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OneBlueSky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-21-05 12:48 PM
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"Freebird!" . . .
and from the Wall Street Journal, no less . . .

Rock's Oldest Joke: Yelling 'Freebird!'In a Crowded Theater
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB111102511477881964-INjgINplaF4opyua4CHb6yEm4,00.html

(snip)

Yelling "Freebird!" has been a rock cliché for years, guaranteed to elicit laughs from drunks and scorn from music fans who have long since tired of the joke. And it has spread beyond music, prompting the Chicago White Sox organist to add the song to her repertoire and inspiring a greeting card in which a drunk holding a lighter hollers "Freebird!" at wedding musicians.

(snip)

Kevin Matthews is a Chicago radio personality who has exhorted his fans -- the KevHeads -- to yell "Freebird" for years, and claims to have originated the tradition in the late 1980s, when he says he hit upon it as a way to torment Florence Henderson of "Brady Bunch" fame, who was giving a concert. He figured somebody should yell something at her "to break up the monotony." The longtime Skynyrd fan settled on "Freebird," saying the epic song "just popped into my head."

(snip)

Still, Mr. Matthews treasures his trove of recorded "Freebird" moments -- such as baffled comedian Elayne Boosler wondering why the audience is shouting "reverb." And he argues that good bands simply acknowledge it and move on. "The people who are conceited, the so-called artists who get really offended by it, they deserve it," he says.

- more . . .

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB111102511477881964-INjgINplaF4opyua4CHb6yEm4,00.html
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