A Rock-N-Rollin’ Mystery

Posted on August 31, 2010 by meaghabyte | 12 Comments

Sometime in Watertown, New York, this band rocked the stage for the troops. From the looks of the band members, visors, sleeveless shirts and Nike shoes were big. That might help narrow down a decade or two. The electric guitar has a unique paint job; maybe you’ve seen it before? Perhaps you own a similar shirt in your closet? Help us put a name to this band.

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12 Responses to A Rock-N-Rollin’ Mystery

M Hall | August 31, 2010 at 09:14 | Reply

Come on folks ……. someone should be able to identify this band !! Looks like the 80′s to me
Tari Kinyon | August 31, 2010 at 09:21 | Reply

The Band is Cheap Trick
Doug Wimsatt | August 31, 2010 at 10:04 | Reply

I agree with Tari that the band may be Cheap Trick, because that sure looks like Rick Nielson to me!
Tina | August 31, 2010 at 10:26 | Reply

Cheap Trick. They’re from Rockford, Illionois.
keith shore | August 31, 2010 at 10:51 | Reply

guitar player is rick nelson of the band cheap trick. singer for cheap trick was robin zander and this singer is not him. singer may be freddy mercury of queen, maybe an all star show this would be late 70s early 80s
RT | August 31, 2010 at 12:12 | Reply

Is the other singer in the background Mike Reno (Loverboy)? Looks like there may be two drummers also… the bass drums look a little far apart to be just a double bass setup. I’m leaning toward some sort of all-star jam or something.
PKB | August 31, 2010 at 16:51 | Reply

While the guitarist does indeed look like Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick, the singer look a bit like Paul Rodgers of Bad Company.
LA | September 1, 2010 at 10:28 | Reply

That is Rick Nielsen playing his “Gonna Raise Hell” guitar, but there is no way that is Cheap Trick. It’s not Freddie Mercury, either. Could be Mike Reno in the background — that was my first thought — and I know Cheap Trick toured with the USO in the ’80s. I agree its somesort of all-star jam, but if you really want to know, send the photo to management at CheapTrick.com. They are very responsive about questions, and would probably love to have a copy of the pic for the website.
tony | January 18, 2011 at 20:45 | Reply

In 1985 Cheap Trick and Kansas along with other bands (or members of bands) like Santana, Doobie Brothers, “Streets” and “Leroux” — even Stephen Stills — toured as “The First Airborne Rock and Roll Division” throughout Europe and Asia. The lineup changed a lot. Ithink the guy singing is from Leroux…here’s a good palce to check this out…

http://www.okinawajapanforum.com/showthread.php?t=15172
Dave Jenkins | July 7, 2011 at 16:11 | Reply

The singer is Dave Jenkins from Pablo Cruise along with Rick Neilson (Cheap Trick) on guitar and the guy in the back ground is Leon Medica from the band Leroux on bass. This pic is from a 1984 tour when several bands joined together sponsored by the USO and it was called the 1st Airborne Rock and Roll Division, put together by Phil Ehart of the Kansas band. You can find more online under that name.
Jim Hartley | September 21, 2011 at 20:11 | Reply

Cheap trick definitely toured for the USO in the mid 1980s. I was a teenage military dependent in Naples when they performed a show at Carney Park — an MWR facility located in the crater of an extinct volcano just south of Naples. They rocked. I even got to meet Rick Neilsen.
IndenturedServant | March 24, 2013 at 02:23 | Reply

Here is a pic of the tour poster for this tour at Torrejon AB, Spain. I attended this show.

Scroll a bit more than halfway down the page to see the poster.
http://www.ioffer.com/i/1st-airborne-rock-roll-division-uso-tour-torrejon-149020441