SATURDAY AFTERNOON PARTY: Old Allentown glam-rocker takes up role of a lifetime on YouTube
Fifteen years ago, as a staffer and a free-lancer, DD wrote most of the weekly pop music coverage the Allentown Morning Call newspaper.
Imagine my surprise to read about an old A-town entertainer, not from the pages of the Morning Call, but in the business section of the Los Angeles Times. (The Times' parent company also owns the Call.)
In today's LA Times, it is written:
"I put on a hat, I put on my glasses, I took out my teeth and I became a character," said Terry Roth, for the newspaper.
Roth was speaking in response to questions about his homemade videos on YouTube, part of a Times story entitled, "First fame, now cash for stars on YouTube; The website says it will share ad revenue with contributors of top-rated amateur videos as a thank-you."
As Zipster08 on YouTube, Roth has been posting videos since August, the newspaper reports.
For the newspaper, he described "his character as 'kind of a Pee-wee Herman thing.'"
"Roth said he was amazed that his sordid tales of sex, drugs and rock and roll -- all true, he added -- managed to attract about 10,000 subscribers, some of whom raised money for him to participate in forthcoming YouTube gatherings in Europe."
Back in Morning Call days, Roth was known as part of the campy cabaret act, Zen For Primates. Although not DD's cup of tea, they were very popular and, if memory serves, managed by a local promoter who handled most of the big rock shows at the Allentown Fairgrounds and Lehigh University's Stabler Arena. (Trivia note for locals: The promoterlater went to jail for skimming concert proceeds off Tom Petty.)
One of the selling points for Zen was that Terry Roth had also been in a New Jersey glam band called Another Pretty Face in the early Seventies.
Although Another Pretty Face had recorded an album with a producer who would go on to bigger acts like the Ramones, it was never released. However, all old albums deserve a release in the digital age and now it can be conveniently found on CD Baby along with some fulsome praise by Dave Fricke of Rolling Stone.
Terry Roth/Zen for Primates website.
Terry Roth answers the question, "What would Jobriath look like if he were still alive and on the Internet?" A bit like watching your grandmother talking about herself while wearing an orange baseball cap, it turns out. Hey -- here's one video plus another on the enterprising use of the element, helium -- off YouTube, the font from which all wisdom is said to flow.
Fifteen years ago, as a staffer and a free-lancer, DD wrote most of the weekly pop music coverage the Allentown Morning Call newspaper.
Imagine my surprise to read about an old A-town entertainer, not from the pages of the Morning Call, but in the business section of the Los Angeles Times. (The Times' parent company also owns the Call.)
In today's LA Times, it is written:
"I put on a hat, I put on my glasses, I took out my teeth and I became a character," said Terry Roth, for the newspaper.
Roth was speaking in response to questions about his homemade videos on YouTube, part of a Times story entitled, "First fame, now cash for stars on YouTube; The website says it will share ad revenue with contributors of top-rated amateur videos as a thank-you."
As Zipster08 on YouTube, Roth has been posting videos since August, the newspaper reports.
For the newspaper, he described "his character as 'kind of a Pee-wee Herman thing.'"
"Roth said he was amazed that his sordid tales of sex, drugs and rock and roll -- all true, he added -- managed to attract about 10,000 subscribers, some of whom raised money for him to participate in forthcoming YouTube gatherings in Europe."
Back in Morning Call days, Roth was known as part of the campy cabaret act, Zen For Primates. Although not DD's cup of tea, they were very popular and, if memory serves, managed by a local promoter who handled most of the big rock shows at the Allentown Fairgrounds and Lehigh University's Stabler Arena. (Trivia note for locals: The promoterlater went to jail for skimming concert proceeds off Tom Petty.)
One of the selling points for Zen was that Terry Roth had also been in a New Jersey glam band called Another Pretty Face in the early Seventies.
Although Another Pretty Face had recorded an album with a producer who would go on to bigger acts like the Ramones, it was never released. However, all old albums deserve a release in the digital age and now it can be conveniently found on CD Baby along with some fulsome praise by Dave Fricke of Rolling Stone.
Terry Roth/Zen for Primates website.
Terry Roth answers the question, "What would Jobriath look like if he were still alive and on the Internet?" A bit like watching your grandmother talking about herself while wearing an orange baseball cap, it turns out. Hey -- here's one video plus another on the enterprising use of the element, helium -- off YouTube, the font from which all wisdom is said to flow.
posted by George Smith at 2:12 PM
1 Comments:
Dear George -
Thanks for this great article on Zen For Primates' T. Roth. Wanted to let you know that Zen is about to release their 6th CD - due out this June. Get me your snail mail address and I will you off a copy!
Peace, Princes Mir
Bummer Tent Records
bummertent@rcn.com
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