maine. If I wasn’t his biggest fan, I was in the running. Not too many people checking the box scores to see how Bordy was doing.
Yep. She died much too young.
If you collect photos check out the Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band MySpace blog. They opened for Trucks on part of one tour early this year. Click on “View All Blog Entries” then scroll about halfway down to the February 28, 2006 blog. There are a couple of pictures of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. Check out the Peyton gang while you’re at it. They’re legends in the making. If you ever happen to meet the Rev to chat with, ask him about Derek and Axl Rose. He had some hilarious stories to tell.
I guess my fandom fits in this thread. They’re unlike anything else I ever listen to, but I’m a pretty big fan of the Peyton family. I’ve seen them several times and most of them have been traveling shows (me traveling to see them). I was responsible for them hooking up with Good People To Know (and them getting several gigs they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten because of it) and I’ve been able to hang out with the band several times. They’re great people, and great musicians. Anyone who likes down home, swamp blues, the type of blues that makes you want to get up and dance rather than lay down and die, will LOVE this band.
I consider myself a number one fan of John Waters and his insanity. I am seen everything he’s done (except the very original stuff that came out before I was born and was never seen again by anyone) and i’ve read all the stuff he’s written. Additionally, I snuck into columbia college here in chicago when he was giving a lecture to the film students. and they were checking student ids to get in. not all that risky I know but it took a bit of effort on my part.
I’ve also read all of Somerset Maugham’s work as well as a biography written by his nephew.
I guess for me, it’s The Beatles. Although there are lots of people who truly have what can only be described as The Beatles Disease. Some of those people are scary. I’m not like that, I just collect their records. At various times, I have owned all of their UK and US records, in mono and stereo, all the singles, all of the compilations, unique releases from other countries in the world where there is an EMI facility (and Russia where there isn’t: they produced an EP with songs from “Abbey Road” on the state-owned Melodiya label), colored vinyl, 12" singles, shaped discs, picture discs, shaped picture discs, etched vinyl, promo records, interview albums, audiophile pressings, CDs, promo CDs, mispressed CDs…and DVDs. Oh, and miles and miles of VHS. And the 600 bootlegs, on vinyl and CD. I nearly have the whole kit for each Beatle, together and separately. Almost every one of their legal issues and as many as I can find of the other kind.
I don’t come close to having everything, but I’ve got a darned good sample of what’s available. And there are the research books to go with it. I have stacks of books on The Beatles. I’ve corresponded with Mark Lewisohn, who wrote the definitive books on what they played or recorded and when. Some of my research has been published. I have a good reputation in the collector’s community as a restoration specialist.
I had been compiling what amounts to an encyclopedia’s worth of information over the years, which I had a vague idea that I would try to get published. But Apple doesn’t allow that kind of thing - that’s why there isn’t one on a CD- or DVD-ROM. And the internet happened while I was still working on it, and thousands of Beatles websites are out there now, with their own versions of the same thing. That’s all right, it’s just a hobby.
Plus, there’s that thing about when you go to anyone’s house, anywhere, you can be sure that they don’t have the promo copy of “Penny Lane” with the horn fanfare on the end. But I do!