I recently came across these photos in my dad's photo albums, and thought I'd share them here (in addition, I remember a thread about Hofner guitars, for which this seemed relevant). These were taken in '66 on the Adriatic coast, when my dad was playing in a band by the name of the Blue Stars. They were the house band at a hotel for the summer, and played a lot of instros, as well as all the hits of the day.

Here he is with his newly acquired sunburst Hofner 172 (or maybe 173 - the difference being two or three pickups - difficult to tell from the photos - he thinks it had three pickups, but I don't see a middle pickup):

Here's his band, the Blue Stars (he's on the far left). The amp on the right side of the photo belonged to my dad (he kids that it was the main reason why he was in the band!), and it was a German-made Schaller amp - on the left is an extension cab:

Soon after that (around '67) he got a genu-wine Fender Mustang and a blackface Deluxe (not Reverb)! But he also got married to my mom at the same time, and she soon made him sell all of it - thanks, mom!

Anyway, pretty cool stuff, methinks...

Ivan
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Last edited: Apr 25, 2011 19:12:14

Cool old photos! It's too bad video cameras weren't more prevalent back then, huh?

Mike
http://www.youtube.com/morphballio

Is that Ivan's real dad? I always thought Ivan was raised by Space Aliens or Albanian Gypsys or something...the guy in the photo looks like any ordinary clean-cut Economics professor you'd find at any typical small-town American private college...

Jamie Hince of the Kills is the guy. He makes some really interesting sounds with it. Definitely not my favorite band, but I really enjoy listening to his guitar playing.

This song contains a good overview of some of the interesting things he does.

The outro on this one is really fantastic, I love that floating/whirling tape sound. But I have no idea what is causing it. He doesn't use tape echos.

This song might be their most poppy and contains a guitar most similar to your Dad's guitar. Just a different color pickguard, sanded headstock, and an extra pickup.

The guitar in the first two videos is simimlar in body and such, but the third one is most similar.

JakeDobner wrote:

Jamie Hince of the Kills is the guy. He makes some
really interesting sounds with it. Definitely not my
favorite band, but I really enjoy listening to his
guitar playing.

Wow, I've heard of them, but never heard them. I really enjoyed all three tracks. I know the girl was in Dead Weather, but I never checked them out. She's sexy as hell! Hince has got a VERY cool guitar style, I totally dig it! Seems heavily influenced by Sonic Youth and that whole post-punk/avant-garde scene.

The outro
on this one is really fantastic, I love that
floating/whirling tape sound. But I have no idea what
is causing it. He doesn't use tape echos.

I don't think it's an electronic effect. He's doing this feathery, fluttery strumming with his forefinger behind the bridge, and changing the chords with his left hand, which gives it the sound of the tape speeding up and down. I guess due to the physics of that guitar and the distortion he's using, that's the sound he gets. It's a super-cool sound, though, wow! It almost sounds like a Hammond through a Leslie at a few points.

This song
might be their most poppy and contains a guitar most
similar to your Dad's guitar. Just a different color
pickguard, sanded headstock, and an extra pickup.
The guitar in the first two videos is simimlar in body
and such, but the third one is most similar.

It's not the same model as my dad's, though I think he's using the same model (though at least two different guitars) of Hofner in all three videos - it's a 176 Solid DeLuxe, a more expensive model than my dad's. Here it is:

If you go here: http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/gallery2/sol.html, you can see a bunch more photos of these plus many other vintage solid-body Hofners.

I think I'll have to check out the Kills a bit more, very cool stuff. Thanks, Jake!

Ivan
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Last edited: Apr 26, 2011 07:52:48

Awesome pictures, Ivan! I think there's a strong resemblance - especially that first solo shot of your pops. Way cool!

Fady

El Mirage @ ReverbNation

big_papu wrote:

.......Don´t worry about your Mom, girls

usually make guys do horrible things like that

I once sold a 1979 BMW R100/S motorcycle due to an ex-wife, and buying another motorcycle later had something to do with her becoming an ex-wife. My bad. All three times.

Couldn't have turned out all wrong. You're a surf musician after all. My mom didn't make my dad quit playing, and I didn't become a musician while either of them lived (most say I'm still not). But his inspiration never left me, so here I am after all, too.

Those are great photographs and good memories. My mom hated the stories Dad told about touring (she was very jealous of dad) but they are GREAT stories! I hope your dad told you lots of stories about those days too.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Ivan
Your resemblance to your dad is quite remarkable.. but I won't say who is the better looking ;-).
I actually played a Shaller amp on a visit to Germany years.. make that decades back.. As I remember, a pretty distinctive sound. At the time, I wondered how one of my Mosrites would sound through it. I know American instruments - particularly stratocasters - were still in short and hence expensive supply in Europe and most likely banned in Marshall Tito's neck of the woods. I take it your dad still hits the strings every so often.
And the big question.. who shows who how and what to play these days??

Thanks again everybody for the very nice comments. Yep, I definitely look like my old man - good to know they didn't mix me up in the hospital! And yep, I think he was pretty hip for '66!

John, Fenders were not banned in Yugoslavia at that time. Well, it was a kind of a gray area: you couldn't find them in the official stores, but people were allowed to legally import them (usually from Germany), which is exactly what my dad used to do. He had a side business importing guitar gear for Croatian musicians while he was in college and law school, though he never had a store, just operated through the word of mouth. But Fenders were definitely rare at that time in Yugoslavia, though they were also rare all over Europe, of course.

Thanks again, all! Glad you enjoyed the photos. An interesting glimpse into another time. And yep, it would be really cool to see some videos of my dad's bands playing, but I guess it's not to be....

Ivan
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dp wrote:

who is the bassist

Ummm, he's just some guy. Actually, he remained friends with my dad for years afterwards, and we used to visit him and his family (even when they moved to Germany) until right before we emigrated to the US.

what kind of electric bass is that?

I asked my dad, and he guesses it was either a Framus or else some handmade Croatian creation (there was a guy that used to make replicas of Western electric guitars - my dad had one of his Teles for a while).

Jake, earlier today I picked up the new Kills album, Blood Pressure - I'm winding down my first listen through it at this very moment. I'm very impressed. It's fantastic. Thanks for the tip!

Ivan
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Last edited: Apr 29, 2011 22:50:02